There are big changes at Amazon’s front desk again!

Before Prime Day, undercurrents began to surge on Amazon. The front-end search page changed again, and some products added a "More Like This" function. Industry insiders said that this change is very likely to subvert the platform's traditional traffic configuration and accelerate internal competition. At the same time, Walmart and Temu began to intercept Prime Day traffic and advance the promotion date. Amazon sellers' orders fell. Some sellers pointed out that in a certain category, the sales of the top 8 Temu sellers were nearly 7 times that of Amazon.

Amazon's front-end undergoes major changes. Sellers: It's becoming more and more like Taobao

Recently, many sellers have discovered that the Amazon search display page has changed again.

When searching for keywords for certain products, you will find a new search box "More Like This" in the lower left corner of the picture , similar to the "Find the Same Item" button on Taobao . In this search box, the system will simultaneously recommend some products with the same or similar styles, and you will find more recommended results when you pull down.

In early June, some sellers reported that the feature was quietly launched, and most of the products searched were Amazon's own products and Amazon-supported brand products. Recently, many sellers mentioned that the feature appeared in some categories and could only be seen on mobile phones. It is speculated that this feature should be undergoing a small-scale test and will be officially launched in the future.

Amazon's move reminds people of a news report released by foreign media: Amazon hired a technical team of dozens of people who originally worked for Alibaba. In addition, Amazon has been displaying page views, sales, and return rates on its search page recently, which inevitably makes people wonder whether Amazon will become like Taobao in the future.

More sellers are beginning to worry: the same or similar products appearing on the same page will lead to fierce competition. After using this function, some sellers said that the products recommended by "Find the same style" are very accurate. When you click the button to enter the recommendation box, you can compare the prices, ratings and other factors of the products in the box.

Consumers prefer low-priced products, which means whoever has the lowest price has a chance to win. In order to compete for orders, sellers will inevitably choose to lower prices. The launch of the new feature is bound to intensify the price war among sellers. Some industry insiders also speculate that Amazon is eager to retain customers with low prices and cope with the impact of competitors in the face of strong competitors such as Temu, so it launched this feature.

If the "Find Similar Items" function is officially launched, it will not only affect sellers in terms of internal competition, but also the competition for traffic.

As we all know, Amazon's display positions were previously mainly concentrated on the keyword search interface and listing display page, but today's "Find Similar" button is a brand new module. If consumers are attracted by the search box, they are very likely to give up browsing other products on the search results page, which is equivalent to the traffic of these products being snatched away.

Amazon once released a data that showed that most of the clicks by consumers were on the first page of keyword search results, while the second page accounted for less than 20%, and the third page was even less. After the "Find the Same Item" function was launched, consumers were less likely to turn the page, which also means that the product traffic on the second, third and subsequent pages will be less.

Changes in key factors such as price and traffic will also force sellers to make changes. Amazon is flooded with homogeneous products, which cannot gain an advantage in terms of price or traffic. On the contrary, products with more differentiated and diversified factors will be more popular with consumers. Sellers can only occupy their own place on the platform by constantly innovating products and creating rich and diversified products.

However, the launch of this function is also a great benefit for some sellers with clear product positioning and brand effect. As we all know, not only Amazon, but also AliExpress and other platforms have been strengthening brand building. The general trend of branding has become inevitable, and sellers without brands will be eliminated.

The impact of the new features on some sellers may still be a little far away, but the darkness before Prime Day has already begun.

Prime Day traffic was blocked, and a large number of sellers saw a decline in orders

A few days ago, Amazon announced that this year's Prime Day will be held on July 11th and 12th and will last for 48 hours. As soon as Prime Day arrived, its competitors started the "encirclement and blockade" mode.

First, Walmart scheduled Walmart+ Membership Week from July 10 to July 13, opening a membership service system comparable to Amazon Prime membership; Target resumed Target Circle Days from July 9 to July 15. The promotion time of both platforms is before Amazon Prime Day, which will undoubtedly intercept a lot of Amazon's traffic.

Temu is even more active, constantly carrying out promotional activities. In preparation for the July 4th Independence Day in the United States, Temu has already started to warm up intensively, with activities such as "1 dollar promotion area", "10% off clothing, shoes and kitchen supplies", etc. "Temu's prices are too low, and many products are sold at cost price, which has a significant impact on the sales of Amazon sellers," said a seller.

For the same product, Amazon's price is several times higher than Temu's, so it's not surprising that buyers are attracted to it. Some sellers compared the product data on the two platforms. In the solar lamp category, the sales volume of the top 8 on Amazon was 65,000 orders, while the sales volume of the top 8 on Temu was 410K, estimated to be 400,000 orders, and the total sales volume was nearly 7 times higher than Amazon.

"Although the full hosting model is not very friendly to sellers, it has indeed brought down product prices and occupied a large market share," said a seller. The audience of low-priced products is price-sensitive, so they will naturally go to the cheapest place. It is normal for Amazon's market share to be snatched, but Temu has not yet used its ultimate killer. If it offers a 10 billion subsidy, it is estimated that half of Amazon's high-priced market will be taken away.

This may also be one of the important reasons for the decline in orders for a large number of sellers. Some sellers reported that Prime Day has entered the countdown stage, but many sellers have found that the order volume is getting worse day by day and month by month. Some sellers' sales in June even dropped by 30% compared to May. So much so that some sellers complained: "Is it that foreigners hold their wallets too tightly, or is it that Temu has taken away customers?"

Relevant data shows that by the end of June, more than 70% of sellers had a drop in sales compared with the same period last year, of which nearly 30% had a drop in orders of about 40%, and only 30% had an increase in orders, and the increase was not obvious compared with the past. In the first half of this year, sellers did not get rid of the growth slump and continued to be affected by the economic environment and continued inflationary pressure.

In the early stage of Membership Day, Amazon sellers were under attack from both sides, with platforms offering low prices in front and competing platforms blocking and snatching traffic from behind. What kind of Membership Day results could they achieve?

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