AMAZON NEWS: THE AMAZON ANALYTICS INSIDER September 2023
Your biweekly resource to staying informed on the news and obstacles currently affecting other vendors and sellers. Stay attuned to potential changes that might affect your business and focus on recommended reports, chosen in light of current events in order to empower your data-driven decisions.
TL;DR
Shopify and Amazon formed an agreement, allowing for the integration of Buy with Prime on Shopify storefronts.
5 Amazon sellers have been convicted of price fixing DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs. They have been sentenced to prison and fined.
Multiple sellers have reported missing inbound shipments to Amazon and inventory stuck in processing. Amazon has provided little to no information or documentation for these shipments. As a seller, now is the time to monitor the Shipping Queue Summary Report.
Shopify now allowing “Buy with Prime”
Source: 1, 2
Buy with Prime was first introduced in April of 2022. Amazon did this without consulting and partnering with any e-commerce platforms before going to market with it. As a result, Shopify initially refused to allow Buy with Prime on its platform.
This put amazon in a difficult spot because Shopify holds the largest group of e-commerce brands, so Amazon needed Shopify to host Buy with Prime in order for the program to succeed.
However, last Tuesday Shopify announced that the two parties came together to form an agreement. Through this agreement, payments are to be handled via Shopify, and fulfillment is to be handled via Amazon. This lets Shopify earn payment processing fees, while Amazon gains access to millions of Shopify merchants and more fulfillment fees. Customers also benefit here as they get 2 day prime shipping and easier customer service and returns.
5 Sellers Convicted of Price Fixing on Amazon
Source: 1
Five Amazon sellers were convicted of price fixing DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs sold on Amazon from May of 2018 to October of 2019. The sellers agreed to raise and maintain the prices of the products, resulting in them being sold at manufactured and noncompetitive prices.
One seller from New York and his three companies were sentenced to 18 months in prison and charged with about $350k in total fines. Another four sellers were sentenced to a total of 18 months in prison and 29 months of home confinement. All of the defendants were also ordered to pay criminal fines; and the Department of Justice's investigation into the price-fixing scheme is still ongoing.
Missing Inbound Shipments and Inventory
Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4
Numerous vendors and sellers have spoken up about missing inbound shipments to amazon and inventory stuck in processing within the past two weeks.
In four different instances, Amazon provided little to no information or documentation for these shipments, leaving sellers wondering where their inventory disappeared to.
One seller said Amazon told them their shipment to Amazon was accounted for, despite none of the products appearing in their inventory. Another seller stated they have a full truck missing, and amazon support has been unresponsive. A third seller stated that they have over 300 units stuck in a Fulfillment center for over a month over a counterfeit investigation, despite the units being registered and trademarked branded products.
To address all these discrepancies, we suggest that sellers closely monitor their Shipping Queue Summary Report.
Subscribe below to get insights delivered directly to your inbox.
One email, every two weeks.
