But don’t break out the bubbly just yet. About 42% of all active Amazon sellers are based in China. Last year, that figure was closer to a quarter. And the 5-year churn rate for top sellers is 70%. This means only 7 out of every 10 top sellers who launched in 2015 are still active today.

Private Label Soaring

Over 100 new brands were added to the catalogue in 2019. So, sellers now have 19% of all private label sales on Amazon. The rest goes to Amazon’s own brands and Exclusives. There are now 26 Our Brands, but hundreds more brands that work exclusively with Amazon.

But private labelThis is what you call products manufactu… More has its flaws. Most of these products are common, cheap, easy-to-make, and very similar. So, search results look alike. And because buyers can’t tell them apart, it enables even more private label sellers to pop up. Many of these listings are low-quality and redundant.

The rise of private label means search results are constantly reshuffled. The market is much more volatile. Products come and go, and only the ones with the best discounts sell. And when they sell, they sell well. So, sellers keep their best-selling tag for days rather than weeks or months.

FBA is Being Rewired

More than 50% of top sellers on every venue offer Prime delivery – except Australia, where FBA launched last year. And that’s great, because Prime is changing. In June, Amazon offered One-Day Prime delivery for over 10 million products.

When Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP)A fulfillment model that enables third-p… More was suspended, it looked like Amazon wanted to invest more in FBA storage than in 3PThird-party sellers are independent indi… More fulfilment. But it wasn’t. It’s now piloting the Amazon Storage and Replenishment service. It lets sellers on Amazon store their items close to fulfillment centers, rather than inside them.

The point of this new service is to help sellers replenish their stock quicker. And because Amazon now lists items as available to sell even before they’re reached the fulfilment center, this means there will be a constant flow of products from manufacturer to seller to Amazon.

Vendors Getting Downgraded

When vendors didn’t receive their weekly orders from Amazon in Mar. 2019, everyone feared the worst. A new type of platform was supposedly due to be released for merchants. Amazon One Vendor would have merged Seller CentralAmazon Seller Central is a portal or a h… More and Vendor CentralVendor Central is an invite-only platfor… More into a single system.

But it never happened. Instead, thousands of vendors were downgraded to sellers. And all Amazon sellers are subject to regular listing and account purges. Without invoices, dishonest sellers can’t have their accounts reinstated. But it doesn’t stop them from opening new ones.

Advertising: the Crown Jewel

Advertising is Amazon’s new cash cow. According to eMarketer, $10 billion were spent on ads alone on Amazon US in 2019. And we expect more growth in 2020. Especially since Sponsored Display was launched in September, enabling sellers to advertise on and off Amazon.

For one thing, prime real estate is limited. Amazon sellers are forced to spend money on sponsored ads and deals. There’s hardly any room for organic search results anymore. Not with all the space that deals, recommended products, and Our Brands take up.