fbpx

Tag: independent

Independent sellers in Pa. sold more than 81 million products last year on Amazon

Amazon has released its Small Business Empowerment Report, detailing how independent sellers in Amazon’s U.S. store sold more than 4.1 billion products in 2022 – an average of 7,800 each minute.

More than 60% of sales in Amazon’s store are from independent sellers, most of which are small and medium-sized businesses. Those sellers averaged more than $230,000 in Amazon sales last year and exported 260 million-plus items.

Pennsylvania is home to over 14,000 independent sellers selling in Amazon’s store, according to an Amazon spokesman. They sold more than 81 million products in 2022 through Amazon, with average annual sales of $170,000.

The most-shopped categories from U.S. independent sellers in Amazon’s store, a release said, are health and personal care, home, beauty, grocery and apparel.

Selling in Amazon’s store has also enabled independent sellers to create an estimated 1.5 million jobs in the U.S.

“Small businesses are the heart of our local communities and the backbone of the U.S. economy,” said Dharmesh Mehta, vice president of Worldwide Selling Partner Services at Amazon. “Amazon invests billions of dollars annually to provide entrepreneurs with a constantly improving set of valuable tools and resources to help them gain access to capital, quickly launch in our store, build their brands, and rapidly scale and reach more customers. Amazon is committed to the success of small businesses, and we are excited to continue innovating on their behalf and help them grow into thriving success stories.”

According to the report, brand owners in the U.S. grew sales over 20% year over year in Amazon’s store.

 

Paula Wolf is a freelance writer

At Redner’s Markets, ‘It is all hands on deck.’

When the governor encouraged Pennsylvanians to stay at home to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, people swiftly headed to area grocery stores to stock up.

Faced with a two week quarantine at home, shoppers hoarded toilet paper, eggs, bread and meat. While a snowstorm might cause some panic-buying, this was on another level.

Redner’s Markets, a Pennsylvania-based supermarket chain, got four times the amount of normal traffic last week. -PHOTO/SUBMITTED

I stopped at my local Redner’s Market for chicken, only to find the chicken aisle bare. Cleaned out. Not a breast. Not a thigh. Not a chicken wing to be found.

“It is across all stores,” said Eric White, director of marketing for Reading-based Redner’s Markets, which is an independent chain of supermarkets with locations throughout Pennsylvania.  “We are experiencing challenges with distribution and supply.”

While the amount of food available was adequate for a normal week, when customers flooded stores last week the regular supply was quickly diminished. To stop the hoarding, Redner’s is allowing store managers to set limits on the number of items customers can buy of certain foods, like toilet paper or meat.

“We are getting regular shipments of beef, baking items, and bread, but we can’t get it on the shelves fast enough,” said White. “We are getting four times the normal buying traffic, and replenishing product and trying to get ahead is challenging.”

Under normal operating conditions there would be enough food on the shelves, but when customers over-buy items, it drains inventory and warehouses and supermarkets have to catch up. There is no food shortage, it is that the customers are over-buying.

“It’s not at the level of last week now,” White said. “It is slowing down. And we are putting limits in place. It’s all hands on deck and we are doing our best to get the food on the shelves.”

White also said that due to the massive buy out of certain items like eggs, there have been commodity price shifts. “The price of eggs jumped over 200 percent,” he said.

“We understand the burdens placed on the stores,” White added. “We understand the guests’ fears.”

Redner’s is reducing store hours and closing earlier every day to restock items and clean and sanitize the store. The chain is also giving all store employees $2-an-hour raises until the crisis passes.

“All praise goes to our store folks,” White said. “They have been positive and up for the challenge. They are going about their business. We could not be more proud.”

[class^="wpforms-"]
[class^="wpforms-"]