In 2019, U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren pledged to dismantle “big tech companies” that have “too much power over our economy, our society, our democracy, and our Christmas treats.” (She may not have said the latter.) Concerns were growing that Amazon was manipulating search results to favor its own brands over competitors’ products, a practice the company has denied. However, Amazon appears to have reduced promotions of its private label products.
Things looked good for third-party sellers when, also in 2019, a study by e-commerce analysts Marketplace Pulse found that “Amazon-owned private labels are not as successful as many claim.” The report reveals that only 1.7% of the top 500,000 search terms on Amazon lead a customer to click on an AmazonBasics branded product.
Except… two years later, in 2021, Amazon released its own tartlets. Does it matter that I don’t know who makes them and that their pretty purple box is ominously signed by an anonymous figure known only as “The Baker”? Alas no, because they taste better than the pies offered by at least two major British supermarkets. With their modest silver bottoms and sugar-coated tops, they might be the most disruptive tech product of the last decade.
In such an environment, how can mom’s homemade baking compete? Customers seem to agree. Amazon’s tartlets have a rating of 4.4 out of 5 after 117 ratings; reviews indicate that someone named John and someone named Sandra continued to buy them until January.
So, is this the final nail in the coffin, the last time we try to resist our new insect overlords? Maybe not. Even though Amazon has mastered the hash and conquered Christmas, it may be too late. According to The Wall Street JournalAmazon began cutting back on its private label products this summer after poor sales. While it’s unclear whether Amazon’s food brands will also gain, the company still controls just 2.4% of the U.S. grocery market even after buying Whole Foods for $13.7 billion. dollars in 2017.
Amazon Pieme may not be enough to reverse the situation. If you told most Brits that Amazon had nestled into the beloved Christmas treat market and started making its own tartlets, they’d be baffled. In August, Amazon halted the rollout of its physical Amazon Fresh stores across the UK after sales were worse than expected at its 19 existing stores.
Warning: this might have something to do with the fact that I managed to collect my mince pies and leave the store without paying (thanks to the sensors, that’s how the high-tech store works) and without paying ( this is not the case). how the high-tech store works; my card payment failed, but I was not informed of this until later).
As lip-smacking, waist-clenching grandmothers have long told us, there is no such thing as a truly guilt-free tartlet. Buy the one from Amazon and you might just strengthen the company that needs it least in the entire world. But also – honestly and sadly, Ghost-of-Christmas-Future-shakes-its-head-at-you-lly – you’re going to have a delightful time.
