Amazon wants to own retail, and at this rate, the only company that could stop that is Amazon – that is if they fall, stub their toe, or take their eye off the ball (Fire phone . . .ahem).
So if you look at the end to end customer “journey” of buying things, from search/discovery of an item, to selection, to plan to purchase it, to purchasing it, selecting shipping, payment type, and destination address – Amazon has that, and better yet – they have our trust. OK – that’s about half the battle.
The other half of the battle, probably more than 50% depending on where you sit – is on the seller side. The seller has all sorts of journeys to go through from selecting products to sell, making or procuring them, pricing them, figuring out how to advertise and sell them, and so on. Amazon touches some of those aspects of the seller journey, and they certainly play a matchmaker role in connecting buyers with sellers – and that’s one of their biggest value adds.
But there is one thing that has gotten Amazon in the news in a, well, awkward way, and that’s when and whether to charge sales tax. While that has largely resolved itself, I think Amazon could help sellers save mountains of money in a way that has almost zero impact on the customer experience – and that’s helping the seller with tax calculations. Tax calculation, especially in the US is shockingly complicated – so complicated in fact, that Avalara, from sleepy little Bainbridge Island, Washington processes billions upon billions of tax calculations every month because sellers understand they can never stay on top of this on their own. Never heard of Avalara? Well then you aren’t a seller.
Avalara. That’s who Amazon should buy. Great business, profitable, and owning that further locks Amazon in as the backbone of retail.
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