Here is your midweek jetpack of Amazon seller news, updates, and other useful clicks for your e-commerce business…
2022 Consumer Behavior Report Stats
The 2022 Consumer Behavior Report from Feedvisor is out, and 87% of consumers visit Amazon first when they are ready to buy a new product. And, despite the slowdown in economic growth, US marketplace e-commerce sales are expected to hit $357.26 billion this year, making up a whopping 35% of the total online sales across the world.
To summarize and save you time, here are some more highlights:
- Inflation is the #1 influence on consumer purchasing behavior in 2022.
- 75% of buyers check pricing and product reviews on Amazon before making purchases.
- 52% visit Amazon daily or a few times per week.
- 48% reported an increase in online shopping over last year.
- 32% frequently purchase the first product listed on Amazon search results, up from 28% last year.
- 44% say they use voice assistants to make purchases.
- 52% have made purchases through social media. Of those purchases, 80% were Facebook, 45% Instagram, 19% TikTok, and 19% Snapchat.
- 50% have made a purchase from the beauty and personal care category because of a social media influencer.
- 58% shop for deals and discounts during Black Friday and Cyber Monday
- Nearly 33% of survey respondents reported using new technology enhancements such as augmented reality, flexible payment options and purchasing within games. Another 33% plans to use these in the future.
- 24% of shoppers currently use QR codes, and 30% anticipate using them soon.
Here is a chart from the report breaking down category sales online versus in-store:
Here are the category %’s that consumers search on Amazon:
Needless to say, if you are an Amazon marketplace or other e-commerce seller, you are in a great position. Read the full 41-page report here.
We include many of these categories in our Online Arbitrage Lead Lists available at FBALeadLists.com. Just hit reply to this email. We have a few recent openings.
Amazon Expands Community Lending Program with Lendistry to Support Small Business Growth
Amazon recently announced that through a partnership with Lendistry, a minority-led Community Development Financial Institution, it was further expanding its Amazon Community Lending Program to provide support to small businesses in socially and economically distressed communities.
Launched in 2021, the program has released over $35 million in loans to over 800 sellers and now aims to loan out $150 million more in the next three years to small businesses selling in the Amazon marketplace. Loans provided will range from $10,000 – $250,000. The program also gives small sellers access to supplementary business resources from Lendistry, Amazon Seller University and Amazon Small Business Academy.
A Powerful Read from an 8-Figure Seller / Ex-Amazon employee
As an Amazon seller, you’ve probably experienced frustrations from the notoriously inconsistent seller support system. Most sellers do, as a relationship with Amazon is like a steamy, passionate rollercoaster of love, hate, and attachment without the sexy-time.
Shinghi Detlefsen is an ex-Amazon employee and current 8-figure seller who has a mountain of experience with Amazon. A few days ago, he released a powerful article about: “How Amazon is evolving their relationship with Sellers to build the “greatest partnership story in the history of the retail industry.”
It’s an awesome read and breaks down the positive progress that Amazon is making to create a new loving relationship with its Sellers.
Maybe take a spin on the global radio and blast some jams while you read.
October 2022 Sales Tax Due Dates
Once again, nothing else is certain but death and taxes.
Make sure to kneel to the sales tax Gods on time to avoid penalties.
Click here to find your state (or states) and see your due dates for October.
If you’re having a tough time understanding your sales tax obligations as an Amazon FBA seller, check out this quick guide.
Managing sales tax compliance on your own can be quite a nightmare, so if you’re looking to simplify things to free up some mental energy, look into TaxJar – they offer a free trial and their customer support and user interface are great.
Amazon Policy Change: Unfulfillable Inventory to be Removed After 14 Days (Down from 30)
Starting October 14, Amazon will automatically remove unfulfillable inventory that has been in fulfillment centers for 14 days. Previously, the automatic removal applied to unfulfillable inventory that had been in fulfillment centers for 30 days. You can still submit removal orders for your unsellable products any time before the 14-day mark.
View the full announcement and community discussion here.
Check out Your Account Health Rating
Amazon rolled out a new Account Health Rating on October 3 which assigns you a score of 1 to 1,000 and indicates the health status of your seller account.
You can access your Account Health Rating by going to Performance > Account Health.
Here’s an interpretation of the scores assigned:
200 to 1,000 – Healthy
100 to 199 – At Risk of Deactivation
0 to 99 – Eligible to be Deactivated or Already Deactivated
Make sure you are taking care of your score by addressing issues impacting your Account Health. Strive to maintain a high score so that you can qualify for Account Health Assurance which prevents account suspensions for sellers with high Account Health Ratings.
Seller Learning Resources: Sourcing Tips and Updated Restricted Brands List
We found two great learning opportunities for sellers this week:
Full-Time FBA Podcast Episode 156
In this episode, Stephen of Full-Time FBA talks about sales rank, and how misinterpreting it can cause you to make bad and costly purchasing decisions when sourcing for products to resell.
The Most Complete Amazon Restricted Brands List 2022
In this blog post, Jessica Larrew of The Selling Family provides you with an up-to-date list of restricted brands on Amazon as well as other useful information on these brands.
Brand restrictions vary from account to account, so take the list with a grain of salt. If you get approval, there are great opportunities in restricted brands because of less competition.
Other Quick Clicks
- Amazon Flywheel business model in 2022
- Brooklyn is still the Amazon Seller capital
- Amazon boosts wages for hourly workers across the US
- Court dismisses antitrust suits against Amazon and book publishers
- Amazon’s robots are getting closer to replacing human hands
- Amazon’s robot oriented “Project Janus” replacing warehouse space
- Amazon has a new plan for for its home robot Astro: to guard your life
Thank you for reading. If you have any questions, comments or violent reactions, let us know below!
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