Amazon's biggest Prime Day ever was driven by AI

Were you away this week?

It’s been chaotic on all fronts. Amazon sellers are dodging curveballs left and right.

One thing’s clear: sellers are in the spotlight, whether they like it or not.

• Amazon’s biggest Prime Day ever was powered by AI 🧠
• Walmart Marketplace is 2025’s smartest seller move 📈
• Amazon sued over secret Alexa recordings 🎙️
• FedEx–USPS label chaos leaves sellers stuck 📦
• Sign up for Walmart Insiders to get one growth hack every week.

BIG IDEA

ICYMI, Amazon didn’t just break records this Prime Day—it 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.

🍪 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.

💬 SellerBites’ take

Let’s be honest—this wasn’t Prime Day. It was Algorithm Appreciation Week.

AI wasn’t just helping shoppers navigate deals—it was steering the ship. If your listing wasn’t optimized for Amazon’s discovery tools, you were basically invisible.

This year made it clear: it’s not about who cuts prices the most—it’s about who trains the algorithm best.

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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 Amazon’s smart speakers recorded private conversations without users saying “Hey, Alexa.”

🍪 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 users—roommates and family members excluded.
• Amazon denies it all, saying Alexa has “multiple privacy safeguards” in place.
• But now, the case moves forward, with serious implications for smart devices.

💬 SellerBites’ 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 isn’t far behind.

For sellers, this isn’t just Amazon’s PR headache—it’s a wake-up call: when your brand rides on Amazon’s 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 limbo—not 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.

🍪 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 weren’t 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.

💬 SellerBites’ take

This is what happens when logistics becomes a game of “not it.”

If your FedEx Ground Economy label has both USPS and FedEx on it, that’s not a backup plan—it’s a dead end. 

Until the carriers sync up (don’t hold your breath), your safest move? Skip the drop box drama and hand those packages straight to FedEx.. It’s a method. And when done right, it’s one of the few tactics that reliably leads to real revenue gains.