Amazon Empowerment Report: Small Business Sellers are Thriving

By SBE Council at 13 May, 2026, 12:07 pm

by Raymond J. Keating -

During National Small Business Week (May 3-9), Amazon.com released its latest "Small Business Empowerment Report." The news and data from the report is an overwhelmingly positive one for entrepreneurship and small business.

In the report Amazon noted:

"Small businesses leverage innovative capabilities once available only to the largest brands - many at no additional cost. It's a privilege to be part of their journey, and we're proud that today, more than 60% of sales in Amazon's store come from independent sellers, most of which are small and medium-sized businesses."

Some compelling data shared within the report, includes:

● "In 2025, independent sellers employed over 2 million people in the US to support their Amazon-related businesses."

● "…more than 75,000 independent sellers surpassed $1 million in sales, demonstrating remarkable growth and resilience."

● "Independent sellers in the U.S. average more than $375,000 in annual sales in Amazon's store in 2025."

● "Over 11,000 US-based independent sellers grew their sales by more than 10X in 2025."

● "US-based independent sellers exported more than 580 million items globally in 2025."

The Amazon report lays out an assortment of services and tools, including AI tools, designed to help small businesses - saving time, reducing costs, enhancing productivity, improving customer service, and expanding opportunities to reach more consumers.

The data and individual stories of small business owners in this report line up with findings in SBE Council's annual "Small Business Technology Use Survey". For example, Amazon is listed among the top sites used by small businesses in a multi-platform, or multi-channel, sales marketplace, including 17 percent noting they use Amazon in their multi-channel sales strategy, and 24 percent use Amazon for income generation and branding.

More specifically regarding Amazon:

● "Three in ten small businesses (30%) use Amazon as a sales channel…"

● "Amazon sellers are highly diversified, with 61% using social media platforms and 58% operating their own business website."

● "One-third (33%) generate between 11% and 20% of total sales from Amazon, while 28% derive between 21% and 40%."

● "Nearly one in five (18%) generate less than 11% of sales from Amazon."

● "Twelve percent derive more than half of their total sales from the platform, indicating meaningful concentration for a subset of sellers."

● "Two-thirds (64%) report Amazon margins are higher or about the same as other sales channels."

● "Twenty-two percent report margins are much higher, while 23% mention that they are about the same."

● "Only 13% report lower margins compared to other channels."

Finally, regarding Amazon's pricing and support, it was found:

"Agreement is nearly universal that Amazon's pricing structure enables competitive participation, with 98% expressing agreement. Ninety-four percent agree that Amazon provides significant platform support to small business sellers."

Understanding the economics of two-sided markets, and sales channels and platforms, and seeing the information from Amazon and the results of SBE Council's survey, it should be clear that Amazon and its small business partners/customers have mutually beneficial relationships.

Indeed, all participants - the millions of small business sellers on Amazon.com and Amazon itself - derive value from working together. As Economics 101 tells us, if one side or both sides of a transaction fail to derive value, then that transaction or relationship - in this case, working together to better serve consumers - will not continue to exist.

It's funny, but not surprising, that those involved in their own businesses tend to understand what works and what doesn't, then, for example, do politicians and their appointees.

Raymond J. Keating is chief economist for the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council. He is the author of " The Weekly Economist " book series, and 10 Points from Walt Disney on Entrepreneurship .