“This Prime Day, it’s easier than ever for Prime members to discover and shop products from small business brands in Amazon’s store with the new Small Business Badge,” the $1.12 trillion online retailer says.
Banners for small business deals send consumers to Sena headsets and imarku knives made in Asia, and sold by multinational corporations, The Examiner found. Yet those items are labeled “This product is from a small business brand.” Critics say Amazon’s claims of helping small businesses on Prime Day are hollow. “It’s Amazon and large companies, not small local businesses, that benefit most from Prime Day. These so-called small local businesses are actually international companies,” Justin Kloczko, a tech advocate at the group Consumer Watchdog, told The Examiner.The badges were not the only confusion at Amazon related to small businesses the company said it is prioritizing.
Kakatimes is a brand of plastic toys also sold globally. The Kakatimes website was registered in China. The company did not immediately respond to requests for comment. “Amazon has offered us an absolutely invaluable platform for reaching an audience that as a standalone brand we never would have been able to reach,” Molly Hayward, co-founder of the women’s wellness brand Cora. “From our perspective, it's really provided a ton of benefit.”