Good Morning, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping and Bezos is back from space. Whether you love him or hate him, the man did what he's been set out to do and it's actually pretty incredible (except for the part where he thanked his Amazon workers for the launch). In other news:
BIG IDEA
Amazon sent out a notification to sellers claiming to have recovered unallocated inventory that they are now returning to their (assumed) rightful owner. The statement outlines that you might see changes to your inventory quantities between July 14-30 if this applies to you.
Here's what you need to know:
Long-time Amazon sellers know that inventory is lost and found all the time, but this formal message from Amazon is throwing some people off, and the reactions are getting some snickers. While finding lost inventory is generally a good thing, others, like this guy who hadn't sold anything on Amazon since 2017, is more confused.
If you want to see whether you have inventory assigned to your account as part of this effort, follow the instructions below and download your Inventory Adjustments report after July 30:
AMAZON NEWS
Amazon just launched (no, not this) a new program that claims it will be beneficial to brands looking to save money and gain new customers. The new Brand Referral Bonus Program is a feat that encourages sellers to advertise off Amazon via referral links and bring back customers to Amazon. In turn, sellers are credited an average of 10% (rates vary per category) per sale that occurs within 14 days of clicking on an ad. The 10% credit comes out of the usual 15% referral fee that sellers pay.
According to Amazon, the Brand Referral Bonus Program provides sellers with the following benefits:
There's a lot of discussion revolving around this new referral program, and the opinions are, for the most part, mixed. Some sellers take it as a win-win, an opportunity to pay less in referral fees while incorporating this into their existing marketing strategies. It seems to make the most sense for those who primarily rely on Amazon as their selling channel. On the other hand, sellers who use DTC web stores like Shopify are not so thrilled and instead interpret this as Amazon's opportunity to steal away customers in the long run, only to exhaust the program once their objectives are met.
ACTIONABLE ADVICE
As if you needed another reason to love TikTok (don't lie), now you can enjoy it and make money off this fun-loving app too. Tiktok is undoubtedly responsible for the success of many brands and products on Amazon, and now more than ever is it accommodating sellers who want to advertise on this platform.
Not only is this #1 downloaded app entertainment central, but its broad and diverse audience is a killer approach to skyrocket your brand exposure.
There are five types of TikTok ad placements, and each of them has a different method of engaging with a user:
Is It Profitable? A Helium10 blog revealed results from a TikTok campaign, proving that yes, it can be profitable. Some of the findings from using TikTok to advertise Amazon products include the following:
To see the full results, click here.
TikTok advertising is not for everyone as it does require a level of creativity to get it going, but once you've come around that learning curve, the possibilities are endless. One of the most important things to keep in mind when advertising on apps like TikTok is to be authentic and engaging.
Remember, don't make ads. Make TikToks.
TRENDS & TRENDING
Amazon, Fakespot, and the App Store walk into a bar and, well, you know how it goes.
Drama brews as Fakespot is removed from Apple's App Store due to an Amazon takedown request. Fakespot is a website-turned app that exposes websites, products, and listings for having fake reviews. Now, we all know how influential reviews are, which shows how damaging fake ones can have on customers and sellers, so, with Fakespot doing good for the world, what's the problem?
Fake reviews and counterfeit products have long been a part of Amazon's reputation, but they've shown initiative to begin handling it themselves. According to Amazon, the Fakespot App exposes Amazon to potential security risks making it vulnerable to possible attacks putting customer data at risk while also violating Apple Store guidelines. Furthermore, they claimed that their review verification programs do a better job at identifying and removing false reviews than Fakespot - that Fakespot was wrong about 80% of the time.
The owner of the widely used review catching app, Khalifah, disputed that the 80% figure is inaccurate and that their code caused no security risks for Amazon. Khalifah then proceeds to state that Amazon bullies anyone who exposes cracks in their system.
Apple's App Store stepped back as they wanted the two (Amazon and Fakespot) to resolve the issue independently; however, they pulled Fakespot anyway.