Amazon Prime Day has come to an end. According to official disclosures, Amazon Prime members have purchased more than 300 million items worldwide, up from 250 million in 2021, saving a total of $1.7 billion for Prime members worldwide. But total sales are still a mystery, and the official website has not disclosed it.
Although this year's Prime Day seems to be calm, the situation is also full of problems: some sellers have mediocre sales, but they encounter accidents such as malicious clicks on advertisements and advertisement delays from their peers; the category of "Baby Head Shaping Pillows" was inexplicably cleaned up during Prime Day. Many sellers were affected.
Whether or not sellers have a harvest on Prime Day, the bigger test may still be the peak season in the second half of the year.
A large number of baby product links become dogs
During Prime Day, a seller exposed a piece of news that caught everyone by surprise, "Baby Head Shaping Pillows on Amazon's US station has become a dog with links to large-scale products!"
When Hugo Cross-border searched for this category yesterday, it found that the products in this category were indeed basically wiped out, leaving only a few products to be displayed normally. Many sellers sighed that seeing this situation for the first time after the big promotion was equivalent to a category cleaning. The official website has not made any response to this matter.
However, when Hugo Cross-border searched again today, it was found that this category of products had returned to normal.
It is understood that the products in this category are mainly baby sleep products, such as crib surrounds, sleep pillows and the like. Although the Amazon platform may be prone to downtime or various bugs before or during each big promotion, such a large-scale link problem will inevitably make sellers guess.
Some sellers pointedly pointed out that it is very likely that the Amazon platform is cleaning up the potential safety hazards of such products and banning the sale of related products. Previously, Ali International Station had also issued a ban on the sale of such products.
On June 25, 2021, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a new federal regulation to ensure that products sold or used for infant sleep provide a safe sleeping environment for infants under 5 months of age. The regulation, which went into effect on June 23, 2022, complies with this federal safety standard for any product on sale or intended for infant sleep.
The answer that a seller got after asking customer service seemed to confirm this speculation. The CPSC's new Baby Sleep Products Rule (ISP) makes it illegal to sell non-compliant baby sleep products manufactured on or after June 23, 2022, customer service said.
Obviously, this time the big cleanup of the Amazon platform came suddenly, some sellers were busy saving the link of changing dogs, and some sellers were still suffering from the accident that happened during Prime Day.
Sudden ad delays
The tide of Amazon bans has blocked sellers who maliciously brush orders and falsely promote their products. There is only one way for ordinary sellers to increase the exposure of their products, and that is advertising.
This year, many sellers have put more effort into advertising, but the returns have not been proportional.
A seller in Henan said that he was generally dissatisfied with Prime Day's record this year, sales did not go up, but advertising costs doubled, "It's just a state of escort, people sell well or sell well, sell well. The bad sales will not increase much, and it is unrealistic to think that the unsalable inventory will be cleared on this day. In the coming year, I will focus on the products that sell well in my own store.”
The sales during Prime Day were not terrible. The terrible thing is that the advertising costs burned into the sky without a single order. What is even more terrible is that this ad may have been ordered by a competitor.
During PrimeDay, a screenshot circulated in the seller circle, causing heated discussions in the seller circle. The dialogue on the screenshot shows that a cross-border e-commerce company asked its employees to change their IPs and desperately clicked on the advertisements of their peers to increase the advertising consumption of competing products.
Some sellers have tested it, and it needs to be clicked by a qualified buyer number to be effective. And most sellers despise this kind of malicious competition. It is not easy for Amazon sellers this year. "Only relying on manpower can give others a lot of money. If you have this skill, it is better to take care of your own business."
The orders did not explode, and the advertising expenses exploded, which has become the norm for some Amazon sellers during the big promotion. In addition, during this year's Prime Day, many sellers reported that advertisements were delayed. Even one of the sellers did not place the order due to the delay in the advertisement. The ACOS of the advertisement exceeded 200, and the amount of more than 200 US dollars was not converted.
Amazon advertising investment is a big investment for sellers. Data shows that in 2016, the average merchant’s advertising expenditure accounted for only 1.1% of sales revenue. By 2021, this figure has climbed to 4.6%.
In any case, Prime Day has come to an end, and the top priority for sellers is to resume the sale and prepare for the peak season in the second half of the year.
Consumer staples gain popularity amid U.S. inflation
In the opinion of a senior seller, Prime Day is a platform carnival and an opportunity for brand owners to increase their market share. Ordinary small and medium-sized sellers should still take it with a calm mind, pay attention to some hot-selling category trends, and spy on some stocking opportunities.
While the strongest Prime Day sales are typically consumer electronics, this year's event was also reported to be strong for apparel, homewares, pet products and other consumer goods. This is related to the current inflation in the United States. Buyers take advantage of deep discounts to maximise value in times of inflation, with bundles of essential consumer goods such as snacks, tissues, razors and cleaners popular.
Therefore, new sellers can consider products with a relatively large price reduction space. If the unit price is low and the profit margin is relatively small, they should not expect too much from the big promotion sales, and should pay more attention to daily operations.
For many sellers complaining about not making money or making profits, a senior seller analyzed that a big advantage of the big promotion is to adjust the inventory and speed up the payment. After two days of Prime Day, sellers can return nearly 10 more days of payment, "Look Looking at the balance, the cash flow can be much easier. It is equivalent to a reservoir and a lake, and it has the effect of adjusting the flood peak. As an operation, don’t blindly focus on profits (I didn’t say profits are not important), and business awareness is also very important.”
Another seller told Hugo Cross-border that after Prime Day ended, their company launched a "pump-up meeting". Although they achieved a small sales target, they have already started planning to prepare products for the Christmas season. "Development and design have begun to select products, and operations have begun to return to normal. In the second half of the year, we need to be cautious and fight with spirit."
Previous：The difference between Amazon celebrity video, main image video, TikTok short video advantages
Next：New regulations lead to ban on Amazon products? A large number of product categories disappeared out
