Amazon’s Expanding Retail Power: What Nearly 10% of U.S. Retail Spend Means for Brands

Amazon Is Becoming the Center of U.S. Retail

Since November 2000, Amazon has been a pioneer in the eCommerce space with its third-party marketplace. Over the last twenty-six years it has grown into the largest online marketplace in the world. According to recent analysis from PYMNTS, Amazon is now rapidly approaching 10 percent of all U.S. retail spend, a milestone that redefines its role not just within eCommerce but across the entire retail economy. This shift represents more than market share growth. It signals a structural change in how consumers discover products, evaluate brands, and make purchasing decisions.

For brands, this means Amazon is no longer “one of many sales channels.” It is often the primary arena where customers form their first impression, compare pricing, validate product quality, and ultimately decide whether they trust a brand.

As Amazon scales, so does the impact of marketplace instability. Unauthorized sellers, inconsistent listings, incorrect variations, and AI-driven catalog changes no longer affect a small segment of online shoppers, they influence retail perception.

And with Amazon accelerating its use of AI to rewrite content, populate attributes, and rank sellers, the stakes have never been higher. Clean data, consistent listings, and marketplace enforcement have evolved from operational tasks into strategic necessities. Brands are no longer competing just for visibility. They are competing for control of their identity, their pricing, and the trust customers place in their products.

How Amazon Reached Nearly 10 Percent of U.S. Retail Spend

Amazon’s rise toward ten percent of all U.S. retail spend is not the result of a single strategy. It reflects two decades of consistent innovation in logistics, discovery, and marketplace scale. Amazon’s growth is closely tracked by industry analysts and continues to show strong momentum, supported by several reinforcing trends.

• Amazon Has Continued to Strengthen Its Core Shopping Experience: Fast shipping, Prime benefits, convenient returns, and an enormous product catalog have set expectations for what modern eCommerce should feel like. These fundamentals have been in place for years, but adoption keeps growing as more consumers consolidate their shopping behavior on Amazon.
• AI Is Making Search and Discovery More Effective: Amazon’s internal AI systems now power a much broader, smarter set of shopping tools – most notably the newly upgraded Rufus. Amazon’s Rufus can search for products based on activity, event, purpose, or use-case; auto-add items to the cart; surface daily deals; show 30- and 90-day price histories; set price alerts; even take a handwritten grocery list (via photo upload) and translate it into an Amazon cart. These enhancements have the potential to reduce friction for shoppers, surface far more relevant search results and recommendations, and help customers make faster purchase decisions. At Amazon’s scale, even modest lifts in conversion rates, average order value or buyer confidence — driven by AI — can quickly translate into substantial gains in overall retail share.
• Walmart Has Made Important Digital Advancements, but Amazon has Pulled Further Ahead: Walmart has invested heavily in digital transformation, including improved marketplace features, better online assortment, and its recent partnership with OpenAI. These innovations have strengthened Walmart’s competitive position and delivered meaningful improvements to the customer experience. However, Amazon’s pace of innovation and broader adoption continues to outpace Walmart’s efforts, which is why Amazon gained additional share in 2025.
• Amazon Has Become the Primary Starting Point for Product Searches: More consumers begin their shopping journey on Amazon than on Google, TikTok, or brand websites. This shifts Amazon from being a checkout destination to being the central hub for product discovery, validation, and price comparison. As a result, Amazon’s influence now extends far beyond the eCommerce world. (We’ll see how agentic commerce continues to transform the shopping journey) 
• Third-Party Seller Growth Continues to Expand the Marketplace: Third-party sellers drive the majority of transactions on Amazon, creating an unparalleled assortment and availability for consumers. This expansion benefits shoppers but also increases pressure on brands. More sellers introduce more risk, more listing inconsistencies, and more opportunities for unauthorized sellers to participate in ways that can dilute brand trust.

Amazon’s continued growth is the result of long-term investment, expanding third-party participation, and rapid improvements in the shopping experience. As the platform becomes the default starting point for discovery, validation, and purchase decisions, its influence extends far beyond eCommerce. This shift is reshaping how customers interact with brands, what they expect during the buying process, and where they place their trust. These changes are now defining consumer behavior in 2026 and making marketplace consistency more important than ever.

What Does This Indicate for Consumer Behavior in 2026?

As Amazon approaches ten percent of all U.S. retail activity, its influence over how consumers shop does not simply increase. It reshapes the entire customer journey. Amazon is now the place where millions of shoppers begin their product research, validate their options, compare prices, and form expectations around brand trust. This expanding influence is likely to continue to drive several key shifts in consumer behavior.

• Consumers Trust Amazon’s Product Information More Than Brand Websites: Shoppers increasingly treat Amazon as the most accurate and up-to-date representation of a brand. If a product page contains outdated details, incorrect variations, or inconsistent pricing, consumers often assume the brand is responsible, not the seller who created the problem. This shifts accountability to the brand even when unauthorized sellers are the source of the issue.
• Amazon’s AI Systems Now Influence What Consumers See First: Search rankings, recommended products, and even review summaries are shaped by Amazon’s internal AI. Shoppers rarely scroll past the first few results. If an unauthorized seller controls an optimized listing or if inaccurate content surfaces in AI-generated summaries, it directly influences consumer perception and conversion.
• Shoppers Expect Instant Accuracy Across Every Listing: Once a customer sees a product on Amazon, they expect all information to match everywhere else. Conflicting images, mismatched titles, or different prices across sellers create immediate mistrust. Inconsistent listings reduce purchase confidence and increase the likelihood that shoppers will select a competitor.
• Price Sensitivity Has Increased Because Amazon Centralizes Comparison: More consumers compare prices across multiple sellers and competing products within Amazon’s ecosystem. Unauthorized sellers who undercut pricing or introduce gray market inventory can distort consumer expectations and create long-term pricing damage for the brand.
• Consumer Experience and Brand Identity Are Becoming More Connected: For many consumers, their perception of a brand is formed entirely through their experience with the Amazon listing. Packaging quality, fulfillment speed, unboxing experience, and product accuracy all shape long-term trust. If an unauthorized seller delivers a poor experience, customers often attribute it to the brand, not the seller.

As Amazon becomes the center of the modern shopping experience, consumer expectations are shifting in ways that place new pressure on brands. Shoppers rely on Amazon for accurate information, trustworthy sellers, consistent pricing, and reliable fulfillment. When those expectations are not met, trust erodes quickly and often permanently. The scale of Amazon’s influence means even small inconsistencies can create outsized consequences for brand perception. This environment is creating a new set of strategic risks that brands must address to stay competitive and maintain customer confidence.

What Amazon’s Expanding Influence Means for Brands

As Amazon becomes the place where shoppers form their first impression of a product, the platform now carries responsibilities that extend far beyond simple sales performance. The increase in consumer reliance on Amazon changes how brands must think about presence, consistency, and control. Amazon is shaping brand identity at a national scale, which elevates both the opportunity and the risk for every product sold on the marketplace.

• Amazon Is Now a Primary Driver of Brand Identity: With millions of shoppers treating Amazon as the most accurate reference point for product information, brands must consider the marketplace as a core brand touchpoint. Packaging, messaging, and visual identity are judged first through Amazon listings, which means any inconsistencies become brand inconsistencies.
• Consumer Safety Requires Accurate, Verified Listings: As Amazon becomes the first stop for product research and purchase, customers rely on listings to understand ingredients, instructions, safety information, and authenticity cues. Inaccurate content, inconsistent packaging, or diverted inventory increases the risk of customer confusion or misuse — and any safety-related issue on Amazon quickly becomes a brand-wide issue. Ensuring accurate, controlled listings is now essential to protecting consumers and maintaining long-term trust.
• Customer Trust Can Be Lost Faster: As Amazon grows, so does the impact of negative experiences caused by unauthorized sellers or inaccurate listings. A single poor purchase, delivered by a seller the brand did not authorize, now reaches far more potential customers and carries greater long-term consequences for loyalty.
• Pricing Expectations Are Anchored on Amazon: Amazon’s scale now influences how customers perceive the “correct” price for a product. If unauthorized sellers undercut pricing or list diverted inventory, those prices can shape consumer expectations across every channel, including DTC and retail.
• Marketplace Issues Now Shape Perception Beyond Amazon: Because Amazon captures such a large share of product research, problems on the platform do not stay on the platform. They affect in-store purchases, retailer relationships, and even how customers talk about the brand offline. Just think about how many people will look up a product on Amazon to read reviews before purchasing it in-store or on the brand’s website.
• Inconsistency Is More Visible at Amazon’s Scale: Small issues that once would have been overlooked now stand out. Broken variation families, mismatched images, or incorrect product titles create confusion that impacts discovery, conversion, and long-term trust.
• The Gray Market Is Growing Alongside Amazon’s Scale: As more third-party sellers enter Amazon’s ecosystem, gray market activity becomes harder for brands to track. Diverted inventory, returns arbitrage, and unauthorized resellers introduce inconsistent product quality that directly affects brand trust. Amazon’s size gives gray market sellers unprecedented reach, turning what would have been isolated issues into widely visible problems.

As these pressures increase, brands need stronger oversight, faster response times, and greater control across every listing. Protecting brand integrity on Amazon is now a strategic priority, which is why more companies are turning to purpose-built marketplace protection solutions.

How Gray Falkon Helps Brands Maintain Control on an Expanding Amazon Marketplace

As Amazon plays a larger role in shaping brand identity, pricing expectations, and customer safety and trust, brands need reliable systems that help keep their marketplace presence stable. Growing gray market activity, inconsistent listings, and Amazon’s increased use of automation create new challenges that require proactive oversight. Gray Falkon provides the monitoring, engagement, and clarity needed to help brands stay consistent and protected as Amazon’s influence continues to increase.

AI-Powered Monitoring for Market Stability

Our Full Deployment solution continuously scans Amazon to identify unauthorized sellers and policy violations. Early detection prevents these issues from spreading into customer-facing experiences or being amplified by Amazon’s evolving automated systems.

Automated, Marketplace-Compliant Engagement

When unauthorized sellers appear or policy violations occur, Gray Falkon prepares and submits marketplace-compliant engagement requests for Amazon to take the necessary action based on their policies. This process reduces the manual workload on brand teams and ensures that issues are escalated quickly and consistently, improving the accuracy and reliability of the brand’s marketplace presence.

Falkon Connect for Scalable Seller Engagement

Falkon Connect communicates directly with sellers across languages and time zones. It requests information about product sourcing, clarifies compliance expectations, and encourages voluntary alignment with marketplace policies. This early engagement helps resolve problems before they escalate and reduces disruptions caused by unauthorized or gray market activity.

Ask Gr[AI] Falkon for Instant Policy Intelligence

Amazon frequently updates policies and adjusts how its automated systems interpret product data. Ask Gr[AI] Falkon gives brands immediate answers to policy and compliance questions so they can make informed decisions. Fast access to marketplace guidelines helps prevent accidental missteps and supports better alignment with Amazon’s processes.

Marketplace Brand Protection Portal for Greater Visibility

Gray Falkon’s Marketplace Brand Protection Portal dashboard suite provides brands with a snapshot of brand protection activity. Key dashboards include:

• Overview Dashboard: A high-level snapshot of brand protection activity across marketplaces and time periods.
• Products Dashboard: Insights into which products/ASINs are most targeted and how quickly they’re being cleaned.
• Sellers Dashboard: Visibility into repeat offenders and evolving marketplace behavior.

These insights help teams understand where instability is occurring and make data-driven decisions to protect their brand identity across Amazon’s expanding marketplace.

Marketplace Control Is Now Core to Brand Strategy

Amazon’s expanding share of U.S. retail spend has transformed the platform into one of the most influential spaces for shaping brand perception. As more consumers rely on Amazon to discover products, compare options, and validate trust, brands can no longer treat the marketplace as a secondary channel. It has become a primary component of brand identity.

The growing presence of unauthorized sellers, listing inconsistencies, and gray market activity introduces new challenges that increase in impact as Amazon’s influence grows. Even small disruptions can alter how customers perceive quality, value, and reliability. In this environment, maintaining marketplace control is not a tactical project. It is a strategic requirement for protecting customer trust.

Gray Falkon gives brands the oversight and structure needed to operate confidently in a high-exposure marketplace. With proactive monitoring, marketplace engagement, seller outreach, and clear visibility into listing stability, brands can stay consistent, protect their reputation, and maintain control as Amazon’s influence continues to expand. Schedule a demo today and protect your brand on the largest eCommerce marketplace.