This year’s much-anticipated Amazon Accelerate event drew thousands of sellers and industry experts keen on hearing about the latest trends and selling opportunities.
During the three-day whirlwind — which included numerous sessions, updates, insights, and briefings on upcoming Amazon plans — event-goers were fully immersed in all things Amazon.
The biggest takeaway from the conference? This is the right time — if not the best time — to be in the business of selling on Amazon.
In Amazon’s own words, the annual Amazon Accelerate conference is “an opportunity for sellers to learn about our latest tools and innovations, speak with Amazon experts, and network with other selling partners to fuel their business growth.”
Hosted by Amazon itself, this year’s event was as energizing as ever: The opening keynote revealed that a staggering 60% of sales on Amazon are driven by third-party sellers — a great indicator of the power sellers hold in the marketplace.
Here are five key updates and selling trends coming out of the conference — and what they mean for sellers going forward.
At the conference, Amazon leaders announced Supply Chain by Amazon, a new end-to-end shipping solution that combines several pre-existing programs and impacts all sellers, but is especially impactful to non-FBA sellers. While the changes for FBA sellers are minor, Supply Chain by Amazon provides a major new resource for non-FBA sellers to ship their products to customers efficiently and cost-effectively. The announcement included updates on the following:
Sellers — regardless of their FBA status — can now access an end-to-end logistical process from one central service provider. The benefit? Streamlined operations and the potential for major cost-savings.
With new updates on artificial intelligence’s application in nearly every area of the marketplace, it’s clear that AI is no longer a nice-to-have in ecommerce. It’s a staple feature.
Amazon is primarily focused on one key area:
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AI-powered tools can help sellers optimize their listings by minimizing copy errors, completing missing elements, and ensuring listings meet customer needs. However, sellers should remember that they still have control over their listings and should review AI suggestions carefully, especially when it comes to ingredients, claims, and other specific product information.
Amazon is on a quest to reduce what they call “root cause” support issues through these solutions that identify and resolve problems early on:
It’s in Amazon’s best interest to resolve problems before they escalate.
But doing so also benefits sellers. As the marketplace invests in optimized case resolution tools, sellers gain quicker, easier ways to get the support they need.
The message is clear: Keep sharing your thoughts via polls and forums to get better solutions over time.
Customers are the bedrock of ecommerce. And Amazon is showing up for them by investing in the following:
Today’s consumers have more ways of assessing Amazon sellers than ever before. Positive reviews, optimized listings, off-Amazon marketing, and fully developed, highly relevant product descriptions are necessities to achieve and maintain on-Amazon success.
Yes, consumer demands are shifting and increasing. And yes, Amazon is helping this trend evolve by investing in customer-facing tools. But the marketplace has also enhanced solutions and features to help sellers meet — and even exceed — these expectations, including:
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Focusing on the customer experience has always been important. But as consumers increasingly expect more from sellers, it’s become critical to the modern ecommerce landscape. Sellers who want to stay on top should use these new solutions to their fullest to create winning experiences for current and potential customers.
This year’s Amazon Accelerate conference reiterated ongoing trends and highlighted new ones, giving sellers keen insights to focus on in the coming year.
Rather than peaking, or, worse, slowing down, Amazon is instead continuing to ramp up their game. In a big way, on all fronts.
And sellers need to follow suit. Fortunately, solutions and technologies exist to help you make the most of your online selling experience. Explore Carbon6’s connected ecosystem of software and industry expertise to see how these tools can help you drive revenue, increase profitability, and operate efficiently.
Will we see you at the next event?