24 Amazon Statistics Sellers Need To Know
Meaghan has provided content and guidance for indie retailers as the editor for a number of retail publications and a speaker at trade shows. She is Fit Small Business’s authority on retail and ecommerce.
Agatha Aviso is a writer of the Reviews Section at Fit Small Business, focusing on order fulfillment and eCommerce platforms. Agatha has a decade’s worth of experience writing online content for small businesses and marketing industries. She also served as a content strategist and digital marketing manager for many entrepreneurs.
This article is part of a larger series on Retail Management.
Amazon is the leading online retailer worldwide, and selling on Amazon is a lucrative venture for many independent sellers. We’ve gathered two dozen Amazon statistics that can help you start your Amazon business or take your existing Amazon store to the next level.
Amazon Statistics Overview
1. Amazon will account for nearly 40% of ecommerce sales in 2022
Amazon will account for nearly $2 in $5 spent online in 2022, making up 39.5% of all US retail ecommerce sales. Altogether, the next 14 biggest digital retailers will make up just 31%, with the remaining 29.5% of the ecommerce pie going to everybody else.
That’s $400 billion out of the forecasted $1 trillion in sales revenue, which is five times more than its closest rival, Walmart.
2. Amazon earned 2021 revenue of $469.8 billion
Amazon’s net sales increased by 22% in 2021 to $469.8 billion—compared to $386.1 billion in 2020. Its net income registered at $33.4 billion, compared to $21.3 billion in 2020.
3. Amazon is the most visited online marketplace in the US
Amazon gets 2 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.
How People Shop on Amazon
4. 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 (63%), above search engines (46%), Walmart (31%), Facebook (26%), and YouTube (24%).
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.
5. Online shoppers prefer to purchase at Amazon because it has everything they need
The top reason why US consumers shop at Amazon is because they can find everything they need from the website (66%), followed closely by receiving free shipping because of Prime membership (56%).
6. Consumers prefer Amazon over Walmart.com for most nonessential product categories
According to the Jungle Scout consumer trends report for the first quarter of 2022, 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 & Sewing, Automotive Parts & Accessories, Books, Magazines & Newspapers, Electronics, Exercise/Fitness Supplies, and Office Supplies.
7. More than 60% 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.
8. Nearly 50% of consumers shop on Amazon at least once a week
In the Jungle Scout report, 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 will spend over $50 on Amazon by the end of the first quarter of 2022, and 51% would pay over $100 for a single item from Amazon.
9. 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.
10. 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.
Popular Amazon Products & Categories
11. The most popular categories for Amazon sellers are Home & Kitchen, Sports & Outdoors, and Toys & Games
Jungle Scout’s 2022 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 | 32% |
Beauty and Personal Care | 23% |
Toys and Games | 20% |
Clothing, Shoes, and Jewelry | 18% |
Health, Household, and Baby Care | 17% |
Sports and Outdoors | 16% |
Arts, Crafts, and Sewing | 15% |
Books | 15% |
Kitchen and Dining | 14% |
Baby | 14% |
12. Computers, video games, and handmade products have the highest profit margins on Amazon
Jungle Scout also shared that the average profit margins among Amazon sellers range between 17% to 26% with handmade products and high-ticket items such as computers taking the top spots.
Amazon Product Listings | Average Profit Margin |
|---|---|
Computers | 28% |
Video Games | 26% |
Handmade | 26% |
Books | 25% |
Apps and Games | 24% |
Find out what products to sell on Amazon.
Amazon Seller Statistics
13. There are nearly 2 million third-party sellers in Amazon—mostly small and midsize businesses (SMBs)
Amazon lists nearly 2 million SMBs as third-party (3P) sellers. In 2020, Amazon invested $18 billion in selling partner success, including in logistics and tools like Brand Follow and Stores that allow sellers to directly connect 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.
14. Most Amazon 3P sellers are profitable
More than 90% of Amazon SMB sellers are profitable, with some 65% earning profit margins higher than 10% and a third earning profit margins above 20%. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 44% of Amazon sellers claim that their businesses performed better than expected.
According to a 2021 SMB report, Amazon sellers in the US sold 7,400 products every minute between September 2020 and August 2021, averaging about $200,000 in sales—a year-over-year increase from $170,000.
3P sellers account for 54% of Amazon’s revenue.
As an Amazon seller, you need to know about Amazon fees. Learn the cost of selling on Amazon.
15. 36% of Amazon sellers make more than $5,000 per month in sales
More than a third of Amazon sellers have more than $5,000 in monthly sales, with 23% hitting over $10,000 in sales per month. About 40% of SMBs on Amazon have reached lifetime sales of more than $50,000.
16. A majority of 3P sellers are self-starters
More than two-thirds (69%) of 3P sellers spend less than $5,000 to start their Amazon business, and 32% spend less than $1,000. Most of these self-starters use their hard-earned money for funding. In fact, 70% of Amazon sellers have other work outside their Amazon businesses, with 36% having full-time jobs.
17. Nearly 90% of Amazon sellers use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
Amazon FBA is the most popular fulfillment method and is used by 89% of third-party sellers. However, due to the supply chain issues brought about by COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, sellers began to use FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant) more. There was a 10% increase of those who use FBM from pre-pandemic years.
18. Nearly 60% 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 59% creating their own label or brand. Buying and selling wholesale, which came in second, trailed at 26%.
19. It usually takes three months for Amazon sellers to set up a fully functioning Amazon store
The majority of sellers (55%) 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.
20. Nearly all Amazon sellers plan to expand their businesses in 2022
Almost all—95%—sellers plan to expand their Amazon businesses in 2022. Almost half of current Amazon sellers (45%) plan on launching new products unrelated to their current line of products, and 43% believe that optimizing their current listings is the way to improve. Starting an online store is also a strong option, with 19% of sellers considering that for the coming year.
Learn how to start an online store.
Amazon Prime Statistics
21. There are more than 200 million Amazon Prime members worldwide
As of 2021, Amazon Prime has more than 200 million subscribers worldwide. In the US, 65% of Amazon shoppers were also subscribers to the Amazon Prime service.
22. Amazon Prime’s membership is to reach more than 75 million US households in 2022
US households with Amazon Prime are expected to grow 15% in 2022, to around 76.6 million households—an increase from 66.4 million households in 2019.
23. 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, up to 27% in 2021.
24. Amazon Prime Day remains to be the membership’s most popular perk
In 2021, 84% of Prime members and 88% of heavy spenders planned to participate in Amazon Prime Day—proof that it is the most highly awaited event among its members. Prime Video is also a popular membership benefit. Two-thirds of Tinutiu survey respondents use Prime Video now and 29% plan to watch more in the future.
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 Amazon statistics we have provided to help plan for the launching of your Amazon store.
