An $8 trillion bet by billionaire Jeff Bezos that most Americans don't know about is the thing from Amazon that could be the most disruptive of all,
Forbes reported.
In a piece headlined “Amazon’s Wholesale Slaughter,” Forbes columnist Clare O’Connor said a little-known e-commerce service called AmazonSupply targets the giant B2B wholesale and distribution market. She wrote Bezos’ silence about the service “is especially surprising as the site has the potential to turn into the most important development in the company’s history since it started selling books.”
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His strategy may be a stealthy rollout of AmazonSupply, but Forbes said U.S. wholesalers are taking the threat seriously. Of the nation’s 35,000 distributors of B2B goods that range from Bunsen burners to toner cartridges, Forbes said nearly all are regional, family-run companies with annual revenues of $50 million or less, and only 160 have more than $1 billion in sales annually.
“The industry is largely ignored,” says Dirk Van Dongen, president of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors. “You can go your whole life without having a single thought about it.”
O’Connor said AmazonSupply started in 2012 with 500,000 items for sale, but has grown to 2.2 million items, far more than the average wholesale distributor.
Most of the scientific and industrial equipment AmazonSupply lists for sale would otherwise be available only from specialist distributors.
“But few can compete with its vast inventory, not to mention the easy-to-navigate website and 24-hour delivery, all longstanding hallmarks of Amazon’s appeal,” O’Connor wrote.
Forbes predicted the future for the thousands of wholesalers and distributors that have only millions in revenue, not billions, is probably bleak.
Any doubts on that? “Just ask your local bookstore,” O’Connor wrote.
The Associated Press reported Amazon is expanding its Sunday package delivery service to 15 more major cities as part of its distribution deal with the U.S. Postal Service. The move is part of Amazon’s campaign to attract new customers and to get existing ones to pay more, even though the company raised its Prime two-day shipping membership program's annual fee to $99 from $79 only two months ago, the AP said.
Florida Today reported Amazon is finally being required to collect sales taxes in Florida, but that brings the total to only 21 states where the shopping giant is being forced to collect taxes. Many bricks-and-mortar retailers and smaller companies have complained over the years that because Amazon collects state sales taxes only where it has to, it has an unfair pricing advantage.
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