Tag: Amazon

MarketPlace information specific to Amazon strategies, Zshops, listings and more….

2023 Amazon Small Business Empowerment Report – Growth for Sellers

Amazon small business empowerment report

Amazon has published its annual U.S. Amazon Small Business Empowerment Report, highlighting the company’s commitment to supporting small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) through investments, innovations, and strategic initiatives. In addition, the report showcases how Amazon’s collaboration with independent sellers has led to increased product sales, job creation, and expanded global reach.   Currently, more than 60% of sales on Amazon’s platform come from independent sellers, predominantly SMBs, conveniently providing consumers with an extensive range of products at competitive prices. This data highlights the enduring partnership between SMBs and Amazon, illustrating the resilience of entrepreneurs who thrive despite challenging economic conditions.  Remarkable Growth  According to the Amazon Small Business Empowerment Report, independent sellers on Amazon’s U.S. platform achieved remarkable growth in 2022,… Read more »

eBay Alternatives – Where to Sell in 2023

eBay Alternatives

  As the number of online marketplaces increases, are there any real eBay alternatives? The obvious one is Amazon, and many merchants on eBay also sell on Amazon, but beyond these two, what then? Let’s take a look at the stats of sales on online marketplaces other than these big two and see what, if any, viable eBay alternatives there are:   eBay Alternatives Comparison Table   Site  Third Party Merchandise Value Country Category  eBay 73.9 billion US$ Global General  Walmart 33    billion US$ US General  Houzz 14     billion US$ US Home Décor and DIY Etsy 11.8  billion US$ Global Arts, Crafts, Vintage OnBuy 229  million US$ UK General  Bonanza 185  million US$ US General  Newegg Not disclosed US General but… Read more »

Amazon’s European Expansion Accelerator (EEA) Helps Retailers List and Sell Across UK and EU

Amazon European Expansion

Amazon has launched a new program called the European Expansion Accelerator (EEA), which streamlines the process of selling across Amazon’s nine European sites. With just a few clicks, sellers can easily list their products in all of Amazon’s European and UK stores, providing customers with access to millions of products. The EEA is a free service accessible to all professional Amazon selling partners who already have a presence in at least one of Amazon’s European stores, including France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Belgium, and the UK. Identify New Markets By connecting standalone Amazon tools, EEA eliminates the need for sellers to navigate different tools separately, reducing the time and effort required to expand their business. This streamlined… Read more »

Amazon Fights Back Against Counterfeit Products

Amazon Counterfeit Products

Amazon has recently announced its latest advancements in counterfeit prevention for customers, brands, and selling partners with the publication of its third annual Brand Protection Report. This new report aims to further strengthen Amazon’s anti-counterfeit measures to provide a safer and more trustworthy shopping experience for all. Counterfeiting is a global problem that harms legitimate businesses and puts consumers at risk. According to the International Chamber of Commerce, the global economic value of counterfeiting and piracy is estimated to cost $4.2 trillion. This is a significant threat to the economy, jobs, and public health and safety. Amazon Brand Protection Report The Amazon Brand Protection Report focuses on four key areas: Increasingly Deterring Bad Actors: Amazon’s robust seller verification, including connecting… Read more »

Is Amazon Clamping Down on Returns?

amazon returns

Amazon has started flagging up “frequently returned” products on its marketplace. The label is being rolled out to encourage consumers to carefully check item descriptions and product reviews before purchasing. In addition to reducing returns, the move will help consumers identify misleading product descriptions and poor-quality products. Amazon has a solid reputation for its free and no-quibble returns policy. However, in recent years, the eCommerce giant has also been fighting the scourge of fake reviews and counterfeit, low-quality, and deceptively marketed products. No matter how easy it is for consumers to return these products, it still represents a poor customer experience and accounts for significant costs and environmental impact. The Problem with Marketplace Buyers In many ways, Amazon is a… Read more »

Is Amazon Squeezing Its SMB Sellers Too Hard?

amazon fees

In the 25+ years I’ve worked in the eCommerce industry, I’ve met many busy fools. In the past, many of these sellers were burned by careless spending on paid search campaigns, mistaking the massive sales volume and associated turnover it generated for profit. It wasn’t until the end of the year that they realised they had destroyed any margin they had in a product for the sake of vanity metrics. However, today’s sellers are much more likely to complain that they are “working for Jeff Bezos” rather than running their own independent businesses. So the news that Amazon’s average cut of each sale surpassed 50% in 2022 will come as no surprise to many sellers. Amazon’s Increasing Cost of Sale… Read more »

BigCommerce Announces Integration for Amazon’s Buy with Prime

Buy with Prime

BigCommerce has announced in partnership with Amazon that it has launched the Buy with Prime app for BigCommerce, a new self-service integration for US merchants to easily enable Buy with Prime on their BigCommerce storefront. With shopping benefits that millions of Prime members know and trust, including fast, free shipping, Buy with Prime is shown to increase conversion by 25% on average. “With BigCommerce and Amazon’s Buy with Prime, merchants can now reach new high-intent shoppers, drive higher conversions by directly offering the Prime delivery promise on their storefront and remarket to these new shoppers to drive higher customer lifetime value,” said Sharon Gee, vice president of revenue growth and general manager of omnichannel at BigCommerce. “This integration is the… Read more »

Amazon Prime Air Drone Delivery Takes To The Skies in California and Texas

Nine years after Jeff Bezos first announced that Amazon would start fulfilling orders by drone, Prime Air has taken to the skies and delivered its first packages. While many people at the time (myself included) dismissed the idea as nothing more than a fantastic piece of PR. It just goes to show that you should never underestimate the determination of a man who turned an online bookstore based in his garage into a business currently valued at $875.5 billion. Amazon Drone Delivery Cautiously Takes Flight According to media reports, in the run-up to Christmas, Amazon dropped its first drone deliveries off in customers’ backyards in Lockeford, California and College Station, Texas. The packages were delivered using Amazon’s hexagonal MK27-2 delivery… Read more »

Amazon Bows to EU Pressure on Marketplace Seller Data and Access to Buy Box and Prime

Amazon EU

The European Commission has announced that commitments made by Amazon, addressing its use of non-public seller data and possible bias relating to access to its Buy Box and Prime programme, are to be made legally binding under EU antitrust rules. According to a recent press release, the Commission found that Amazon’s reliance on marketplace sellers’ non-public business data to calibrate its retail decisions distorted fair competition on its platform and prevented effective competition. It also concluded that Amazon’s rules and criteria for the Buy Box and Prime unduly favour its own retail business and marketplace sellers that use Amazon’s logistics and delivery services. How Did Amazon Comply? In relation to the Commission’s concerns about the online marketplaces use of non-public… Read more »

Amazon Announces Steep Multi-Channel Fulfilment (MCF) Fee Increase

Amazon MCF

For online retailers selling across multiple channels, including eBay, Amazon, BigCommerce, and Shopify, the opportunity to use a single third-party logistics (3PL) partner like Amazon’s Multi-Channel Fulfilment (MCF) makes perfect sense. At Frooition, we always remind sellers that they don’t make money stuffing envelopes. Because the cost of running a warehouse can be prohibitive, it’s nearly always better to entrust your fulfilment to a third-party operator who can take advantage of economies of scale. 3PL companies, including FBA, Orange Connex, and Huboo, can also help smooth out the challenges of selling across borders and managing returns. Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfilment (MCF) With its massive network of fulfilment centres and the opportunity to ship goods in unbranded packaging, Amazon’s MCF service is… Read more »