Were you away this week?
Itâs been chaotic on all fronts. Amazon sellers are dodging curveballs left and right.
One thingâs clear: sellers are in the spotlight, whether they like it or not.
- Amazonâs biggest Prime Day ever was powered by AI đ§
- Walmart Marketplace is 2025âs smartest seller move đ
- Amazon sued over secret Alexa recordings đïž
- FedExâUSPS label chaos leaves sellers stuck đŠ
- Sign up for Walmart Insiders to get one growth hack every week.

BIG IDEA
ICYMI, Amazon didnât just break records this Prime Dayâit rewrote the rules.
What started as a discount-fueled frenzy became a four-day AI-powered showcase of what modern ecommerce looks like.
And sellers who knew how to work the algorithm? They crushed it.
đȘ Quick bits
- Bestsellers included Alexa devices, AirPods Pro 2, and viral beauty items.
- Grocery deals from Whole Foods and Amazon Fresh drove major traffic.
- AI tools guided shoppers to products with scary-good precision.
- Independent sellers reported record sales and new-to-brand customers.
- The focus shifted from deep discounts to smart discovery.
đŹ SellerBitesâ take
Letâs be honestâthis wasnât Prime Day. It was Algorithm Appreciation Week.
AI wasnât just helping shoppers navigate dealsâit was steering the ship. If your listing wasnât optimized for Amazonâs discovery tools, you were basically invisible.
This year made it clear: itâs not about who cuts prices the mostâitâs about who trains the algorithm best.

TOGETHER WITH WALMART MARKETPLACE
Selling on Walmart Marketplace is one of 2025âs smartest investments

For eCommerce brands looking to diversify their sales and expand their footprint, thereâs no better time to join Walmart Marketplace. Right now, Walmartâs New-Seller Savings event is offering new sellers up to $75K in incentives, which includes up to 75% off base referral fees and generous credits toward advertising and fulfillment.*
Walmart is one of the world’s most recognizable brands with over 255 million customers and members shopping at Walmart online and in-store around the world each week. New-Seller Savings run from sign up to January 31, 2026, so donât waitâthe faster you start, the more opportunity youâll have to save.
To take advantage of this unprecedented offer and the endless opportunities on Walmart.com.
Join Walmart Marketplace today

BITES OF THE WEEK
- Amazon Weekly Roundup: Here’s a quick breakdown of Amazon news and forum discussions this past week.
- Failed Predictions: Tariffs were predicted to drive U.S. sellers to expand internationally, but that’s not happening.
- Better Accounting: It’s time to pause retail inventory method (RIM) calculations and perform cost accounting instead.
- TikTok Lay-offs: TikTok announced that it is laying off more than 600 employees from the TikTok Shop department.

HOT TOPIC
Amazon faces lawsuit over secret Alexa recordings

Alexa has been secretly listening to users, and now Amazon is talking to lawyers.
A federal judge just gave the green light to a nationwide class-action lawsuit claiming that Amazonâs smart speakers recorded private conversations without users saying âHey, Alexa.â
đȘ Quick bits
- Lawsuit alleges Amazon recorded private convos beyond voice commands, without consent.
- They claim the data was used for targeted marketing and product development.
- The suit seeks financial compensation and deletion of stored recordings.
- Class covers registered Alexa usersâroommates and family members excluded.
- Amazon denies it all, saying Alexa has âmultiple privacy safeguardsâ in place.
- But now, the case moves forward, with serious implications for smart devices.
đŹ SellerBitesâ take
The idea that your smart speaker could be low-key eavesdropping without the wake word is exactly the kind of thing that creeps out privacy-conscious shoppers. And when trust in the device erodes, trust in the platform isnât far behind.
For sellers, this isnât just Amazonâs PR headacheâitâs a wake-up call: when your brand rides on Amazonâs rails, their trust issues can become yours, too.

HOT TOPIC
Sellers caught in the crossfire of FedEx-USPS label confusion

Some sellers are waking up to find their shipments in limboânot lost, just locked in USPS purgatory. Dual-labeled FedEx Ground Economy packages are being accepted, scanned⊠and then straight-up ignored.
The reason? A quiet policy change.
đȘ Quick bits
- FedEx now requires Ground Economy packages to be dropped off directly, no more USPS handoffs.
- USPS is still scanning some of these packages, but then refuses to process or return them.
- Sellers say they werenât warned, and postal staff kept accepting the shipments.
- FedEx blames sellers for not following updated policies.
- USPS is training employees to reject dual-labeled parcels, placing responsibility on FedEx.
- One possible workaround: a USPS policy that may allow unprocessed mail to be returned to the sender.
đŹ SellerBitesâ take
This is what happens when logistics becomes a game of ânot it.â
If your FedEx Ground Economy label has both USPS and FedEx on it, thatâs not a backup planâitâs a dead end.
Until the carriers sync up (donât hold your breath), your safest move? Skip the drop box drama and hand those packages straight to FedEx.. Itâs a method. And when done right, itâs one of the few tactics that reliably leads to real revenue gains.