Happy Monday.
Another week, another buffet of hot Amazon news. We’re hoping you’re feeling as risky as we are today with these news:
- Sellers’ want to have control over AI-powered features 🎮
- Amazon scams to look out for this year (and how to avoid them) 🛑
- How to check your business performance through an After Action Review ✔️
POST OF THE WEEK
AMAZON NEWS
To streamline the shopping experience for buyers, eCommerceBytes reported that Amazon will be automating the “Looking for specific info?” section of product pages. Specifically, they’ll be using AI on the mobile app to help shoppers find exactly what they’re looking for.
Losing control
While this update is a big thumbs-up for customers, it just became another AI-inflicted wound for sellers. Turns out, they won’t have control over how AI shapes buyer-facing features!
Amazon x AI
Amazon's AI journey showed us that even an industry giant can't have it all.
- In August 2023, Amazon wowed us with AI-generated summaries of product reviews. A month later, AI was already turbocharging the listing process for sellers.
- Recently, a PR blunder hit when titles on some products resembled AI error messages. Amazon, scrambling to regain its footing, removed the listings and vowed to "enhance" its systems.
All in all, the retailer’s AI-powered "solutions" are becoming a nightmare for sellers. Many were feeling a bit left out in the cold, wishing they had a hotline to report issues with listings and reviews. ☎️
What did Amazon say this time?
The ecommerce giant simply highlighted how committed they are to refining their systems to ensure accuracy. It added that it's also testing a new feature powered by generative AI to help shoppers get answers to product-related questions.
But still no clarification about the sellers’ concerns.
So for now, the wild ride continues as Amazon tests new AI features, leaving sellers to navigate the twists and turns of the AI-powered marketplace.
BITES OF THE WEEK
- Paid Trends: Here's what you need to know about paid social advertising this 2024.
- Another Integration: Buy with Prime for Salesforce Commerce Cloud is coming to U.S. merchants!
- Caption Generator: The “Use AI Caption” option is soon to be available for eBay sellers in select countries.
- Amazon Calendar: Are you ready for the major global shopping events within the Amazon's universe?
- Next-level Chatbot: Amazon app's new AI chatbot can give answers, jokes, and tips.
BLACK MARKET
5 Amazon seller scams to look out for in 2024 (and how to avoid them)
For most of us, a new year means a fresh start. But for scammers, it’s just another chance to do old scams that could harm your business.
👀 Fortunately, Jungle Scout snooped around 5 common scams to watch out for this 2024 and provided some tips for avoiding them:
1. Account hijacking
Scammers break into your account and change your bank information, update listings, or even steal sensitive information.
How to avoid this:
- Turn on the two-factor authentication required by Amazon.
- Use strong passwords.
- Never share your login information.
- Watch out for unusual activities in your account.
2. Phishing
Fraudsters pretend to be from real companies and trick you into sharing sensitive information through email, text, or call. 📧
How to avoid this:
- Check the sender’s email address or phone number to verify legitimacy.
- Don’t click on suspicious links.
- Never share sensitive information through email, text, or call.
3. Listing hijacking
Bad actors list counterfeit products under your ASIN. Then, when customers order, they send fake tracking numbers and counterfeit items or don’t ship the products!
This harms your business reputation and leads to other account issues, like negative reviews and high return rates.
How to avoid this:
- Check if other sellers hop onto your listing.
- Look out for duplicate listings of your products on Amazon.
4. Amazon suspension scams
Scammers pretend to be Amazon representatives, claim that your account has been suspended, and request payment to reinstate it.
How to avoid this:
- Check with Amazon support if the email or call is legitimate.
- Review and follow Amazon’s policies and seller code of conduct.
5. Fake reviews
Individuals or organizations sell fake positive reviews to boost your products’ sales and rankings. However, Amazon has strict policies against fake reviews, so your account might get suspended or banned. 🕵️♂️
How to avoid this:
- Don’t engage in activities that violate Amazon’s policies.
- Provide quality products and excellent customer service.
- Encourage customers to leave honest reviews.
#BeatScammersThis2024
Staying safe from scams is crucial for your business. So, in addition to the list above, you must stay vigilant and smart to beat bad actors this year… and beyond. 🔐
ACTIONABLE ADVICE
How to assess your business performance through an After Action Review
Beyond making new strategies for your ecommerce business, evaluating the impacts of your past ones is equally important. Luckily, there are a lot of tools to check whether (or not) your past plans were a success.
Here’s one: an After Action Review (AAR)—a growth tool created by the military to assess performance. According to eComEngine, AAR can be used by businesses to improve their strategies.
How to do an AAR?
The process is simple. You just answer the following questions to assess your past performance:
- What did we intend to happen? Think about what you planned to achieve with your previous action plans.
- Tip: Set clear goals to make it easier to track them.
- What happened? Take note of the factors you had to deal with, and then ask yourself if you were satisfied with the results.
- Tip: List metrics and KPIs per intention to easily track outputs and performance.
- What worked well? Analyze your numbers. Narrow down which areas of your business are performing well and optimize them.
- Tip: Take note of what worked for you. And, more importantly, celebrate wins—no matter how small—as it will tide you over the losses.
- What didn’t work as well? This one will help you find areas that need attention for continuous improvement.
- Tip: Compare which sections are growing slower than others. Or try benchmarking to see how well you fare compared with other businesses.
🔎 The last two questions are more on analysis and action:
- Why did it happen that way?
- What will we do next time?
Do you need an AAR?
If you want to thoroughly go through the factors contributing to your business success/failure—Yes!
Despite its simplicity, an AAR can be a game-changer in plotting your long-term success strategy. So, if you plan on doing one this year, do share how your journey goes by replying to this email! 📨
