Happy start of the week!
One proof that consumer behavior can be tricky to predict is the list of Amazon best-sellers this month, which includes art products, appliances, and even outdoor gear!
Today, we’re giving you an organized view of the latest happenings in online marketplaces amid shoppers' seemingly random to-buy lists.
POST OF THE WEEK
BLACK MARKET
Did you know that Amazon pioneered online product reviews in 1995?
Yup, the retailer introduced them to help customers make better choices. However, bad actors found a way to infiltrate the platform with fake reviews.
But Amazon has a long track record of fighting fake reviews before customers see them. In fact, the retail giant blocked over 250 million suspected fake reviews in 2023. Here's the latest on their legal action efforts:
🕵️ Recent crackdowns
Fake reviews on the platform are backed by fake review brokers. This shady industry profits from deception by paying people to either boost a bad seller's listing with positive reviews or sabotage a competitor's listing with negative reviews.
But Amazon's not having any of it. The company uses a mix of machine learning models along with expert investigators. And when legal action comes into play, they’re hitting fraudsters where it hurts—their pockets. 👛
Recently, Amazon scored big against several shady operations:
📌 A continued commitment
Amazon emphasizes that "these fraudsters need to be held accountable," indicating that the legal actions taken are just the start. So, we can expect the retailer to keep swinging at fraudsters who try to exploit the system.
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BITES OF THE WEEK
AMAZON NEWS
Last December 2023, Amazon introduced its plan to charge a low-inventory-level fee to improve inventory management and delivery speed. However, this move upset many sellers feeling the current financial strain. 👎
Last April 1, the fee officially came into effect, but Amazon announced a grace period to help sellers adjust to the fee and its management tools. It promised to credit back any fees incurred from April 1 to May 14, 2024 by May 31, 2024.
To win back sellers’ hearts, Amazon also announced updates to its low-level-inventory fee:
⏰ What’s new?
Listening to seller feedback, Amazon is implementing 3 additional changes to the fee:
With these updates, Amazon aims to ease the burden of the low-inventory-level fee. But we’d also love to hear how you think this will impact your finances and overall business operations, so feel free to hit that reply button! 🫵
SELLER REFRESHER
More and more marketers talk about the importance of social proof, especially with today’s prevalent social media use.But ICYDK, the term has been around since 1984.
It’s a trend where people gather evidence and actively seek other opinions before deciding. Marketing-wise, this refers to how existing customers convince new shoppers that your product is great.
🤳To guide you in using this trend to your advantage, OptinMonster breaks down the 6 types of social proof:
👌 Social proof = fail-proof
Just so we’re clear, you don’t need to gather all types of social proof above. But you’d want to get as much high-quality, genuine proof as possible to increase your chances of scoring big sales.
