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Boundaryless Conversations Podcast

#98 - Sandwich Economics: a New Era of Competition with Sangeet Paul Choudary

Apr 15, 2024
Advisory and best-selling author Sangeet Paul Choudary discusses 'Sandwich Economics', where firms consolidate power in markets, impacting competition and innovation. He explores the conflict of interest in online platforms and strategic dominance tactics like unbundling and rebundling value. The discussion also covers the impact of AI on market dynamics and the importance of fair value allocation.
01:04:08

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

  • Amazon's increased take rate is due to sandwiching strategies like enforcing sales criteria for buy box position and vertical integration with logistics.
  • Sandwich economics introduces a new competition era where firms dominate multiple value chain layers by partnering or controlling essential components.

Deep dives

Amazon's Take Rate Increase Through Sandwiching

Amazon's take rate has significantly increased from 15% to over 45%, not due to network effects but sandwiching strategies. By enforcing criteria like meeting sales levels for the buy box default position, Amazon pushes sellers to invest in advertising, increasing their take rate. Another strategy involves vertical integration, where sellers must use Amazon logistics to access prime users, further raising the take rate.

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