Amazon is the leading online retailer worldwide, and selling on Amazon is a lucrative venture for many independent sellers. We’ve gathered more than 40 Amazon statistics that can help you start your Amazon business or take your existing Amazon store to the next level.
Did you know? Despite inflation, 89% of Amazon sellers are profitable, with more than half earning profit margins higher than 15%. Around 37% said they saw higher profits in 2022.
Amazon Statistics Overview
1. Amazon is forecast to reach $746.22 billion in sales in 2023
According to eMarketer, Amazon will continue to dominate the online retail space, generating $746.22 billion in global retail ecommerce sales this year. It remains larger than all 14 of its closest competitors, accounting for 37.8% of the US ecommerce retail market.
2. Amazon earned $514 billion in 2022
Amazon’s net sales increased by 9% in 2022 to $514 billion—compared to $469.8 billion in 2021. An increase in North American sales more than offset a decrease in international sales due to changes in foreign exchange rates.
3. Amazon is the most visited online marketplace in the US
Amazon gets 2.4 billion monthly visits in the US alone, almost triple the monthly visits of eBay, which trails behind at second place with close to 700 million monthly visits. Of the traffic to Amazon, 38% comes from the US.
4. Amazon has more than 310 million active users
According to eTail, there are more than 310 million active customer accounts worldwide. Its selling partners total 2 million. Selling partners get access to consumers in more than 180 countries. More than 200,000 sellers joined in 2020, a 45% increase from the year prior.
Amazon Independent Seller (3P) Statistics
5. There are 2 million independent sellers on Amazon—mostly small and midsize businesses (SMBs)
Amazon lists 2 million SMBs as third-party (3P) sellers as of 2021. In 2020, Amazon invested $18 billion in selling partner success, including logistics and tools like Brand Follow and Stores that allow sellers to connect directly to millions of customers.
With Amazon absorbing the increased costs (surcharge and fee changes) brought about the pandemic, roughly 3,700 sellers were still added daily to its roster in 2021.
6. More than 60% of Amazon sales are from independent sellers
The US Small Business Empowerment Report says that US independent sellers account for more than 60% of Amazon store sales. These sellers include many women, Black, and military family-owned businesses as well.
7. Brand owners grew sales more than 20% year-over-year
Amazon reports that brand owners grew sales more than 20%, with U.S.-based sellers exporting over 260 million products globally.
8. US independent sellers averaged more than $230,000 in sales in Amazon’s store in 2022
In Amazon’s same report, US independent sellers sold more than 4.1 billion products in 2022, with an average of 7,800 products sold every minute. During the 2022 holiday season alone, Amazon customers purchased nearly half a billion products from US small businesses in Amazon.
9. Most Amazon 3P sellers are profitable
Despite inflation, 89% of Amazon sellers are profitable, with more than half earning profit margins higher than 15%. Around 37% said they saw higher profits in 2022.
And according to Amazon itself, in the 12 months ending May 31, 2020, US-based SMB sellers earned an average of over $160,000 in sales—an increase from approximately $100,000 the previous year. SMB sellers that exceeded $1 million in sales grew by more than 20% in the same period.
As an Amazon seller, you need to know about Amazon fees. Learn the cost of selling on Amazon.
10. Amazon and its third-party lending partners lent $2.1 billion to independent sellers for capital in 2022
Amazon provides financing solutions to help eligible businesses free up cashflow and reach
their business goals. In 2022, Amazon and its financing partners provided sellers with access to $2.1 billion, an increase of 50% from the previous year of $1.4 billion.
11. California had the most independent sellers in 2022
In 2022, California, Florida, New Jersey, New York, and Texas were the five states with the most independent sellers on Amazon while Alaska, Washington, D.C., Mississippi, Maine, and Wyoming had the fastest-growing independent sellers.
Meanwhile, Wyoming, Delaware, Florida, Utah, and Texas experienced the largest growth of independent sellers in 2022.
(Source: Amazon’s 2022 Small Business Empowerment Report)
12. 55% of Amazon sellers make more than $5,000 per month in sales
More than half of Amazon sellers have more than $5,000 in monthly sales, with 16% hitting $10,000 to $25,000 in sales per month. About 47% of SMBs on Amazon have reached lifetime sales of more than $100,000.
13 A majority of independent sellers are self-starters
The majority (58%) of 3P sellers spend less than $5,000 to start their Amazon business, and 25% spend less than $1,000. Most of these self-starters use their hard-earned money for funding—77% at least partially funded their businesses with their own cash.
Thirty-nine percent of Amazon sellers describe themselves as “digital nomads,” while 38% are employed full time. Most sellers manage their Amazon businesses within fewer than 20 hours per week.
14. Nearly 90% of Amazon sellers use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
Amazon FBA is the most popular fulfillment method, preferred by 86% of third-party sellers. Many sellers also opt to handle their own fulfillment, or FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant).
15. 54% of Amazon sellers create their own product and brand with the private label model
Among Amazon 3P sellers, private label is the most common sales model, with 54% creating their own label or brand. Buying and selling wholesale, which came in second, trailed at 26%.
Learn how to find and sell private label products or find a wholesaler for your retail business.
16. It usually takes three months for Amazon sellers to set up a fully functioning Amazon store
The majority of sellers (70%) have been able to get a fully functioning business store on Amazon within just three months, and most manage their business with fewer than 20 hours per week.
17. Rising costs are the most common concern for SMBs in 2023
The increasing cost of goods (46%), inflation (36%), and an impending recession (29%) are among the top external challenges SMB sellers face in 2023, JungleScout reports. It is estimated that one in two Amazon sellers was affected by the economic downturn in deciding to start a business.
18. 83% of Amazon sellers offer Prime shipping
Fast and free shipping is a key benefit for Prime membership. As many as 83% of Amazon sellers offer Prime shipping to customers.
Related: FedEx vs UPS vs USPS: 2023 Shipping Comparison
19. Health and personal care products are the top-selling products for independent sellers
The top bestselling categories for US independent sellers on Amazon are the following: health and personal care, home, beauty, grocery, and apparel.
(Source: Amazon’s 2022 Small Business Empowerment Report)
How People Shop on Amazon
Infographic of key statistics about consumer shopping habits on Amazon
20. More than half of US consumers start their product searches on Amazon
When searching the internet for products, most consumers start on Amazon. Amazon is the most popular search destination for consumers (61%)—above search engines (49%), Walmart (32%), YouTube (20%), and Facebook (19%).
What is more interesting is that 88% of consumers who last shopped at Amazon started their next purchase journey at the Amazon website, instead of starting with search engines. This is highly indicative that most Amazon buyers don’t look anywhere else.
21. Online shoppers prefer to purchase at Amazon because of product range and availability
The top reason US consumers shop at Amazon is that they can find everything they need from the website (66%), followed closely by receiving free shipping because of Prime membership (56%).
22. Consumers prefer Amazon over Walmart.com for most nonessential product categories
According to Jungle Scout’s report, consumers prefer Amazon over Walmart.com for most nonessential product categories—while they prefer Walmart.com over Amazon for essential items like baby products, cleaning supplies, groceries, and over-the-counter medicine.
Consumers prefer to buy from Amazon over any other retailer (online and in-store) in the following categories: Arts, Crafts and Sewing, Automotive Parts and Accessories, Books, Magazines and Newspapers, Electronics, Exercise/Fitness Supplies, and Office Supplies.
23. About 65% of Amazon customers shop from their desktops
Even with the increased usage of mobile apps, 64.9% of those who shop at Amazon do so over their desktop computers or laptops, whereas only 16.6% reported shopping from the mobile website and 13.6% reported shopping on the app. However, Amazon reports that it sees more than 42 million monthly unique desktop users in the US versus more than 126 million mobile visitors.
24. Nearly 50% of consumers shop on Amazon at least once a week
A Jungle Scout report from 2022 found that 48% of shoppers purchase something from Amazon at least once a week, and they tend to spend more, too. In fact, 57% of consumers say they would spend over $50 on Amazon versus 41% on Walmart. Fifty-one percent would pay over $100 for a single item from Amazon.
25. Amazon’s customer service is the leading driver for customer retention
A majority (90%) of consumers are satisfied with Amazon’s customer service, with 33% stating that its rapid response to complaints and order issues is the best part of Amazon’s customer service experience.
26. More than 40% of shoppers always read product reviews before making an Amazon purchase
A recent survey shows that 41% of consumers always read product reviews before making a purchase on Amazon, with another 38% of consumers often reading reviews before purchasing on the platform.
Unfortunately, fake reviews are a growing cause of concern for Amazon buyers, and only 31% of consumers strongly trust Amazon product listing reviews, which is down slightly from 33% in 2019.
27. Most shoppers complete their purchase in under 15 minutes
Per Amazon, half of all purchases are completed in under 15 minutes. Some happen faster—as many as 28% of purchases finish in under three minutes. This shows the importance of creating a smooth checkout experience if you want to compete.
28. Amazon is the most popular online sales channel for gifts in 2022
The same survey found that Amazon was the top online sales channel for gift shopping in Q4 2022. An overwhelming 67% said they planned to purchase gifts online from Amazon. Walmart is in the No. 2 spot, though just 36% of consumers planned to purchase gifts via its online shopping channels in Q4 2022.
29. 80% of Cyber Week shoppers planned to shop on Amazon
Amazon was the top choice for Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping for 80% of consumers in 2022. Target and Walmart came in next with 51% and 50%, respectively. Other stores include Kohl’s (28%), Best Buy (26%), Old Navy (19%), Costco (18%), and Macy’s (18%).
Popular Amazon Products & Categories
30. The most popular categories for Amazon sellers are Home & Kitchen, Beauty & Personal Care, and Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry
Jungle Scout’s 2023 State of the Amazon Seller Report lists the top 10 most popular categories in Amazon, with the percentage of sellers who have listings for them.
Amazon Product Categories | Percentage of Amazon Sellers that list items per category |
|---|---|
Home and Kitchen | 35% |
Beauty and Personal Care | 26% |
Clothing, Shoes, and Jewelry | 20% |
Toys and Games | 18% |
Health, Household, and Baby Care | 17% |
Sports and Outdoors | 16% |
Baby | 16% |
Electronics | 16% |
Arts, Crafts, and Sewing | 14% |
Books | 14% |
31. Some of the most popular categories on Amazon also have the most profitable sellers
According to Jungle Scout, the average profit margin of Amazon SMB sellers is 21%. The most profitable categories (making 21% net margin and up) are the following:
- Beauty and Personal Care: 30% of sellers
- Home and Kitchen: 30% of sellers
- Clothing, Shoes, and Jewelry: 27% of sellers
- Arts, Crafts, and Sewing: 23% of sellers
- Electronics: 22% of sellers
- Sports and Outdoors: 21% of sellers
- Health, Household, and Baby Care: 21% of sellers
- Toys and Games: 20% of sellers
- Grocery and Gourmet Food: 19% of sellers
- Cellphone and Accessories: 17% of sellers
However, it’s important to note that while some categories are more popular than others, each category has profitable subcategories. There are also more opportunities (and less competition) in some of the least popular categories. For example, handmade goods has among the highest number of profitable sellers.
Find out what products to sell on Amazon.
Amazon Prime Statistics
32. There are more than 200 million Amazon Prime members worldwide
Amazon Prime has more than 200 million subscribers worldwide. Most—172 million—are in the US.
33. More than half of Amazon Prime Members spend more than $100 a month on Amazon
Prime spending is increasing each year, with the majority of members (58%) now spending more than $100 per month on Amazon. Elite buyers, those spending more than $200 each month on Amazon, more than doubled to 27% in 2021.
Amazon Prime Day Statistics
Amazon published its numbers for 2023 Prime Day and some key Amazon sales statistics are listed below. Prime Day is an exclusive event for Amazon Prime members, featuring deals on top brands and small businesses. This global annual savings event usually happens over a two-day period (July 11–12).
34. Day One of Prime Day 2023 was the single largest sales day ever on Amazon
According to Doug Herrington, CEO of Amazon Stores, “The first day of Prime Day was the largest sales day in Amazon’s history, and Prime members saved more this year than any other Prime Day event.”
35. Amazon Prime members purchased more than 375 million items worldwide during Prime Day 2023
Home, Fashion, and Beauty are among the bestselling categories, while the Fire TV Stick, LANEIGE Lip Glowy Balm, Apple AirPods, and Bissell Little Green Portable Deep Cleaner among the top-selling deals.
Amazon Prime members also saved more than $2.5 billion on deals across the Amazon Store.
36. Prime Day 2023 was the biggest sales day for independent sellers, outpacing sales of Amazon’s retail business
Amazon offered more Prime Day deals for small businesses than ever before. Small businesses such as Caraway, True Classic, and TUSHY increased their average daily sales by over 18x during the first day of the Prime Day event when compared to all sales in 2023 leading up to Prime Day.
37. Amazon Prime Day remains to be the membership’s most popular perk
Prime Day isn’t just an Amazon sales-boosting activity and Prime member perk, it has become a benefit that many Prime subscribers view as crucial to their decision to renew their membership each year. Almost three-quarters of those surveyed by Tinuiti deemed Prime Day an important factor in their Prime renewal decisions each year.
(Source: Tinuiti)
38. Prime Day is the most highly awaited event among its members
Of more than 1,000 Prime members surveyed by Tinuiti in April 2023, 80% planned to shop during Prime Day. Eighty-six percent of those who shopped last year’s Prime Day planned to shop again this year, with 63% of Prime members who didn’t shop Prime Day last year planned to in 2023.
39. More than half of Prime members begin researching for Prime Day deals early
If you are an Amazon seller targeting a Prime Day sales boost, start promotions early. Twenty percent of Prime members in the same survey said they begin their research on deals more than a week before Prime Day, with 35% planning their purchases two to seven days before.
(Source: Tinuiti)
Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Statistics
Amazon also offers a holiday kick-off shopping sale for Prime members called Amazon Prime Big Deal Days. Similar to Prime Day, this two-day event debuted in 2022 and now happens yearly during the fall season (Oct. 11 and 12) with deep discounts exclusively for Prime members.
40. Prime Big Deal Days logged more than 70,000 orders with close to 140,000 products
Numerator tracked Prime Big Deal Days purchases and it ended with the following numbers: 73,342 Amazon orders with 137,111 purchased items among 31,607 unique buyers.
(Source: Numerator)
41. Amazon Prime members saved more than $1 billion across millions of deals during Prime Big Deal Days on Oct. 10 and 11.
Prime members ordered more than 150 million items from Amazon independent sellers
Small and medium-sized businesses had great revenue from the Prime Big Deal Days according to Amazon.
42. Apparel, beauty, home, and toys were the bestselling categories during the sales event
Amazon and Numerator have their numbers aligned with each other and found apparel and accessories to be the most popular category, followed by home goods and home essentials.
Amazon-brand products were highly popular during the sale, with Alexa-enabled devices like Fire TVs and Echos being the most popular.
Bottom Line
We continue to be impressed with Amazon’s staggering statistics. What makes it more impressive is that even with the abundance of sellers on the platform, a majority continue to operate and remain profitable, even expanding their businesses to other platforms. On top of that, there is still room for budding retailers to start selling.
Orient yourselves with these statistics about Amazon we have provided to help plan for the launching of your Amazon store.
