Independent sellers in Amazon’s U.S. store supported more than $180 billion in contributions to the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) in 2025, according to new research from Oxford Economics.
The research looked at the revenue independent sellers generate, the suppliers they buy from, the jobs they support, and the communities they sustain. Together those sources of economic activity equal a contribution of more than $180 billion in GDP.
That translates to roughly $1 of every $170 generated in the U.S., according to the Amazon-commissioned research by Oxford. Independent sellers also support more than 2 million jobs nationwide, based on Amazon research published earlier this year.
“To put that direct GDP contribution in perspective, independent sellers in Amazon’s store collectively generate more GDP than 75% of 528 U.S. industries,” said Christopher Warner, Associate Director of Economic Impact at Oxford Economics. “Together, these businesses are an economic force on par with some of America’s largest industries.”
Economic engines in their own communities
This U.S. footprint ripples out from three sources: independent sellers pay employees and generate profits (direct impact), they spend with suppliers, manufacturers, and contractors (indirect impact), and all of those workers spend part of their earnings locally (induced impact).
“To understand the real impact of these sellers, you have to follow the dollar. It doesn’t stop with the business,” said Laureance Wilse-Samson, Lead Economist for Oxford Economics. “It moves to their suppliers, their workers, and into the communities where those people spend.”
Following a single transaction is the best way to see the ripple effect in action. A customer in Ohio navigates to Amazon, searches for a home EV charger, and clicks “Buy Now” for a residential charger from Revitalize Charging Solutions, a small business in Fort Worth, Texas. That direct impact benefits Edward Morgan, a Navy veteran who founded the business in 2015. He said his Amazon sales of residential chargers are up over 250 percent this year.
Morgan doesn’t build every component of his commercial and residential EV chargers himself. A significant share of that purchase flows right back out the door to other local businesses. A steel fabrication shop nearby forms the aluminum enclosures for his commercial chargers. An electrical firm handles installations. Contract manufacturers populate the circuit boards designed by Morgan’s team. A maintenance crew helps keep the products running for customers.
“We keep that circle moving, allowing other folks to grow their business with us. We help each other,” said Morgan.
Revitalize Charging Solutions has a team of six full-time employees made up of engineers, operations staff, and a warehouse coordinator, all hired from the Dallas–Fort Worth area. Spending by the staff reaches landlords, grocery stores, daycare centers, and gas stations, all businesses that hire their own employees, continuing the economic ripple.
The Revitalize team designs the circuit boards that go into their EV chargers, and contractor manufacturers populate them.
Revitalize Charging Solutions’ growth is now funding a 30,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Arlington, Texas, about 20 minutes from Morgan’s current office. Once open, later this year, it will house an assembly line, testing lab, and design studio, and 30 new employees. Morgan said those new hires will include power engineers, assembly workers, inventory specialists, warehouse staff, all likely coming from local universities and the Dallas-Fort Worth labor market. That facility also means a commercial lease paid to a local landlord. Utility bills paid to Texas providers. Construction and fit-out work done by area contractors, and city tax revenue from the property and the payroll.
One customer clicked “Buy Now.” One charger shipped. But the money from that order touched a seller, six employees, half a dozen contractors, a steel fabricator, an electrical firm, a network of engineers, and soon a 30-person manufacturing operation. It paid rent in Fort Worth and funded construction in Arlington.
“If you’re not selling the product, you’re not going to hire the people,” Morgan said. “If we weren’t growing our sales on Amazon like we are, we wouldn’t be hiring, and honestly, we’d be looking for a smaller facility.”
Now multiply that ripple effect by every independent seller that sells in Amazon’s U.S. store. Oxford Economics found that sellers’ total economic impact is more than triple their direct impact.
To understand the real impact of these sellers, you have to follow the dollar. It doesn’t stop with the business. It moves to their suppliers, their workers, and into the communities where those people spend.
More than the sum of their parts
Beyond the store itself and its built-in benefits, such as payment processing and fraud protection, Amazon gives independent sellers access to additional optional services, including its logistics network and the ability to advertise within its store. Sellers report that this combination of valuable services increases their profit margins and overall sales. Without access to these benefits, sellers estimate that their gross margin would be around six percentage points lower on average, and their total sales would be lower as well.
These are small and medium-sized businesses that make products, hire neighbors, pay rent, and reinvest in growth. Collectively, that’s the more than $180 billion in economic impact in the U.S. that Oxford measured.
“What this data shows is that when small businesses sell in Amazon’s store, the economic benefits aren’t limited to a single business or a single place,” Warner said. “The economic benefits follow the sellers into the towns where they operate, the supply chains they buy from, and the local economies where their workers spend.”
*The full Oxford Economics white paper is available here.