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#116 - Amazon Reverifying Sellers, ShipStation Fees Hike, and more

Amazon employee driving forklift in fulfilment center
Welcome to #116 edition of FBA Monthly, your go-to source for news, insights, and invaluable tips to help you navigate the dynamic world of Amazon selling. In this issue, we have curated a collection of updates and resources aimed at keeping you well-informed and ahead of the curve. Whether you're a seasoned seller or just starting out, we have something to enhance your understanding and optimize your selling strategy.

Hot News

Amazon is asking sellers to reverify their identity because of a new U.S. federal law. On June 27th, the FTC will start enforcing the INFORM Consumers Act to protect online shoppers from unknowingly purchasing counterfeit or stolen goods and stop criminals from exploiting anonymity on marketplaces. Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Walmart, and other marketplaces will be required to “collect, verify, and disclose certain information regarding high-volume third-party sellers of consumer products to inform consumers.”

marketplacepulse.com

Sellers were shocked at how much the cost of using shipping-software service ShipStation would be rising next month. They were further dismayed when they realized alternatives were also owned by Auctane and were raising their fees too.

ecommercebytes.com

Further extending AR capabilities, Amazon partnered with Hexa, the 3D visualization company, on Tuesday to let sellers create 3D images, immersive 360 visualizations, virtual try-ons and augmented reality content for their Amazon product pages, according to a company press release.

retaildive.com


Good to Know

Fifteen thousand sellers get more than 100,000 orders a year on the Amazon.com marketplace in the U.S. Those few sellers are responsible for nearly half of the marketplace’s hundreds of billions of dollars in sales. According to Marketplace Pulse research, 15,000 sellers had at least 100,000 orders in 2022, and 30,000 sellers had 50,000 or more (this includes sellers with 100,000 or more orders). These statistics do not include sellers from Amazon’s international marketplaces.

marketplacepulse.com

Athena Severi co-founded Titan Network, an Amazon-seller community, in 2019 with Dan Ashburn, a U.K.-based merchant. Before that, the pair launched China Magic for product sourcing. Titan Network hosts in-person events and offers workshops, mentoring, and collaboration. Severi and I recently discussed Titan, selling on Amazon, and more. The entire audio of our conversation is embedded below. The transcript is edited for length and clarity.

practicalecommerce.com

Amazon held a chat session on Tuesday where it answered questions from sellers who use its fulfillment service about a new requirement when sending inventory to Amazon FBA fulfillment centers called Send to Amazon Delivery Window.

ecommercebytes.com

A federal judge in Seattle ruled Thursday that Amazon and Apple will have to face an antitrust lawsuit accusing the two tech giants of inflating iPhone and iPad prices on Amazon’s e-commerce website—marking the latest lawsuit recently filed accusing Amazon of monopolistic practices.

forbes.com

Numerous Amazon sellers are worried or even panicked that their accounts are in jeopardy over a sometimes rocky verification process that's been ongoing since May, as evidenced on industry discussion boards.

ecommercebytes.com

Royal Mail and DPD will be joined by Evri as Amazon newest delivery partner amid the former’s struggle with a long-running worker dispute over pay and conditions. Evri will join the list of ‘Seller Fulfilled Prime’ businesses, which stock and process orders on Amazon’s behalf, often offering a next-day delivery service.

proactiveinvestors.co.uk

Recently, several news outlets shared Bill Gates' prediction that Amazon (AMZN -0.66%) could face its end if artificial intelligence (AI) continues to advance at its current pace. Gates implied that AI-powered personal assistants could eventually read people's minds well enough to replace the need to use online retailers, as these personal assistants will know what we need and complete shopping tasks on our behalf, such as ordering products and arranging delivery.

fool.com

The old adage “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is” came into play for some shoppers on Tuesday when they saw Amazon advertising a 20% discount code TELE20AB on many listings across the site.

ecommercebytes.com

Amazon accounts for an estimated 48% of U.S. retail spend compared to Walmart’s 7%, Amazon increased its share of ecommerce spend from 43.7% to 47.9%, Walmart rose from 5.7% to 6.7%. While Walmart continues to make the necessary investments in ecommerce to find its digital footing, Amazon still far outpaces its competition in sales.

supermarketnews.com

Amazon reminded sellers who offer their own branded merchandise about its Brand Story feature that allows them to add information about their businesses on their product detail pages, and it linked to a guide to learn more.

ecommercebytes.com

Online marketplaces have become a popular choice for online consumer shopping due to their convenience and ease of use, allowing people to shop from the comfort of their own homes. These marketplaces differ from traditional online retailers, making them all the more appealing to creative artists and entrepreneurs who can sell their products without incurring the costs of opening a physical store or building a website from scratch.

thomsonreuters.com

Last month, Amazon released their Brand Protection Report for 2022. Claiming to have invested over $1.2 billion and devoting 15,000 personnel to their brand protection initiatives, we look at some of the statistics and measures highlighting Amazon’s ongoing efforts to scale intellectual property (IP) protection and tackle the problem of counterfeits.

lexology.com


Tips and Tricks

On Prime Day, there’s a lot at stake for Amazon sellers, with more than 200 million paid Prime members globally. Last year, Prime members purchased more than 300 million items worldwide during Prime Day, a record, according to Amazon.Thirty-party marketing firm research forecasts that roughly two-thirds of Amazon Prime members will shop during the e-commerce sales event.

cnbc.com

Selling products on Amazon can be a lucrative venture, but ensuring maximum profitability requires careful planning and strategic decision-making. In this article, we’ll dive into two game-changing steps: Amazon fees calculation and price history analysis. We’ll explore how to do it effectively to optimize your profits on the Amazon marketplace.

roboticsandautomationnews.com

The e-commerce industry is rapidly growing, providing online customers with a variety of products catered to their interests at low prices and delivered conveniently to their homes. Through its Amazon Lending Programme, Amazon has begun to directly loan money to Amazon merchants in recent years.

startupguys.net

If you’ve been selling on Amazon for a while, you know how big of a deal Prime Day is for both buyers and sellers. Sixty-eight percent of consumers are likely to shop on Prime Day this year, according to Jungle Scout’s Consumer Trends Report survey data. If this is your first Prime Day as an Amazon seller, you must be sure you are prepared for the large influx of traffic.

junglescout.com

In the sprawling landscape of Amazon’s online marketplace, the competition is nothing short of cut-throat. To thrive here, a thorough understanding of your competitors is critical. But how exactly do you conduct this research of your competitors?

startup.info

In an era where online shoppers expect free shipping, retailers need to find more profitable shipping approaches, such as by changing packaging, negotiating with shipping carriers, changing shipping schedules or outsourcing fulfillment to a 3PL. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Nor — even though shoppers may wish otherwise — is there such a thing as free shipping.

digitalcommerce360.com

Cast your mind back to 2020 and it may conjure up memories of queues for groceries and mountains of parcels on doorsteps as people turned to delivery services for their non-essentials during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many were slow to resume in-store shopping after lockdowns ended. E-commerce boomed and retailers offering next-day deliveries with free returns became commonplace.

cips.org


Podcasts

In this episode, we discuss a HUGE mistake that Ecom sellers are making and how to fix it. We all know getting traffic is what all businesses need to drive sales and creating "the right" content can help tremendously.

buzzsprout.com

Today, we've got some former guests back on the show to talk about PPC tips, inspiring stories, and how her clothing brand got featured along the likes of Louis Vuitton.

helium10.com