Amazon orders dropped sharply before Black Friday! Sellers: Peak season never came

Before Black Friday, Amazon sellers seem to be experiencing the darkness before dawn. In the past two days, many Amazon sellers reported that their orders have plummeted, some have dropped by as much as one-third, some have been cut in half, and some sellers have even called the decline in orders abnormal ...

Sellers with few orders lament that they can only clear their stock, but there are obstacles on the way. Recently, some peers have begun to offer buyers large discounts by inserting cashback cards, and the discounts are so large that it is jaw-dropping! Under such a situation of internal competition, many sellers feel that the peak season has never come.

Orders are out of control! Amazon sellers say: Abnormal

Recently, many Amazon sellers have asked their peers: "How is your order volume?" Most of them replied "dismal, extremely disappointing".

One seller said that when he opened the webpage to check the order volume, he was disappointed. The sales volume on the US site made him wonder if there was something wrong with the store or the link. Another colleague said that the orders in the past few days were terrible, not just halved, but more than half.

Since yesterday, more Amazon sellers have felt that the order decline has become more serious. This decline is indeed a bit abnormal! One seller said that Amazon sales are absolutely abnormal. Yesterday, there was a balance of tens of thousands, but today there are only a few hundred on the backend homepage, and orders have also dropped by one-third. More peers are experiencing similar situations, and everyone sent feedback as follows:

“—It’s really cold today with Amazon orders;

—— There are too few orders;

——Today’s sales volume on the US site dropped sharply, which is abnormal;

——Today’s orders are not good, maybe tomorrow’s will be worse;

——Orders are too light. According to the current sales volume, the inventory is enough to sell for a long time;

——Seeing that everyone’s orders are slow, I feel relieved…”

Previously, Amazon sellers used the word “decline” to discuss order status, but this time they directly changed it to “abnormal,” which also shows the extent of the decline in orders.

However, some veteran sellers in the industry believe that the decline in orders before Black Friday is actually normal. Most Americans will wait for Black Friday promotions and discounts to place orders. In addition, with this year's inflation, many consumers have no money and will wait for price cuts to buy. One seller said bluntly: "It is inevitable that orders will decline before Black Friday. A group of people are waiting for Black Friday."

For Amazon sellers, the dark order situation before Black Friday happens almost every year. The bleak order situation during these two days may be a normal situation. Combined with the fact that everyone is on Thanksgiving holiday and watching the World Cup, buyers have no time to place orders!

Some Amazon sellers believe that the peak season starts in September. This year, everyone waited from September to October, and then extended their expectations to November. Now Black Friday is coming, but the peak season has not yet arrived. One seller said helplessly: "My orders are even less than in August. The peak season will not come this year."

However, there are also sellers who are psychologically strong and comfort themselves: Amazon’s real peak season starts from the first day of the online shopping season!

It is worth noting that the phenomenon of a sudden drop in orders before Black Friday does not apply to all sellers . Some sellers on the US site have sent good news about an increase in orders since the 20th of this month, and some have even been so busy that their hands are tired! The real situation of one seller is that when he checked the orders on Thanksgiving Day, they really started to surge. The seller said that he was looking forward to working on Black Friday tomorrow, and taking orders was more interesting than watching a football game.

In addition to the US site, the order situation of some sellers on the European site is normal, and some have even seen a steady increase in orders. The situation on the Japanese site is also relatively optimistic.

According to the rhythm of previous years, sales are booming right now. Even if buyers intend to save their purchases for Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday, there should be several sales peaks during the Thanksgiving, Halloween and Christmas shopping seasons. However, this year, there is no obvious increase in orders, and sellers have repeatedly lamented that the "peak season has failed to start."

The large amount of inventory required during the peak season, coupled with a series of price increases on warehousing fees by Amazon, has increased the pressure on sellers to turn over goods.

Insert the card to get a large cashback, and the seller will lower the price

In November, Christmas products were just entering a hot sales period. But just one week later, some sellers began to clear out Christmas table decorations and other products at low prices, which was much earlier than the clearance period in previous years. The sellers said that if they did not clear out the goods early, there would be no buyers when the concentrated clearance period came.

In order to boost sales, some sellers made huge concessions on price. One seller found that a heated suit on Amazon was priced at less than $10 and was given a 19% discount, so the actual price was only $8, which was surprising.

On the Temu platform, which relies on low prices to gain market share , the price of this type of rechargeable heating clothing is around 40 US dollars. How can such a low price make a profit on Amazon? Sellers are very puzzled. They analyzed that the cost of heating clothing in Dongguan is more than 100 yuan. No matter how low the purchase price is, it is probably difficult to control it within 10 US dollars. Even if it is shipped by E-mail, the price will not be so low.

Therefore, some sellers suspect that this may be a way to make a quick buck and then run away. "Currently, some people are selling products that are not in line with the specifications or simply not shipping. This product is shipped FBM, and there are so many people copying it. You should understand after seeing this."

The editor found this product on Amazon, and there are not many reviews. Some buyers said the quality was acceptable, but almost all the reviews said the size of the clothes was too small, basically 3 sizes too small, and gave a one-star bad review; some comments said that the clothes they received were completely different from the product pictures, and some people said it was "obviously a scam."

Even for products that are selling normally, there is not much profit in this winter. "We make heating socks, heating gloves, vests, and hand warmers. At present, it seems that the profit is not high if we just sell goods in November," said a seller.

When things are bad, people try to change. The sales difficulties have caused some sellers to take risks.

A supplier revealed to sellers in the industry that some companies doing business on Amazon are still using cashback cards, and the cashback is staggering. "A product is priced at US$50, and the cashback is US$45. Now the two products have ranked in the top 100." In the industry, there are still many sellers who use cashback cards, and some big sellers are still doing it.

These actions are definitely to help overseas consumers, but the sellers involved took shortcuts and further intensified competition among peers. Chaos reappeared, and the account suspension craze caused by the small cards last year has been forgotten.

Undoubtedly, the difficulty of cross-border business is constantly increasing. Recently, Amazon adjusted the storage fee and other fee standards. After February 1, 2023, the monthly storage fee for standard-sized goods in FBA will be increased to US$0.87 per cubic foot from January to September, and to US$2.40 per cubic foot from October to December. The storage utilization surcharge is also included in the monthly storage fee, and the abandonment fee has basically doubled, and the cost has increased sharply.

The new fee standard will put sellers on a more rigorous test of their stocking accuracy, with seasonal products being the first to be affected. If not careful, high fees could eat up the profits of the month. It is not difficult to guess that this will change sellers’ peak season sales rhythm and price positioning.

Amazon

Meiya

Black Friday

Mindset