After starting their partnership only two short years ago, Amazon and Saks Global are ending their ecommerce arrangement. The partnership has been facing challenges for a while, following Saks filing for bankruptcy, and some luxury brands sold via Saks expressing concerns about the partnership.
Saks and Amazon End Partnership
According to a recent report, the partnership between Amazon and Saks Global, a luxury retail company, is ending. The working relationship between the pair of companies began back in 2024, when Amazon invested $475 million to help Saks acquire Neiman Marcus.
At that point, the companies entered into an agreement that would see Saks pay Amazon at least $900 million over eight years in order for Saks to be able to sell products on Amazon. However, only two years after this partnership started, it’s expected to end.
Why Did the Partnership End
There are a few potential reasons for this sudden split between the companies. First, there’s the fact that Saks Global filed for bankruptcy back in mid-January and is undergoing restructuring. This could have put some strain on the partnership and left Amazon with a lot of uncertainty about the future.
Comments by Amazon’s lawyer in court also seem to paint a picture that the relationship had become strained recently. At a recent hearing, this Amazon lawyer argued that Saks improperly pledged the company’s Fifth Avenue property as collateral for a $1.75 billion loan to keep the company operating.
The lawyer added that this property was already collateral for Saks’ deal with Amazon to guarantee the payments that Saks was supposed to make to Amazon throughout the agreement. This has the potential to turn into a major dispute and court battle that may push an already-sour partnership over the edge.
The partnership has also been facing some pushback from many of the luxury brands that sell through Saks, which were unhappy with their products being sold on a mass market website and platform, and felt that it would dilute their brands.
Also, a source recently said that Saks wants to wind down its “Saks on Amazon” storefront in order to focus on parts of the business that it sees as having more growth potential. They also added that this Saks on Amazon storefront saw limited brand participation, and that the company feels it’s better to simply drive more traffic to Saks own ecommerce site.
What Does the Future Hold?
With this short-lived partnership potentially coming to an end, what does the future look like for each organization? Well, Amazon has been in the news a lot recently for many upcoming changes that it’s making.
First, in early-December 2025, it was revealed that the company may cut ties with the United States Postal Service (USPS) after more than 30 years of working together once the current contract expires.
It also recently announced that it was cutting around 16,000 jobs, and also revealed that it was closing Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go stores, to instead put more focus and investment into online grocery ordering and delivery, as well as the Whole Foods Market brand.
As for Saks, the company is navigating a bankruptcy and is planning to shut down most of its off-price channels and operations, and instead focus on luxury and full-price retail going forward.
While this partnership is ending quicker than either company expected, I believe it makes sense on both sides. I understand Saks wanting to drive traffic to its own ecommerce sites and do right by its luxury brands that don’t want to dilute their offerings.
The split also makes sense for Amazon, as the bankruptcy and issues revolving around the collateral certainly add a lot of uncertainty and risk to the arrangement. It also gives the company the ability to rethink its approach and entry into the luxury market.
