Sales volume dropped by 90%, and a large number of sellers lost their shopping carts

The repeated incidents of lost shopping carts are troubling a large number of sellers, including veteran sellers who have been selling for ten years. This problem, which everyone has reported, is seriously affecting their sales. Some have seen their sales drop by more than 90%, and some have been forced to consider leaving the platform.

According to relevant analysis, Amazon seems to intentionally use the shopping cart to compare prices with other platforms. This practice has caused concerns among industry insiders. If Amazon sellers do Temu, will the platform add Temu to the price comparison system? After the price comparison, the Amazon shopping cart will be lost...

Repeatedly losing shopping carts causes sellers’ sales to drop significantly

The problem of repeated loss of shopping carts on Amazon has become increasingly serious. Recently, many sellers have found that their shopping carts have been lost again.

One of the sellers said that the shopping cart was lost again. This problem occurs every two months . He contacted the customer service department and was told each time that the problem had been reported to the leadership department and would be fixed immediately. However, this problem continued to occur repeatedly.

“ After about 10 years of being Featured Offers eligible in the Books category , I suddenly lost the Shopping Cart for unknown reasons . My account is still in Excellent status, all metrics are on target, there are no violations, and the feedback score is high. I don’t understand why this suddenly changed. I am assuming this is a technical glitch or system error and am requesting an Amazon employee to intervene and review my case and forward it to the Shopping Cart Eligibility team, however I only get automated responses with no real answers. ” Another seller recounted his situation.

The same thing happened to other sellers.

“—Yes, my shopping cart is lost too;

——The shopping cart is broken again and needs help;

——I am in the same situation, with 100% positive feedback;

There are too many posts of this kind, and it's not a glitch. In the past few weeks, about 30 such cases have been posted on the forum.

I have the same problem and have to scream for help every few weeks! I don’t understand the purpose of providing a shopping cart feature, it makes no sense when you are the brand owner and the only seller and have no right to sell your own products;

- I 've been having the same issue over and over again for the past few weeks . Amazon changed some practices that caused a lot of people to lose their carts, and we're hoping to get our eligibility reinstated, but support won't help;

- Been with Amazon for almost 12 years, lost my cart almost 5 months ago, emails to Amazon have not resolved my issue. ”

"I've been experiencing the same problem for months. Lost my shopping cart 4 times in the last month. It seems random and this issue may be a bug." A peer believed that the large number of sellers losing their shopping carts was a platform failure.

After losing the shopping cart, sellers' sales were hit to varying degrees, with some sales falling by more than 90% . One seller who lost his shopping cart had been selling on Amazon for more than 10 years, with an average daily sales of about $1,300. After losing the shopping cart, his recent sales were only $40-100 per day (a sales drop of more than 90%). He believes that the Amazon shopping cart eligibility has been messed up, or the algorithm is manipulated by a few Amazon sellers.

A book seller has talked about this problem with many friends , including seller A on FB . He said that everyone is frustrated and scared about this problem. His sales in May and June exceeded last year, but after the problem occurred, sales fell by nearly 80%.

In the seller's opinion, Amazon's management culture may change , working directly with all brands to develop new products and gradually eliminating third-party book sellers. If the current decline increases , he may have to exit the platform early.

Amazon seller loses shopping carts because of lower prices at Target

Sellers who have repeatedly lost their shopping carts are trying to understand the platform's intentions and regain their rights. The recent experiences of many fellow sellers seem to be revealing the problems behind this.

Brandon Fishman, an Amazon seller who also sells on other platforms, recently discounted his products at Target without thinking about the impact on his Amazon business .

During this week’s sale , Amazon’s automated systems detected that one of his products was discounted to $13.43 at Target , about $1.50 cheaper than his price at Amazon .

Fishman , the brand owner of the product , lost shopping carts for an entire week due to the price issue and his sales on Amazon dropped significantly.

Fishman said that in the past, Target would display the discount percentage of the regular price , but this year Target directly listed the actual selling price of the product. This means that Amazon's pricing algorithm can easily detect it, which is why he lost the shopping cart, and other sellers have also encountered such a situation.

Arnold also lost his shopping cart due to the same problem, and his sales on Amazon plummeted . " The only way to get the shopping cart back is to lower the price on Amazon . We lowered the price, so we are currently losing money. I don't know how much the total loss will be, but now it looks like there will be at least hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses, " Arnold said.

After Sangmink lost the shopping cart, he dropped the price of his product from $23 to $19. Sales have since picked up , but Arnold doubts he can be profitable at that level. Profits on Amazon are already slim due to price competition and all the fulfillment fees .

One of Amazon’s goals is to offer the lowest prices , which is fulfilled by Amazon sellers , and those who sell their items at a lower price on competing sites risk losing valuable shopping carts .

Amazon has long relied on algorithms that continuously scan the internet to detect prices on other platforms such as Target and Walmart, using similar tools to ensure that its products are the lowest prices.

Amazon's algorithm has drawn the attention of lawmakers and regulators who claim the system is anti-competitive. The Federal Trade Commission has accused Amazon of using " anti-discounting tactics " and " massive web crawlers that constantly track online prices " to stifle competition. The company says pricing tools are part of running a good business.

Winning the Buy Box is critical to Amazon sellers . The FTC says nearly 98% of the company ’s sales come through the Buy Box button.

Third-party sellers are the core of Amazon's e-commerce business , and they already account for at least half of the total sales on the platform . In the first quarter of this year , this figure rose to 61%. Fishman believes that if Amazon punishes sellers who are just trying to make a living, then the platform will also be affected.

There is also a problem that worries fellow sellers. Since Target is being compared with Amazon, will platforms such as Temu also be compared with Amazon in the future? This will inevitably cause more concerns among sellers.

Amazon

Seller

Lost shopping cart