📦 The Order : Weekly Roundup - SellerX
Issue #113
Happy Sunday,
Here’s a quick roundup of last week’s news :
Chart of the week 📈
The Economic Times features Amazon’s journey in India in “Amazon shrugs off ups and downs in its decade-long India journey”
Spotlight on AI Opportunities 👀
As AI is making it’s way into more and more areas of merchant operations, Autopilot discovered are critical, yet underutilized asset. Across 7,000 brands the average bytes used of the search terms are 122 out of 250 available. This is for a critical asset that determines Amazon listing performance. Here’s a deep dive on how enables optimization at scale.
Movers & Shakers 💪
Consolidation #3 within 6 weeks and the deals are getting bigger: SellerX acquires US e-commerce roll-up rival Elevate Brands in an all-share deal, raises $64M+ [Techcrunch]
US: Ecommerce Aggregator Society Brands Acquires Wolf Tactical, a High-Performance Tactical Gear Company [PR Newswire]
Strategy 📈
As the INFORM Act in the US kick in later this month which seeks to protect online shoppers in the US, Amazon is reverifying its sellers [Marketplace Pulse]
“Smaller brands continue to feel pushed out of 1P as margins get squeezed” [Modern Retail]
Shopify's Shop app introduces a new 'Shop Cash' rewards program [Techcrunch]
A valuable guide for sellers looking to expand to Walmart: The 2023 Walmart Marketplace Playbook for Sellers [Walmart]
Amazon Prime vs. Walmart Plus: Comparing the benefits of each service [Business Insider]
Walmart gobbled up and spit out e-commerce brands like Bonobos and Moosejaw. Here's what happened to the retailer's jilted exes. [Business Insider]
A TikTok Shop exec breaks down the company's vision for the product and how it's wooing brands and creators [Business Insider]
AI-curated Top News 🤖
👋 ChatGPT & Bing are back to 📦 The Order
Amazon's Indian division is testing Amazon Pay as a checkout solution for in-person dining in the Bengaluru region. Diners at participating restaurants can pay their bill within the Amazon app using a credit or debit card, India's domestic payment scheme UPI, or one of several bank account-based payment options. This could potentially impact merchants operating in the food and beverage industry in India, especially in the Bengaluru region, as it could offer a new way for customers to pay for their meals1.
Amazon is reportedly in talks with several wireless carriers, including Verizon, Dish, and T-Mobile, about the possibility of launching a low-cost mobile service for Prime members. The company is exploring the possibility of reselling these carriers' mobile services to its Prime members at a low cost, potentially even free. It's worth noting that Amazon has stated they don't currently have plans to add wireless services. If Amazon does proceed with this plan, it could potentially increase the number of Amazon Prime subscribers, which may in turn impact the customer base of Amazon merchants. However, it's important to note that this is still under discussion and may take several months to materialize, if at all2.
Amazon is continually looking for ways to attract more Prime members as it faces growing competition, particularly from Walmart's Walmart+ loyalty program. As of April 2021, Amazon had over 200 million subscribers worldwide. Growth in Prime membership could potentially mean a larger customer base for Amazon merchants2.
Events 🎤
European Seller Conference, June 8-9, Prague, Czech Republic
World Ecommerce Forum, June 8-10, Istanbul, Turkey
Amazon Selling Partner API DevSummit, July 25-26, Seattle, US
Make this week count 🙌
Christian