Amazon Accelerate: Trends and Predictions for Ecommerce from the Annual Sellers Event

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.

5 Takeaways From Amazon Accelerate 2023

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.

1. Supply Chain by Amazon Offers Sellers More Growth Opportunities

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:

• Amazon Shipping. Amazon will now pick up packages at non-FBA warehouses and deliver to customers within 2-5 days for 30% less cost than other delivery providers. The program is now available in 15 metro areas.
• Amazon Warehousing and Distribution. This new service eliminates peak pricing for warehousing and distribution, with up to 80% lower peak storage prices. Sellers can reserve space months in advance, enabling better inventory planning and management.
• Global Logistics. An end-to-end ocean freight forwarding solution with all-inclusive pricing, including a 25% discount.

What Does This Mean for Sellers?

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.

2. AI Has Become a Vital Part of the Selling Landscape

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:

• Unified listing management. Building on generative AI, Amazon’s listing management solution uses the technology to create unique listing descriptions. Sellers on Amazon.com (US-only) can enter a few words, and the system will craft content including titles, descriptions, and bullets. Soon, sellers will be able to get the same content simply by submitting a URL or product photo.

RELATED: AI in Business: How To Find the Right Tools to Make Selling on Amazon Easier

What Does This Mean for Sellers?

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.

3. Seller Central Is More Robust Than Ever

Amazon is on a quest to reduce what they call “root cause” support issues through these solutions that identify and resolve problems early on:

• Case escalation. This in-progress tool will allow better support for complex seller issues, including talking to a live support agent.
• New Seller Forums. The new user interface (UI) allows sellers to connect and learn from each other. Amazon has already hosted 50 dedicated sessions this year to help sellers connect with experts and submit feedback.
• Seller polls. These are daily questions in Seller Central that let sellers provide feedback on tools and seller experience.
• Homepage control center. The control center highlights the most important information sellers need to focus on actions, recommendations, and communications.

What Does This Mean for Sellers?

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.

4. Shoppers Now Have More Tools at Their Fingertips

Customers are the bedrock of ecommerce. And Amazon is showing up for them by investing in the following:

• View In Your Room. Shoppers can use the table-top view to visualize how the product will look in their home. This reduces returns and improves the customer experience.
• Seller profile page. Customers get an updated UI, more details on the business, and a quick way to add products to their cart, making it easier for them to explore our brands and complete transactions.
• Improved seller rating. The new two-tap feature simplifies the process of collecting feedback. If the feedback is negative, shoppers can add more information.
• Fit Insights. This new feature reviews size charts and suggests fixes to ensure customers get the right size, thus reducing returns and increasing satisfaction.
• Off Amazon. Sellers can now customize their Buy with Prime pages, receive co-branded social media ads, and use a Buy with Prime Marketing Toolkit to add a Buy-with-Prime badge to off-Amazon ecommerce pages.

What Does This Mean for Sellers?

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. 

5. Sellers Have New Solutions for Meeting Customer Needs

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:

• Customer sentiment insights. Benchmarking and trend data that sellers can use to ensure products meet customer needs.
• Customer Loyalty Analytics dashboard. This new dashboard — and its Brand Tailored Promotions feature — reduces customer acquisition costs, allowing U.S.-based sellers to target high-value customers, tailor coupons to audiences, and build long-term loyalty.
• Mobile app update. Now, sellers can add and manage coupons and ads directly in the app.
• Voice of the Customer. Sellers can now pull key phrases from reviews, identify issues quickly with trend analytics, and track performance metrics to improve products.
• Keyword suggestions. This feature allows sellers to see growth opportunities and find relevant data for each keyword, then easily add keywords to the ad campaign builder to create new campaigns.

RELATED: Optimizing Amazon Listings With Customer Feedback: How Consumer Insights Can Elevate Your Business

What Does This Mean for Sellers?

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.