Latest / Selling on Giants: The eCommerce Marketplace Podcast / Made in USA Crackdown, Amazon Buyer Abuse, NRF Growth, and Walmart Listing Issues

Transcript

Made in USA Crackdown, Amazon Buyer Abuse, NRF Growth, and Walmart Listing Issues · Selling on Giants: The eCommerce Marketplace Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, welcome back to Selling on Giants, the podcast where we break down what is actually happening across Amazon, Walmart, and the broader e-commerce landscape, and more importantly, what we are doing about it as operators.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start with something that looks like a policy update, but in reality, it is a compliance trap waiting to happen.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: There is a new executive order pushing stricter enforcement around made in USA claims.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: On paper, nothing changed.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: The FTC standard has always been all or virtually all.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: What changed is enforcement, and that is where sellers get caught.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of brands use made in USA loosely.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: It shows up in bullet points, A plus content, storefronts, even images.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: It works until someone looks closely.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: If your product is not fully compliant, meaning components are sourced internationally or assembly is partial, you are now exposed.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: This is not branding anymore.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: This is listing liability.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: What we are doing across accounts right now is a full sweep of origin claims.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: If it is not airtight, it gets removed or qualified.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Because one flagged ASIN can turn into suppressed listings, compliance tickets, or broader account risk.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: That is not a trade worth making for a marketing angle.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now, staying in the world of things that look clean on paper but get messy in execution, let's talk about customers threatening negative feedback.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon reinforced its stance here.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: You cannot offer refunds or incentives tied to feedback removal.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: You are expected to resolve the issue and report extortion.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Sounds straightforward.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: In reality, this happens more than most sellers want to admit.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Buyer's message.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: They threaten a one-star.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: They ask for a refund, sometimes without returning the product.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Now you are stuck protecting either margin or rating.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon is very clear on policy and very inconsistent on enforcement.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: We see the same patterns.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Empty returns, false defect claims, repeat offenders.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: The play here is not emotional, it is operational.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: You separate resolution from feedback, you document everything.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: You escalate with evidence when it is abuse.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: We have blocked buyers, we have identified patterns, it works, but it takes consistency.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: This is not a one-off issue.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: It is part of operating at scale on Amazon.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's zoom out from individual orders to the broader demand environment.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: The NRF is projecting about 4.4% retail growth.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: That is positive, but it is not explosive.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: This is a stable market, not a rising tide, which means you are not going to grow because the market grows.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: You are going to grow because you execute better than the next brand.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: Conversion rate matters more, pricing strategy matters more, inventory position matters more.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: Because when growth slows down, competition tightens and average operators get exposed quickly.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Now that leads directly into margin pressure, and this is where things get more real for a lot of brands.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: USPS continues to report major losses, and that creates a downstream effect on e-commerce shipping.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: This is not theoretical.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: This shows up in rate increases, service variability, and less predictability in last mile delivery.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of brands still rely heavily on USPS for lightweight shipments.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: That works until it does not.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: The move here is thinking in blended carrier strategy, not defaulting to one solution.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: You model for rate increases, you test alternatives, you monitor delivery performance as part of customer experience.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: Shipping is no longer a fixed input, it is a variable lever that impacts margin.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_00: Now, while margins are getting tighter on the logistics side, Amazon is quietly pushing more visibility into where margin is actually lost.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: They updated the returns and recovery dashboard.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: This is a big one if you are paying attention.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: You now get ASIN level visibility into return reasons, processing fees, and recovery rates.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Most brands track returns at a high level.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: This pushes it down to where you can actually act.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: You can see which products are driving return costs.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: You can see why.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: And you can tie it back to listing issues, product quality, or expectation gaps.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: The opportunity here is not only reducing returns, it is improving contribution margin.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Operators who lean into this will fix problems faster and recover more value from returned inventory.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's shift from Amazon to how retailers are thinking about revenue more broadly.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Target quietly pulled in around$915 million in advertising revenue.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: And that is the signal.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Retail is not just about selling products anymore, it is about monetizing traffic.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon did it first, Walmart followed.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_00: Target is scaling it.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: For brands, this means paid media is not optional.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: It is part of shelf space.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: You are not just competing on product, you are competing on visibility within a paid ecosystem.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: And the margin dynamic shifts.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: Brands fund the ads, retailers capture the high margin revenue, which means your PDP, your creative, and your conversion all need to support paid traffic.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, you are paying to lose.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Now, building on that idea of retailers owning more of the relationship, Sam's Club is leaning further into what they are calling the participation era.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: This is really about membership, retention, and engagement.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Owning the customer, not just the transaction.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: For brands, this matters because you are operating inside ecosystems where the retailer controls the data and the relationship.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Growth comes from repeat purchase, bundling, and long-term value, not just acquisition.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: The brands that align with that win, the ones that treat it like a one-time sale get left behind.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: Now, right around this point, this is where a lot of brands start to feel pressure internally.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Because you are managing compliance, customer issues, margin pressure, and now paid media expectations on top of it.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: And things start to slow down.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Decision making gets harder, teams get misaligned, execution gets inconsistent.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: That is usually where we step in.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Bellivix has helped brands drive over$500 million on Amazon.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: We are a verified ad partner, and we focus on hands-on execution.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: We are in the account daily, we are making decisions with context, and we turn complexity into a clear operating plan that actually moves the business forward.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: If that is where you are at, you can learn more at bellovix.com.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's bring this back to platform level friction, specifically on Walmart.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: UPC exemptions.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: Walmart added visibility into why requests get denied.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: You can now hover and see the reason.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: That helps, but it does not solve the real problem.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: The process is still inconsistent, and approvals still depend on how well your submission matches their internal structure.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: This is not about being technically correct.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: It is about being structurally aligned.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: If your brand data, product details, or documentation are even slightly off, you get denied and you are back in the queue.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: The move here is systemization.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: You standardize submissions, you align your data perfectly, you treat catalog setup like a process, not a task.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: The brands that move faster are not lucky.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: They are precise.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Now the last piece here is something a lot of sellers are starting to feel, but not everyone is talking about yet.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: There is a growing trend of sellers pulling back on third-party software.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon keeps expanding native tools, analytics, advertising, operations.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: So sellers are simplifying.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds good, but there is a trade-off.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: You reduce cost and complexity, but you also give up flexibility and deeper insights.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: The advantage does not come from having more tools.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: It comes from knowing when to simplify and when to go deeper.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: Because Amazon is clearly building a more closed ecosystem.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: And that means differentiation shifts away from tools and toward execution.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: So if you step back and look at everything we covered today, there is a clear pattern.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: Compliance is tightening, customer behavior is more aggressive, growth is steady, not explosive, margins are under pressure, platforms are taking more control.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: Which means the edge is not in hacks.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: It is in execution, clean data, clear systems, fast decisions.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: That is how you win in this environment.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: If you found this valuable, make sure you like, follow, and subscribe wherever you are tuning in.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: It helps more operators stay ahead of what is actually changing.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate you being here.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: This is Mr.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: Will, and I will see you on the next one.