Personalized Amazon mailer - Are they worried about joining the ranks of three former retailing behemoths?

Say what you will, but I am one of those people who look at almost every piece of mail, especially during election season. One piece in the mailbox this week from Amazon caught my attention. 

The mailer was headlined with "60% of sales on Amazon come from independent sellers, growing their businesses across America." The front side (see images below) featured three bullet points promoting the economic benefits of Amazon through its independent retailers, and the back side showcased three woman-owned businesses.

It was clear Amazon was promoting its "service" as a marketplace for small businesses. As politicians constantly remind us, small businesses are the lifeblood of the American economy, although policies favor big businesses often at their expense.

Nonetheless, why did Amazon send this personalized mailer? I figured there were a few reasons.

Foremost, neither my spouse nor I have ordered anything from Amazon since last November. Not that we were big spenders on the platform - mostly ordering hard-to-locate food specialty items - but we went from about a dozen orders in 2024 to nothing.

Also, like other families, given the economic certainty of the Trump tariffs, we are watching discretionary purchases. This could be a simple reminder beyond the dozens of emails we receive. 

But there was another reason we curtailed our purchases. It was because of the actions of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.

Our family was dismayed by Bezos' actions, which included a significant donation to the Trump inauguration and the $40 million given to Mrs. Trump to produce a "documentary." More critically, after subscribing to the Bezos-owned Washington Post for almost 10 years, we canceled last November following Bezos' kowtowing to Trump and changes in editorial page management.

Our rationale was that we would not spend our money with the Amazon organization due to Bezos's actions, and we would likely not renew our Prime subscription. For months, we hadn't watched Amazon Prime, but last weekend, a friend recommended a movie, although the inactivity was partly due to Netflix's superior programming. 

We are under no illusion the loss of our business will affect their bottom line. But it made us wonder, was this personalized mailer an appeal to customers whose Amazon algorithms, combined with our Washington Post calculation, were making a political statement against their business? 

Are there other customers who are being targeted similarly?

As noted, we are under no illusion that we will affect their business, and there may come a time when we need to order from Amazon. But there is one more thing to consider.

Following World War II, the three most prominent American retailers, in chronological order, were Montgomery Ward, Sears Roebuck, and Kmart, and all three are now defunct. Amazon isn't going away for the balance of my lifetime, but someday, it could be in the litter can with those three former retailing giants.