Latest / Selling on Giants: The eCommerce Marketplace Podcast / Amazon Cracks Down on Bundles, ChatGPT Gets Ads & Q4 Deadlines Hit

Transcript

Amazon Cracks Down on Bundles, ChatGPT Gets Ads & Q4 Deadlines Hit · Selling on Giants: The eCommerce Marketplace Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: The biggest e-commerce story this week is not a single announcement.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: It is the pattern behind all of them.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon is tightening control over bundles.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Customs enforcement is getting sharper.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Holiday inventory deadlines are already here.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Delivery performance is becoming a merchandising requirement.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: At the same time, shoppers are moving deeper into AI for product discovery, and Amazon ads is following them into ChatGPT.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: The front end of e-commerce is expanding, but the back end is becoming much less forgiving.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Mr.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Will, host of the Selling on Giants podcast, where we break down what is changing across e-commerce and what operators should actually do about it.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon is drawing a new hard line around product bundles.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Beginning January 11th, 2027, most bundles sold under a single ASIN must be packaged by the original manufacturer or brand.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Seller-assembled bundles may remain eligible when the seller has proper authorization.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon is also preserving exceptions for virtual bundles and certain categories, including gifting and camera products.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon says this is about authenticity and safety, that is part of it, but the larger issue is accountability.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: For years, sellers have created bundles to increase average order value, differentiate an offer, or combine products that Amazon did not already sell together.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: In many cases, that is legitimate.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: In others, the seller is opening branded products, repackaging them, and creating a new configuration without the brand having any idea it exists.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon is making that model much harder to defend.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: If this were one of our accounts, I would export every bundle ASIN and separate them into three groups: manufacturer package bundles, properly authorized seller-assembled bundles, and bundles with no clear authorization.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: For anything in that third group, the decision needs to happen now.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Secure the authorization, convert the assortment into a compliant virtual bundle, sell through the inventory before January 11th, or prepare for removal.
• 2:13
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon says non-compliant listings may be deactivated and added as violations in account health.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Waiting for the violation before gathering paperwork creates unnecessary downtime, especially when Amazon currently appears to require sellers to upload authorization after an ASIN gets flagged.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: A bundle is not a defensible product strategy simply because Amazon allowed it yesterday.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: That same urgency applies to holiday inventory because the first major deadline is essentially here.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: For Amazon Canada, FBA Inventory needs to arrive at fulfillment centers by September 16th to guarantee prime eligibility for prime big deal days.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: That is tomorrow.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: The Black Friday and Cyber Monday arrival deadline is October 28th.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: Deal sourcing closes September 29th for Prime Big Deal Days and November 13th for Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: Eligible price discounts require at least 15% off the validated reference price.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: The important word is arrive.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: Creating a shipment does not count.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Inventory sitting with a carrier does not count.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Inventory waiting for an appointment does not count.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: At this point, I would be confirming received inventory by ASIN, checking transfers between fulfillment centers, reviewing inbound appointments, and comparing available inventory against expected event demand.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: A promotional calendar without an inbound and receiving calendar is incomplete.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: There is another deadline this week that could stop inventory even earlier in the process.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Beginning September 18th, U.S.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Customs and Border Protection is increasing enforcement of importer of record information.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: If the information on Form 5106 is incomplete or inaccurate, CBP says it can immediately void the importer number.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: That prevents the importer from entering merchandise into the United States.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: The physical address must be the importer's actual operating location.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: The email address, phone number, and tax identification information must belong directly to the importer.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Customs brokers also need a valid power of attorney executed directly with that importer.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is not paperwork that should be handed to a freight forwarder and forgotten.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: If you import products, contact your customs broker and verify the record.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: A Q4 advertising plan has no value if the inventory cannot clear customs.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where marketplace management becomes difficult.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: Catalog policy, advertising, inventory, compliance, and fulfillment may sit with different people, but the customer experiences one result.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: Bellovics has helped brands sell more than$500 million on Amazon, and we are a verified ad partner.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: Our focus is hands-on strategy that turns marketplace complexity into a clear operating plan across the teams responsible for execution.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: You can learn more at Bellovix.com.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: While platforms tighten operations, the demand side of the market continues moving online.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Deloitte expects total holiday retail sales to grow between 4% and 4.8% this season.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: E-commerce is forecast to grow between 7.5% and 8.4%, reaching as much as$318.9 billion between November and January.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: Online growth is not slowing, but where that growth begins is changing.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Bain found that 24% of holiday shoppers plan to begin product discovery through generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Google Gemini.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: That is up from 17% last year.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon clearly sees the shift.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon Ads and OpenAI have launched a US pilot that allows select advertisers to extend campaigns into conversational advertising experiences within ChatGPT.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Delta Vacations is among the first brands testing it.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: The AI shelf is becoming paid media before most brands have learned how to earn placement there organically.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: I would not immediately pull money from high-converting sponsored products campaigns and move it into this pilot.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Early inventory like this needs a defined testing budget, a clear audience, and a measurement plan that separates incremental reach from traffic that would have converted through another channel anyway.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: But I would pay attention.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: That makes clean product data even more important.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_00: Target now allows shoppers to search using a photo, while its AI Review Insights feature organizes customer feedback around commonly mentioned product attributes.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Instacart and shipped are going further.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: Their AI assistants can build grocery carts from a conversation, recipe, or uploaded photo.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: That means product discovery is no longer driven only by the words typed into a search bar.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: Images, ingredients, materials, pack quantities, use cases, reviews, availability, and pricing all become inputs into the recommendation.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: For grocery and household brands, I would audit every attribute that helps a machine understand when the product belongs in a cart.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: Dietary claims, serving information, compatibility, quantities, and common use cases cannot remain buried in an image or an internal product sheet.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: The next search result may not be a list of products, it may be an entire cart, and the brand that provides the clearest product information has a better chance of being included.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: The final pressure point is delivery.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: Starting September 30th, Amazon requires seller-fulfilled orders for Amazon business customers to maintain a business hour delivery rate of at least 90% over a rolling 14-day period.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Sellers below the requirement receive a warning: if performance does not improve by October 30th, their seller-fulfilled offers may be deactivated for business customers.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Sellers are understandably frustrated because they do not control a carrier's final route.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon is still turning that carrier performance into seller liability.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: Walmart is using a similar standard to determine eligibility for its Walmart Plus badge.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: Sellers need an on-time delivery rate above 90%, a cancellation rate below 2.5%, at least 100 fulfilled orders during the previous 90 days, and a delivery promise of two calendar days or less.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: The measurement period is now 14 days.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: That allows sellers to qualify or recover more quickly, but it also means one bad stretch can remove the badge faster.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: The operating lesson is the same on both platforms.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: Speed is no longer just a fulfillment metric.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: It affects eligibility, visibility, conversion, and access to customers.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: Before promising faster delivery, model the cost by SKU and region.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: A badge that increases sales but destroys contribution margin is not an achievement.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: The goal is profitable availability, not speed at any price.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: This week's updates all point in the same direction.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: Marketplaces are rewarding brands that can prove authorization, maintain accurate records, position inventory early, provide structured product information, and deliver on the promise shown to the customer.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: AI may change how the shopper finds the product, but disciplined operations still determine whether the sale actually happens.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: If this episode helps you stay ahead of Q4, subscribe to Selling on Giants, and leave a review.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: It helps more marketplace operators discover the show, and I genuinely appreciate the support.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Mr.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: Will, signing off from Selling on Giants.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Keep your data clean, protect your inventory, and keep moving forward.