It’s time to move forward and appreciate what Amazon has created

People need to give Amazon a break, according to former employee and supply chain consultant Brittain Ladd.

The e-commerce giant is never far from controversy, and has come under intense fire during the coronavirus outbreak.

The GMB union has, for instance, claimed that Amazon UK employees are ‘petrified’ of being infected by COVID-19 after working in packed warehouses, without hand sanitiser or personal protection equipment.

“It never ceases to amaze me how much the media likes to bash Jeff Bezos and Amazon. When I joined the company, I learned the secret of Amazon’s success,” Ladd said in a LinkedIn post.

This includes intelligent and visionary executives who think big, an encouragement to challenge the status quo (shape the future by creating new business models and demand), a focus on customers and creating the most capable supply chain out there and a day one mentality (never let down your guard or you become irrelevant).

“Amazon didn’t cheat to become successful, it outsmarted everyone else. More importantly, it outworked everyone else. Case in point, it has the least amount of grocery experience yet it is the leader in innovation within the grocery industry,” Ladd commented.

Macy’s, JC Penney, Kohl’s, Gap and many other retailers are failing because their executives made bad decisions, he argued. “Don’t blame Amazon. Also, and this is key, it succeeds because consumers love what it has to offer. It’s time to appreciate what Amazon has created. It’s time to embrace moving forward, and not holding on to the past,” Ladd concluded.