The 2021 Small Business Empowerment Report details how Amazon provides small business owners, startups, and entrepreneurs with support, tools, and opportunities to sell their products online, scale their business, build their brand, and create economic impact. Sellers have created an estimated 1.8 million U.S.-based jobs managing, operating, and supporting their Amazon-related businesses.
“Over 20 years ago, we made the decision to open our store’s virtual shelves to third-party sellers. At the time, big-box retailers had been pushing small businesses out of the retail market,” said Dave Clark, CEO of Amazon Worldwide Consumer. “But we made a bet that bringing selling partners into our store would not only be a win for customers who want vast product selection, low prices, and fast delivery, but it would also be a win for small businesses that want to reach more customers, increase their revenue and profits, and create good jobs. It proved to be a great bet.”
The number of American sellers who surpassed $1 million in sales grew by nearly 15%. In the 12 months ending on August 31, 2021, American sellers:
- Sold more than 3.8 billion products, averaging 7,400 every minute.
- Averaged more than $200,000 in sales, up year-over-year from about $170,000.
- Had nearly $2.2 billion in international export sales, up year over year from nearly $1.5 billion.
“When COVID hit, BlueZone was forced to temporarily close all of its physical stores and downsize from 75 employees to 12,” said Kyle Robertson, director of marketing for BlueZone Sports. “After going all-in on Amazon in April 2020, BlueZone now has more employees and more brick-and-mortar locations than we did pre-pandemic thanks to growth on Amazon.”
In the report, Amazon also revealed the top 10 states with the most sellers in Amazon’s stores per capita and the top 10 states with the fastest-growing sellers selling in Amazon’s stores.
- The top 10 states with the most sellers per capita:
- Delaware with more than 2,000 sellers
- Florida with more than 50,000 sellers
- Utah with more than 7,500 sellers
- California with more than 88,000 sellers
- Wyoming with more than 1,000 sellers
- New Jersey with more than 20,000 sellers
- Nevada with more than 6,500 sellers
- New York with more than 40,000 sellers
- Colorado with more than 10,000 sellers
- Washington with more than 13,000 sellers
- The top 10 states with the most year-over-year sales growth for sellers:
- Nebraska with 60% growth
- South Dakota with 40% growth
- Delaware with 35% growth
- Iowa with 33% growth
- Kansas with 32% growth
- Washington with 29% growth
- West Virginia with 28% growth
- Arizona with 27% growth
- South Carolina with 27% growth
- Connecticut with 25% growth
In 2020, Amazon invested more than $18 billion in selling partner success to help sellers quickly launch their businesses in Amazon’s store, scale and reach more customers, and build their brands. That investment includes launching new tools and services, and the more than 24,000 employees focused on supporting sellers across the company.
