Black Friday Cyber ​​Monday will start on November 18th. Will sellers be able to achieve a surge in orders?

Prime Day has just ended, and Amazon’s Black Friday Cyber ​​Monday promotion is about to start. Yesterday, Amazon officially announced the time of Black Friday Cyber ​​Monday, finalizing this year-end promotion feast.

However, sellers have different attitudes towards this promotion. Some sellers have made sufficient preparations for the arrival of Black Friday Cyber ​​Monday, while others do not dare to hold too high expectations and believe that this year's Black Friday Cyber ​​Monday may not be a big success.

Amazon announces Black Friday Cyber ​​Monday sale will start on November 18

Yesterday, Amazon Global Store officially announced the specific time for this year's Black Friday online promotion. The shopping season will start in Europe on November 18, and will then be launched in global sites such as Australia, the Middle East and North America.

Among them, the European site will open on November 18 and November 28 local time for Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday, and the FBA warehousing deadline is November 4 ; the US site will open on November 24 and November 28 local time , and the warehousing deadline is November 2.

Currently, the submission window for Black Friday Cyber ​​Monday coupons and Prime exclusive discounts is still open, but sellers need to note that the products submitted for Prime exclusive discount prices must meet relevant requirements.

In addition to meeting the nationwide Prime delivery conditions, the product price must be at least 20% off the current price; equal to or lower than the lowest price in the past 30 days; and the professional seller rating must be at least 4 or no rating, and the product rating must be at least 3.5 or no reviews.

Of course, in the submission, Amazon also mentioned that two new policies must be complied with: the product must have a valid reference price (List Price or Was Price); the Prime exclusive discount price reported for the Black Friday online promotion must be at least 10% lower than the reference price.

In addition, if the seller's backend submission status shows "prohibited" or "no reference price", the seller needs to set a coupon for the product. It is understood that Amazon requires at least 95% off the current price for coupon submission , but this is not the case for all sites.

Many sellers said that such discounts were simply double the discounts, and they were probably going to do charity again this year. In fact, in the first three quarters of this year, the news from most sellers was not good, with unsatisfactory performance, increased revenue but not increased profits, and even losses.

This is especially true during major promotional events. Compared to previous years when sellers reported booming orders, this year’s major promotional events seemed a little too quiet. Many sellers reported that their order volumes were mediocre, and some sellers were unable to sell their products even after lowering their prices.

In the autumn promotion some time ago, the order volume of some sellers further demonstrated the fact that the peak season was cold. At that time, not only Amazon, but also Walmart, Target and other retailers also joined the ranks of early price cuts to attract consumers to shop and clear excess inventory.

Under such circumstances, some sellers do not have much hope for Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday. In their opinion, the fourth quarter will most likely continue the previous situation, and it is a good thing if the order volume does not drop sharply, and they no longer expect the peak season to come.

However, some sellers have different ideas. They are gearing up to make a strong push on Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday. According to forecast data, the e-commerce sales on Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday in 2022 will be close to 10 billion US dollars and 120 billion US dollars respectively, both of which are an increase compared to last year's data. They believe that they will be one of the sellers that drive this sales growth.

Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that this year’s peak season is not so busy because consumers are waiting until Black Friday to buy things. According to research data from the foreign authoritative agency Numerator, consumer spending power is still strong, with two-thirds of consumers expressing their willingness to participate in peak season promotions on Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday.

Therefore, they are preparing for a big battle in the fourth quarter. "I have already prepared sufficient goods, and I am just waiting for the big sale to start," said a seller.

Multiple warehouses in the western United States are overwhelmed, and a large number of sellers have already prepared goods?

Although sales have been mediocre in the past two weeks, some sellers have shared their own experience: "The peak season will definitely come, but the rhythm will change. It will probably enter a crazy mode after Thanksgiving . " In his opinion, this year is mainly due to the impact of Amazon's Fall Member Day diversion.

The editor learned that during the Halloween promotion, many sellers were clearing out their stock at low prices, so they also considered product profits and market pricing when participating in the Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday events. If the market price drops, they will also adjust their own prices; if the competitor's price drops, they will not lower their prices. They adhere to one point, that is, the profit must be controlled within a certain range.

In addition, according to the content of Amazon's announcement, many FBA warehouses have stopped receiving goods in the past two days , but there are still many sellers whose goods have not been received. It is reported that due to the large number of sellers' Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday shipments entering the warehouse at the same time, many Amazon warehouses have also been overwhelmed, and some freight forwarders have pointed out that the entire FBA warehouse in the western United States has become a mess.

A few days ago, I saw a freight forwarder post on WeChat Moments saying that the FBA warehouses in the western United States are basically full, and he reminded everyone not to ship to the western United States as many popular warehouses were unable to sign for the goods.

This is indeed the case. Warehouses in the western United States such as LAS1, GYR2, LGB8, ONT8, and LAX9 are seriously overcrowded, and some warehouses are no longer available for reservations. Of course, the approval time for warehouses such as SMF3, SCK4, and SMF6 is basically 2-3 weeks later.

Affected by the warehouse explosion, many sellers said that the goods on sale are almost sold out. Although the replenished goods have arrived at Amazon's warehouse, the time it takes to put them on the shelves is too slow, and they are worried that they will not be able to supply them.

Judging from the above situation, the majority of sellers still participate in the Black Friday Cyber ​​Monday promotion this year. They still have great expectations for traditional promotional festivals such as Black Friday Cyber ​​Monday. However, the law that something unexpected will happen every time the peak season comes seems to always exist.

Since August, Amazon sellers' inventory capacity has been in a state of slight adjustment. At the end of August, inventory capacity was drastically cut; it stopped temporarily in September; and in October, inventory capacity was continuously cut again, catching many sellers off guard. Some sellers even said that the number of standard parts in their store was cut by 60,000 for several consecutive weeks.

At the same time, the number of cases of lost parcels has increased. Some sellers reported that this happens with almost every shipment, with more or less problems that make them so angry that they lose their temper.

In general, although there was no surge in orders during the previous peak season, it does not mean that there will be no surge in orders during Black Friday Cyber ​​Monday. Sellers should not be discouraged and must be fully prepared to welcome the surge in orders. Black Friday Cyber ​​Monday is coming soon, and cross-border partners should also work hard.

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