Aug 25, 2021 07:00:00

What is the reason for the manufacturer that withdrew from Amazon as 'a platform that is indispensable for the growth of small and medium-sized brands'?

As some criticize Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, as a '

modern robber baron, ' the media and business people who are skeptical about the company's business are dying. Hmm. The Verge, an overseas media, introduces an example of a small and medium-sized enterprise that has stopped selling products on Amazon.

As demand for bikes surged, Amazon got in the way --The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/22618306/pacific-northwest-components-bike-company-quit-amazon-support-indie-shops

Aaron Carson said he was working in Amazon's global business development department. He left Amazon and used his knowledge of sales algorithms to launch a company called Pacific Northwest Components in 2015 with his wife Emily, who sells mountain bike parts.

Pacific Northwest Components has been growing steadily since its inception, but when the pandemic of the new coronavirus occurs in 2020, the bicycle industry will experience a global shortage of parts supply. Most bicycle manufacturers have their manufacturing bases in Asia, and Pacific Northwest Components also commissioned Taiwanese manufacturers to manufacture parts, so the delivery time of the product was usually about 45 days, but it is the largest since the pandemic. It seems that it will be extended to 200 days.

Pacific Northwest Components aren't the only ones suffering from a shortage of bicycle parts. Carson, who heard that the supply of parts to privately-owned bicycle dealers could not keep up, said, 'If we can pull up our own parts sold on Amazon and supply them to privately-owned bicycle dealers. Is it possible to help people in crisis? '

There are also other reasons why Carson decided to withdraw from selling his products on Amazon. One is that the choice of bicycle parts depends on the customer and the bicycle they use, which makes purchasing parts very complicated, and Amazon, which simply sells parts, 'provides customers with perfect customer service.' It's hard to say that it's done. '

In addition, Pacific Northwest Components

have been the victims of Amazon's rampant return scams and the high maintenance costs of Seller Fulfilled Prime , which allows third-party sellers to get a prime label. Since he was worried, he finally decided to stop selling on Amazon because he could solve these problems at once.

In addition, it is said that not only Pacific Northwest Components but also many other bicycle related manufacturers have announced withdrawal from Amazon that they stopped selling their products on Amazon. In addition, some of the companies that have stopped selling their products on Amazon in the last few years are well-known brands such as Nike, IKEA, and Birkenstock. All companies are withdrawing from Amazon because they are dissatisfied with Amazon's business practices, neglecting counterfeit products, and lack of access to customer data.

Nike announces discontinuation of product supply to Amazon-GIGAZINE

by tookapic

Carson removed the Pacific Northwest Components product from Amazon in June 2021. 'We wanted to sell our inventory of parts to an independent bicycle dealer to save the industry affected by the pandemic of the new coronavirus,' Carson said.

However, removing parts from Pacific Northwest Components from Amazon 'means that 20-30% of sales go away overnight,' Carson said. However, by stopping sales on Amazon, Pacific Northwest Components will be directly responsible for customer service and returns, 'we were able to regain our customer ties,' he said.

In addition, Mr. Carson thought that when he contacted a customer who wholesales parts of Pacific Northwest Components, 'I want Amazon to stop handling Pacific Northwest Components products', the proposal will be rejected by the customer. It seems that many people were excited and agreed with the cancellation of sales on Amazon, and I realized with my skin that many small and medium-sized enterprises have the same troubles as Pacific Northwest Components. And that.

'In the end, the only reason big bike retailers and others were selling their products on Amazon was because they had to compete with others to sell their products,' Carson said. Meanwhile, small and medium-sized brands like Pacific Northwest Components are 'forced to use Amazon,' saying that selling products on Amazon is the fastest way to grow an unnamed brand. increase.

In the case of Pacific Northwest Components, which has established itself as a brand on Amazon, it seems that sales are steadily declining due to the withdrawal from Amazon. However, there are several brands, such as Pacific Northwest Components, that have made a name for themselves on Amazon, withdrew from Amazon, and have been able to record sales similar to those at the time.

Therefore, Carson said that what Pacific Northwest Components needs to regain sales on Amazon is 'more bicycle dealers will handle parts of Pacific Northwest Components', and there are a number of ways to achieve this. I am optimistic that the realization itself is not difficult even if it takes years.