How to Beat Amazon

You can’t build a consumer brand in 2018 and ignore the 800-pound-gorilla that is Amazon. Not only does Amazon control nearly 50% of e-commerce sales, the company has clearly set its sights on physical retail as well, having acquired Whole Foods and opened multiple retail stores last year. And emerging consumer brands should be even more concerned now that Amazon is making a concerted push into private-label. The e-commerce giant has a plethora of advantages over smaller startups; most notably, it has $20 billion in cash, which allows the company to operate with negative margins, effectively forcing competitors out of markets by undercutting them on price. When building a consumer brand, you should ask yourself “can Amazon do this just as well?” If the answer is yes, proceed with...

You can’t build a consumer brand in 2018 and ignore the 800-pound-gorilla that is Amazon. Not only does Amazon control nearly 50% of e-commerce sales, the company has clearly set its sights on physical retail as well, having acquired Whole Foods and opened multiple retail stores last year. And emerging consumer brands should be even more concerned now that Amazon is making a concerted push into private-label. The e-commerce giant has a plethora of advantages over smaller startups; most notably, it has $20 billion in cash, which allows the company to operate with negative margins, effectively forcing competitors out of markets by undercutting them on price. When building a consumer brand, you should ask yourself “can Amazon do this just as well?” If the answer is yes, proceed with caution. Fortunately, while Amazon may be the Goliath in this story, there are plenty of stones left for the proverbial slingshot.

Here’s how...