Oil shock hits supply chains

It’s been crazy for the last few weeks. How’s your business holding up? Are your sales affected? 

• 🛢️ Oil shocks are hitting supply chains
• 🎯 Creators are driving demand in your category
• 📦 Prime Day may be moving earlier
• 📉 Consumers are starting to pull back

TRENDING TOPIC

The Strait of Hormuz—one of the world’s most critical oil routes—has been closed since March 4, sending oil prices higher.

For Amazon sellers, this isn’t just geopolitics—it’s cost pressure. Higher oil means more expensive freight, rising FBA inbound fees, and tighter margins across the board.

Major carriers like Maersk, CMA CGM, and Hapag-Lloyd have already suspended routes through the region, adding delays and uncertainty to global shipping.

🖥️ What this means:

• Freight costs are climbing
• Replenishment cycles could slow
• Stockouts and price increases are likely

Big picture:
If your margins don’t work at higher oil prices, they don’t work. And with no quick resolution in sight, sellers should expect ongoing pressure on costs and supply chains.

TOGETHER WITH LEVANTA

Are creators promoting you—or your competitors?

How many creators are promoting products in your Amazon category right now?

Not influencers you could reach out to someday.

We’re talking about creators already publishing content, driving discovery, and shaping demand.

With Levanta’s Creator Demand Meter, you can instantly see how much creator activity exists in your Amazon category.

Just enter your category to see if creator demand is:

• High: creators actively promoting products like yours
• Medium: steady opportunity
• Emerging: early-stage, first-mover advantage

If creators are already generating demand in your category, one question matters:

Is that demand going to you – or your competitors?

Try the Creator Demand meter

BITES OF THE WEEK

• Amazon Tops Walmart: For the first time ever, Amazon has surpassed Walmart in annual revenue, reporting $716.9B versus Walmart’s $713.2B for the fiscal year.
• AI Boosts Basket Size: Walmart says customers using its AI shopping assistant, Sparky, are building carts that are 35% larger than non-AI users.
• Shopify Ads Enter ChatGPT: Shopify is expanding its Shop Campaigns network by placing merchant ads directly inside ChatGPT, with sellers paying only when a purchase occurs
• Tariff Evasion Hits Record Levels: A reported $112B trade gap between Chinese export data and U.S. import records suggests large-scale tariff avoidance, reshaping competitive pricing dynamics for U.S. sellers. 

AMAZON NEWS

Prime Day moves earlier

Amazon is reportedly planning to shift Prime Day from July to June—a rare change for one of its biggest annual events.

The move would pull billions in sales into Q2 and reset the timing of the entire mid-year ecommerce calendar.

Prime Day has traditionally been a July anchor since 2015, driving massive traffic and revenue for both Amazon and third-party sellers.

🖥️ What this means:

• Sellers may need to pull inventory and ad spend forward
• Summer sales cycles could shift earlier
• Competing retailers may adjust their promo timelines

Big picture:
Prime Day isn’t just a sale—it sets the rhythm for ecommerce. And moving it earlier could reshape when demand hits—and who’s ready for it.

BIG IDEA

Consumer spending slows this 2026

U.S. consumers are starting to pull back—and the Iran war is adding more pressure.

Even before the conflict, spending was already softening. Now, rising oil prices are pushing up everyday costs like gas and transportation, leaving consumers with less room to spend on non-essentials.

At the same time, confidence is slipping. Shoppers are feeling less secure about their finances, which usually leads to more cautious buying behavior in the months ahead.

For ecommerce sellers, this shift matters.

When costs rise, consumers don’t stop spending—but they become more selective. That puts pressure on discretionary categories and makes demand harder to predict, especially for non-essential products.

Big picture:
Higher costs don’t just hit businesses—they hit buyers too. And when consumers pull back, ecommerce growth tends to follow.