Selling on Amazon: Challenges and Considerations for Brands

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This chapter delves into the challenges and considerations brands face when selling on Amazon, focusing on factors such as squeezed margins, increased advertising costs, product commoditization, and the impact of Amazon's shipping and Prime membership on businesses. It also explores the importance of brand strength, reviews, and product standardization versus personalization for brands navigating the online retail giant.

It’s a dilemma facing more and more brands: Should your business sell on Amazon?

It’s the most visited e-commerce platform in the U.S. and the dominant retailer in 28 other countries. But that reach comes at a price. Harvard Business School associate professor Ayelet Israeli says there are downsides for many Amazon sellers, like costs, competition, and the lack of data.

In this episode, Israeli offers a scorecard that can help you decide, step by step, whether or not the Amazon marketplace is right for your business.

Key episode topics include: strategy, innovation, leadership, scaling, Jeff Bezos, long-term thinking, customer focus.

HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week.

· Listen to the full HBR IdeaCast episode: Why Companies Decide to Sell on Amazon—or Not (2022)

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