NJ ranks among top states for independent sellers on Amazon (updated)

Listen to this article

E-commerce giant Amazon released its annual U.S. Small Business Empowerment Report May 23, which revealed that independent sellers in New Jersey are in abundance. 

According to the report, more than 60% of sales in Amazon’s store are from independent sellers, which the company said are mostly small and medium-sized businesses. An Amazon representative told NJBIZ that nearly 2 million independent sellers worldwide sell in Amazon’s store.

Amazon also broke down performance by state, with New Jersey ranking: 

• No. 5 among states with the most independent sellers in Amazon’s store (California was No. 1). Amazon also told NJBIZ that there are more than 20,000 independent sellers in New Jersey selling in its store.
• No. 5 among states with the most independent sellers per capita in Amazon’s store (Wyoming was No. 1) 

“In the 12-month period ending December 2022, independent sellers in New Jersey sold more than 267 million products in Amazon’s store. Average annual sales per independent seller was more than $375,000,” Amazon told NJBIZ in an email.

“Small businesses are the heart of our local communities and the backbone of the U.S. economy,” Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon’s vice president of worldwide selling partner services, said in a statement. “Amazon invests billions of dollars annually to provide entrepreneurs with a constantly improving set of valuable tools and resources to help them gain access to capital, quickly launch in our store, build their brands, and rapidly scale and reach more customers.”

One of Amazon’s offerings for small businesses and artisans is the Small Business badge, which alerts customers who prefer to support these ventures – including Black-owned, women-owned, and military family-owned businesses.

Amazon opened its store to independent sellers 23 years ago, according to the report. In 2022, those businesses in the U.S. sold more than 4.1 billion products – an average of 7,800 every minute – in Amazon’s store and exported over 260 million products. 

Editor’s note: This story was updated at 5:38 p.m. ET May 25, 2023, to include more specific New Jersey numbers from Amazon.

Amazon’s Garden State connection

• AeroFarms expands distribution with ‘fresh’ Amazon partnership
• Six Flags Great Adventure adding Amazon’s ‘Just Walk Out’ technology
• Amazon announced as tenant at STRO, KRE Group’s Woodland Park property
• Controversial Amazon hub deal at Newark Airport falls apart