Perhaps no other company defines this century’s digitized economy better than Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). By simply mentioning AMZN stock, the U.S. has a game-changing institution that’s the envy of the world. But with unprecedented dominance comes fierce criticism and opposition.
Especially in the current political environment, it’s become routine to blast the e-commerce giant as disruptive and exploitative. Even President Trump — a man who isn’t exactly popular — went on the offensive against AMZN stock.
Admittedly, many of these accusations have a ring of truth to them. But what’s also true is that the company has made genuine efforts to revitalize the broader economy. For instance, in its latest bid to bring one-day deliveries to Prime customers, Amazon is funding courier service entrepreneurs.
Here’s the rub: they’re asking AMZN employees to step up to the plate.
Essentially, management wants some of their workers to quit their jobs and become entrepreneurs. The idea here is that these business owners will grow a delivery fleet to serve only Amazon customers, streamlining a segment of a multi-billion dollar industry. Of course, with e-commerce representing a greater share of all retail sales, this is a viable operation.
To further incentivize volunteers, AMZN is offering a very generous offer: $10,000 to help with start-up costs, in addition to three-months’ pay. Not only will this move boost the Amazon stock price longer-term, it may finally ease PR pressure.
AMZN Employees Have Opportunity of a Lifetime
One of the best investments you could have made was to invest in Amazon stock early on. One meme circulating shows how $1,000 at the IPO would be worth $1.2 million today. Failing that, the next best choice is to partner with the company as it attempts to utterly dominate retail.
Given a choice, I’ll take the entrepreneurship offer over free shares of AMZN stock. Why? As a non-dividend paying growth name, you can’t do much with the equity. Shares will either move higher or lower. But with the delivery-service partnership, you have the ability to control their compensation.
Best of all, you don’t have to deal with office politics. Your success (or failure) is entirely dependent on you. I believe this is a pivotal reason why entrepreneurs are happier than employees. This happiness segues perfectly into my next point…
Partnership Offer Is a Great Deal for Amazon Stock
As a former employee of several large corporations, I’ve experienced private couriers like FedEx (NYSE:FDX) and United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS) from several angles. Generally speaking, the level of service varies by specific worker or business unit.
I’ve encountered delivery drivers who made it clear that they hated their jobs. And over time, I’ve noticed less-personable service as a retail customer. Nowadays, the “track my shipment” option that many couriers offer is totally useless because the estimated arrival time window is too big.
Most likely, that will change with a dedicated delivery network, eventually driving up the Amazon stock price. I say this because business owners, not employees, will handle the one-day delivery services. If a problem pops up, the managers of that particular route have every incentive to resolve it. If not, the entire business suffers.
Because personal pride and reputation is associated with each Prime shipment, I think you’ll see better-than-expected performances. You can’t say that about FedEx or UPS because each cog is tied to a bigger one. Therefore, on the delivery end, you don’t find much motivation for operational excellence. This is an underappreciated tailwind for AMZN stock.
AMZN Stock Can Finally Shed Its PR Controversies
As I mentioned earlier, Amazon stock carries with it many controversies. Primarily, CEO and founder Jeff Bezos has disrupted the retail sector so much that several malls have simply collapsed. In those failures, however, lie terrible human tragedies.
In addition, high-profile politicians and social advocates have accused Amazon of being tone deaf. The uproar was so great that ultimately, AOC upended HQ2 in NYC. Plus, you have Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang calling out the company for not paying federal taxes.
But with the delivery-partnership program, AMZN can finally attract positive attention. That’s because this program is an immediate job creator. True, Amazon has automated thousands of jobs into oblivion. But this partnership opportunity rewards those with a visionary spirit. In turn, these folks can grow their businesses in their communities, sparking a hiring surge.
It also does away with the notion that Amazon stock is merely a consumptive entity. This bold strategy levers an accretive effect on communities impacted by either automation or disruption. At the very least, the move forces a nuanced discussion of big business in the 21st century.
As of this writing, Josh Enomoto did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
