Amazon buys a lot of stuff – a hell of a lot of stuff. You might be forgiven for thinking that all they do is retail to consumers and businesses and run a marketplace, but that entails millions of employees and just to run their own operations they’re on track to spend over $120 billion on supplies and services from businesses in the US in 2021.
The stuff Amazon buys comes from more than 200,000 companies that operate in communities across the US that help keep Amazon running – everything from electric vehicle manufacturers to cardboard box producers to construction and engineering firms. The 2021 spending represents an increase of 20% year over year and does not include any of the products Amazon buys and sells to customers in its stores.
“Millions of families rely on us to deliver what they need every day. Delivering for our customers takes teamwork—we can’t do it alone. We rely on strong partnerships with hundreds of thousands of American businesses—from our forklift manufacturer in Kentucky to the construction company in Texas that builds our delivery stations. Today is about renewing our commitment to these businesses and betting big on them.”
– Dave Clark, CEO of Worldwide Consumer, Amazon
The stuff Amazon buys is also having a ripple effect. An independent analysis from Keystone Economics estimates that Amazon’s expected 2021 spending in suppliers will help local economies and support an additional 840,000 American jobs in multiple industries, including construction, transportation, manufacturing, and hospitality.
“In a time defined by uncertainty, having Amazon as a customer is a lifeline for many small and medium-sized businesses across the country. It’s not just a big vote of confidence, it’s also a source of income that can keep them thriving. Companies like Amazon are helping pave the way to a broad-based economic recovery.”
– Tom Sullivan, Vice President of Small Business Policy, US Chamber of Commerce
“Partnering with Amazon has changed everything for us. They called us a few years ago and wanted to use our labeling machines in their fulfillment centers. Since then, we have nearly doubled the size of our facility, invested in more high-tech manufacturing equipment to meet the growing demand, and hired more people to build them.”
– Jerry Wade, Regional Sales Manager, CTM Labeling Systems, Ohio
Amazon is now the largest job creator in the US In 2020 alone, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company hired over 400,000 employees. On top of the company’s 950,000 US employees, there are more than 2 million businesses, content creators, developers, and delivery providers in the U.S. using Amazon products and services to start or grow their careers. Small and medium-sized businesses selling their products on Amazon.com have created more than 1.1 million jobs. In addition, more than 700,000 developers are building skills for Alexa, more than 95,000 drivers are employed by last mile and middle-mile delivery partners, and hundreds of thousands of authors from around the world are self-publishing millions of books through Kindle Direct Publishing.
It’s a massive business and no wonder that Amazon buys supplies to run their operations at a phenomenal level, but $120 billion! Who knew?
