Increase orders! Amazon launches new features for FBA sellers

Later this month, Amazon will launch a new feature for FBA sellers, which is expected to improve conversion and boost sales. The feature is automatically registered, so sellers who do not need to use it should remember to opt out in advance. Faced with the strong traffic siege of platforms such as Temu, Amazon is coming up with some effective methods to compete for more traffic.

Amazon's new feature will automatically take effect on June 27

Recently, Amazon announced to FBA sellers that it is expanding its "Subscribe and Save" program to sellers' self-delivered products. The "Subscribe and Save" program provides discounts on frequently used products if buyers commit to regular purchases through the program.

Amazon said the feature can help sellers increase conversion rates, drive repeat purchases and grow their brands.

The new feature officially took effect on June 27. After it takes effect, Amazon will automatically add the default discount set in the seller's "Subscribe and Save" settings to all eligible replenishable products.

To set a default sign-up discount, sellers can follow these steps:

1. Go to Growth and select Explore Plans.

2. Click "Increase Conversion";

3. Under "Subscribe & Save," click "Learn More."

Sellers can also: opt out of automatic enrollment; update discount funds for each product after the new feature goes into effect on June 27; and check their performance dashboard.

It is worth noting that Amazon automatically includes eligible self-delivered products in the discount. If sellers do not want to be included, they need to opt out of automatic registration in advance. This operation will not affect their currently registered FBA subscriptions and saved products.

Some sellers do not want to join this program due to the need to offer discounts or some other factors. They are worried that quitting this program will affect FBA products. A seller asked, we only see a "general" opt-out option, and there is no specific content for FBA or FBM Subscribe and Save options. We want to opt out of "Subscribe and Save" for self-delivered products and only keep the current FBA products in the options. How do we choose to opt out?

A peer responded that registration does not differentiate between fulfillment channels and there is currently no way for sellers to opt out of only seller-fulfilled products. However, once registered, sellers can remove the selection at the individual quote level.

According to Amazon's announcement, for customers who plan to deliver on the same day and order 5 or more items, the platform will provide an additional 5% discount. If the seller does not set a default discount, Amazon will add eligible items with a 0% basic discount funded by the seller.

As Amazon combines seller-fulfilled Subscribe & Save deliveries with subscribers’ weekly or monthly subscription delivery days, sellers may experience an increase in pending orders.

This function was previously only available for FBA, but it will also be available for self-delivered products starting from the 27th of this month. This surprised some sellers, who said they were very happy to hear the news.

One seller said, "This is awesome, it's great to see some of the offers that were previously limited to FBA now available to FBM sellers as well. Hopefully BUNDLES get similar treatment. When customers buy more items in one purchase, everyone wins. Why not make it easier for sellers to create and display bundles? Keeping the Brand Registry restrictions is great, but it doesn't make sense to only be FBA, if not forcing sellers to use FBA."

Amazon is getting anxious due to the fierce attack from Temu and other platforms

This new feature of Amazon allows more products to have the opportunity to offer discounts, use discounts to drive conversions, and increase the repurchase rate of products. This can increase sellers’ orders to a certain extent.

Using policies to push sellers to offer more discounts and using prices to stimulate consumers is the most direct method. More than one Amazon seller has reported that orders can only be increased if the product price is reduced with enough sincerity, such as some peers’ low-price internal competition, which can indeed bring practical results.

Since the beginning of this year, Temu, SHEIN, TikTok and other companies have been developing rapidly. Under the fierce attack from competitors, Amazon seems to be anxious. The platform has frequently introduced new policies, intending to promote more products to provide competitive prices in order to gain an advantage.

The new coupon rules introduced by Amazon some time ago directly pushed sellers to sell at the lowest price. On March 12, Amazon implemented the new coupon rules. Sellers need to provide a discount percentage between the minimum discount (5%) and the maximum discount (50%) when using coupons; new products also need to have a sales history, and the promotional price should be lower than its "historical selling price" or the lowest price in the near future. Many sellers are stuck on discounts due to the new rules. The platform requires repeated discounts, forcing sellers to sell at prices lower than the actual cost of the goods, which makes sellers roll up at low prices.

Starting from May 15, Amazon lowered the sales commission for low-priced clothing products in 11 major sites around the world. This is the latest move by Amazon after it announced in January this year that it would lower the sales commission for low-priced clothing products in the United States. The purpose of doing so is also to promote and motivate sellers to provide competitive prices. Some industry insiders analyzed that Amazon's adjustment is to better cope with the competition from Temu and SHEIN.

At the same time, Temu, SHEIN, TikTok and others are also actively recruiting domestic sellers. Recently, at the 9th Shenzhen International Cross-border E-commerce Trade Expo, Temu promoted the semi-hosting model, and TikTok Shop promoted the full-hosting model, continuing to extend olive branches to Amazon sellers.

An Amazon seller said that some time ago, Temu’s investment promotion agents would contact him every day, asking him to join and promising relevant policy benefits, and other sellers around him had the same experience.

Last week, TikTok directly launched favorable policies, updating the entry standards for the US site and no longer making any requirements for Amazon sellers' store turnover. After lowering the threshold, many sellers applied for registration as soon as possible.

A new report shows that 20% of Americans visit Temu every week. Since its launch in the United States at the end of 2022, Temu has attracted a large number of consumers with its low prices, user-friendly interface and attractive promotions. The report pointed out that 34% of consumers shop on Temu at least once a month. The platform has grown rapidly and opened up huge market segments. Temu currently has 70 national sites. At the end of May, the European Commission officially included Temu in the category of very large online platforms.

TikTok Shop is also developing rapidly. In a recent TikTok Shop live broadcast in the United States, a beauty brand anchor achieved sales of over $1 million, breaking the record for a single live broadcast in the United States. TikTok's goal is to achieve a total merchandise transaction volume of $12 billion to $13 billion in the United States in the second half of 2024.

With the rise of Temu and TikTok Shop, Chinese cross-border e-commerce platforms are becoming more and more present in the US market. A recent survey shows that in the past year, about 70% of Americans have shopped on Chinese e-commerce platforms, and 46% of consumers have shopped on more than one platform. In the past year, 57% of Americans have bought things on Temu and 43% on SHEIN.

Facing attacks from competitors, Amazon’s counterattack has just begun, and the phenomenon of sellers and platforms being swept up together will continue in the future.

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