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#140 - Amazon’s New 2024 Fee Structure, Fast Delivery Moat, and more

boxes on conveyor belt at amazon fulfillment center
Welcome to the latest edition of FBA Monthly – Issue #140! As we embark on this journey together, we invite you to explore new horizons and discover fresh opportunities for success in the world of Amazon selling. In Issue #140, we're diving deep into the ever-evolving landscape of e-commerce, equipping you with the insights, strategies, and tools you need to thrive. From navigating Amazon's algorithm updates to maximizing your advertising efforts, we've curated a wealth of knowledge to help you stay ahead of the curve.

Hot News

Amazon has launched its South African market, officially beginning operations in its first African country. With 3,000 pickup points, buyers will also enjoy free delivery on their first order. News of Amazon’s South Africa marketplace launch broke in early 2022, with February 2023 slated as the launch date. The company ramped up hiring throughout 2023 and announced an official launch date in October 2023.

marketplacepulse.com

If you’ve been selling on Amazon long enough, you know its fee structure frequently changes. But a recent update made a lot of Amazon sellers unhappy — especially two new Amazon FBA fees that include how much inventory you should have at a fulfillment center and how your products are sent to Amazon FBA. If you go through an Amazon seller-related forum or group, you’ll notice a lot of chatter about how Amazon’s new fee structure will negatively affect their business.

junglescout.com

After a return to form in 2023, Amazon reported better-than-expected results for the first quarter of 2024 as well. The e-commerce giant, that had struggled to live up to expectations in 2022, reported net profit of $10.4 billion on net sales of $143.3 billion for the three months ended March 31.

statista.com


Good to Know

Amazon.com Inc. grew sales in its fiscal Q1 ended March 31, 2024, and it did so with improved operational efficiency. Whereas Amazon net sales increased to $143.3 billion in its fiscal first quarter (up 13% from $127.4 billion in Q1 2023), its operating income more than tripled. Amazon operating income grew to $15.3 billion in Q1 2024 from $4.8 billion in Q1 2023.

digitalcommerce360.com

In November 2000 the Nasdaq was at the 6,000 mark, just starting to shed the internet companies that had been overvalued and would eventually lead to the bursting of the internet bubble. Amazon’s stock price at the time was $1.25. And in this environment, it launched an online experience for sole proprietorships and small businesses called Amazon Marketplace, which started as a destination for collectibles and rare items.

pymnts.com

Amazon is once again delaying a controversial new seller fee as the e-commerce behemoth looks to appease its hundreds of thousands of merchants after the original announcement sparked widespread outrage. On Wednesday evening, Amazon announced through its discussion forum for sellers that the company would be extending the grace period on its low-inventory fee for merchants.

modernretail.co

The company’s annual U.S. Small Business Empowerment Report, issued Tuesday (May 23), shows that 60% of sales on Amazon’s stores come from independent sellers, most of which are small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The report showed that these sellers sold 4.1 billion products last year, with sellers in rural areas seeing more than 40% year-over-year sales growth.

pymnts.com

Amazon Mexico launched in 2015, bringing a customer-centric approach to Mexico that has benefitted consumers through low prices, broad product selection, convenience, fast shipping, and more. We’ve also created opportunities for tens of thousands of Mexican small and medium-sized businesses to compete in retail. We’re proud of what we’ve done to provide value for our customers, sellers, and the Mexican economy, and want to continue innovating for them for years to come.

aboutamazon.com

While Amazon celebrates its small business partners every day, National Small Business Week gives us a special opportunity to honor them and demonstrate our steadfast commitment to their success. Twenty-four years ago, Amazon made the decision to open our store to independent sellers and to help them sell directly to customers.

aboutamazon.com

In a significant decision on personal jurisdiction in patent cases, the Federal Circuit held that using Amazon’s patent enforcement process (APEX) to target an alleged infringer’s listings can subject the patent owner to specific personal jurisdiction in the alleged infringer’s home state. SnapRays, LLC v. Lighting Def. Grp. LLC, No. 2023-1184 (Fed. Cir. May 2, 2024).

patentlyo.com

Jungle Scout, the leading Amazon intelligence platform for ecommerce sellers, announced the launch of Amazon Seller Week, a week-long virtual summit designed to empower entrepreneurs with the knowledge and strategies needed to thrive on the Amazon marketplace. “The ever-changing Amazon landscape demands constant learning for sellers to succeed,” says Greg Mercer, CEO and Founder of Jungle Scout.

junglescout.com

“We have been listening to seller feedback and working with our seller partner community to explain our updated fees, which are designed to more accurately reflect underlying input costs for Amazon and sellers, give sellers more choice for how they inbound their inventory to our sites, and ultimately help spread inventory across our fulfillment network so we can deliver products faster and increase sales for our selling partners,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement emailed to PYMNTS Thursday (May 9).

pymnts.com

Amazon and printer manufacturer Seiko Epson have filed a joint action against firms in Turkey and the UK which they claim sold counterfeit printer bottles and cartridges on the global online retailer's platform. A lawsuit launched in the US says the traders infringed registered trademarks of Seiko Epson Corporation and Epson America, while Amazon.com joined the lawsuit to "permanently prevent… defendants from causing future harm to Amazon's and Epson's customers, reputations, and intellectual property."

theregister.com

Late last year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), joined by seventeen state attorneys general, filed an antitrust suit against Amazon. The FTC’s legal theory, rooted in Section 2 of the Sherman Act and Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, is that Amazon is illegally attempting to monopolize the “Online Superstore Market” and the “Online Marketplace Services Market” and is using its alleged monopoly power to engage in “unfair methods of competition.”

fedsoc.org

Amazon’s same-day and next-day delivery is widening the gap between it and the rest of e-commerce. “In March, nearly 60% of Prime member orders arrived the same or next day across the top 60 largest U.S. metro areas,” wrote Doug Herrington, CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores, on Monday. That’s up from “more than half” in the second quarter of 2023 when the company last discussed the topic.

marketplacepulse.com

Earlier this year, the e-commerce giant rolled out changes to the fees its charges them — essentially shifting more of its operating costs onto the small businesses that account for most of the products sold on the site. Making matters worse for merchants, shoppers are trading down.

yahoo.com


Tips and Tricks

It’s that time of the year again when sellers should start preparing for the next big Amazon Prime Day. If you’ve been selling on Amazon for a while, you know how big of a deal Prime Day is! But you need to be sure you are prepared for the large influx of customer traffic. Continue reading to learn everything you need to know about Prime Day 2024, and how Amazon sellers can gear up.

junglescout.com

73% of Amazon sellers boast a profit margin exceeding 10%, and 35% go even further, achieving a remarkable margin surpassing 20%. These statistics show how Amazon is a global marketplace that helps brands reach a diverse and expansive audience. Yet, within this success lies a complex tapestry of challenges.

entrepreneur.com

Which products are Amazon best sellers this month? Are tried-and-true household staples filling shoppers’ carts, or are trending social media fads flying off Amazon’s virtual shelves? Does one Amazon product category rule all others? At Jungle Scout, we dive into Amazon product and category data to identify product opportunities and track ecommerce trends. This article dives into some of Amazon’s best sellers over the past 30 days and their changing product sales and revenue.

junglescout.com

Amazon Prime Day has grown into one of the biggest sales events of the year, with discounts rivaling those of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. With so many retailers selling on Amazon, Prime members can save on just about anything, from viral beauty products to new unlocked smartphones.

businessinsider.com

Want to know what Jungle Scout has been up to lately? Check out our Changelog, highlighting all of the new feature enhancements we’ve introduced over the past few weeks. And stay tuned for more improvements at the beginning of each month!

junglescout.com

Once you find a product you’d like to launch on Amazon, your next step is to find a reputable and reliable supplier. You can do it the old-fashioned way by doing a Google search or by scrolling through Alibaba, but efficient Amazon sellers are using the Jungle Scout Supplier Database. Our Supplier Database tool has recently gone through a few updates to make sure your search results are much more accurate — ensuring you find the best supplier for your product.

junglescout.com


Podcasts

Listen in as Grace Kopplin, a seasoned e-commerce expert with a marketing background and former Helium 10 blog writer, shares her journey from a Midwest upbringing to managing an Amazon team for a nine-figure e-commerce business. Grace’s initial forays into retail buying and planning led to her pivotal shift to the e-commerce arena. As she recounts her experience honing analytical skills as a business analyst, we get an inside look at the strategies driving profitability and sales growth on the ever-evolving Amazon platform.

helium10.com