help some small businesses, but even when it comes to the ones that they are helping, they sometimes cut these small business owners terrible deals. So, while there is definitely an argument for as to why Amazon could possibly be helping small businesses, I feel that it is not nearly as strong of an argument, nor do I think that it has remotely as much non-Amazon produced evidence supporting it.
Ever since Amazon had started its rise to power, many small businesses had been able to avoid be overshadowed by them by filling their own niches. Tech stores offered tech support, book stores had people who would help you find interesting books, and so on. These things used to be out of the realm of a faceless corporate giant such as Amazon, as it was not really a physical company. As time moves forward though, Amazon is looking to spread its reach farther. It has invested in hiring tech supporters, as well as building physical bookstores. These services were some of the only thing keeping some of these small businesses relevant, but now, Amazon has begin to try and monopolize even these things. As Kate Taylor, Mary Hanbury, and Dennis Green of Business Insider put it, “Barnes & Noble reported in January that sales dropped 6.4% during the holiday season. E-commerce sales also suffered during the critical period, dropping 4.5%. Amazon has also grown its physical bookstore presence.” If Amazon has affect one of the largest Bookstore chains, Barnes & Nobles, so drastically, immagine what kind of damage it could be inflicting on the average small, independent bookstore owners across the country and even the world.
