Every other week, we share quick bites of Amazon seller news, tips, and other goodies. Here is a quick roundup of seller snacks to munch on:
Amazon Trends and Predictions for 2025
Ecomclips recently shared their predictions on what 2025 was going to look like for Amazon sellers:
Prediction 1: AI Integration to Amazon FBA
Amazon launched five new AI tools along with Project Amelia in this year’s Accenture program. Two of the most talked about AI tools were Project Amelia, a powerful personal Amazon selling assistant, and its generative AI, which can quickly generate A+ content for your product listings.
On the shopper’s side, Amazon Rufus, Amazon’s AI-powered conversational shopping assistant, is now being more widely used by shoppers to make their holiday shopping experience faster and easier.
With Amazon working purposefully to fulfill CEO Andy Jassy’s vision, it’s expected that Amazon will further refine its existing AI tools and launch new ones that can help optimize product listings, manage seller data and inventory, and improve customer service in the coming year.
Prediction 2: More Data Available to Sellers
Amazon’s Brand Analytics was thoroughly reinforced this year, with new upgrades enabling sellers to get a much clearer view of customer behavior through detailed demographics and customer trends.
With this new data available, sellers can strategize more effectively regarding advertising and promotions, as well as tailor their product offerings according to their customers’ preferences.
Because the data Amazon offers is timely and authentic, it now poses significant competition to analytics service providers like Helium 10 and Jungle Scout.
Prediction 3: Increased Competition from Temu and Shein
With TikTok, Temu, and Shein nipping at Amazon’s heels, the tech and retail titan devised strategies to stymie the intensifying competition brought by these three ecommerce platforms this year.
First, instead of competing with TikTok, Amazon partnered up with the social commerce platform to reach new audiences, particularly Gen Z.
To compete with low-priced storefronts like Temu and Shein, Amazon launched Amazon Haul, a mobile shopping experience that offers very affordable prices for everyday products.
We can expect competition to further intensify next year, and it’s expected that Amazon will develop more initiatives to rise above its competition.
Prediction 4: New Amazon Fees
While Amazon announced that it would not increase FBA fees next year, it’s not really out of order to believe it will develop new fee increase strategies in 2025.
Amazon has already announced that Multi-Channel Fulfillment fees will increase next year, and recently, it has introduced new fees to run promotions for Prime Big Day Deals and coupons for big events.
So, there you go…
Prediction 5: More Advancements in Order Fulfillment
Amazon has been obsessed with improving its shipping and delivery times. From offering two-day delivery guarantees, it has improved delivery times to one-day and ultimately, to same-day delivery.
Amazon has done so by continuously refining its logistics strategies and utilizing the latest tech. Recently, it launched a new type of delivery drone that has double the range and half the noise of any of its predecessors and can deliver packages within an hour.
Prediction 6: PPC Advertising Becomes Inevitable
The writing has been on the wall for quite some time – Amazon has become a pay-to-play arena. SEO is no longer enough to guarantee effective product listing placement, and running promotional ads has become a must to get your listing in front of eyeballs.
Expect competition and demand for PPC to increase significantly next year.
Read the full article here.
Important Amazon Seller Updates Fo Yo’ Bad Self
Voice of the Customer Dashboard – New Features
The Voice of the Customer Dashboards has been updated with new features that can help you proactively monitor customer feedback:
- Return Rate – enables you to track your most returned items in the last 12 months.
- Star Ratings – shows your star ratings in one place so you can quickly identify areas for improvement.
Amazon has added seller-fulfilled customer insights on the Feedback Manager page on Seller Central. These insights show your performance on the following:
- Preventable contact rate
- Average contact response time
- Buyer dissatisfaction rate
You can now also compare your performance to top sellers through Feedback Manager.
These features will be available to all sellers in the coming weeks.
Added Option for Creating Discounts
Amazon has enabled a feature that allows you to set percent-off discounts with a minimum discounted price. This ensures that the percent-off amount does not result in prices that are unintentionally too low.
When you set a minimum discounted price, your discount is automatically deactivated if the regular offer price drops and the discounted price is lower than the set minimum discounted price.
Amazon will be adjusting some fees and providing new saving opportunities for supply chain costs:
- 10% Discount on AWD Storage Fees – Amazon will provide a 10% discount on your AWD storage fees if you maintain sufficient inventory levels via its new AWD Smart Storage option. Also, starting April 1, 2025, the AWD processing fee will be separated into inbound and outbound processing fees.
- MCD Outbound Transportation Fees to Become Distance-Based – this will be effective starting April 1, 2025, and will lower fees for shorter distances and increase fees for longer ones.
- 20% Off AWD Storage Fees and 10% Off AWD Transportation Fees from AWD to FBA – sellers who opt into Supply Chain by Amazon Managed Service will be eligible for these updated discounts, effective from April 1, 2025.
- MCF Fees to Increase by 3.5% on Average – this increase will be effective starting January 15, 2025. Standard delivery fees for items weighing less than 1 lb will be unchanged, and delivery fees for units exceeding 1 lb will vary depending on size and weight.
- Buy with Prime – No increase to Prime Service Fee and fees for some large standard-sized units to decrease. These changes will be effective on January 15, 2025.
Global FBA Inventory Report to be Retired
The Global FBA Inventory Report will be retired on December 27, 2024.
Alternatively, you may use the Amazon Warehousing and Distribution (AWD) Inventory Report. All SKU-level inventory information is available in this single report, providing real-time data about your AWD and FBA inventory.
Amazon Haul’s Impact on SMBs
With much fanfare, Amazon launched its own low-priced storefront last month, Amazon Haul. Designed to compete with other low-priced storefronts like Temu and Shein (both of which are making serious inroads into the US discount-store market), Amazon Haul utilizes the same direct-from-China shipping model Temu and Shein employ to counter its two biggest competitors currently.
But how does Amazon Haul affect small to medium-sized businesses?
Practical Ecommerce enumerated Haul’s possible effects:
- Haul can attract new shoppers to Amazon – according to Katie Moro, global director of managed service at Productsup, Haul can have a positive effect on sellers who offer low-ticket items as it helps price-conscious shoppers find their products more easily, helping them compete with sellers on Temu and Shein.
- Haul can be utilized for loss-leader strategies to acquire new customers – brands can utilize Haul’s high visibility to attract first-time buyers and expose them to the quality of their products by promoting “loss leaders,” which are products sold below cost to get sales and acquire new customers. Loss-leader strategies have proven effective in building customer relationships and promoting other products on a seller’s catalog.
- Haul will increase competition for private label and arbitrage sellers – private label sellers typically source their products from China. With nothing stopping their suppliers from selling directly on Haul, these private label sellers may see their sales severely affected by increased competition. Ecommerce drop shippers that utilize AliExpress-style arbitrage are in the same boat.
Of course, with Trump emphatically stating that he would be imposing new US tariffs, it would be interesting to see how this whole thing plays out.
Read the full article here.
Amazon to Integrate More Third-Party Apps
Amazon is beefing up its third-party app integrations.
Amazon recently announced that Intuit’s Quickbooks will become its preferred financial management solution and will be directly integrated into Amazon Seller Central. The Quickbooks integration will allow sellers to bring their existing Amazon data into Intuit’s AI-powered platform which will help them understand and optimize profitability, manage cash flow, access capital, and simplify taxes.
Additionally, Amazon Q, Amazon’s AI assistant for business users and developers, is getting a wide range of updates and can be integrated into third-party services such as Zoom, Asana, Miro, PagerDuty, Smartsheet, and other services in 2025. With these updates, Q Business has expanded its library to more than 50 actions it can perform.
Automation, baby. Things are starting to get wild.
OA News, Tips, & Tricks
Slash Your Tax Bill – 2024 may be winding down, but there’s still time to shrink your tax bill. Here are 10 things you can do right now to pay less taxes.
Beat Section 3: A Step-by-Step Guide – Chris Grant has had great success beating Section 3 account suspensions. Check out his step-by-step guide here.
Keepa Hidden Gems – Check out these five awesome but not commonly known Keepa features that can supercharge your product sourcing.
Find the Best Prep Center Near You – Streamlining your operations next year? Finding a prep center near you will be a crucial decision that can significantly impact your business. Here’s a great guide.
Understanding Product Value – Understanding product value is crucial for your OA business and helps you determine how factors like sales velocity and profitability directly impact your business. Here’s a great explanation.
This Week in Seller School
Blog Posts
- Amazon Fee Updates for 2025: What Sellers Need to Know by SellerEngine
- The Essential Year-End Accounting Checklist for Ecommerce Businesses by Crunch
- The Ultimate Guide to Seasonal Inventory Management by 8fig
- Optimize for Rufus by AZ Rank
Podcasts
- What to Do If a Seasonal Item Doesn’t Sell in Its Season by Full-Time FBA
Other Quick Clicks
- Amazon’s entry into auto sales signals major disruption in car-buying experience
- Why tech giants like Amazon may hesitate to adopt Bitcoin
- Amazon Australia eliminates single-use plastic in delivery
- Amazon’s top grocery moves in 2024
- TikTok woos Amazon sellers in spite of US ban threat
Every year, same wish….Happy Holidays, everyone!
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