Amazon Statistical Factoid: House Brands
July 18, 2022
I read “Amazon Slashing Private-Label Selection amid Weak Sales: Report.” The source is the estimable Fox News, which like the Wall Street Journal, is affiliated with the fantastic Murdoch information potentate. Within the Fox-ish story is a factoid, which I am not able to absorb without some of that faux salt stuff sold to some with cardiac issues.
Here is the factoid. Believe it or not.
As of 2020, Amazon’s private-label business offered 45 house brands accounting for 243,000 products.
As I understand it, the idea for slapping a private label on a product is to capture sales that would otherwise go to a merchant. That merchant may make more money than some outfits I know. One of those unnamed outfits simply approaches the manufacturer, places a big order with a special label, and offer the product at a price that delivers the cash to the “me too” merchant.
I assume that successful outfits like Mother Teresa’s original fund raising organization and Amazon-like companies would never attempt to get more money and discriminate against the poor and down trodden. Nope, never. Ever.
Let’s assume that Amazon is changing its house brand policy. Okay, why? What are some possible reasons?
- Amazon wants to reduce its costs and rethink how it interacts with the rock-solid third party sells apparatus. (I love plurals which I can spell apparati, albeit incorrectly.)
- Amazon wants to amass some fungible evidence that it is a really equitable outfit, eager to operate in a fair, transparent manner.
- Amazon’s forecast team senses trouble ahead.
I think Amazon may be facing some headwinds: Prime Day doldrums, assorted legal hassles about certain products, and backlash potential from regulators.
Yeah, and some less Fox-y news is here.
Stephen E Arnold, July 18, 2022
Comments
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
