Top 5 Amazon Seller Reads this Week: Issue #242

Top 5 this week

1. Amazon Just Dropped Big Policy Changes Before the Holidays

“Amazon has shortened the shortage dispute window for vendors to two years, with stricter redispute requirements now in place. While this limits how far back vendors can recover, the financial impact is small since older invoices rarely drive meaningful recoveries. What matters is speed and accuracy and this is where foresight counts. At Carbon6, we anticipated this shift and aligned our automation and redispute workflows to Amazon’s new rules, ensuring every eligible claim is captured on time and no opportunity is missed.” ~Mak Bidikar

2. Optimized Targeting for Sponsored Display Conversion Campaigns

“Like everything else, test, test, test. Ensure you’re not clicking a semi-blackbox button that costs more and won’t necessarily bring higher ROAS. I imagine this will be highly adopted by novice users, while more seasoned vets might prefer a more manual option. Performance TBD on this one, but I’m hopeful.” ~Clayton Atchison

3. Walmart Taps Vietnam to Boost Manufacturing Supply Chain

“ Walmart’s expansion into Vietnam’s ports is more than just a logistics upgrade – it’s a strategic lifeline for sellers facing crushing tariffs. Shifting production or sourcing to Vietnam with significantly lower tariffs can unlock significant margin relief. Sellers should evaluate whether their current suppliers can diversify into Vietnam, especially for high-volume SKUs where tariff savings compound. Walmart’s integration of Vietnam into its fulfillment network also shortens lead times and reduces the risks of geopolitical disruptions. Sellers who move early can position themselves ahead of competitors in terms of cost efficiency and supply chain resilience.” ~Vanessa Cox

4. Alexa+ Tests Product Discovery Through Conversational AI

“Amazon’s push to make shopping a fully ambient AI-enabled activity continues. They’re betting that conversational discovery will become a real channel. All the more reason to make sure your product is as easy for an AI to talk about as it is for a human to look at. A big open question is whether customers will embrace this kind of mixed organic/paid guidance—or if it starts to feel too pushy. Either way, I’d keep an eye on Alexa+ engagement data.” ~Nikko Patten

5. Removal of Irrelevant Variation Themes Starts September 1

“Amazon is removing underused variation themes starting Sept 2, aiming to streamline listings, but it will be another backend burden for sellers. Expect listing errors if you don’t act. Audit variation families now, or risk broken parentage. As AI automates listing ops, Amazon’s pushing sellers to follow stricter data hygiene.” ~Vanessa Hung