Sales of many sellers hit new lows, and Amazon delivery fees increased again

Recently, many Amazon sellers reported that sales were sluggish and the order volume seemed to have dropped to the lowest point. In order to win orders, sellers have made great efforts and the advertising ACOS once exceeded the limit. Analysis of the reasons shows that in addition to the sluggish consumption of European and American buyers, the fierce price war on the platform is also a major driving force.

Product prices are being pushed down, but sellers’ operating costs are increasing. Yesterday, the multi-channel delivery fees of Amazon came into effect, and most sellers are facing fee increases. With blows coming one after another, it is unexpectedly difficult to work on Amazon in 2021.

Many sellers' orders dropped to the lowest level, and some dropped by 90%

Recently, many sellers' orders have collectively plunged, and some people even said that sales have reached the lowest level in history. In describing sales, some sellers used words such as sluggish, terrible, and unbearable to look at, which shows the extent of this wave of decline.

On the last day of May, a seller said that the order volume was the lowest this month. A colleague replied that today's orders were only one-tenth of the previous day. This is a 90% drop!

Another seller mentioned that it turned out that everyone was the same, with orders and sales cut in half recently. One seller even said: When I checked the sales volume in the backend, I felt that I was not far from changing my career! More sellers reported this situation ↓

“—Sales volume has dropped significantly;

——It turns out that everyone’s orders have stopped;

——Orders are at a year’s lowest, and I feel like I’m doing nothing;

——It’s really been a down year doing Amazon;

——It has been falling for several days in a row;

——You’ll make no money if you keep doing this . ”

A seller who has been in business for 5 and a half years said that May this year was the most depressing month for him, as half of his products were not profitable. Another veteran seller pointed out that the sales of most general goods have dropped significantly, and the sales of products with the same ranking are one-third lower than in March.

Many sellers who experienced sluggish sales at the end of May are pinning their hopes on June, because according to previous news released by foreign media, Amazon Prime Day will be held from June 21 to 22.

Traffic dropped before Prime Day , but ACOS suddenly soared

According to speculation from many sellers, part of the reason for the recent poor order performance is that Prime Day is coming, and consumers will wait until the promotion to make a purchase. During this period, they only add items to cart but do not pay. Therefore, while orders are falling, many sellers are experiencing a sudden surge in ACOS.

One seller said that after running the advertisement for several months, ACOS suddenly soared . He even suspected that Amazon had done something wrong, the traffic dropped inexplicably, and the advertising fee went up!

Another seller's experience represents the situation of many people: not only did sales decline, but traffic also began to plummet. Advertising only burned money but did not convert, the conversion rate was extremely low, and the bid price skyrocketed. After spending a lot of money, I was about to faint when I saw that the orders were only in the single digits.

Since the advertising obviously consumes a lot of money and the conversion rate is low, some sellers tried to turn off the advertising directly, but the result was even less orders!

At present, the sellers’ feedback on traffic and order decline, lower conversion rate, and ACOS of ads that have been off the charts mainly occurs on the US site. It is worth noting that this situation does not only occur in one category, but also in multiple categories.

Is this the syndrome before Prime Day? It seems that sellers can only look forward to June and wait for the opportunity of the annual promotion! However, some people sobered up and poured cold water on everyone: Based on the previous situation, Prime Day has always been a carnival of big sales, and small and medium-sized sellers have few opportunities!

While many sellers' ACOS have exploded, and orders and traffic have both dropped, a small number of sellers have still seen a slight increase in orders. This may be related to the product category. Sellers selling water bottles have reported explosive orders, and outdoor user sellers on the European site have also seen growth.

A seller has seen an increase in orders due to the gradual arrival of previously out-of-stock products on the shelves, and with sufficient advertising budget, ACOS has also risen. However, there is still a problem when orders come in - the current storage capacity is limited and the goods cannot be shipped.

Inventory capacity updated, many sellers' inventory capacity has been reduced again

Amazon’s inventory capacity has been updated frequently recently. Some sellers said that it is updated almost every week, and the inventory capacity is almost always reduced with each update.

But in the past two days, some sellers have found that the adjusted inventory capacity has increased instead of decreased. One seller described his own situation: "Everyone is complaining about the inventory capacity. Amazon has given me nearly 10 million large items, clothing, and shoes. The capacity was 1,000 at the beginning, and I sent 800. When Amazon's backend could be tracked, the inventory capacity increased to 3,000. I quickly created two groups of 2,240 shipments, and the inventory capacity increased to 9,999,999. The seller suspected that the Amazon system was out of order.

The inventory capacity of a small number of sellers also increased slightly. One seller said that the inventory capacity of multiple accounts increased by 20%-30%.

However, most sellers are still facing the dilemma of reduced storage capacity and no goods to ship, and the replenishment quota has been reduced again and again. A logistics person said that he asked several customers and they all said there was no inventory. He didn't know how long this situation would last?

When there is no stock to ship, some sellers try to sell at a loss to increase storage capacity, but the effect is minimal. One seller's idea is to buy some light and small products, sell them at a low price, and increase the storage capacity in a short period of time after sales increase. However, experienced sellers said that this method is almost useless!

Amazon.com delivery fees changed, most sellers' fees increased

Yesterday, the changes in Amazon's multi-channel delivery fees officially came into effect, and many sellers said that "delivery fees have increased."

Core FBA fulfillment fee changes (except for “Apparel” category products)

Some sellers analyzed the fee changes: the shipping packaging weight was cancelled, the charging standards were raised (my brother-in-law started making money again), and the weight categories were increased, so most of the delivery fees increased. There were also a few products in the middle weight categories whose delivery fees would be reduced, so it is best to screen them all.

Amazon previously announced the changes to its multi-channel delivery fees, which will take effect on June 1, 2021:

Moderately increase delivery costs (about 3% on average);

Adjust the size tiers for most multi-channel fulfillment products to align with FBA product size tiers, and add a new tier, Small Standard Size: up to 2 ounces;

For large and special bulky items, expedited and priority delivery services will be cancelled;

Eliminate packaging weight adjustments from all charges.

Add the option to block FBA from order carriers and add a 5% fee (not included in associated fees).

After this change, a few sellers were happy to see fee reductions: "The delivery fee for our main products has been reduced from 4.95 to 4.25, I'm so happy." But most sellers are facing rising fees.

From a cost analysis, the increase in freight costs and the sluggish US dollar exchange rate will inevitably lead to a price increase for products, but at least since April, many products, including the top ones, have been sold at reduced prices. After the new delivery fee was implemented yesterday, a seller couldn’t help but ask again: “The delivery fee has increased, will you increase the price?” Another seller reminded: “Those with low customer unit prices should remember to check the new delivery fee, otherwise they will lose everything.”