The program allowed Amazon customers signing up for the service to allocate 0.5% of their eligible purchases to be donated to their favorite cause.
“In 2013, we launched AmazonSmile to make it review film for customers to support their favorite charities,” Amazon told participants in a recent email. “However, after almost a decade, the program has not grown to create the impact that we had originally hoped.
“With so many eligible organizations — more than 1 million globally — our ability to have an impact was often spread too thin,” Amazon said.
AmazonSmile donated more than $400 million to participating nonprofits between 2013 and the end of 2022, the company said.
In ending the program, Amazon said it will provide charities that have been part of AmazonSmile a one-time donation equivalent to three months of what they earned in 2022 through the program.
The retailer said it will continue providing direct philanthropic support for a variety of causes, including building affordable housing, providing access to computer-science education for students in underserved communities and using its technology and logistics infrastructure to help those affected by natural disasters.
The program comes to an end as Amazon said earlier this month that it would lay off more than 18,000 employees; it’s already decided to cut 2,300 in the Puget Sound region.
On Monday, the company said it will start adding a delivery fee for its Amazon Fresh grocery delivery business, charging Amazon Prime members between $3.95 and $9.95 for orders under $150.
The company is also reducing real estate space by letting a lease in downtown Seattle lapse and shutting down an Amazon Fresh Pickup location in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood.
