75% of Amazon Shoppers Are Women, and the Retailer Boasts a 99% Repeat Rate: Can Amazon Continue To Grow?

A recent snapshot provided by Numerator took stock of Amazon's current operations, bringing several interesting facts into the broader conversation about the state of today's retail business.

A few of the findings, concisely delivered:

• Women comprise 75% of Amazon shoppers, and women are more likely than the average U.S. consumer to shop with Amazon (indexed at a score of 103, versus 100 baseline). Men are less likely to shop with Amazon under these terms, scoring at 92 on the index.
• Black or African American consumers represent 13% of Amazon shoppers, as do Hispanic or Latino consumers. Asian consumers represent 6%. All three of these demographics are less likely to shop at Amazon than the average American consumer, indexing at 96, 93, and 97, respectively.
• Baby boomers are the largest age cohort buying from Amazon, making up 33% of the company's consumers. Gen Xers and millennials aren't too far behind, though. However, baby boomers also indexed at a below-average likelihood (92) to purchase from Amazon, suggesting that while older Americans may represent a substantial number of Amazon-loyal shoppers in terms of raw numbers, the generation as a whole isn't necessarily driven to purchase from the retailer.
• Amazon exhibited a striking 99% repeat rate — customers who returned to purchase a second item or more — and showed an equally impressive household penetration rate of 86%.

E-Commerce Repeat Rate Averages 28%-30%, but Amazon Bucks the Trend in a Big Way

Numerator's data showing Amazon with a repeat rate of 99% is notable simply because the average e-commerce repeat rate is somewhere between 28% (per Metrilo) and 30% (according to Decile data, via Yahoo News). While logic may suggest that Amazon, as the largest e-commerce retailer in the world by a significant margin, is due to have higher-than-average numbers in this regard, a near-perfect score is certainly worth evaluation.

If Amazon is already capturing the hearts (and wallets) of faithful consumers, what can it do to address opportunities among demographics less likely to click "buy" on its online storefront? Men and people of color, in particular, all posted below-average index scores when it comes to shopping with the brand. And while middle-income shoppers and rural consumers (both indexed at 103) showed strength for the company, urban customers (indexed at 97) and lower-income consumers (indexed at 95) showed softer-than-usual support for Amazon.

For its part, Amazon has been investing in some forms of expansion, particularly via the launch of Amazon Haul — designed to compete with low-cost Chinese e-tailers such as Temu, SHEIN, and TikTok Shop — as well as industry-omnipresent AI tools, notably its incoming Alexa+ program. On the other hand, it is engaging in a significant trimming of corporate headcount (14,000 managerial positions), per NDTV World, as well as the discontinuation of "try before you buy" capabilities.