RESOURCES

Even during the shortest month of the year, there is no shortage of news and important industry updates! Below are some of the important happenings we’ve been discussing at the MPS office this month.

Key Industry Happenings & Platform Updates

Some of our Vendor clients have already started receiving their 2018 Terms from Amazon, and we expect that they will continue to roll in through March. It’s that fun time of year again when Amazon tries to make everyone cry. Let us know if you have any questions about the proposed Terms and if we can help out in any way.

Amazon’s advertising business is rapidly expanding and has no signs of slowing, but one piece that is lacking is top of the funnel acquisition, an area where Facebook and Google excel. With customers coming to the marketplace in search of items they’ve already chosen to buy, Amazon is making strides to drive education and inspiration through sponsored content. Amazon has been quietly sacrificing high priority space in search results to run editorial ads that drive to helpful, product-focused content on Amazon. Although obviously in the early stages, updates like this are sure to create difficult decisions for publishers and content marketing opportunities for brands. Read more here: http://bit.ly/2sTuJXc  

In an attempt to solve a growing Amazon warehouse congestion problem, Amazon has been testing a new, invite-only warehouse and shipping program for users of Seller Central called “FBA Onsite.” The new program would reconfigure sellers’ warehouses via an improved warehouse management system and software that helps merchants manage their logistics processes and ship at a much lower rate. http://bit.ly/2HN5g57

Amazon has been very secretive regarding their UK ad business. But, steadily, Amazon has expanded the UK ad team with key hires, pitching Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) and Amazon Media Group (AMG) to brands and publishers, and is making other important advances internationally. So far, according to Digiday, the barriers to Amazon’s ad growth in the UK have been 1. The comparatively low demand and competition levels, 2. Lack of branding opportunities within the existing offering, and 3. Amazon’s notorious reputation for enabling counterfeiters. Here are more details on the expansion: http://bit.ly/2Cp6JPL

In case you missed it, Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) fee increases were rolled out on February 22. Here is what you need to know: http://amzn.to/2GO2iw5. We found out yesterday Seller Central will also be updating storage fees starting in April – more to come on this. 

A couple of our top blogs from the month:

• Check Out Our Recently-Created MPS Core Values!
• From Our CEO - The Amazon Impact: How Consumer Brands Must Reinvent Strategy to Win
• 3 Changes that have Already Made 2018 a Year of Transformation for Grocery

Other industry articles we enjoyed:

• Walmart Debuts New Mobile App Experience That Reimagines In-Person Shopping and Promises to Get Customers In and Out Faster
• Amazon is Reportedly Looking to Open 6 More Amazon Go Stores in 2018
• Walmart to Launch Standalone, Online Brands in Bedding and Cosmetics to Bid for Upscale Shoppers
• Amazon Acquires Ring, Maker of Video Doorbells, to Grow Share of Smart-Home Category and Offer an Additional Solution to Home Package Theft