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Amazon would really like a peek at your Target receipts, all in the name of refining its ad business. The goal is improved micro-targeting -- if Amazon can figure out what people are not buying on Amazon, for instance, it can serve them ads for Amazon products that they might not think to buy online. What's more, Amazon is collecting all this data in order to learn what kinds of purchases it has yet to monopolize.
More than ever, Amazon sellers are having to trust their guts when it comes to producing inventory and completing Amazon orders during the holiday season. From capitalizing on fourth quarter traffic, to making up for the pandemic-related fulfillment blockage, this year poses a whole new set of challenges for the e-commerce giants' merchants.
Lawyers and other experts who specialize in seller suspensions say that a recent wave of suspensions was among Amazon’s biggest. Craig Gedey, whose firm Thompson and Holt advises suspended sellers, told Modern Retail, “It’s the busiest weekend we’ve had all year.” But the mass suspensions represent a familiar pattern for Amazon -- whenever the company tweaks its algorithm, often without warning, sellers find their livelihoods on ice overnight.
Livestream shopping has taken off abroad, but Amazon has struggled to replicate that success on its own platform. So the company is trying a new way to promote its Amazon Live platform: Recruit micro-influencers. The program is still small, but participants say that it has the potential to bring a more social-media-like experience to buying on Amazon.
On Thursday, after the annual two day event, Amazon reported that third-party sellers exceeded $3.5 billion in sales during the promotional event, which was 60% higher than the year before. But the company was mum about some other key details it usually divulges. Meanwhile, other retailers like Walmart and Target tried to make their own promotions to bring Prime Day traffic to their own websites. Put together, with the little data that's been released thus far, we can see that the big retail leaders are scrambling as they try to get through the fourth quarter.
Prime Day is a big sales day for Amazon. While the company doesn't disclose exact revenue figures, the e-commerce giant said that Prime Day sales last year were higher than the last Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. But Amazon's goal on Prime Day isn't just to get people to buy more physical product. It's also to encourage more people to buy Amazon Prime memberships, and to get the companies that sell on Amazon to spend more on advertising. And that's evidenced by the way that the company encourages Amazon agencies to prepare for Prime Day, by getting their clients to spend more on advertising.
Amazon has a new carrot to dangle in front of struggling retailers. On Tuesday, the e-commerce giant announced a new point of sale solution that it is calling Amazon One. The device allows customers to pay without ever having to take out their phone or credit card, instead paying by placing their palm over a scanning device. But retailers have also become increasingly wary of using Amazon's technology.
The countdown has begun for sellers: after a months-long delay, Amazon has officially announced a new date for Prime Day. Amazon's annual sales event will now be held on October 13-14. On the one hand, some sellers are hoping that more customers will use Prime Day to do their holiday shopping, and allow them to capture a greater share of sales than they would have if the event was once again held in July. But, others are concerned that more shoppers will decide to just wait a few more weeks, in the hopes of getting better deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
As one of the brand founders who've vowed to stay away from Amazon over the years, Camille Rose's Janell Stephens had a change of heart when the pandemic hit. In the past year, she went from attempting to stop second-hand product sales on the site to opening an official Amazon store. Speaking to Modern Retail, the haircare brand's founder and CEO discussed the divisive channel's addition to the company's retail expansion.
Amazon’s long-rumored luxury platform, now known as Luxury Stores, finally launched on Tuesday after months of speculation. Amazon’s main appeal to brands is its scale, but out of the gate, the platform doesn’t make much use of its 112 million Prime members. Luxury Stores is launching with only one brand, Oscar de la Renta, and is invite-only, with the first round of invites going out yesterday. The small scale, single brand, small selection and invite-only model mean that Luxury Stores' potential to drive sales is limited.
While Amazon has yet to confirm the surprise date, Prime Day will reportedly take place sometime in October. That's only weeks before the holiday season kicks off, including the supposedly canceled brick and mortar version of Black Friday. That's culminated in sellers being encouraged to prepare inventory and marketing strategies as the event approaches.
Pramila Jayapal, a Democratic Congress member from Washington, is not the most obvious candidate for Amazon’s adversary in Congress. But at a recent hearing, she took Jeff Bezos to task. Over the last few years, she's changed the she's dealt with the e-commerce giant as it's become more and more powerful.
Amazon saw huge profits in its most recent earnings report. This comes even after the company say three months earlier it would likely spend all of its current profits on coronavirus-related costs. Even so, the company saw record sales and continues to skyrocket. But tensions with third-party sellers still remain a pressure point.
Walmart is reportedly planning to launch a new membership program this month. Called Walmart+, it will reportedly cost $98 a year and offer fast home delivery and other perks. Those other perks -- as well as the price tag -- are where Walmart is trying to differentiate itself from Amazon. But the question still remains whether or not it will be enough to compete with the 800-pound gorilla.
Amazon long-running goal to dominate fashion is seeing a new attempt during the pandemic. With the electronics-focused Prime Day still months away, the "Big Style Sale" could provide a much-needed stimulus for sellers whose categories suffered throughout the quarantine.
New research finds that most millennial and Gen Z consumers would be willing to pay more for sustainable fashion and beauty products.
Expect to see fewer handbags in Kohl's stores in the future, and more laundry detergent and yoga pants. On Monday, Kohl's announced that it would be testing out a new shop-in-shop called the Wellness Market, which will carry products like vitamins, dish soap, baby wipes from brands including Seventh Generation and the Honest Company. It's part of the new strategic framework Kohl's announced last week, in which the department store chain said its focus going forward is to be the leading retailer for shoppers looking for products to support an active and casual lifestyle.
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