Blair's Amazon Pulse, Sep 1 2023

Hello! Blair here.

Here are Amazon news highlights, insights, advice, and so much more—Straight to your inbox every week.

“Free” Shipping for Ten More Dollars!? 😲

Amazon is testing out raising the minimum order amount for non-Prime members to qualify for free shipping. It was $25 for the longest time but might shift to $35 soon. This change could encourage non-Prime members to make larger orders to meet the new minimum. Consider implementing different cross-selling, upselling, and bundling strategies to help customers get that free shipping. Link

The A+ Content Strategies I Use for Big Bucks… 💰

A+ Content on Amazon is so powerful. There’s so much more freedom in A+ Content than there is with the typical bullet points and listing images. I wrote a blog post about different cross-selling, branding, and conversion rate optimization strategies. All of these strategies are only made possible with A+ Content. Check out the post to learn these 3 strategies that I’ve kept to myself until just now. With the new free shipping minimum, you should definitely consider implementing my cross-selling strategy… Link

Important Update on SEO 🗣️

Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant are going to be operating on the same devices for the first time. The pair will launch with JBL’s new line of speakers, slated for release in September. Amazon representatives have stated that you can ask Google Assistant for help with finding a product, then ask Alexa to add that same product to your Amazon shopping cart. This update makes it more important than ever to optimize your Amazon listings for voice SEO. Link

FBA Sellers Shift to… Shopify? 🤔

Amazon and Shopify have announced a new “Buy with Prime” integration on Shopify’s platform. This is interesting because Amazon released Buy with Prime last year, and Shopify actually sued them! This feature would allow sellers who are opted into Amazon’s FBA program to offer Prime shipping to Shopify customers. Customers on your Shopify website will see a “Buy with Prime” button when checking out. This expands your customer base and could increase your sales, along with making things easier on both sellers and customers. Link

Percentage-Off Emails Can Help Increase Sales 📈

Registered brands can now email percentage-off promotional codes to their Amazon customers with the Manage Your Customer Engagement tool. This could help you target your audience with discounts that will urge them to buy. This could incentivize brand loyalty, close off open leads, and foster brand loyalty. Plus, customizable budgets make this feature easy to control! Link

Image Policy Update for Adult Content 🫣

Amazon has updated their policy on Adult DVDs, Books, Magazines, and Calendars. Listing images that feature sexual imagery are now prohibited. Your images should adhere to the new guidelines by September 27, 2023. If affected listings are not in line with the new policy, then they will be restricted in search or suppressed. Link

Huge Amazon Investment Group Goes Bankrupt 📉

Benitago, an investment group that acquires Amazon businesses, has filed for bankruptcy. This comes as a surprise as this happened less than two years after raising $325 million in funding. Bentiago plans to sell the IP rights to 15 brands and more than 300 products in an attempt to raise some money. One of their biggest competitors, Thrasio, saw both its co-founders, CFO, and many staff members either leave the company or get laid off in 2022. You might want to avoid selling your Amazon business to large corporations if you want to build a long-lasting brand. Link

That’s all for this week! Next week, I’ll have some more advice to share with you and the highlights from the news that every seller on Amazon needs to know.

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