Here is your midweek jetpack of Amazon seller news, updates, and other useful clicks for your e-commerce business…
Amazon’s “Turkey 5” Holiday Shopping Weekend Is Biggest Ever
Amazon recently announced it hit record-breaking sales during the five-day stretch that began on Thanksgiving Day and ended on Cyber Monday.
Full Amazon sales figures have yet to be released though.
Holiday Shopping Weekend Highlights:
- Best-selling categories were Home, Fashion, Toys, Beauty, and Amazon devices
- Small businesses had great support during the shopping weekend, with $1 billion in sales generated.
- Best-selling items on Amazon during the shopping weekend: Echo Dot, Fire TV Stick, and Apple Air Pods.
- Top Sellers during the shopping weekend: Hasbro Gaming CONNECT 4, Champion apparel, New Balance apparel and shoes, Amazon Smart Plug, Echo Show, and Nintendo Switch
- Millions of Amazon devices were purchased, including Echo, Ring, Blink, Kindle, and Fire TV products.
- Top sellers from small businesses included games like What Do You Meme? Family Edition, Taco Vs Burrito – The Strategic Family Friendly Card Game, and Kids against Maturity: Card Game for Kids and Families.
So awesome to see that Amazon holiday sales are off to a roaring start.
Glitch Causes Black Friday Amazon Ads Reporting Outage, Costing Advertisers in Sales
This happened at the worst time possible.
Insider Intelligence reported that the Amazon Ads dashboard provided inaccurate information to advertisers last Black Friday.
According to a number of agencies, the issues started Friday afternoon, and by nighttime, Amazon reported that the spend for running ads advertisers were seeing was just about half of what they expected them to be. According to sources, the issue continued until Saturday.
This was really bad for advertisers as the data outage may have caused them to either overspend or underspend on their ads, leading to either lost advertising dollars or missed sales.
An Amazon spokesperson acknowledged the data outage issue and said that the problem was already resolved by Sunday.
Unfortunately, it is still unclear if advertisers will be given a refund for the advertising glitch that occurred. We can dream…
Amazon to Restrict Fur Product Sales in California
Starting January 1, 2023, Amazon will restrict the sale of fur products in California in compliance with the recently updated California Fish and Game Code. The new law, which defines “fur products” as any animal skin or part with hair, fleece, or fur fiber attached, whether in its raw or processed state, bans the manufacture, sale, trade, or distribution of fur products in the state of California, and applies to fur of all types from whatever source. Exemptions to the law include faux fur and fur products used for any activity expressly authorized by federal law.
Should you have affected ASINs, you will be contacted by Amazon 30 days ahead of January 1st via email. You may view the full announcement of the policy update here.
Can we expect totally unrelated products being flagged by Amazon soon?
A Better Way of Handling Account Suspensions?
Ed Rosenberg, founder of the Amazon Sellers Group, recently shared his thoughts on Linkedin on how Amazon should handle false positive account suspensions.
Here is a quick outline of Ed’s proposed scheme:
- Amazon and the suspended seller must both hire a panel of neutral arbitrators who will listen to both sides.
- Both parties will meet on Zoom within 24 hours to air out their respective sides.
- In the case that Amazon is not able to justify the suspension, the seller will be given his/her money back and his/her account will be fully reinstated.
- If the seller is proven guilty, no money will be returned, and the suspension will stand.
Hopefully Amazon listens to ideas like this to ensure that sellers are protected in the marketplace. While there’s a lot of cynicism surrounding Amazon’s recent moves like the AHA program, the seller experience does seem to be drastically improving.
Innovation and Sustainability: Here are the 5 Small-Business Winners of Amazon’s “Products for Tomorrow” Awards
Amazon has announced the winners of this summer’s “Products for Tomorrow” contest. This competition for small businesses aims to find the most innovative products in terms of design, materials, or chemistry that also promote sustainability.
The winners circle includes:
The winners will receive access to the Amazon Launchpad Program, a $20,000 grant, guidance and assistance with sustainability certifications, and product placement opportunities across Amazon’s online site, including the newly-launched “Products for Tomorrow Page”.
Congratulations to all the winners!
Other Quick Clicks
- Amazon best sellers and trending products in November 2022
- Newest model of Amazon delivery drone revealed
- Amazon’s quest for the ‘Holy Grail” of robotics
- Amazon is catching up to responsible AI, says Gartner analyst
- Amazon eyes cashier-less checkout for retail
Thank you for reading. If you have any questions, comments or violent reactions, let us know below!
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