Happy Sunday,
Here’s a quick roundup of last week’s news :
Read of the week 👀
In “AI and the Job of an Amazon Seller” Marketplace Pulse outlines the impact of AI on the seller space. What AI has (will have) an answer for, how it’s changing a merchants role, and why it’s not the key to building a perfect brand — but rather a perfect operations.
Movers & Shakers 🙌
E-Commerce Software Startup Shop Circle Raises $120 Million To Support Growing Number Of Online Merchants [Forbes]
E-commerce loan startup Wayflyer secures $1B deal from Neuberger Berman [TechCrunch]
Strategy 🦈
“Amazon has Hollywood’s worst shows but its best business model” [The Economist]
“Deal Dive: I think I know why this company can’t land a deal” [Techcrunch]
“Amazon aggregators fall on tough times” [Axios]
Amazon’s cleanup #1: “Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit Files Lawsuits Against Bad Actors Attempting to Use Social Media to Knowingly Sell Counterfeit Luxury Items” [Amazon]
Amazon’s cleanup #2: Final two U.S. based defendants in Amazon bribery case sentenced [Justice]
“How CPG giants like General Mills are infusing AI into their Amazon strategies” [Modern Retail]
Khan warming up? “FTC may file suit against Amazon later this month, Wall Street Journal reports” [Reuters]
‘An evergreen construct’: Behind Amazon’s global Prime marketing campaign [Modern Retail]
“Sellers are dedicating more resources to Walmart’s third-party marketplace this holiday season” [Modern Retail]
“TikTok is wading into South-East Asia’s e-commerce wars” [The Economist]
TikTok Shop: “TikTok’s New Amazon Copycat Is Full of Cheap Chinese Goods” [Bloomberg]
“Why Dave Clark and Ryan Petersen Butted Heads at Flexport” [The Information]
Going for the hard cut: “Zalando removes product reviews” [eCommerce News]
Events 🎤
For those coming to Accelerate, Jeffrey Cohen’s “Know before you go guide” is a must read. Say hi if you are around 👋
Amazon Accelerate, Sep 12-14, Seattle, US
eClimb Summit, Sep 21, London, UK
Seller Velocity Conference, Oct 11-12, New York, US
Amazon Ads unBoxed, Oct 24-26, New York City, US
Make this week count 🙌
Christian