First-Party Retail Has Key Advantages Over Third-Party In Supply-Constrained Situations
Marketplaces don't have the advantage in all categories, and in every type of economic situation.
This can be particularly true in uneven and uncertain times. Here are a few thoughts on the topic:
1 - In times where demand surges and there are shortages, marketplaces are good at finding the right price. That's good for collectibles, but not for consumables.
In consumables, that's called price gouging.
2 - Marketplaces are outstanding at wide and shallow selection. Deep selection is not its forte, particularly in areas where there are only a few main suppliers of items in the first place. (think: paper towels, wipes, test kits)
In any kind of uneven economic recovery in the next two years, there is going to be unexpected demand surges, supply shortages, etc.
The organizations with the highest buying power and distribution are often strong first-party retail businesses, not strong third-party retail businesses.
If you are the average Amazon marketplace seller, this may not affect you in particular.
However, in these kinds of supply-constrained situations, this gives Walmart and Target tailwinds, in addition to Amazon's first-party business.
This explains the trend I am hearing broadly from sellers that Amazon is backing off telling some suppliers to move to third-party (whereas 3 years ago everyone was talking about unifying 1P and 3P and kicking all but 5% of vendors off 1P).
