Summer is in the rearview mirror and all sights are set ahead on Q4 and the holiday push. To ensure you’re prepared, it’s important to revisit platform changes and updates that occurred during the busy summer months. In this blog post, we’ll recap some of the most top-of-mind Amazon feature updates and platform changes we’ve seen impact our clients recently.
New Amazon Vendor Central Subscribe and Save Dashboard
Amazon Vendor Central rolled out a Subscribe & Save dashboard which offers visibility into the value of subscribers. Found under the merchandising tab, the main dashboard provides useful data on the number of active subscriptions, units shipped to fulfill subscriptions, and revenue generated from subscriptions in a given timeframe. It also details the average revenue per subscribing customer vs. non-subscribing customers over the past 6 months. Finally, in this new dashboard, brands also have access to a drilled-down view of the same data sets at the product level.
This is a significant improvement from past available data, which was only accessible through a time-consuming process of referencing backup reports that detailed fees associated with subscriptions and then doing the math on your own.
SERP Updates
The SERP is an ever-evolving landscape and the shopping experience continues to change. For example, some search results on the Amazon mobile app now indicate which listings have a link directing shoppers to a product video. Additionally, Amazon posts are now appearing on some search result pages.
Expanding your Amazon strategy to include posts, video, and other types of content is important as Amazon places more importance on these types of media.
Amazon Store Updates
This summer and early fall, Amazon Stores have undergone a number of changes to help both brands and consumers.
For consumers, it’s easier to shop the Amazon posts feed, as it’s now being included automatically as a page within a brand’s Store. Previously only accessible on mobile, we’ve seen this update occur across select brands, which has created a more connected experience for both mobile and desktop shoppers.
And for brands, a new engagement tool beta for Store Insights has been released across select categories. With this new tool, brands can receive better information about how consumers are interacting with their products in their Store. It features product-level data including top-clicked product, top purchased, add-to-cart clicks, and much more.
Previously, Store Insights only included data on overall sales, views, and visits. This more granular data will allow brands to learn more about their consumers' shopping and research habits. Additionally, there is now data being reported on the Store follow button and follower insights, allowing for even further understanding on brand followers.
Another new feature our creative team is excited about is the updates to the Store builder. Previously, only desktop view was available, and a new mobile view allows creative strategists to quickly and easily create a mobile version of brand stores.
Price Per Unit Requirements for Select Products Starting Sept. 30, 2021
At Code3, the Unit Count/Price Per Unit (PPU) fields are not new. And Amazon is now making a formal effort to make the fields a requirement across a number of categories in both Vendor and Seller Central. Starting on Sept. 30, 2021, all new and existing product lists for certain product types and categories will require unit count and unit county type attribute values.
Amazon uses the attributes to calculate and display Price Per Unit (PPU), allowing customers to easily compare price points of similar products. This information can typically be found near the price on the PDP and in the search results, and it’s important to utilize a PPU strategy specific to your products category and nature. For example, for a multipack item, you may want to choose unit count as opposed to a weight option. Weight options are better chosen for a single item product with only one unit.
It’s no secret Amazon is ever-evolving and it can be overwhelming to manage during the busiest time of year. As your brand finalizes its Q4 strategy, we hope these Amazon feature updates are helpful. If your brand could use the support of a strategic partner to navigate these updates and future changes on the channel, please reach out.
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