Amazon UK

General Amazon Statistics

In recent years, Amazon has made huge strides to become only the second $1 trillion business after Apple. The company has made its way to the top, following the changes in the e-commerce industry. In particular, Amazon has been at the forefront of endless changes in attitudes, demographics, technological developments and customer preferences. As a result, the firm maintained a sustained upward trajectory and reached heights never before imagined. This work of Amazon is an open book to brands and retailers, and there is much to learn from the growth of this profitable firm.

 

 

How many customers does Amazon have in the UK?

Around 90% of UK customers use Amazon. Moreover, Mintel reported that around 70% of UK customers visit the online retail site at least once a month, while only 17% of Amazon customers use the shopping platform on a weekly basis.

Amazon’s UK market share of 30%

The UK e-commerce market is the third-largest in the world after China and the USA. According to the latest data, Amazon’s share of this market has increased from 28.8% in 2018 to 30.1% in 2019. In other words, it dominates the UK’s online retail market, outpacing eBay as the second-largest player with a 9.8% share.

There are approximately 15 million British customers who are members of Amazon Prime.

Amazon Prime membership statistics reveal that 39% of buyers have access to this subscription-based service. In fact, 26% of Amazon customers have a membership on Prime and 13% share membership through someone else’s account.

 

In 2019, there were approximately 281,000 active marketplace sellers on Amazon. (Statista)

It was reported Statista that there were 281,257 Amazon marketplace sellers in the UK in 2019. This number is constantly rising as new third-party vendors enter the market. In fact, Amazon UK accounts for 9.6% of all companies’ active market sellers globally, second only to Amazon.com.

45% of Amazon UK sellers use Amazon FBA services. (Statista)

Fast shipping is an essential feature of every online company on the market. In order to work as efficiently as possible, Amazon has developed a suitable working model that makes this possible. This is why Fulfilment by Amazon, or more commonly known as Amazon FBA, is increasingly being used for Amazon UK bestsellers. It has grown by 10% between 2017-2018.

There are 21 Amazon FBA distribution centers in the UK. (Statista) (Appex Storage Systems)

According to the latest data from Statista, there are 77 Amazon distribution centers in Europe, 21 of which are in the UK. The largest Amazon warehouse in the UK measures over 1 million square feet and is located in Dunfermline, Scotland. The 14 football pitch-sized warehouse has over 1,000 payroll employees and this Amazon Fulfillment Center is also one of the largest warehouses in the UK.

 

Amazon industry reports show that the company has more than 27,500 employees in the UK. (Amazon UK) (Statista) (The Guardian)

Over the last decade, Amazon UK’s headcount has grown significantly. While it had 1,872 employees in 2009, this number increased to 22,073 ten years later. Today, more than 27,500 employees work for this company in the UK. Additionally, the Guardian noted that in the fall of 2020, Amazon has hired an additional 7,000 payroll workers to meet its shopping needs due to the pandemic. At the same time, the company has hired approximately 20,000 temporary employees to meet customer demands over the Christmas period.

 

 

 

How Can I Start Selling on Amazon?

As an Ltd company or individual, you can open a seller account on Amazon UK. The seller account can be paid or free. If you are going to sell a handmade product, you can apply for the “Amazon Handmade” account.

The “Let’s try and see, then change if necessary” approach will not be the right approach for Amazon sellers, as changes such as converting a free account to a paid account or starting as a sole proprietorship and turning it into an Ltd company will sometimes be difficult and sometimes cause loss of performance.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is the processing of all products sold from Amazon warehouses by Amazon employees. The products to be sold first go to the Amazon warehouse in bulk. Products that enter the warehouse are offered for sale on Amazon. When the customer purchases the product, Amazon packages the product and delivers it to the customer. In the event of a return, it manages the entire return process. Collects the payment from the customer. After the commission deductions, the remaining money is automatically deposited into your bank account at certain intervals.

Why you should sell with the FBA model is actually an article in itself. For this reason, I would like to say briefly: It will be a much better start to sell with the FBA model, where you will not have to rent a warehouse, you will not have to deal with shipping products one by one as the order arrives, you can spend most of your time in front of your computer and manage your business by yourself, and you will have much more sales opportunities.