Amazon Dominates in Search - for Stuff!

Of course, Amazon does not dominate all Internet search. That is a battle for Google and growing AI competition. We mean, Amazon dominates shopping searches, and being the search of choice is a lucrative position in either domain.

One important dimension of online shopping behavior is, where does a customer start the shopping “trip” for a given purchase? That point of entry has huge power to influence consumer behavior and ultimate purchases.

For over a decade, CIRP asked about this initial consumer decision in our quarterly survey of US Amazon customers. We look to see whether a customer started with an Internet search, mostly commonly at Google, with a search at another retailer’s website, such as Walmart.com or Target.com, or directly at Amazon.com itself. Amazon.com has a near-monopoly on these shopping starts.

In 2024, 90% of US Amazon customers began their shopping at Amazon.com (Chart 1). About 6% of Amazon customers began with a Google search, and fewer started at a competing retailer’s website.