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In its own “KMU 2020 Impact Report”, Amazon publishes key figures for small and medium-sized businesses in Austria that sell their products on the platform. You can tell: many of Amazon’s national sales partners were able to see growth this year. However, some problems remain.
The number of domestic products is increasing
The vast majority of sales partners on the market in Germany and Austria consist of small and medium-sized companies, Amazon writes. In the period analyzed (from June 1, 2019 to May 31, 2020), SMEs registered significant growth: the number of products sold with national origin increased by 18 percent from 11 to 13 million, that is, more than 25 items sold per minute. As a result, annual sales grew on average from € 60,000 to € 80,000.
100 SMEs with a turnover of more than one million euros
Apparently Amazon also wants to defend itself against the accusation of simply making money from “small” partners. One thing is clear: if you sell on Amazon, part of the revenue is transferred to the online giant. To do this, Amazon is investing in infrastructure. In 2019, the company spent more than 2.2 billion euros on logistics, tools, services, programs and personnel in Europe, “to ensure the success of its business partners
Promote business partners ”, as the report says. Around 200 Austrian SMEs would have generated more than US $ 500,000 in sales with sales through Amazon, and almost 600 SMEs more than US $ 100,000 in sales. More than 100 Austrian SMEs are said to have invoiced even more than one million euros. However, the amount that goes to Amazon remains a secret.
More planned investments
In any case, you want to stay true to the path and continue to invest in SMEs accordingly. “Strengthening small and medium-sized businesses is at the core of everything we do. We will continue to invest in logistics, tools and human resources to support small and medium-sized businesses. This enables us to create the best shopping experience for our customers, ”says Francois Saugier, Vice President of EU Seller Services at Amazon. Markus Schöberl, Director of Seller Services, Amazon Marketplace Germany and Austria, adds: “Our success is closely related to the success of our partners, because more than half of the items sold on Amazon come from independent third-party vendors.”
“Most have grown up”
They have also survived the Corona crisis so far. Schöberl: “Most of our sales partners continued to grow over the last year and were able to use online trading successfully during this challenging time. Because when it comes to starting a business online quickly and with low investment costs, launching new products or selling them to millions of customers around the world, Amazon offers independent sales partners the ideal conditions. “
Crown and tax problems
As good as it may sound, some problems persist. According to a study on the “Austrian e-commerce market 2020”, around a quarter of all Austrian online sales go to the American giant. In absolute numbers, that’s around 880 million euros. Rainer Will, Managing Director of the trade association: “Austria’s top 250 online stores now generate 3.6 billion euros. Revenue rose again by nearly 14 percent last year. This sustained dynamics leads to ever greater market concentration, with fewer and fewer large online retailers sharing an ever greater slice of the online pie. Only Amazon, the leader, has a quarter with 878 million euros. “
However, last year Amazon did not pay taxes in Austria, which should not be possible given the volume of business. There has been increasing criticism of working conditions recently, especially before Black Friday. And: unionists reported yesterday on numerous corona cases on Amazon Germany. As early as the fall, it became known that around 19,000 people on Amazon in the US were infected with Covid-19. More recently, the EU competition authorities also targeted the company.
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