Newfangled #7: Breaking Up with Jeff Bezos
We want different things - he wants to go to the moon, I want to stay on Planet Earth
I feel like I’m in a toxic relationship with Jeff Bezos, metaphorically speaking. For the avoidance of doubt, I’ve never met the man himself.
As Small Business Saturday approaches, in the UK at least, I have been contemplating how I might wean myself away from Amazon. They don’t make it easy. The user experience to cancel Prime has not always been intuitive, driving through multiple menus and especially hard to navigate in the App. It is less like their famed customer-centricity, more coercive control.
As this newsletter is all about business model innovation, Amazon’s offering is customer-centric in many respects. You can buy pretty much anything with short delivery times. That is why it is so convenient or, perhaps, addictive.
People argue that Amazon connects the consumer with small businesses through its marketplaces. However, there are a couple of reasons to be uncomfortable about whether Amazon uses its market dominance to give both consumers and small businesses a raw deal.
Amazon has low prices, but how? Wired wrote this great article on pricing policy and the Washington D.C. antitrust case.
And is it fair that Amazon uses data from its marketplace sellers to further sales of its own-brand products, as investigated by the EU?
Then there are the usual questions about taxation, and labour practises, which others have documented. For me, the business model question is whether Amazon is providing the benefit to consumers and small businesses that justifies their 15% platform fee.
So, this Small Business Saturday UK, 4 December, show small businesses support by buying direct. As usual, let me know what you think. And even give a shout out to some of your favourite small businesses in the comments.
What we are reading:
Writing consultancy Schwa* has been blogging about Taylor Swift and learning about good writing from her lyrics. This might be one of my favourite business writing articles ever.
What we are watching
Independent SAGE’s Friday briefing - independent scientific advice on matters related to the pandemic. A weekly dose of information, which makes a refreshing change.
What we are enjoying:
Exit The Game Escape Room Advent Calendar - every day, we are solving a puzzle that tells us which square to open tomorrow. Hopefully, by Christmas, we will have escaped from the Ice Cave. So, far so good. Ask me again in a week.
I just renewed my Office365 Subscription with Blue Nandu rather than Amazon (last year). Does that count?
Really good to challenge the norm, Helen. If we become so lazy that the allure of convenience outweighs the benefits long term of local business then we are complicit in the ongoing downfall of those businesses.
I feel much the same about Facebook. I no longer want to be an accessory to the harm that causes too.
It's a choice.