📦 The Order : Weekly Roundup - Top US Sellers, The Aggregator Moat & Clearco
Issue #131
Happy Sunday,
Here’s a quick roundup of last week’s news :
Chart of the week 📊
International sellers are expanding among the ranks of top sellers on Amazon.com — or put differently “US Seller market share on Amazon hits record low”. Marketplace Pulse dug into the numbers:
The aggregator MOAT: Tech being the next frontier?
Alexej Pikovsky, Founder of Nuoptima & Alphawell published a detailed analysis of the space - worth while reading for 2 aspects: a MOAT analysis plus other industry references: “New Reality Check of Amazon Aggregators – How Rollups Can Go Wrong”
The search is on for what can deliver a sustainable MOAT… it could well be tech (a plus: there’s no legacy tech organization to overcome as for CPG conglomerates for instance).
Movers & Shakers 🙌
Recapitalization, $60M Series D support growth of e-commerce financier Clearco [TechCrunch]
Perch Portfolio Analysis [Lucas Barnes - PNW Web Marketing]
Strategy 🦈
Drumroll for Prime Deals 🥁: “‘Tis the Season for Millions of Early Holiday Deals During Prime Big Deal Days” [Amazon]
“6 highlights from Amazon’s Accelerate 2023 seller conference” [Amazon]
AI-powered chat: “Inside Project Nile: Amazon's secret AI-powered plan to change the way you shop online.” [Business Insider]
Project Nessie gets less popular press: “Amazon reportedly used a secret algorithm to jack up prices” [The Verge]
A+ Content pricing: “1P vendors are frustrated by seemingly random prices for basic tools” [Modern Retail]
What Brands Are Entering Amazon Prime’s Big Deal Days on Top? [Momentum Commerce]
France makes Amazon charge €3 delivery fees to protect indie bookstores [Euronews]
Interesting PoV - TikTok buying up Amazon aggregator brands to accelerate platform adoption? “Are Amazon Aggregators over – can they recover?“ [Linkedin Lucas Barnes]
The next big brand joins: “Coach Starts Selling on Amazon“ [WWD]
Next Buy with Prime treat for DTC: “Amazon customer service, now for your customers” [Amazon]
“Amazon creates new revenue stream with ads on Prime Video” [Modern Retail]
Shopify is getting a new head of customer support amid an AI-centric shift for the division [Business Insider]
US lawmakers ask TikTok about its ByteDance ties after recent exec transfers between the companies [TechCrunch]
DTC marketing news & trends - tracking the industry ups & downs [Ad Age]
Americans Are Still Spending Like There’s No Tomorrow [Wall Street Journal]
How GenZ envisions AI improving eCommerce [Ad Age]
Addictive, absurdly cheap and controversial: the rise of China’s Temu app [The Guardian]
New Shein Executive Aims to Expand Supply Chain Outside China [Wall Street Journal]
Mercado Libre in the news: “Two Latin American Tech Tigers Riding a Consumer Surge“ [HeadTopics]
Events 🎤
Seller Velocity Conference, Oct 11-12, New York, US
Amazon Ads unBoxed, Oct 24-26, New York City, US
Amz Innovate, Nov 13-14, New York City, US
ShopTalk, Mar 14-16, Las Vegas, US — Exhibitor opportunities
Fingers crossed for a strong Prime Day week ! 🤞
Christian