Amazon Lays Off Members of Buy with Prime Team

CNBC reported that Amazon is laying off employees in the “Buy with Prime” unit, a program first announced in 2022 that lets merchants offer Prime benefits on their own off-Amazon stores. We asked Amazon if that indicated adoption was less than anticipated, and in the following statement it provided EcommerceBytes, it said the program continued to be a top priority:

“We regularly review the structure of our teams and make adjustments based on the needs of the business and, following a recent review, we’ve made the difficult decision to eliminate a small number of roles on our Buy with Prime team.

“Buy with Prime is a top priority for Amazon, with strong adoption from merchants and positive feedback from Prime members, and we’ll continue investing significant resources in Buy with Prime to build on that momentum. We’re grateful to these employees for their contributions, and we’re focused on supporting them in their next steps.”

As we previously reported, Amazon had a booth at the National Retail Federation’s “Retail’s Big Show” in New York dedicated to the Buy with Prime program.

CNBC said about 30 employees are being let go – fewer than 5% of staff in the unit. Note that Amazon is working with employees to help them find new positions within Amazon as well as giving them access to job-placement support, 60-day pay and benefits, and eligibility for a severance package.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.