Amazon CFO says major news events cause big disruption in consumer spending

Amazon’s Chief Financial Officer has claimed the ongoing turbulent news cycle, including major global events such as the US presidential election and the Paris Olympics, has been disrupting consumer spending patterns.

Brian Olsavsky confirmed earlier suspicions during a call with reporters, telling Axios “high-profile” news like last month’s attempted assassination see consumer attention become redirected.

Consequentially, when major news events occur, consumers are less likely to spend, affecting “probably most companies” that sell goods or services.

Consumers are affected by major news

Olsavsky noted while some purchases are simply deferred, others could be entirely lost – potentially a comment that relates to consumer impulse purchases, largely guided by online advertising.

The company’s second-quarter earnings report included a revenue forecast for the current quarter that fell short of expectations, with Olsavsky indicating that the Olympics could be to blame.

Moreover, the lasting effects of the pandemic on global economies are continuing to translate to reduced spend. Although the ecommerce platform continues to attract online shoppers, customers are tending to opt for cheaper alternatives.

Jassy added: “Our North America unit growth is meaningfully outpacing our sales growth because our continued work on [low] prices and deliveries resonated.”

Amazon revenue was up 10% to $148.0 billion, however the growth was largely driven by its cloud computing business and related AI products. AWS revenue increased by 19% year-over-year to $26.3 billion, which means that the business accounts for 17.7% of the total revenue.

Despite the challenges posed by major news events on the industry, armed with the information, Amazon can now introduce strategies to combat dips in sales in order to strengthen consistency in revenue.

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