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Modern Retail is Dynamic, Fluid, Competitive, and Full of Small Business Opportunity

Super Sellers documents the fluidity of modern retail, how even the smallest sellers use 3, 5, and even 7 sales methods and are beholden to none.
Super Sellers debunks the myth of Amazon controlling weak, locked-in sellers.

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Background

Some US lawmakers and regulators believe that certain digital platforms’ size, market share and success demonstrate the need for drastic changes to our antitrust laws to restore competition. Some claim that small retailers have no choice and are locked into the Amazon Marketplace. 

But what if the facts reveal a different story? 

Research shows that the modern retail industry is one where small retailers have many options and use multiple sales methods. And that several marketplaces are effectively competing for small sellers’ business by making it easier to list products and make money on their platforms.

Lead Findings:

SMB Sellers Use Multiple Sales Methods

The average SMB uses five sales methods
of SMB Sellers use at least 3 different sales methods
of SMB Sellers with <10 employees use at least 3 different sales methods

The ‘Super Sellers’ report analyzed eight sales methods that make up nearly all SMB selling. Of these, the four most popular are…

  • 79% use physical retail stores
  • 78% use wholesaling 
  • 68% use third-party online marketplaces 
  • 68% use owned and operated web stores

SMB Sellers Sell on Multiple Online Marketplaces

Roughly 90% of SMB Sellers on Amazon, Walmart, eBay, Target, and Etsy also sell on other marketplaces
87% of SMB Sellers on Amazon’s online marketplace also sell on at least one other online marketplace, including Walmart (54%) and eBay (50%)
83% of Amazon Marketplace SMB sellers use five (5) or more sales methods

Conclusion:

Millions of small businesses use digital platforms’ affordable tools and services to launch, operate, grow, compete, and hire more people. Modern retail provides small businesses with more, easier-to-use options than ever before to bring products to larger markets, grow their small business and succeed. 

Modern retail is not all about Amazon. Congress should not upend America’s small business digital economy based on anecdotal evidence and misconceptions about choice and competition.