Amazon: The top three small business challenges are…

A new Amazon Business survey provides insight into the priorities of U.S. small businesses.

The recent poll of small-business decision-makers across the U.S. reveals the ​​top three challenges respondents say are keeping them up at night are high inflation (63%), economic recession (39%), and supply chain disruptions (30%).

In addition, finding ways to save money and staying within budget (both at 61%) are the two most important purchasing priorities for respondents in the next 12 months. Interestingly, more than half (55%) of respondents say they feel more hopeful about the success of their business than they did a year ago.

Respondents were also asked to name key factors in growing their businesses long term. Top answers included:

• The ability to find items that are within their price range (91%).
• The ability to easily purchase items they need (90%).
• The ability to easily find items they need (88%).

“Our small-business customers face unique challenges and are operating with more limited resources—every dollar and minute they save helps them focus their energy on growing their businesses," said Todd Heimes, director of Amazon Business Worldwide. “Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and when they succeed, we all succeed.”

In partnership with Walker Sands in March 2023, Amazon Business asked 500 small-business decision-makers in the U.S. about their online purchasing patterns, the challenges and opportunities impacting purchasing processes, and the broader landscape for small businesses. All respondents are 18 years or older, work at a business making $25 million or less in annual revenue and are involved in their company’s supply purchasing efforts.

Small businesses look to nearshoring

Almost nine in 10 (88%) surveyed small-to-midsized businesses SMBs plan to or are currently switching at least some of their suppliers closer to the U.S. in 2023, according to a study by software review and selection platform Capterra, which surveyed 300 U.S. SMB supply chain professionals. 

Respondents rated economic inflation (65%), the lack of inventory (45%), and the economic recession (42%) among their top three concerns going into 2023.

SMBs are disproportionately impacted by these challenges compared to larger companies with more resources to absorb rising costs and who have more buying power in the procurement process., the study found. In addition, the top three emerging supply chain technologies adopted by respondents are IoT (42%), blockchain/smart contracts (41%), and artificial intelligence (39%).