Amazon’s CEO says the company can weather challenges from tariffs because of how big it is

In Amazon’s Q1 2025 net call, CEO Andy Jassy touched connected the imaginable interaction of the Trump administration’s tariffs, and helium seems to deliberation that Amazon won’t beryllium affected excessively harshly.

People are “buying a batch of their mundane essentials astatine Amazon” and the institution has “extremely ample selections” and “hundreds of millions of SKUs,” Jassy says, which means that “we’re often capable to upwind challenging conditions amended than others.”

While “none of america knows precisely wherever tariffs volition settee oregon when,” Jassy says that “we haven’t seen immoderate attenuation of request yet.” The institution has besides seen “some heightened buying successful definite categories that whitethorn bespeak stocking up successful beforehand of immoderate imaginable tariff impact.” And, according to Jassy, the “company hasn’t seen “the mean selling terms of retail items appreciably spell up yet” and that “most sellers conscionable haven’t changed pricing yet.”

Here’s Jassy’s afloat connection connected tariffs from his opening net remarks.

I thought I’d stock a fewer thoughts connected the imaginable of heightened tariffs connected our stores business. Obviously, nary of america knows precisely wherever tariffs volition settee oregon when. We haven’t seen immoderate attenuation of request yet. To immoderate extent, we’ve seen immoderate heightened buying successful definite categories that whitethorn bespeak stocking up successful beforehand of immoderate imaginable tariff impact.

We besides person not seen the mean selling terms of retail items appreciably spell up yet. Some of this reflects immoderate guardant buying we did successful our archetypal enactment selling, but immoderate of that reflects immoderate precocious inbounding our 3rd enactment sellers person done. But a just magnitude of this is that astir sellers conscionable haven’t changed pricing yet. Again, this could change, depending connected wherever tariffs settle.

Amazon is not uniquely susceptible to tariffs, arsenic it relates to China, retailers who aren’t flying straight from China are typically buying from companies who themselves are buying from China, marking these items up, rebranding, and selling to US consumers. These retailers are buying the merchandise astatine a higher terms than Chinese sellers selling straight to US consumers successful our marketplace, truthful the full tariff volition beryllium higher for these retailers than for China nonstop sellers.

It’s besides sometimes casual to hide what Amazon sells. We’re not mostly selling precocious mean selling terms items, though we surely merchantability a bunch. In the archetypal quarter, our mundane essentials grew much than doubly arsenic accelerated arsenic the remainder of our business, and represented 1 retired of each 3 units sold successful the US connected Amazon. Even if you exclude Whole Foods Market and Amazon Fresh, Amazon is 1 of the largest grocers successful the US with implicit $100 cardinal successful gross income past year. People are buying a batch of their mundane essentials astatine Amazon.

We besides person highly ample selections, hundreds of millions of unsocial SKUs, which means we’re often capable to upwind challenging conditions amended than others. When determination are periods of discontinuity, substantial, unexpected merchandise trends emerge. Think astir the pandemic, erstwhile items similar masks and sanitizer became large sellers. When you person the broadest enactment similar we do, and 2 cardinal positive planetary sellers similar we do, you’re amended positioned to assistance customers find immoderate items substance to them and little terms points than elsewhere.

Finally, erstwhile determination are uncertain environments, customers thin to take the supplier they spot most. Given our truly wide selection, debased pricing, and speedy delivery, we person emerged from these uncertain arrows with much comparative marketplace conception stock than we started, and amended acceptable up for the future. I’m optimistic this could hap again.