How Amazon Changed the Small Business Landscape

Last week, I had a great conversation with Amber Campbell about how Arnprior has changed over the years. We talked about the time the town pushed back against a proposed Walmart, largely due to small business outcry, and they won.

But decades later, a new kind of competitor arrived. One that didn’t need municipal approval. Didn’t require zoning changes. Didn’t need a building at all.

Amazon just...existed...and suddenly, it was everywhere.

Even cozy, community-focused towns like Almonte, where “shop local” is a lifestyle, aren’t immune to the convenience Amazon offers. That convenience is a force to be reckoned with:

- Amazon’s sales have grown around 11% annually over the past 5 years. ($630 billion, 2024)

- Canadian small businesses grow on average between 2% and 5.4% ($866 billion combined, 2024)

Amazon is on track to outpace every Canadian small business, combined. Local businesses, once protected by geography and regulation, are now forced into the global e-commerce arena. They're scrambling to build websites, offer delivery, and compete with something that appeared without notice.

There’s a bigger conversation to be had here about how we support local businesses. About how small shops adapt and maybe how local government should think differently about economic development in the age of invisible giants.