DINT 122 - Amazon’s at it again turning Black Business Month into a profit center
Video edition of today’s DINT
Amazon has been notorious for its poor treatment of vendors, including launching competitive products, reducing visibility of competing brands, and requiring ad buys to get attention for their brands to name just three.
Amazon’s treatment of its warehouse workers is a subject, which is quite vast, for another day.
Now the online retail behemoth is touting its support for Black entrepreneurs. We decided to take a closer look at what Amazon is doing for Black businesses.
It may have missed your notice that August was Black Business Month. With so many months dedicated to so many causes it’s tough to know where to direct attention. Amazon uses Black Business Month to highlight the Black brands sold on its platform.
Their feature reveals stories from four entrepreneurs who seem to be making the Amazon platform work in their favor, including actress Tia Mowry and her 4U brand of hair care products.
Amazon has a history of promoting Black brands stemming from 2020 and the aftermath of the George Floyd murder.
But the dangers of selling on Amazon are many, as listed in this article from Buyernomics:
Gladiator-style ecommerce: Amazon systematically pits its sellers against each other.
Using data to profit from both sellers and buyers: Massive data collection on pricing and trends leads to shrinking profit margins.
Pay-to-Play: Amazon takes a chunk of sales between 15 to 20 percent. And sellers have to pay to take part in large buying events such as Prime Days.
Loyalty pact: Amazon designs programs making your customers loyal to the Amazon brand and not to yours.
Out on a whim: Sellers can be crushed by Amazon’s algorithm identifying sellers that aren’t or can’t make a profit. Meaning, Amazon can kick sellers out at any time.
Grabbing market share: Amazon pits its brands against yours if you’re making large amounts of money.
As I was doing research for this story, I came across a few Reddit threads centered on the Amazon seller community. Their reactions to badges identifying Black-owned and even Women-led businesses was horrifying.
It speaks to the widespread ignorance of those looking to be successful in business and their need to claim reverse racism whenever something is done to reverse the legacy of economic disadvantages Black people have faced for hundreds of years in the U.S.
Check out some of our recent coverage of Amazon’s efforts to remain accountable for diversity on the operations side of their business.
DINT #42 – Amazon's Promise: 1 Year Later and Still No Racial Equity Audit Findings
Amazon has yet to present a racial equity audit it promised one year ago in its 2022 Proxy Statement. Under pressure from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and its own shareholders, Amazon pledged to conduct a racial equity audit on April 14, 2022. There’s been no report in the last 12 months.
Really, it’s a tale of two priorities. Amazon pulls down higher sales for highlighting Black- and Women-led businesses but when it comes to top-line leadership and advocacy, Amazon simply has no programs to include the voices of Black and female people.
News and Notes
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