Countdown to the big sale! Can sellers usher in the first explosion of orders in 2023?

Brand   Finance's latest ranking of the world's top 500 brands in 2023 shows that Amazon has returned to the position of the world's most valuable brand with $299.3 billion . Although it has returned to the top, Amazon's brand value has shrunk by more than $50 billion this year.

Amazon has not been immune to the market difficulties in the past year. Now, all signs indicate that the "market disaster" is not over yet, and Amazon and sellers will have to endure. Previously, Amazon Europe announced the launch of its annual spring promotion. As the promotion approaches, can sellers still dream of "explosive orders"?

Amazon's first big sale in 2023 is here

On March 27 , Amazon Europe's Spring Sale will be launched simultaneously in 9 European sites , including the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Poland , and Belgium. The event will last for 54 hours (March 27-March 29) .

From the specific content, Amazon has provided sellers with a number of supports, such as comprehensive marketing support, including mass advertising, TV, radio and print advertising, as well as traffic to key advertising positions on the European site.

In addition, Amazon has opened various reporting tools to sellers . Qualified sellers can report promotion types such as top promotions, flash sales, and Prime member discounts , with discount amounts ranging from 5% to 15%.

In terms of product selection, Amazon also gives the following suggestions based on market demand. For example :

Home furnishings: household items , furniture , household tools, etc.

Garden & Gardening: Garden decoration , garden furniture , insect repellent , sprinkler, etc.

Automobile /Bicycle Accessories: Travel Tools

Spring and summer clothing: yoga pants , men's and women's sports shoes , shorts, etc.

Holidays: Easter decorations , Easter children's gifts , Mother's Day gifts , flower decorations

In addition to the seasonal products mentioned above, there are also some high-priced promotion-sensitive products , such as electronic equipment, home appliances, entertainment equipment, office desks and chairs, and home security devices .

Since the beginning of the year, many sellers have reported that the market this year is even colder. Spring has arrived, but the order volume is still "frozen below zero" . In fact, many sellers are not optimistic about the European spring promotion, believing that this is just a "struggle" of Amazon, because no promotion is effective nowadays.

It is not surprising that sellers have such thoughts. After all, last year’s Amazon’s annual sales “festival” - Prime Day did not perform very well. The order volume of many sellers plummeted compared with previous Prime Days. With history in mind, there is even less hope for the spring promotion.

Of course, some sellers are optimistic and say this may be a life-saving straw. Yien.com has noticed that many sellers have raised such questions on social media platforms this year: "Can we expand into the European market this year and get more sales?"

There are many different opinions in the comment section on this issue, with some people being pessimistic and others optimistic.

Those who are pessimistic believe that Europe’s various policies and tax laws are rather complicated, and the market is relatively small, with the number of orders far less than that of the United States .

Optimists believe that Amazon is now vigorously strengthening its European business layout. It already has 9 European sites and also provides the Amazon Logistics Export Program , which allows sellers to expand their business to more than 30 countries and regions in Europe .

Although opinions vary, there is data that shows that a large number of Amazon sellers may enter the European market this year.

Some sellers are flocking to the European site. Is it profitable?

Compared with its home market in North America, Amazon's European market has not developed as well. Especially in recent years, European regulators have been keeping a close eye on Amazon. If Amazon is not careful, the platform will be subject to various restrictions, and sellers will suffer heavy losses.

Therefore, the churn rate of Amazon European sellers is not low. However, according to Amazon agencies, Amazon US sellers are flocking to the European market.

As the largest e-commerce red ocean market in Europe and Amazon's two largest markets in the world outside the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany are the first choice for many American sellers to enter the European market.

Marketplace Pulse data shows that at least 3,300 sellers on Amazon Germany have an average annual sales of $1 million, while in the UK, at least 3,200 Amazon sellers have reached this sales level.

It seems to be a good thing, but what proportion of the sellers are like this? Not only do they not have the local advantage, but Chinese sellers have to bear more costs than European and American sellers, such as tariffs and shipping costs. Add to that VAT, EPR, UKCA and other fees, and how much profit space is left?

Not only that, many sellers also believe that Amazon’s European site has more loopholes in compliance than its American site.

Previously, an Amazon seller who has been working hard on the European site said that the European market is most often used for patent complaints, because the appearance patents and new utility patents on the European site are not synchronized. Once a competitor sees that the product has considerable sales , they will rush to apply for a patent first , and finally they can only blame themselves for their bad luck and remove the product from the shelves. The most troublesome thing is that if someone continues to register a patent, you will be warned continuously, and eventually your account may be frozen .

Some sellers also said: Orders on the European site are N levels lower than those on the US site, plus taxes and other fees, and the labor cost of doing business on the European site is at least 3-4 times that of the US site. Negative profits are not uncommon . If the European site has one-tenth of the sales of the US site, they don’t want to run away.

One operator even said that after working on the European site for several years, he still envied his colleagues working on the North American site .

Of course, there are sellers who hold the opposite attitude. One seller said that compared with the United States, Amazon's European site is easier to operate. At the end of 2021 , it started operating the European site and became profitable in just the second week. Within a month, its product sales ranked third in the same category .

Not all sellers on the European site are lucky enough to hit the market demand right away. Many sellers leave the market after clearing their warehouses and move to other platforms or other markets .

In addition, Amazon Europe has adjusted many fees this year, and European sellers will have to bear greater pressure from Amazon fees.

Starting from March 1, Amazon Europe ’s “change in volumetric weight of FBA products” measure officially came into effect . This move means that Amazon will determine the size grading of Amazon Logistics Europe’s integrated services, European distribution network, multi-channel distribution fees and buyer return processing fees based on the size and unit weight of the packaged products.

From April 7 , Amazon UK will increase rates for package size and large size reporting, while multi-channel fulfillment ( MCF ) fees for some scale tiers will also increase .

Taxes, labor costs, Amazon fees ... every cost is squeezing the profit margins of European sellers. Survival is too difficult. Although Amazon still has a very high dominant position in the European e-commerce market, sellers need to be cautious if they want to squeeze into this market .

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