Businesses across multiple industries can no longer afford to ignore Amazon — and they aren't, according to a Quartz analysis.
For the analysis, Quartz reviewed how many times executives of public companies worldwide mentioned Amazon during phone calls and conference presentations. In 2018, this figure was more than 2,300 — a slight drop from 2017, when Amazon was mentioned in 2,402 conversations. In 2016, Amazon was only mentioned in 1,600 of the transcripts.
Amazon was mentioned in various contexts, whether a company was highlighting its work as a business partner or speaking of it as a competitor.
"The company — if company is even an adequate word to describe it — touches e-commerce, logistics, manufacturing, grocery, customer service, cloud services, hardware, robotics, artificial intelligence, the auto industry, the finance industry, real estate, healthcare and fashion, among other things," according to the analysis. "The corners of the economy that Amazon has yet to reach get fewer and farther between every day."
One of the industries Quartz noted a particular spike in "Amazon" mentions was healthcare. During the third and fourth quarters of 2017, "Amazon" eclipsed mentions of "emergency room" among healthcare executives.
As an example, Quartz included a quote from Susan DeVore, president and CEO of healthcare services provider Premier, who had discussed Amazon's potential role in healthcare during an earnings call in late 2017.
"Amazon could be both a competitor in some areas and a collaborator in others," she said.
To access Quartz's analysis, click here.