More than half of everything sold in Amazon’s store is from independent sellers, and the vast majority are small and medium-sized businesses. Amazon remains committed to helping our third-party selling partners grow and thrive. We provide our selling partners with the strategies, tools, guidance, programs, and solutions they need to succeed in our store. We also invest heavily to put sellers front and center so customers can find them and their products during pinnacle shopping moments and throughout the year.
Last year, we invested an additional $100 million to encourage customers to shop with small business sellers throughout 2021—and our investments paid off. During the 2021 holiday season, worldwide sales for independent businesses selling in Amazon’s store reached new records and U.S.-based third-party sellers sold an average of 11,500 products per minute between Black Friday and Christmas.
As part of our ongoing commitment, Amazon is proud to once again sponsor National Small Business Week’s Virtual Summit running May 2-5, 2022, a free educational, mentorship, and networking event, by the Small Business Administration and SCORE.
For more than 50 years, National Small Business Week (NSBW) has celebrated the achievements of America’s small businesses and the contributions they make to their local communities and to the nation’s economy. This year’s theme, “Building a Better America through Entrepreneurship,” celebrates the resiliency and tenacity of America’s entrepreneurs who are doing their part to power our nation’s historic economic comeback. During the event, small business owners and entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to engage with experts and learn strategies that can help take their business to the next level and ultimately power the country’s economic growth.
All year long, Amazon works hard to support small business owners at every phase of their entrepreneurial journey, whether they simply have a business idea, have just started their business, or are a longtime business owner looking for ways to grow. In fact, in addition to our own trainings and resources for small businesses, we have joined the Small Business Digital Alliance, a co-sponsorship agreement between the U.S. Small Business Administration and Business Forward, to help connect small businesses with digital tools, trainings, and expanded opportunities, and grow their digital networks to reach new customers, free of charge.
Now more than ever, entrepreneurs and small business owners need access to digital resources and online tools to stay connected to their customers, tap new customer segments, and cultivate their ecommerce strategy. Amazon will host a virtual panel during NSBW titled "Accelerating Your Small Business Success with Ecommerce," which will highlight three small business owners from diverse backgrounds and how they leverage ecommerce to grow their brand, reach more customers, and build their businesses online.
The panel, moderated by Brent Leary, co-founder and partner of CRM Essentials, and featuring welcome remarks by Keri Cusick, director of Small Business Empowerment at Amazon, will highlight strategies and tips from three experienced small business owners and Amazon selling partners who found success growing their ecommerce businesses:
- Angel Johnson, CEO and founder, ICONI
- Alfred Mai, CEO and founder, ASM Games
- Caron Proschan, CEO and founder, Simply Gum
Meet three inspiring small businesses featured in Amazon’s NSBW panel
ICONI – Angel Johnson
ICONI—which stands for “I Can Overcome, Nothing’s Impossible”—is a motivational activewear line inclusive to men and women, donating 10% of their profits to nonprofit organizations. Based in Denver, Colorado, CEO and founder Angel Johnson started ICONI to address a problem she experienced during gym workouts while serving in the United States Air Force—much of the activewear on the market was not squat proof.
As a Black-owned, woman-owned, veteran-owned business, ICONI’s activewear—like their seamless high-waisted legging and seamless medium impact sports bra—delivers motivation and empowerment so that customers can focus on their fitness journeys, instead of worrying about non-supportive, low-quality activewear. Selling on Amazon and joining Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator program helped Angel get her business off the ground and reach customers in all 50 U.S. states as well as Canada, all in the brand’s first year.
ASM Games – Alfred Mai
ASM Games believes games should not only be fun, but also build meaningful connections. All of their card games—such as Do You Really Know Your Family?, The Ultimate Game for Couples, and Who Knows More? Kids or Adults—are specifically designed to be fun and engaging, while encouraging players to learn more about each other in the process.
Alfred Mai, CEO and founder of ASM Games, had so much success with growing his brand online that he left his career in the tech industry to run and manage his business full time in San Francisco, California. Listing on Amazon and using the global seller tools has made it easy for Alfred to access international markets and he is now selling in eight countries.
Simply Gum – Caron Proschan
Simply Gum is a confections brand that uses simple ingredients to make sweet treats you can feel good about.
Wellness-focused entrepreneur Caron Proschan founded Simply Gum in Brooklyn, New York in 2014 to provide consumers with a natural alternative after she discovered that regular chewing gum was made of a synthetic plastic base and filled with artificial ingredients. As the business continues to grow and expand into various product lines, they now offer not only gums (like Peppermint Chewing Gum), but also mints (such as Individually Wrapped Ginger Mints), candy bars (like Salted Peanut Candy Bars) and fruit gummies (including Peach and Raspberry Fruit Gummies).
While Simply Gum sells its products both online and through brick-and-mortar retailers, the brand had to redirect its approach to sell more online during the pandemic. As online orders increased, Caron used Fulfillment by Amazon to effectively manage inventory and distribution and ship product quickly to consumers in many areas, beyond just the ones that carry it in local stores.
