Latest / Selling on Giants: The eCommerce Marketplace Podcast / Amazon’s AI Shopping Revolution, Walmart’s Holiday Tech Push, and 13 Game-Changing eCommerce Updates Sellers Can’t Miss

Transcript

Amazon’s AI Shopping Revolution, Walmart’s Holiday Tech Push, and 13 Game-Changing eCommerce Updates Sellers Can’t Miss · Selling on Giants: The eCommerce Marketplace Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to Selling on Giants, e-commerce news and updates.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Mr.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Will, host of the Selling on Giants podcast, and every week I break down what's happening across Amazon, Walmart, and Shopify so you don't have to decode vague press releases or scroll through seller forms at midnight.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: You'll get the signal, not the noise, and you'll leave with actions you can actually use.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: We'll start where shoppers start, not in a search bar, but in a conversation.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon is quietly turning product discovery into guided shopping and guided shopping into conversions.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon's new AI shopping guides teach shoppers what matters in a category, while the help me decide feature recommends the single best option based on browsing behavior.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: The more complete your listing data, reviews, and attributes, the more often the system will surface you.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Thin content gets ignored.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Complete content gets recommended.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: The takeaway, treat attributes like ad creative.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Fill in the gaps on your top five ASINs so help me decide can actually find you.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: If that feels like a small feature update, look at the bigger story.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon's last earnings call introduced what they're calling agentic commerce.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: AI agents guiding shoppers from interest to purchase without a click in sight.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Listings with clear images and buyer-focused bullets will get amplified by those agents.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: Listings that confuse or undersell will disappear.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: The takeaway: rewrite your bullets around the real questions customers ask and make sure your A content answers them.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: Now, inside the company, headlines about layoffs made sellers nervous.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: But the impact is more about friction than fulfillment.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: Corporate cuts mean fewer human escalations and more automated ticket responses.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Warehouses are staffed and delivery speed isn't at risk, but seller support will rely more on AI and templated replies.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: The smart move is to get ahead of it, tighten account health, clear small warnings, and submit anything time-sensitive early.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: The takeaway: handle verifications and approvals before the holidays so you're not stuck waiting on a human who isn't there.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: Speaking of humans being replaced by code, Microsoft advertisers are heading Amazon's way.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Microsoft is sunsetting its own DSP and routing clients into Amazon's demand side platform.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's a flood of enterprise-level budgets entering Amazon's ecosystem, giving retail data even more weight in programmatic media.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: If you're already on DSP, expect better inventory access.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: If you're not, your competitors are about to retarget your audience with Amazon shopper data.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: The takeaway, build audience ladders now, from product viewers to repeat buyers, and start retargeting before the big budgets crowd you out.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Global expansion looks different than it used to.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: A new marketplace pulse report says the biggest GMV markets aren't always the best opportunities.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: The United States still leads in seller activation, Japan wins on loyalty, Germany tests operational discipline, the UK rewards strong branding, and Canada remains a precision market for testing before scaling.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: The takeaway chase activation and traffic efficiency, not vanity GMV.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: The markets that convert early and sustain sellers long term are where the real profit lives.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Zooming back to the quarterly scoreboard, both Amazon and eBay posted strong third-quarter numbers.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon reported about$180 billion in total sales, up 13% year over year.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Ads grew roughly 24% to 17.7 billion, and AWS pulled in 33 billion.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: eBay lifted gross merchandise volume by 10% and ad revenue by 25%, proving focused communities and trust still work.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: The takeaway, keep your ad mix full funnel.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: Sponsored products to harvest, sponsored brands to shape discovery, and DSP to build profitable new-to-brand audiences.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Before we move on, quick sidebar, because if you're trying to make sense of all this, that's literally what we do.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: At Bellavics, we've helped brands sell over$500 million on Amazon.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: We're a verified ad partner, and we specialize in hands-on growth strategies that turn complex marketplace challenges into clear, actionable plans.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: Whether it's scaling ads, cleaning up your catalog, or prepping for a retail pitch, this is what we do all day.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Head to Bellovix.com if you want a team that actually knows what the inside of Seller Central looks like.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, back to it.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Walmart is giving sellers a little more protection where it counts.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: Reviews.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: The company's new guidelines clarify FTC compliance, require disclosure for incentivized reviews, and now flag issues caused by Walmart fulfillment services instead of the seller.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: If WFS ships a damaged box, that complaint stays visible but shows it was Walmart's fault, not yours.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: The takeaway audit your review partners, make sure they're approved, and reply publicly within 48 hours to any product quality complaint.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon finally rolled out the update multi-brand sellers have been begging for.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: Brand level insights in subscribe and save.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: You can now see retention, lifetime value, and discount performance by brand.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: No more guessing which label drives repeat orders.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: The takeaway use that new filter to cut discounts where retention is strong and reinvest where churn is high.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Over in Bentonville, Walmart is turning its stores into test labs for AI.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: Their new agentic systems forecast fresh food demand, optimize driver routes, and even predict refrigeration failures before they happen.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: On the shopper side, the Sparky Assistant can plan menus, gift lists, and full holiday carts.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's all powered by AI trained on Walmart's retail data.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: The takeaway keep your listings clean and mobile ready so Sparky has the right information to sell your products for you.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: And the data behind those decisions just got an upgrade.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Walmart Data Ventures launched the next generation of its Scintilla platform, which turns customer insights into real-time action plans for suppliers.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: It includes AI-powered research summaries, automated theme analysis, and an expanded Spark Shopper community that brands can tap for live feedback before a launch.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: The takeaway if you sell through Walmart Connect or Marketplace, expect faster, smarter insights on what customers actually want, and less guesswork when testing products or messaging.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Innovation awards aren't everything, but they do tell you where consumer perception is leaning.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: The latest American Innovation Index ranked IKEA first, Amazon second, and SACS Fifth Avenue 3rd among retailers.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: IKEA scored for sustainability and design, Amazon for logistics and personalization, and Saks for digital reinvention.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: The takeaway: shoppers reward brands that combine creativity with reliability.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: Ease of use still defines innovation.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Speaking of inspiration, Pinterest is stepping further into commerce.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: The company is testing an AI shopping assistant that reads your aesthetic, interprets voice commands, and shows products that fit your taste.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: It uses visual language models, not just text prompts.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: So when someone says, I need throw pillows that match my living room, it instantly surfaces shoppable results from their saved pins.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: The takeaway: brands with well-tagged lifestyle imagery will win early visibility as Pinterest turns ideas into checkouts.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, holiday demand looks solid.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: A new global survey from BCG shows nearly 80% of consumers plan to shop during year-end events, like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Most will start early, many will use generative AI for comparisons and deal hunting, and buy now, pay later adoption continues to rise.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: They're eager, but they're value driven.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: The takeaway, go live early with honest deals, clear bundles, and pricing that can stand up to an AI comparison.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's your selling on Giants news and updates for the week.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: If this saved you a few hours of forum scrolls or slack debates, do us a solid.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Leave a review wherever you're tuning in.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: It helps us keep the lights on and bring in better guests down the road.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Mr.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: Will from Selling on Giants.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: See you next week.