We made it through another wild Peak Mode weekend, hope your caffeine stash held up.
Are you feeling the momentum… or just the midnight packing slips? Either way, this is the home stretch.
Here’s what’s inside today’s issue:
- Secrets seller agencies pray don’t leak 🤫
- 50% of Amazon sellers now come from China 📊
- 600M listings vanish from ChatGPT’s reach 🚫
- Amazon’s B2B Prime just hit a decade 📦
- Get Looped In and take the chaos out of ecommerce accounting ✉️
- We’ll link your newsletter for FREE. Send your applications here. 🤝
HOT TOPIC
For years, Amazon’s seller landscape has been a tug-of-war: U.S. sellers had the numbers, China-based sellers had the speed. Now, the scales have tipped.
According to Marketplace Pulse, China-based sellers officially make up 50.03% of Amazon’s global active seller base. That’s the first time they’ve crossed the halfway mark.
📈 From underdog to majority
This didn’t happen overnight. It’s a milestone that’s been building for a decade.
- 2015: Just 7% of new Amazon.com sellers came from China, while the U.S. dominated with 70%.
- 2024: 62% of new sellers are now from China, with the U.S. trailing at 27%.
Now, China-based sellers dominate every marketplace except Japan.
🤖Uhm.. what changed?
Remember when China-based listings felt… off? Think awkward translations and odd product photos. That gap’s gone.
- AI and Amazon tools level the playing field. Tools handle translations, cultural tweaks, and ad creation at scale, while Creator Studio puts pro-level content within reach.
- Cost edge drives growth. Factory-direct supply, subsidies, and lower costs let China-based sellers scale faster while pricing lower.
💸 But U.S. sellers still earn more
Headcount is one thing, revenue is another. Marketplace Pulse estimates:
- U.S. sellers: $157B GMV (~$885K per seller)
- Chinese sellers: $132B GMV (~$394K per seller)
So while China-based sellers outnumber those in the U.S., the latter earn more than twice as much per head, quality over quantity, at least for now.
⚖️ Now that the scales have tipped
The question isn’t who’s winning, it’s how you’re going to play. The decade-long takeover is real, but so is the opportunity for sellers who adapt, differentiate, and refuse to get lost in the crowd.
TOGETHER WITH SELLER ALLIANCE
The Amazon Resources Agencies Use—Now Available to You
If you’ve ever wished you could peek behind the curtain of a top Amazon agency… this is your chance.
Seller Alliance is your insider access to the exact SOPs, templates, and strategies used by seasoned Amazon experts to grow real brands.
Built by the team behind Seller Interactive, this membership gives sellers the tools to scale—without hiring an agency.
What’s inside:
- ✔️ Proven SOPs and templates for every stage of your growth
- ✔️ Step-by-step video walkthroughs designed by experts
- ✔️ Live trainings and Q&As on what’s working right now
- ✔️ Constantly updated strategies based on real client experience
From listing optimization to ad strategy to operations—no fluff, no recycled content, and no wasted time trying to piece it together yourself.
It’s not a course. It’s not a community full of noise.
It’s a real resource library—built by an agency, for sellers who want to take control.
Click to learn more and get started
BITES OF THE WEEK
- Low and Wide: The lowest prices and the widest product selection, that’s the Amazon promise.
- Retrain to Retain: Technological shifts brought by AI resulted in both job loss and job expansion.
- Lowering Expectations: Lululemon isn't spared from the minimized profit projections due to the end of de minimis.
- Tried and Tested: Wondering which Amazon Seller tool is still able to keep up with 2025?
ECOMMERCE NEWS
Amazon pulled 600M products off the AI shelf
Ask ChatGPT for sneakers, and you won’t land on Google or Amazon, you’ll be whisked to Walmart. Not a hypothetical, this is already happening.
Modern Retail reported ChatGPT already drives 20% of Walmart’s referral traffic, with Target, Etsy, and eBay riding the same wave while Amazon sits it out.
🤖 AI referrals take off
Shoppers are skipping Google and turning to AI for product picks. In August, ChatGPT referrals looked like this:
- 20% of referral clicks to Walmart,
- 20%+ to Etsy,
- 15% to Target, and
- 10% to eBay.
It’s still under 5% of total visits, but the message is clear: AI chats are the new storefront. Sellers optimizing for AI visibility are already seeing gains.
💰 The free traffic window won’t last
Everyone’s watching this trend and lining up to cash in.
- OpenAI is already testing payments and checkout inside ChatGPT, meaning today’s free clicks could soon become paid traffic or affiliate fees.
- Agencies are jumping in too, with some brands seeing up to 7x more visits from ChatGPT referrals.
🛑 Amazon says "no thanks"
Unlike its rivals, Amazon blocked most AI crawlers—dropping ChatGPT referrals to under 3% and yanking 600M listings off the AI shopping shelf.
Why? To protect its $56B ad business and funnel traffic to Rufus, its own shopping chatbot.
For sellers, that means AI visibility on Amazon is Amazon’s call. But if you’re on Walmart, Etsy, or DTC, you could already be riding a wave of free ChatGPT traffic.
SELLER REFRESHER
Amazon Business Prime hits 10 years
Amazon Business Prime members get analytics, spend controls, and Guided Buying to rein in rogue orders.
In 2024, that meant over $750M saved on shipping, with most orders arriving the same or next day.
Think Prime perks, but built for companies buying smarter and cutting costs.
💼 Prime, but for suits
Membership tiers scale with company size:
- Duo: Free with personal Prime (1 user)
- Essentials: $179/yr (up to 5 users)
- Small: $499/yr (up to 20 users)
- Medium: $1,299/yr (up to 200 users)
- Enterprise: $10,099/yr (unlimited users + advanced controls)
💸 Bigger deals, bigger customers
For sellers, Business Prime goes beyond shipping perks, it opens the door to bulk buyers and repeat corporate orders. These companies consolidate spend, order in larger quantities, and stick with sellers who make procurement easy.
