Amazon has been the undisputed king of e-commerce for years. The industry has been changing in unpredictable ways lately, spurred on by unforeseen events. The company took a huge leap forward at the beginning of the pandemic, and as its growth flattens out, has its high growth ended? And how will it affect Amazon stock?
According to Statista, Amazon leads other e-commerce operators by a wide margin. As of June 2022, it accounted for 38% of all U.S. e-commerce sales, followed by Walmart with 6.3%. This was due in part to Amazon's Marketplace, a platform for third-party shoppers that the company launched in 2000. In 2021, Marketplace accounted for 60% of total gross merchandise volume, about 25% of total U.S. e-commerce sales.
However, after a surge in sales amid a pandemic, growth is slowing. This is due to a combination of factors such as tough comparisons to last year's high growth, going through the flow of stimulus money, and inflation. North American product sales grew 10% year-over-year in Q2.
The pace of growth slowed from pre-pandemic levels, although even in Q2 they continued to build on last year's growth. Total sales were up 27% year over year in Q2 of 2021, and that figure fell to 7% in 2022. Company executives are forecasting an average of 15% growth in Q3, which is still below pre-pandemic levels. For example, in the Q3 and Q4 of 2019, sales were up 24% and 21% year over year, respectively.
The global e-commerce market is expected to continue to grow steadily, from $5.5 trillion in 2022 to $7.4 trillion in 2025. If Amazon maintains its share of the overall e-commerce market, then in theory its sales in this segment will grow organically with the rate of overall e-commerce growth. At this point, double-digit e-commerce sales are still an achievement. However, it is no longer the engine of company growth that it once was. If this were Amazon's only business, the company's stock would not look very inspiring.
Although e-commerce is the company's core business (at least for now), it is only one part of the puzzle.
The other important part is Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing segment. It remains a huge engine of growth, providing steady growth (33% YoY in Q2) as well as profitability. It accounted for 16% of total sales ($19.7 billion) in Q2 and was the only segment with a positive operating profit ($5.7 billion). Two other reportable segments, North American and International, posted operating losses.
AWS continues to introduce new features and services and expand into new markets, attracting new customers and expanding deals with current ones. The company is well positioned to grow sales for years to come.
In addition, Amazon is doing everything else as well. Although the company announced that it is closing all of its 68 physical Book, 4 Star, and pop-up stores, it has made more progress in grocery sales by opening 12 new Amazon Fresh stores in Q2. That's the key to future dominance. The company is well-equipped to do what you might call an elaborate gamble, and trying new types of business without fear of failure is how it thrives and dominates when it is successful. Otherwise, it shuts them down and moves on.
Amazon continues to make acquisitions that increase its top line and expand its dominance in new industries. The company recently acquired One Medical for $3.9 billion, one of the most expensive acquisitions in its history. A few weeks later, the company also announced the closure of Amazon Care, implying that it was making some revolutionary changes to its health care segment. It looks like Amazon is preparing for some major changes in this area that could disrupt the entire healthcare industry, in addition to digital technology and telemedicine, which are already redefining healthcare.
Despite the slowdown in e-commerce growth, Amazon's story is far from over. E-commerce growth is still in the double digits, so even so, the company remains in growing stock territory. But the other businesses it is entering make it a decent bet for strong growth in the coming years, both e-commerce-related and entirely separate.
According to Statista, Amazon leads other e-commerce operators by a wide margin. As of June 2022, it accounted for 38% of all U.S. e-commerce sales, followed by Walmart with 6.3%. This was due in part to Amazon's Marketplace, a platform for third-party shoppers that the company launched in 2000. In 2021, Marketplace accounted for 60% of total gross merchandise volume, about 25% of total U.S. e-commerce sales.
However, after a surge in sales amid a pandemic, growth is slowing. This is due to a combination of factors such as tough comparisons to last year's high growth, going through the flow of stimulus money, and inflation. North American product sales grew 10% year-over-year in Q2.
The pace of growth slowed from pre-pandemic levels, although even in Q2 they continued to build on last year's growth. Total sales were up 27% year over year in Q2 of 2021, and that figure fell to 7% in 2022. Company executives are forecasting an average of 15% growth in Q3, which is still below pre-pandemic levels. For example, in the Q3 and Q4 of 2019, sales were up 24% and 21% year over year, respectively.
The global e-commerce market is expected to continue to grow steadily, from $5.5 trillion in 2022 to $7.4 trillion in 2025. If Amazon maintains its share of the overall e-commerce market, then in theory its sales in this segment will grow organically with the rate of overall e-commerce growth. At this point, double-digit e-commerce sales are still an achievement. However, it is no longer the engine of company growth that it once was. If this were Amazon's only business, the company's stock would not look very inspiring.
Although e-commerce is the company's core business (at least for now), it is only one part of the puzzle.
The other important part is Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing segment. It remains a huge engine of growth, providing steady growth (33% YoY in Q2) as well as profitability. It accounted for 16% of total sales ($19.7 billion) in Q2 and was the only segment with a positive operating profit ($5.7 billion). Two other reportable segments, North American and International, posted operating losses.
AWS continues to introduce new features and services and expand into new markets, attracting new customers and expanding deals with current ones. The company is well positioned to grow sales for years to come.
In addition, Amazon is doing everything else as well. Although the company announced that it is closing all of its 68 physical Book, 4 Star, and pop-up stores, it has made more progress in grocery sales by opening 12 new Amazon Fresh stores in Q2. That's the key to future dominance. The company is well-equipped to do what you might call an elaborate gamble, and trying new types of business without fear of failure is how it thrives and dominates when it is successful. Otherwise, it shuts them down and moves on.
Amazon continues to make acquisitions that increase its top line and expand its dominance in new industries. The company recently acquired One Medical for $3.9 billion, one of the most expensive acquisitions in its history. A few weeks later, the company also announced the closure of Amazon Care, implying that it was making some revolutionary changes to its health care segment. It looks like Amazon is preparing for some major changes in this area that could disrupt the entire healthcare industry, in addition to digital technology and telemedicine, which are already redefining healthcare.
Despite the slowdown in e-commerce growth, Amazon's story is far from over. E-commerce growth is still in the double digits, so even so, the company remains in growing stock territory. But the other businesses it is entering make it a decent bet for strong growth in the coming years, both e-commerce-related and entirely separate.
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✅ TELEGRAM CHANNEL: t.me/+VECQWxY0YXKRXLod
🔥 UP to 4000$ BONUS: forexn1.com/broker/
🔥 ZERO SPREAD BROKER: forexn1.com/usa/
🟪 Instagram: instagram.com/forexn1_com/
🔥 UP to 4000$ BONUS: forexn1.com/broker/
🔥 ZERO SPREAD BROKER: forexn1.com/usa/
🟪 Instagram: instagram.com/forexn1_com/
Disclaimer
The information and publications are not meant to be, and do not constitute, financial, investment, trading, or other types of advice or recommendations supplied or endorsed by TradingView. Read more in the Terms of Use.