The big role of seller fees in Amazon’s Q4 2024 profit

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To celebrate its 30-year milestone, Amazon looked back to its biggest accomplishments in the last few years. From tech investment to work opportunities, the retailer boasted how impactful its operations are to the U.S. economy.

But what about to its selling community?

• On profits and fees 💸
• The secret weapon to ecommerce success ✒️
• Changes to minimum order handling capacity 😖
• Beating fraud and scam this 2025 🥊
• AI-powered marketing tools 🤖

BIG IDEA

Amazon recently announced its profits for Q4 2024—can you guess how much its operating income rose?

A whopping 86%!

But as they celebrate this success, there's some murkiness around where exactly the money is coming from.

🌩️ Here’s what we know:

• AWS is a major profit driver. Amazon's cloud business, AWS, brought in 58% of its operating profit in 2024, equivalent to $39.8 billion. 
• Non-AWS profit breakdown. The remaining 42% ($28.8 billion) comes from Amazon’s other businesses, including ecommerce and advertising. 💰
• Cost cuts and advertising. While Amazon has made strides in reducing warehousing and transportation costs, ads are also contributing to its profits.
• Seller fees played a key role in the profit surge. Amazon earned $150 billion in seller fees last year, a figure that would place it in the Fortune 25 if it were its own company. 

😬 The interesting controversy

• Increased seller fees: In the last 6 years, seller fees have grown from 19% to 29% of Amazon’s non-AWS revenue.
• Sellers have raised concerns over unpredictable and higher fees. Many argue that Amazon’s increasing fees are more about generating extra profits than covering costs. 

While Amazon hasn’t disclosed all the details, analysts suspect that rising seller fees might be helping boost profits more than we realize.

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BITES OF THE WEEK

• Q4 Money Highlights: Here’s how much Amazon amassed in the last quarter of 2024.
• Stocks are Down: AI-related concerns have caused Amazon stock to drop by 4%.
• Webinar Alerts: Here are some insightful webinars you can join to improve your selling strategy this year.
• Labor Blacklist: Shein and Temu are allegedly being considered for the “forced labor” list of Trump’s administration.

AMAZON NEWS

Amazon will now automatically set your minimum order handling capacity

On February 7, 2025, Amazon enforced the automatic setting of a minimum threshold for your order handling capacity. The value will be recalculated weekly based on your average daily orders in the last 30 days.

But why?

To make sure you can handle the order volume! 🛍️

In some cases, sellers bite more orders than they can chew. When they fail to fulfill these orders, they’ll risk staining Amazon’s reputation.

To help you avoid late shipment rates, the retail giant changed the Order Handling Capacity settings to give customers accurate delivery estimates. ⌚

• If you fall below your order handling capacity, Amazon will automatically adjust the threshold to a value closer to what you’ve handled historically.
• You can set a higher limit at any time in your Order handling settings.
• Order handling capacity applies ONLY to Standard and Free Economy shipping options (not to Premium Shipping or Seller Fulfilled Prime orders).

👂 And what do sellers think about this?

Well, sellers aren’t impressed with this move. Many aired negative initial reactions in the forum.

• One said it’s not unlikely that a “low threshold order handling capacity fee” will follow later this year.
• Another who sells gifted products was extremely frustrated because the minimum threshold might kill their sales.
• Others expressed their confusion as to what “minimum threshold” really means. They even said this change is useless as it won’t affect how many orders a seller can fulfill in the future.

All in all, we’re not sure how sellers would accept this change. But we’ll surely keep an eye on this to keep you updated. 👀

ACTIONABLE ADVICE

Protect your brand from fraud and scams in 5 easy steps

With rising online threats like counterfeiting, data breaches, and digital fraud, brand protection is more important than ever. You must act fast to safeguard your reputation and assets.

🛡️ Doppel shared 5 easy steps to protect your brand from costly disruptions and reputational damage:

Step 1: Conduct a risk assessment

• Identify key assets like trademarks, intellectual property, and customer data.
• Find internal and external risks like counterfeiting, phishing, and data breaches. 🔍
• Rank the risks to prioritize and create a focused protection plan.

Step 2: Create a brand protection policy

• Build a clear policy with step-by-step actions to tackle digital threats.  📜
• Set up a cross-functional team from IT, legal, marketing, and operations (whichever is applicable).
• Document detailed processes, including takedown actions and cybersecurity measures.

Step 3: Implement proactive monitoring

• Monitor your websites, social media channels, and ecommerce platforms.
• Leverage AI and machine learning to detect fraudulent activities early and find counterfeit listings and impersonations.

Step 4: Act fast and automate

• Use automated tools to get alerts and respond quickly to threats.
• Once threats are detected, disable compromised accounts.

Step 5: Educate and stay updated

• Regularly train your team on using digital tools and handling emerging threats. 
• Keep your team informed to stay ahead of new risks. 📚

Brand protection in 2025 isn’t optional—it’s a must. Protect your business with these steps and stay one step ahead.

TECH MARKETING

Best AI marketing tools for your ecommerce funnel

AI is more than just a trend—it’s a game-changer that can supercharge your ecommerce business. From content creation to customer engagement, here are the top AI tools to enhance your marketing efforts in 2025, as listed by eCommerce Fastlane.

 ✍️ Content generation tools

• ChatGPT (as expected!): An AI chatbot that generates human-like text, answers complex questions, and summarizes content.
• Jasper: Create high-quality marketing copy with ease, from blog posts to social media ads.
  • You can also use Jasper Art to create custom images for your content.
• Synthesia: Turn text into video with 140 avatars speaking in over 120 languages! This tool is perfect for crafting promos and tutorials.

🔍 SEO tools

• MarketMuse: An AI-driven platform that identifies gaps and suggests improvements for better SERP ranking.
• Surfer: Best for on-page optimization and keyword research. This tool offers real-time content recommendations and SEO audits.
• Frase.io: Automate content creation and optimization with AI templates, keyword research, and data-driven content briefs.

💬 AI chatbots

• ManyChat: This chat platform automates customer support and engagement via Facebook Messenger and SMS. It also provides analytics to measure success.
• Chatfuel: Build interactive chatbots for platforms like Messenger, WhatsApp, and Instagram using a drag-and-drop interface.
• Rep AI: Powered by ChatGPT, this chatbot for ecommerce assists with product discovery and customer queries.

Do you know more AI tools that can elevate marketing tactics this year? Do share them with us by replying to this email! ✉️