Latest / Selling on Giants: The eCommerce Marketplace Podcast / Amazon Creative Agent, Tariff Margin Pressure, AI Shopping Agents, and Temu’s Cross Border Surge

Transcript

Amazon Creative Agent, Tariff Margin Pressure, AI Shopping Agents, and Temu’s Cross Border Surge · Selling on Giants: The eCommerce Marketplace Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to Selling on Giants e-commerce news and updates.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Mr.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Will, host of the Selling on Giants podcast.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: That is SOG.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Every week I break down what's happening across Amazon, Walmart, and Shopify so you don't have to scroll through forums or decode vague press releases.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: This week has one theme hiding inside a bunch of different headlines.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: Speed is becoming the advantage, but only for the teams that have their fundamentals locked down.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon is a perfect place to start because they are basically trying to turn everything into a tighter operating loop.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Faster inputs, faster decisions, faster iteration, and then the algorithm does what it always does.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: It rewards the people who keep showing up with the cleanest execution.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: The clearest example is what Amazon is doing with Creative Agent inside Creative Studio.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon is positioning it as a guided chat workflow where you can concept, script, generate visuals, animate scenes, add voiceovers and music, and build end cards in one flow.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: They're also framing it as usable across a widespread of ad formats, from video and display to streaming TV, sponsored brands, sponsored display, even audio and online video.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: If you have ever tried to run a real test plan, you know why this matters.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: Creative is usually the slowest part of the optimization loop.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Targeting gets dialed in, budgets get set, the retail readiness basics get cleaned up, then everyone waits.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: You wait on copy, you wait on design, you wait on approvals, and by the time the new creative goes live, the performance problem has already moved on to the next week link.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Faster production changes that, it means more tests, faster learning, and fewer stale ads sitting in market long after the audience has mentally tuned them out.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: That is real leverage once the basics are already working.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Now reality check from the trenches.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: These workflows are strong for certain use cases.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: We use them to speed up main image iterations, infographics, and other assets both on Amazon and off Amazon.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: The quality is legit, but the details still matter, and the details still take a few tries.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: Labels can be weird, perspective can get funky.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: And if you need something that is truly in scale and looks physically correct, expect some back and forth.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: The bigger point is not that the tool is perfect, the point is that Amazon is making creative creation more native to the ad stack.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: That signals a future where creative velocity becomes a core performance advantage, and the winners are the teams that can test and refresh faster without letting compliance and brand standards turn into a messy free-for-all.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: So the operator move here is simple.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: Do a little prep so you can move fast without creating chaos.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: Have a lightweight creative inputs kit per brand.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Keep your approved claims clear, your prohibited claims clear, your brand tones spelled out, your top benefits and proof points organized, and a clean set of product and lifestyle images ready to go.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Then pilot the workflow in one place first and measure two things.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: How much faster you can ship, and whether that speed actually translates into better performance.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: That theme of speed shows up again in a less fun part of the business.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Chargebacks.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon is pushing the message that chargeback claim disputes are winnable, but the burden is on sellers to respond fast and package evidence clearly.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: The guidance basically says you need to hit the response window and submit in a structured way or you lose by default.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And here's where the operator reality matters.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: This is hit or miss.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon is still buyer-centric, and even when you did everything right, you can still lose.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: So the mistake is treating chargebacks like a one-time appeal where you pour your soul into each case and hope the system rewards you for effort.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: The winning approach is to treat chargebacks like cost control.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's a workflow, it has a clock, it needs an owner, it needs a repeatable evidence packet, and it needs a way to spot patterns early so you can escalate in bulk instead of handling each one like a fresh fire drill.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: When it becomes systemic, we document and submit order level evidence at scale.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: We've also seen cases where repeat bad actors lose the ability to buy, and occasionally we see successful recoveries and refunds.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: The key is building a repeatable escalation trail, not playing emotional roulette with every single dispute.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Tools can matter here too.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: We use Gatita and we've seen consistent success.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Without a process partner like that, it gets hard to keep up with the evidence requirements, the timelines, and the follow-through needed to win at scale.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: If you want the simplest way to think about it, speed is the ticket to the game, but discipline is how you keep winning once you're inside.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's widen the lens for a second because Amazon is also normalizing this same idea, not only in seller tools, but in consumer products where trust and outcomes matter.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: They're doing it inside One Medical with a health AI agent.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon is adding a health AI assistant inside the One Medical app for members, and they're positioning it as a gentic.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: That matters because it's not only answering questions, it's designed to take actions, connect you to care, help interpret labs, and support workflows around medications.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: This is Amazon applying the same playbook we see everywhere else.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: Reduce friction, keep the user inside the ecosystem, turn a complex workflow into a guided experience that feels simple.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: In healthcare, that means fewer drop-offs and a stronger retention loop for membership.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: And no, this does not replace clinicians.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: The patient-provider relationship still drives diagnosis and treatment decisions, and privacy and compliance stay central to adoption.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: But the long-term signal is that assistants are becoming default interfaces for high-intent workflows.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: The moat becomes data access plus execution paths, not the chat window.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: For sellers, there's no action here.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is a monitor only story, but it's worth paying attention to the pattern.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_00: When Amazon proves a genic interfaces in one part of the org, it tends to show up later in seller tools and ads tooling once the muscle memory is built.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: And that brings us to the other giant theme this week.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: Value pressure is not going away.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's getting sharper.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: Timu is a perfect example.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: New cross-border data shows Timu surging into the top tier of cross-border purchase activity in 2025.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's now in the same conversation as Amazon for share of cross-border sales.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: This is easy to dismiss as pure price, but that's not the full story.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's a trust and transparency story.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: In cross-border orders, shoppers care about landed cost clarity.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: They want the total cost shown before checkout.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Trust signals matter because risk feels higher.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: And delivery expectations tighten because people tolerate less uncertainty than they used to.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: So when Timu makes cross-border feel predictable, the brands that rely on soft differentiation and price parity get squeezed.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: Operators need a value story that holds even when a platform is training shoppers to chase the lowest number.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon still has structural advantages in speed, selection depth, and shopper habit.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Timu's momentum doesn't erase that, but it absolutely raises expectations for cost transparency, and it forces brands to be sharper about why they deserve the purchase when a cheaper alternative is one scroll away.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you're running a brand that sells across channels, the practical implication is to tighten how you communicate landed cost and delivery windows anywhere you control the message.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Your ads, your detail pages, your off-Amazon landing pages, your email flows.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: Make it explicit.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: Reinforce trust fast through reviews, proof points, and clean product data.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: And strengthen differentiation through bundles, exclusives, and positioning that is not interchangeable.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: Now, layer tariffs on top of that, and you get the margin math problem that has been creeping across Amazon.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon leadership is signaling that tariffs are starting to show up in seller pricing.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: The core issue is simple.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Sellers are forced to choose between passing costs to shoppers or absorbing them to protect demand.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: This is a compression event for brands living on thin contribution margins.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: You either defend conversion and accept less profit, or defend profit and accept less volume.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: If you do nothing, the algorithm makes the decision for you through weaker conversion, lower rank, and slower inventory turns.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: And shoppers are not standing still while this happens.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: People are still buying, but behavior shifts.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: They lean harder into lower priced alternatives for essentials, and they pull back on higher ticket discretionary purchases.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon stays a value marketplace through all of it.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: When prices rise, the platform doesn't pause competition.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Shoppers compare harder, substitute faster, and punish weak differentiation.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: The operator move is to get extremely specific.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Run your margin math at the SKU level.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Know the exact cost increase you can absorb before unit economics break.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Test pricing with intent, not blanket increases across the catalog.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: Protect conversion while you adjust by tightening the detail page, especially main images, infographics, and A that reduce hesitation and reinforce value.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: Create a trade-down path where it makes sense through smaller pack sizes, subscribe and save, bundles, and a promo cadence that doesn't train shoppers to wait forever.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_00: And while you're doing that, pressure test sourcing and lead times.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: If tariffs create persistent volatility, inventory strategy becomes a profit lever, not only an ops function.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: Before I keep going, I'm going to do a quick sidebar because weeks like this are exactly why teams feel decision fatigue.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's not one problem, it's five problems stacked on top of each other.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: And every one of them touches ads, operations, and creative at the same time.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: At Bellovics, we've helped brands sell over$500 million on Amazon.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: We're a verified ad partner and we focus on hands-on strategies that turn marketplace complexity into clear operating plans.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: The goal is alignment, execution, and consistency.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: So your team isn't stuck debating what matters while the algorithm keeps moving.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_00: If you want help turning this kind of chaos into a plan you can actually run, you can find us at belovics.com.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Alright, back to it.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: There's another angle to tariffs that matters, and it's about shopper psychology.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Omnisend research shows support for tariffs rising year over year, even while shoppers openly acknowledge tariffs raise prices.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: That sounds contradictory until you remember how people actually make decisions.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Beliefs and budgets can point in different directions at the same time.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: The operator takeaway is that this is not only a cost story, it's a trust and predictability story.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: Shoppers don't stop spending, but they get more selective about who feels safe to buy from.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: Country of origin becomes a stronger conversion lever, but only when it's credible and transparent.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: Cross-border friction is also real.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: People cite slower delivery, unexpected duties, and extra handling fees, and there's a trust gap on origin claims where shoppers believe they bought made in the USA, then learn later that they didn't.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: So the practical move is to make landed cost obvious anywhere you control the message, tighten your country of origin language so it's accurate and consistent, reduce cross-border surprise with clearer delivery and duty expectations, and reinforce trust fast with proof points, reviews, and crisp product data.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: Now zoom out again, because while sellers are dealing with cost pressure and competition pressure, retailers are dealing with something even more existential.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: Discovery is moving.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: Retailers are pushing catalogs onto external AI platforms so shoppers can discover and buy without ever starting on the retailer's site.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: The upside is new demand capture.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: The risk is losing direct access to the customer relationship.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: When shopping happens inside an AI interface, the retailer loses parts of the funnel they normally own.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: Discovery signals, intent data, on-site merchandising influence.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Over time, the retailer risks becoming a fulfillment layer while the AI layer owns demand and decisioning.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: There are two real risks here: data leakage, where the richest behavioral data is collected elsewhere, and disintermediation, where the AI agent becomes the shopper's default interface and becomes the new customer.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: And agents compare differently than humans.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: They respond to structured data, clarity, and availability signals more than brand vibes.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: For operators, this means product data becomes even more important.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Titles, attributes, specs, images, structured info, and consistency across channels.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: It also means retention matters more than ever.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: If discovery happens off your property, you need a reason for the customer to come back to you, not only to the platform.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_00: Now, while everyone is thinking about agents and discovery, Walmart is quietly doing something very operator relevant, curated category buildouts.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_00: Walmart Marketplace launched a premium musical instrument shop, a curated storefront designed to bring professional grade music gear to Walmart.com.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: It includes named brands and it includes both new and resold gear.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: This is not Walmart turning premium categories into open season.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's controlled expansion with guardrails and curated experiences.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_00: For sellers, it signals that getting in increasingly looks like brand credibility, assortment fit, and quality control.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: Not only price and availability, it also creates a shelf where premium brands can win visibility without getting buried in long tail marketplace clutter.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: So if you sell in adjacent categories, brand readiness matters.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: Clean product data, strong detail pages, and consistent review health matter more when Walmart builds curated shops.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are a premium brand, watch this pattern because Walmart can copy it into other high average order value categories.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: To close, let's put a macro bow on all of this.
• 15:41
  SPEAKER_00: Bain is forecasting retail growth cooling in 2026.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: In the US, the headline is steady demand with tighter wallets, which keeps value pressure high.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: When growth slows, trade-down behavior becomes the baseline.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: Shoppers compare harder, switch faster, and reward clear value more than brand promises.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: Private label pressure increases.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: If your differentiation is thin, you compete against a product that wins on price and shelf placement.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: And your margin math needs to be intentional because in a lower growth environment, conversion and contribution margin decide who keeps scaling.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: The good news is demand doesn't vanish.
• 16:23
  SPEAKER_00: It becomes more selective.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: Brands with strong value communication, clear proof, and tight execution can still win share, even when growth cools.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: So the thread connecting everything this week is pretty straightforward.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: Speed is the advantage, but fundamentals are the limiter.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: Creative velocity helps, but it doesn't fix a weak offer.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: Dispute processes reward tight operations, but outcomes can still be inconsistent.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Cross-border competition raises the bar on transparency.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: Tariffs compress the margin math.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: Agents shift discovery, and curated shelves reward brands that look ready, not brands that look cheap.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: That's the week.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: If this saved you time and helped you think more clearly about what to do next, leave a review wherever you're listening.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: It helps us keep the show growing and it gets this in front of more operators who would rather run their business than scroll all day.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Mr.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: Will from Selling on Giants.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you next week.