A precipitous drop! Sales of Amazon sellers fluctuated drastically

At the end of May, Amazon's US site was in a state of cold, with sellers' sales fluctuating greatly and traffic falling. The sales fluctuations of domestic sellers may be traced back to Amazon's competitors. Since mid-May, Walmart, Target, and TikTok Shop have offered large discounts in advance for Memorial Day. The competition for traffic indicates that the upcoming Prime Day will still be fierce.

Sales volume fluctuated greatly, falling to a low value at the end of May

Yesterday, a group of Amazon sellers reported that their sales were very poor. For some sellers, their orders were not only cut in half, but had been slashed by as much as half.

The actual situation for many people is that traffic and sales are relatively normal in early May, start to deteriorate in late May, and fall to a low value on Memorial Day (the last Monday in May) at the end of May.

During this period of about half a month, sellers reported that sales fluctuated greatly, and traffic fluctuated significantly. Generally speaking, the ups and downs are rare, and it is a normal phenomenon. For example, sales were good yesterday, but there were no orders today; sales were normally over a hundred last week, but there were suddenly no orders a few days ago, and only one or two orders in the past two days. Sellers said, "I am numb, scared to death!" Similar feedback flooded in:

“- Orders have been up and down, and the traffic in the United States in May was too bad;

——The orders have been a bit quiet these days;

——Volatile;

——A 30% decrease from the previous week;

——The sales volume has dropped significantly in the past two days, and the time interval between orders is very long;

——Traffic in May was much less, with the lowest number of orders on one day being cut in half;

——Sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad. Sometimes it’s very strong, sometimes it drops very fast. I hope Prime can give me some surprises.

——May was really tough. We shipped a lot of inventory. Hopefully June will be better.”

The biggest feature of this sales feedback is the large fluctuation. This Monday is Memorial Day, and some sellers attribute the poor sales to this. More than one seller asked: "The orders have been bad these two days. Is it because of the US Memorial Day holiday?" Some colleagues also joked: "My sales also died with this holiday."

Regarding sales fluctuations, industry insiders believe that it is normal to have ups and downs nowadays, because the overall traffic is decreasing, and the distribution of traffic on the platform is always good and bad. The top players take most of the traffic, and the rest of the traffic is shared by everyone in turn. In this case, it is more difficult for many sellers to promote new products.

While sales are unstable, some sellers have observed that in order to increase traffic, their peers have started large-scale discount promotions . Some have directly launched 15-20% deals, and some of the top sellers in certain categories have given 20-50% coupons. One seller said that he dared not even look at the prices of his peers, and would rather avoid the limelight and let them fight the price war first.

According to actual feedback, only by spending a lot of money on advertising can sales be better. The proportion of orders brought by advertising is increasing significantly , which means that sellers either invest a lot of advertising costs or directly raise prices.

In terms of price, many peers felt that in late May, all competitors were selling at a discount, and those who could not were forced to sell at the lowest price. Under the price war, sellers' profits shrank, much less than in the previous two months.

Walmart, Target, TikTok Shop slash prices

In fact, it is not just sellers in America and Asia who are engaged in a price war. Before Memorial Day, many retailers in the United States began to offer big discounts to compete for traffic and consumers.

It is understood that the Memorial Day in the United States is a day to commemorate the American soldiers who died in various wars. This memorial day is not only an important holiday for Americans to show their patriotism, but also represents the official start of summer. Many beaches, amusement parks, summer ferries on small islands, etc. will start operating on the weekend of that week. In addition, since there are three consecutive days of holidays, many Americans go to the suburbs for barbecues and picnics, go to the beach for fun, etc.

If Amazon Prime Day is the start of the back-to-school shopping season, then Memorial Day is the start of the Amazon Prime Day shopping season.

More than a week before the official Memorial Day sales event on May 24, Amazon launched its own holiday sale with Prime Day-like deals, including discounts of at least 40% on multiple products including headphones, TVs, clothing and Ring smart doorbells.

Early Memorial Day discounts aren't uncommon, and Amazon isn't the only one doing it. Walmart, Best Buy, Lowe's, and Target are among the retailers offering deep discounts ahead of time, according to TechRadar .

On May 20, Target announced that it would reduce prices on 5,000 food, home and beauty products throughout the summer.

TikTok Shop has also been sending targeted emails to users promoting its "Mid-Year Sale," which began on May 15 and runs until June 10.

Walmart U.S. CEO John Furner said on an earnings call last week that the company has had nearly 7,000 markdowns, or temporary reductions in prices on items.

Earlier this month, discount grocer Aldi announced it would slash prices on more than 250 items, saving $100 million.

Coresight research shows that nearly 36% of consumers plan to spend money on Memorial Day celebrations. However, this wave of promotions by competitors is also very powerful, so it is conceivable that Amazon can get a share of the traffic.

Competition remains fierce on Prime Day

Memorial Day sales have become an indicator of consumer expectations for July because of their proximity to Amazon’s annual Prime Day event in mid-July.

Major retailers are launching big sales on Memorial Day to grab traffic, perhaps in order to gain a competitive advantage during Amazon Prime Day.

Amazon has confirmed that it will hold its 10th annual Prime Day promotion in July, but has not announced a specific date. Although this promotion was created by Amazon, major retailers such as Walmart, Target, and Best Buy certainly want to get a piece of the pie, so they launched promotions a few weeks in advance to compete.

Shoppers are happy to see discount competition among major retailers, many of whom look for sale prices before making a purchase. They are also increasingly aware of the tendency of retailers to continue discounting after the official sale date ends.

“I don’t think Target or Walmart would have made such big price cuts if suppliers hadn’t committed to lowering prices for retailers,” said Preston Caldwell, senior U.S. economist at Morningstar Research Services . “This could be a harbinger of broader cost-cutting across the supply chain, including manufacturing and logistics , and the price cuts are more a sign of increased competition. ”

This year's Prime Day still saw major retailers competing with Amazon for traffic, and in the context of fierce competition, traffic was evenly divided. Amazon sellers expected better sales in June or a surge in orders on Prime Day, but it seems that it will not be so easy to achieve.

Meiya

Sales