Consumers have many options where to shop, from full-service, multi-brand stores to brands’ own direct-to-consumer stores to social media shopping to big-box and hyperlocal physical stores. When they come to Amazon, they expect to see offers that are competitive with their other options. If they see products that are more expensive, have slower shipping times, or are out of stock, they are likely to stop trusting Amazon as a store where they can reliably find the selection they want at competitive prices, and with fast delivery speeds.
Popular, high-recognition brands in particular drive consumers’ experience and shape their perception of the Amazon store. If a consumer is looking for name-brand everyday essentials, highly-rated electronics, popular footwear, or well-recognized sporting goods, and Amazon does not have those goods or only has them at unattractive prices or delivery speeds, that experience can leave that consumer with the impression that Amazon’s store does not meet their shopping needs—not just for those popular products, but for all products. That negative perception in turn can extend to everyone selling in our store. And word-of-mouth (not to mention shopping comparison engines) only exacerbates that perception. Because first impressions matter, such perceptions can be particularly sticky in the highly competitive retail market.
One of the ways Amazon attempts to build trust with consumers for these high-recognition brands is through its Standards for Brands Selling in the Amazon Store, which applies to brands and their representatives. That policy rests on the common-sense proposition that to help ensure customers have a great experience shopping in our store, we, like many other retailers’ standard practice, may choose to source certain products from the manufacturer and sell them directly to customers ourselves. That way, we can ensure these products are in stock, offered at great prices, and available for fast shipping. High-recognition brands exert an outsized impact on customers’ perceptions of the attractiveness of Amazon’s overall store, but account for less than 0.01% of brands in our store. By selling those brands’ products ourselves, we believe we can increase the likelihood that customers will have a positive overall experience in Amazon’s store, which in turn will grow those brands in the Amazon store. We also believe that the halo effect of those positive customer experiences will extend to other brands and products in our store. To that end, outside of the small group of highly recognizable brands, we welcome and actively support brands to launch, grow, and thrive with the tools and services we make available to them as independent sellers.
We also welcome resellers to provide an excellent shopping experience selling these high-recognition brands. And if it becomes apparent that a reseller has begun operating in place of a high-recognition brand in our store—that it has “stepped into the brand’s shoes” and is effectively their representative in our store—we will also apply the Standards for Brands policy to that reseller for that brand, for the same reason we apply these standards to the brand itself—in order to ensure a great customer experience and reinforce a positive customer perception of the competitiveness of Amazon’s store. Ultimately, providing a great customer experience benefits not only the shopping customer, but also the independent sellers selling in our store.
