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Most business owners are aware that beating the competition is a key part of survival. This means playing to the strengths of your business, knowing your weaknesses, and learning from your rivals. It’s also no secret that being a female business owner comes with its own set of challenges.
Women in the workplace are more likely to experience workplace discrimination, harassment, wage violation, and a whole host of other hurdles that most men won’t have to jump on their way to the top. With this in mind, what do women who are hoping to run their own Amazon agency have to consider?
The Differences Between Men and Women Sellers on Amazon
Recent statistics may be able to help identify the issues that can challenge female business owners trying to pave their own way on Amazon’s vast (and competitive) marketplace.
Just under a third of Amazon sellers identify themselves as women, with men dominating categories of young and middle-aged sellers aged 18 to 54. After setting up a business on Amazon, however, women are more likely to turn a profit within 3 months, despite spending less time and money on their business than the average male seller.
Statistics are generally more evened out when it comes to sellers age 55 and over, with even proportions of men and women sellers joining the site in their later years. The gap is also evened out when it comes to average monthly sales – as long as monthly sales exceed $25,000.
On average, women are around 3% more likely to earn one million dollars or more in their Amazon lifetime than business owners of the opposite gender identity. However, this may be tempered by the fact that women are also more likely to report lower monthly sales than the average male seller.
Possible Reasons for These Trends
It seems that women have a good amount of potential when it comes to selling on Amazon. Despite starting their businesses there later in life and investing less time and money into the venture, they have a generally better outlook for the future than a man in the same position.
Similar amounts of men and women consider selling on Amazon to be more of a hobby than a full-time career; however, women tend to connect their business more to their fundamental lifestyle than a simple sense of fun. Like men, women on Amazon are looking to earn more income, but they also use the marketplace as a chance to gain the flexibility to work remotely, travel, and feel successful.
Can Women Feel Comfortable Selling on Amazon?
All in all, recent data suggests that the outlook for female sellers on Amazon is positive, and potentially life-changing, if they are able to compete with male sellers who have more start-up capital to invest and who are more interested in selling expensive private label products than the average woman seller.
For those women who are looking to take charge of their time, energy, and money, operating an Amazon agency or other such business presents an intriguing opportunity that is full of promise.
The good news is that the gender gap in matters business is closing down thanks to the continued migration of businesses to online platforms. The online space will, perhaps, help protect women from discrimination and the general disadvantaged position they find themselves in in the physical world of business.
Let women business owners take advantage of their improving performance on Amazon and other online marketplaces to empower themselves.