How Big Is Amazon, Really?

By Shira Ovide

I’m fond of ( ) repeating a shopping statistic ( ) that often surprises people. In the United States — even during the pandemic — only about $14 out of each $100 worth of stuff we buy is spent online. Amazon is responsible for roughly $5 of that.

So is Amazon a giant that dominates ( ) our internet spending or a blip ( ) in America’s shopping universe? It depends on how you look at the numbers. Amazon is huge in internet sales, but puny ( ) relative to all the goods Americans buy.

Our perception ( ) of Amazon’s size influences how the public and policymakers think about the company. And yet while the company’s share of spending matters, it also doesn’t tell us everything.

Permit me to get a little nerdy ( ) about numbers. Without a doubt, Amazon is the king of online shopping in the United States. Research firm eMarketer estimated that Amazon will be responsible for more than 40% of Americans’ e-commerce spending this year. The second-largest internet store, Walmart, is far behind at about 7%.

Back to my point, though, that internet shopping remains relatively ( ) small. The picture is a little different depending on how you count.

U.S. government data on online shopping plus those eMarketer estimates ( ) put Amazon at about 5% of all U.S. retail sales.

(And there’s a wrinkle ( ): A trade group for retailers recently told me that there could be inaccuracies in the government counting of shopping that blurs ( ) the line between stores and online, such as picking up online orders in person.)

Data can be a weapon. Amazon often uses a version of the 5% sales figure to counter ( ) critics who say the company is too big and powerful. But government investigations into big technology companies are looking at the behavior of Big Tech, not just their size. They’re trying to answer whether companies abuse their power to get advantages over competitors and hurt us.

Amazon has had a profound ( ) influence on people’s behavior, the strategies of entire industries and our communities no matter what the numbers say.

What we’re seeing in real life from Amazon and beyond are big ripple effects ( ) from a small market share.

So, is Amazon big? Yes and also no. And the reality is that no matter what the numbers say, Amazon commands ( ) the attention of people, other companies and governments because it’s influential in reshaping the world.

亞馬遜到底算不算大？

我喜歡重述一個常讓人吃驚的購物統計數字。在美國，即便是疫情期間，我們每購買100美元商品，僅14美元是在網上消費，其中亞馬遜約占了5美元。

所以，亞馬遜究竟是主宰我們網路消費的巨人，還是美國購物世界乍現的一個小光點呢？端視你如何看待這些數字。亞馬遜網路銷售金額龐大，但跟美國人總體商品購買額相比卻微不足道。

我們對亞馬遜規模的感受，影響著民眾和決策者對該公司的看法。然而，該公司在消費者支出中所占比率固然重要，卻並不代表一切。

且容我在數字上再多著墨些。無疑地，亞馬遜是美國網路購物之王。研究公司eMarketer估計，亞馬遜將占今年美國民眾電子商務支出的40％以上。第二大網路商店沃爾瑪則以7%左右遠遠落後。

不過，回到我原先談到的重點，網路購物規模仍相對較小。隨著計算方式的不同，情況也會有些差異。

根據美國政府有關網路購物的數據及eMarketer的估計，亞馬遜約占美國零售總額的5%。

（還有一個小問題是，一個零售業的同業組織日前告訴我，政府對購物數字的統計可能不準確，因為模糊了實體商店和網路商店的界限，例如在網路下單卻親赴實體商店取貨。）

數據可以是一種武器。亞馬遜經常用5%的銷售比率來反駁那些認為該公司太強大的批評者，但政府對大型科技公司的調查不僅關注其規模，還關注行為。他們正嘗試查明這些公司是否濫用權力來獲得超越競爭對手的優勢，並對我們造成傷害。

無論這些數字代表什麼，亞馬遜對人們的行為、各種產業的整體策略，以及我們的社群，都有著深遠影響。

我們在現實生活中從亞馬遜及其他公司身上看到的是，來自低市占率的巨大連漪效應。

那麼，亞馬遜很大嗎？是，也不是。現實的情況是，不管這些數字代表什麼，亞馬遜都吸引著人們、其他企業和政府的注意，因為它在重塑這世界上具有影響力。

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