Amazon listing has new changes

The installment payment function appears on Amazon's high-priced listings , which is exactly the same as the gameplay of domestic e-commerce. As global consumption is downgraded, consumers have less disposable funds, which is a strategy.

Under the attack of Temu and other platforms, Amazon is making every effort to cater to consumption and promote purchases. The competition between multiple platforms is getting more and more intense, and cross-border sellers are being dragged into the "battle" to compete for more orders. As consumption decreases, more people put price first. When comparing similar products horizontally, the sales growth of low-priced products is significantly higher than that of high-priced products.

In the future, the competition between e-commerce platforms will be to "please" consumers with low prices.

Amazon is now stimulating consumption with the installment payment feature on its listings

Recently, some sellers have discovered that Amazon listings have an installment payment feature, where buyers only need to pay a certain percentage when purchasing, and then pay slowly in the future. For example, a $60 product can be paid in four installments, each payment is $15, and it is paid every two weeks, with no interest.

Depending on the product price, some products are divided into 12 or 24 installments for payment. Products worth more than $100 are shown as 12 installments, and products worth more than $500 are divided into 24 installments.

It is understood that this feature is currently only available on listings of high-priced products , with prices greater than or equal to $50 . Some sellers' listings have already had this feature a few months ago, but many people didn't notice it, or sellers of low-priced products didn't display it.

According to informed sellers, installment payment is a platform that seeks bank loan cooperation. When the buyer purchases the product, he pays part of the money first, and the other part is advanced by the bank loan. The buyer pays in installments and repays the bank slowly later. The seller does not receive the payment in installments, but can get the full payment at one time.

This function is quite friendly to sellers. This gameplay is to a certain extent intended to stimulate consumption and encourage consumers with less disposable funds to consume in advance.

However, some sellers mentioned what to do if the buyer requests a refund. According to people familiar with the matter, when a refund is made, the money will be returned to the paying bank to offset the bill.

This function actually does not harm sellers and is the inevitable result of cooperation between the platform and banks to benefit consumption.

This function is similar to the installment payment function on Taobao. More sellers believe that Amazon is trying to catch up with the domestic e-commerce industry and follow the path of domestic e-commerce. At the same time, it also reflects that cross-border e-commerce platforms are becoming more and more competitive, especially with the entry of Pinduoduo Temu and TikTok, the competition among cross-border e-commerce platforms has entered a white-hot stage.

In the just-concluded Black Friday promotion, TikTok performed impressively . The overall payment GMV of TikTok Shop in the US region increased by more than 215% month-on-month, and the GMV on Black Friday increased fourfold month-on-month, with the number of SKUs paid for the mall increasing by 1,212%. In addition to the US market, by the end of Black Friday, the overall payment GMV of TikTok Shop's cross-border e-commerce in the UK market increased by 191%, and the GMV on Black Friday increased by 368%.

Pinduoduo Group's recently released third-quarter performance report was also eye-catching. In the third quarter of this year , Pinduoduo's revenue was 68.84 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 93.9% , and its profit was 15.5 billion yuan, far exceeding market expectations. Its stock price also soared 18%. Temu played an indispensable role in this.

In the more than one year since its launch, Temu's consumers have spread across more than 40 different countries and regions, with 200 million APP downloads and 120 million people opening the app in September, half of whom were from outside the United States. This year, Temu's Black Friday promotion lasted more than 40 days, with the platform giving out $200 coupons and three items of your choice for free, with many items costing only 1 cent to buy. Many sellers saw a surge in sales, with many receiving thousands of orders a day.

In addition, SHEIN, Shopify, and Walmart also performed well. All e-commerce platforms are trying to attract more consumers, and Amazon is also working hard. This year, Amazon has updated its functions many times, and the platform even paid out of its own pocket to subsidize to stimulate more purchases. The online installment payment function is also to attract more consumers and stimulate them to buy in advance with the least money.

Amazon's low-priced goods sales increased by 100%

As global consumption is downgraded, consumers have less disposable funds. According to survey data released by the University of Michigan on the 27th, consumers' short-term inflation expectations rose to a seven-month high in November this year, and long-term inflation expectations are still at their highest level since 2011.

According to the latest Federal Reserve research on U.S. household finances, the richest 20% of Americans have used up the extra savings they gained early in the pandemic and are now holding less cash than before the pandemic began.

As consumers have less money, low prices are another way to stimulate consumption, in addition to installment payments. This year, Amazon sellers have been involuted to increase prices, with prices in many categories dropping significantly. A survey shows that the sales volume of low-priced goods has increased by 100% compared to higher-priced products.

According to Jungle Scout data, more than a quarter of consumers said that the main reason they choose to shop online is to compare prices and find the most suitable price. More than 70% of consumers said that inflation has affected their consumption, and price is replacing other factors and becoming the main factor in purchasing decisions. According to data from multiple categories on Amazon, sales of low-priced products are growing faster.

According to Amazon's best-selling product rankings , the median price of Amazon's headphone products has dropped 15% in the past 12 months , and unit sales have increased 159%. Although both products above and below the median price have increased, sales of headphones below the median price have increased by about 45% year-on-year . In the past 30 days, the two headphone brands with the lowest median price among the top five have the highest unit sales.

In Amazon's home and kitchen categories, sales of small appliances such as microwave ovens, pressure cookers, and air cookers increased by 23% year-on-year, while the median price remained stable, down less than 1% year-on-year. Sales and revenue of lower-priced small appliances increased by more than 70% year-on-year, higher than the higher-priced products in this market.

In terms of sales of toys and baby products, the median price of a certain category of toys has increased slightly, with a year-on-year change of 5%. Overall unit sales increased by 30%. The difference in sales trends between toys priced above the market median and those priced below the market median is amazing. Whether in terms of sales or revenue, the year-on-year growth rate of lower-priced toys is more than 300% higher than that of higher-priced toys.

The same is true for the sales trends of Amazon's small tools, dolls, diapers, health and beauty, fitness equipment, televisions and other categories.

Today’s consumers place a high priority on saving money, with more than 30% saying their biggest way to save money is by using coupons or discounts.

For platforms and sellers, catering to consumer demand is one of the best ways to increase sales. It has become a common practice for sellers to offer discounts during major sales events and coupons at other times to attract cost-conscious consumers.

With Temu's low-price offensive, consumers' purchasing mentality is constantly changing, and more buyers on Amazon are paying more and more attention to prices and discounts. Faced with new consumer trends and competition from multiple e-commerce platforms, Amazon is also trying to attract consumers through some consumer-friendly features.

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