As Amazon continues its relentless march to world domination, here are a couple news nuggets:
Thousands of small vendors sell their merchandise on Amazon. About half of the sales on Amazon infrastructure are made by independent merchants. They pay a commission for sales they make directly to purchasers. They also pay fees to Amazon to store, pack and ship their products. Amazon also makes wholesale bulk purchases for its own inventory from independent merchants. With sales of $317 billion, Amazon’s share of all on-line commerce is more than fifty percent and rising.
That is about to change. Amazon is cutting loose thousands of too-small independent vendors; “too small” meaning sales of less than $10 million to the Internet behemoth. It’s shifting its buying to large suppliers e.g. Proctor & Gamble, Sony and others. The independents who make up the difference by increasing their direct sales also will pay more in commissions and fees.
On a different subject, Amazon is changing contractors to provide security at its campuses in Seattle and elsewhere. Security Industry Specialists (SIS), who has contracted for security in Seattle since 2012, announced it will be laying off more than a thousand employees as its contract with Amazon expires. SIS has been the target of employee complaints and an unsuccessful union-organizing effort. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is happy because SIS is being replaced with two new security contractors, both unionized.
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