AMZN Amazon.com Inc

By Laura Stevens 

This article is being republished as part of our daily reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S. print edition of The Wall Street Journal (May 5, 2018).

Amazon.com Inc. said more than one million small businesses in the U.S. sell their wares on its online marketplace, providing the number for the first time amid criticism from some politicians over its business practices and economic impact.

The Seattle-based retailer has previously said that it had more than two million total third-party sellers world-wide, but hadn't given a breakdown in the U.S. In its release on Thursday, it also listed the number of smaller merchants by state, saying California had the most with more than 175,000, followed by New York with more than 81,000, and Florida with more than 75,000.

Amazon said it based its count on a U.S. Small Business Administration guideline of having $7.5 million or less in annual revenue. It said it issued the figures timed to National Small Business Week.

The disclosure comes as the retail giant and its chief executive, Jeff Bezos, have drawn increased scrutiny in recent weeks, including tweets by President Donald Trump criticizing Amazon for its impact on traditional retailers and tax issues. Amazon's rapid growth -- it is now the second-largest company by market value, behind Apple Inc. -- also has made it a target for people worried about the technology industry's outsize clout.

Amazon has parried such criticism with other announcements to draw attention to its contributions to the U.S. economy, such as its declaration last year that it planned to create more than 130,000 full- and part-time jobs.

Amazon relies on independent merchants to generate more than half of all units sold on its site. Those sales are frequently more profitable for Amazon than sales of items from its own inventory, and help it avoid inventory risk.

Those sellers have also drawn more scrutiny recently, as states seek to ensure they are paying sales tax. A case to decide whether to update federal law on the matter recently went before the Supreme Court.

Write to Laura Stevens at laura.stevens@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 05, 2018 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)

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