[Crew Review] Chinese-owned app outperforms Amazon, Walmart

Temu, owned by PDD Holdings Inc. (who also runs Chinese ecommerce giant Pinduoduo), has made waves this week for surpassing Amazon and Walmart as the most downloaded app in the US—shortly after featuring in a Super Bowl ad encouraging customers to “shop like a billionaire.”

Should Amazon sellers be scared?

Amazon Top Terms

Still mulling over what to sell as your first product on Amazon? Don't fret. We've collected data from February 5th to 18th to show you what's currently trending on the marketplace. Today's top 10 terms might bring you some ideas on how to reach your revenue goals for 2023, so let's take a look!

Now that Valentine’s Day is over, it’s time to put away the red hearts and pull out the green shamrocks. It's less than a month until St. Patrick’s Day and Amazon sellers have already taken out all the merchandise related to the festivities.

Taking our #5 slot in today's top movers is “st. patricks day shirts for women.” Sales for products related to this search have gone from 36 units per day to 232 units per day.

FTC Charges Amazon Seller $600,000

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has taken legal action against vitamin and supplement marketer, The Bountiful Company, for hijacking ratings and reviews on Amazon.

Per the charges, the Amazon seller created variation relationships with well-established products that had higher ratings, reviews, and badges, which made them look more popular than they actually were. The proposed settlement includes a hefty $600,000 fine and the seller agreeing to stop the said practice.

This marks the FTC’s first case targeting a seller for "review hijacking," where marketers steal or repurpose reviews of another product. On a grander scheme, however, the FTC is also mounting a giant  lawsuit against Amazon itself for anticompetitive behavior.

Shopify Might Enable Amazon's Buy with Prime Soon

Shopify executives are reportedly negotiating with Amazon over offering the latter’s Buy with Prime feature on Shopify stores. 

Buy with Prime is an add-on Amazon service that lets shoppers enjoy Prime benefits even when shopping on non-Amazon sites. It started out as an invite-only service but was recently made available to all online sellers in the US.

Shopify and Amazon are the two biggest names in the ecommerce space, and analysts are calling the move a “Trojan horse” that could cut into Shopify’s core revenue.

Amazon Is Skipping EU Wholesalers

In a new cost-cutting initiative contained in an email to European vendors, Amazon will be skipping wholesalers in Europe in favor of sourcing products from brands in order to ensure lower prices for consumers—or more accurately, cut its potential losses due to sluggish ecommerce revenue growth per its Q4 earnings report. 

The new focus, which encourages those affected to sell goods on the Amazon marketplace, from which the ecommerce giant earns a commission and charges selling fees, will be implemented starting April.

Affiliate Corner

All-in-One

A lot of SaaS out there are good at one particular thing, but this week’s featured tool is a reliable all-in-one package—think SEO, competitor research, PPC, and social media marketing rolled into a single software. 

We’ve been using it for the past few months and it’s replaced some tools we’ve relied on for years. It’s called Semrush, and you can get a sweet deal for a limited time only using EcomCrew’s affiliate link.

Etc.

Transparency Badge. Amazon recently launched the Transparency badge, which indicates that your product is authentic and reassures customers that they’re not buying counterfeits. 

Amazon Eliminates User Experience Team. Months after revealing plans to cut over 18,000 jobs, Amazon has laid off its whole Shopping Design Research team, which was responsible for improving customer experience and several new initiatives. 

AI-Written Books Storm the Marketplace. Books written entirely by AI text generators have flooded the Amazon marketplace shortly after generative AI like ChatGPT burst into the scene.