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Most Amazon Brands Are Duds, Not Disrupters, Study Finds (bloomberg.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: The explosion of Amazon's private-label products -- batteries, baby wipes, jeans, tortilla chips, sofas -- has prompted concern that the world's biggest online retailer could use its clout to promote these house brands at the expense of merchants selling similar products on the web store. The issue even surfaced in Senator Elizabeth Warren's recent proposal to break up big technology companies. Turns out most Amazon-branded goods are flops that don't threaten other businesses at all, according to Marketplace Pulse. In a study, the New York e-commerce research firm examined 23,000 products and found that shoppers aren't more inclined to buy Amazon brands even when the company elevates them in search results. The study suggests popular political and media narratives about Amazon's market power are overblown, despite the company capturing 52.4 percent of all online spending in the U.S. this year, according to EMarketer.

The study used sales rankings and the number of customer reviews as indicators of sales volume for different products, including Amazon's own brands and brands sold exclusively on the site. Amazon's success has been limited to basic products like batteries where shoppers are inclined to seek generic alternatives to save money, the study found. But when competing against such categories as apparel, where household names have an entrenched position, such Amazon brands as "A for Awesome" children's wear don't stand out, the study found.

1 of 103 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Isn't that the point? by jedidiah · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If that's the best you've got then you've proven the opposing position.

    I'm not sure you've even stepped foot in a Walmart. Although you don't even need to go that far since they have a website for their pickup service.

    Store brands that you want to inspire mindless hysteria over have been common probably since before you were even born.

    Walmart in particular is all about what sells and they have the IT chops to best understand what does sell.

    --
    A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.