Need anything at the best price? Amazon, it is! Apparel, footwear, electronic gadgets and appliances, streaming platforms, books, the marketplace to get fresh fruits and vegetables—well, Amazon has it all. What started as a marketplace for books has grown to include a wide range of product categories. Here we will see about Why Is Amazon Bad For Society?
Amazon is one of the largest market chains in the world of e-commerce, which also focuses on other areas such as cloud computing, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It is one of the five big American information technology companies. However, Amazon as an e-commerce company has also affected a lot of sectors in society. The list of benefits that Amazon provides goes on and on, but there will also be negatives. Amazon, despite having the world’s largest network, has flaws. Let’s dive into more detail:
Why Is Amazon Bad For Society?
The World of Bookselling
A major market that Amazon has hampered is the bookstore. A lot of people find it more convenient to get books online. Although the convenience of the customers has been amplified, the bookstores and publishers are at a great loss. The online expansion of bookstores onto e-commerce platforms such as Amazon has increased profits for bookstore owners.
The Apparel Shopping Industry:
Amazon gives you an immense number of options right in front of your screen. No jostling around in malls, no snatching, no comparisons, immense options in colors, and a lot more All these benefits are provided by Amazon when you go apparel shopping. The same piece of clothing, with the same print and texture, can be obtained from a different seller, but at a cheaper price. These benefits for the customer have a huge impact on the offline marketplace. There are few to no customers shopping directly from the marketplace.
The effect on inflation and the amazon effect on society:
Amazon as a worldwide brand has created an upheaval in the e-commerce market, which is known as the Amazon effect. The significant disruption that eCommerce has wrought on the retail industry is known as “The Amazon Effect. The word was created as a result of Amazon’s dominance in the eCommerce market and its driving role in the sector’s disruptive influence. The rise in price flexibility and consistent pricing could have had a significant impact on the dynamics of inflation, according to the Amazon effect. This is supported by a British study that discovered the Bank of England would overstate the effects of inflationary shocks during periods when prices were highly flexible. Prices that are allowed to float lead to quicker market clearing. In other words, prices will adjust back down to market equilibrium sooner even though they may initially be heavily affected by an aggregate shock. The overall level of inflation will decline as a result of a drop in prices when the market returns to equilibrium.
The effect on jobs:
Amazon as a brand has around 1.3 million employees as of 2020. Even when the number looks big, it isn’t the case. Amazon does not have a sizable storefront presence, so it is low by retail industry standards. Although the company is creating jobs both in the core of the company as software engineers, data analysts, and business strategists, most of these jobs are contractual. These jobs may or may not require competence. A lot of these people, although they may be pleased with their jobs, can also lose their roles in the company. It is also said that Amazon’s work culture is not ethical.
Impact on retail businesses:
After Amazon established itself as an e-commerce giant, a huge number of businesses went into the red and had to shut down. The convenience and ease it brings are impossible for retailers to compete with. Amazon doesn’t have as many regulations governing its liability for risky products, although some businesses have liability for dangerous products. Additionally, Amazon frequently mimics the designs of popular products, which undermines merchants’ incentives to innovate.
Bad for the environment:
Some environmental organizations are urging Amazon to switch to greener energy since it uses fossil fuels to power its factories, warehouses, and vast amounts of cloud storage on the Internet. Amazon has, however, recently made several efforts to improve its environmental impact. For instance, Amazon focuses on releasing zero carbon emissions throughout its supply chain and employs solar power and electric delivery cars at some of its warehouses. Given the size of the corporation, it would be next to impossible for Amazon to have no environmental impact. Overall, when compared to other significant retail corporations, Amazon has been making enormous strides in terms of its favorable environmental impact.
Conclusion:
Amazon as an e-commerce giant has made billions, and its impact on the global market is immense. It has affected the bookselling market, apparel, footwear, job opportunities, and retail businesses. Amazon has also had an impact on inflation and the environment. However, Amazon has been making enormous strides in terms of its favorable environmental impact.
Frequently asked questions:
- Who is the founder of Amazon?
Amazon is owned by Jeff Bezos.
- What is Amazon’s revenue?
Amazon has a turnover of US $469.822 billion (2021).
