[Crew Review] Amazon braces for labor shortage as Prime Day nears

Ramping up 

According to a leaked memo, Amazon is running out of people to hire for its warehouses, as competing companies are offering higher salaries and better working conditions. This shortage potentially trickles down to FBA sellers, who depend largely on the ecommerce giant’s warehousing and fulfillment efficiencies.

Here are the salient points.

Amazon Top Terms

This section is a feast of Amazon Brand Analytics data, so dive in and check out the top 10 terms from June 5th to 18th, and let’s find out which terms have been topping the list for the past two weeks.

Amazon shoppers have found a particular product, “backseat air mattress for car” that they seem to really like, at least, that’s what their 5,192 reviews are telling us.

This product has drastically increased its sales, selling from 147 units per day to 287 units per day in the past few days. While this handy travel essential is a way to save money for many adventurers, this Amazon seller is definitely building a mountain of reviews, customers and sales.

Prime Day Will Be on July 12-13

Amazon just announced that its biggest annual shopping event will take place on July 12-13, 2022, and will be held for a bevy of other countries outside the US, including Canada, Australia, Mexico, and the UK. The ecommerce giant also hinted at running a Prime-Day-like sales event in countries like India, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates later this year.

This means crunch time for sellers, as Prime Day has historically been the most profitable 48-hour period in ecommerce every year. Last year, Amazon sold roughly about $9.5 billion in gross merchandise volume during the sales event.

Prime Day 2.0?

According to Insider, Amazon is inviting some sellers to participate in a new shopping event called Prime Fall Deal Event later this year, but apart from asking sellers to submit lightning deals before certain deadlines and speculation that it’s scheduled for October, Amazon has not provided other necessary details for the Prime-Day-like event.

Nevertheless, a Prime Day 2.0 later this year could give Amazon a much-needed sales boost as the market cools from the high demand during the pandemic, and it adds to the important dates that Amazon sellers should mark throughout the year.

In With the New

Amazon head honcho Andy Jassy announced that Doug Herrington will take over as CEO of Worldwide Amazon Stores following news that CEO of Worldwide Consumer Dave Clark will exit by July 1.

According to reports, Herrington is part of Jassy’s S-Team, a tight-knit group of executives who basically run the show for most of Amazon’s divisions, including retail, cloud computing, and advertising.

Walmart and Roku to Enable TV Shopping

Retail giant Walmart has partnered with digital media brand Roku to deliver a first-of-its-kind shoppable ads, essentially adding an overlay to an existing ad enabling streamers to purchase Walmart-fulfilled items using their Roku remote and complete transactions while their TV show is paused.

The new feature is designed so shoppers won’t have to jump to the Walmart website nor need to capture QR codes to complete orders—nor will they have to enter their credit card information, as Roku’s platform will have them pre-populated.

The partnership between the retail giant and the streaming platform is an indirect jab at Amazon, which is both a retailer and a streaming service.

More Amazon Marketplaces Incoming

Even as it’s scaling back its delivery network and bracing for a manpower shortage in the US, leaked documents reveal that Amazon is planning to expand its international reach by adding online marketplaces in 5 new countries early next year, according to this report.

The five countries, which add to Amazon’s current portfolio of 20 marketplaces worldwide, are Belgium, Chile, Columbia, Nigeria, and South Africa. Analysts view international expansion as a reasonable next step for Amazon as domestic growth cools after a pandemic-driven explosion.

Hassle-Free Importing From China

Less than 24 hours from now, EcomCrew is going live with a free webinar on how to Import From China in 2022, where Mike will show you the ropes of importing from the world’s factory.

Some juicy tidbits include protecting your business from major supply chain disruptions, finding reliable suppliers beyond Alibaba, and much more.

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