Amazon Courts More Women Sellers

Amazon.com is making an effort to woo more women entrepreneurs to its online marketplace, which attracts 300 million shoppers from 185 countries, by emphasizing the company’s global reach and tools for efficiently building a budding business. The company made its appeal Tuesday at its first Women’s Entrepreneur Conference, which drew 300 e-commerce merchants to Amazon’s global headquarters in Seattle.

Total Retail's Take: Amazon is trying to tap into the high-growth segment of women-owned businesses —which are growing at five times the pace of business overall, according to the 2016 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, commissioned by American Express OPEN. And it makes sense for the online retailer on a couple of fronts. One, more sellers means more products, which equals more sales, of which Amazon takes its piece. And two, Amazon generates positive press for its efforts to better support women entrepreneurs. Call me a cynic, but I'd say point No. 1 is driving the initiative.