If there is anyone or anything that has benefitted from the coronavirus pandemic, it is Amazon along with its CEO and founder Jeff Bezos. During the first quarter, the e-commerce and cloud computing giant’s overall revenue rose to $75.4 billion, 26 percent up compared to the same period last year. According to a Billionaires Bonanza 2020 report, Bezos, who is already the world’s richest person, has increased his wealth during the pandemic by $25 billion due to the rise of Amazon’s shares. The 56-year-old has surpassed other billionaires, whose wealth has also grown during the pandemic.
"Three words: point of sale. Amazon solves the problem of where you buy. Instead of everyone meeting in one central location, your home becomes the store. Under normal circumstances, online shopping is a matter of convenience. Because of coronavirus, it’s a matter of necessity. You interact with at most one person (the delivery man) before receiving your online purchase", said Scott Galloway, a professor of marketing at NYU's Stern School of Business, commenting on Amazon’s success.
Galloway noted that Amazon is not the sole winner and that the entire e-commerce industry has benefitted from the pandemic.
"Other companies that haven’t been successful are all of a sudden performing well. From May 2019 to March this year, Wayfair’s stock price dropped 83%. Since then it’s up 358%. The same story holds true for other ecommerce platforms like Alibaba and Overstock. It all comes down to a widespread, democratic point of sale”, Galloway said.
Dr Thorsten Polleit, chief economist at Degussa and an investment adviser, agreed that under the current circumstances, people are better off with Amazon than without it, but notes that lockdown measures introduced by authorities worldwide in order to stop the spread of the disease have "far reaching consequences".
"The market tells us that people consider Amazon a truly great business. No doubt, the firm’s great success is the result of people voluntarily demanding its services. Of course, the policy of governments dictating a 'lockdown' has far reaching consequences – for it creates winners and losers. Many business models and employees suffer heavily – think of small book shops, electronic shops etc." Polleit said.