Amazon Expands DSP Ads to Whole Foods: A New Opportunity for Sellers

Welcome to our weekly newsletter, Hunter's Insights!

In this special edition, we bring you essential Amazon updates and industry insights to keep you ahead in the fast-paced world of e-commerce:

🤖 Amazon Enhances Shopping Experience with New Labels and Rufus Upgrade

❌ Amazon Removes Cost-Saving Shipment Option While Lowering Fees

👥 Amazon Expands Sponsored Display with AMC Audience Targeting

🌐 Amazon Adds Geographic Filtering to Vendor Central Sales Reports

🛒 Amazon Expands DSP Ads to Whole Foods: A New Opportunity for Sellers

💾 Amazon's MYE UI Update Removes Key A/B Testing Data

📈 Amazon Enhances Sponsored TV Ads with Interest-Based Targeting

🤖 Amazon Enhances Shopping Experience with New Labels and Rufus Upgrade

Amazon has introduced two key updates to help customers make informed decisions while benefiting sellers with improved conversions and reduced returns.

Newer Model Labels

• Product listings will now feature a “Newer Model Available” label when a more recent version exists.

• This helps customers find the latest products easily, reducing accidental purchases of outdated models.

• For sellers, this can lead to fewer returns and a higher likelihood of conversion on newer inventory.

Rufus AI Assistant Placement

• Amazon’s AI assistant, Rufus, is now positioned directly below product images on the desktop site.

• This makes product insights more accessible, helping customers make faster, more confident decisions.

• Sellers may see higher engagement and faster purchasing decisions, leading to improved sales performance.

These updates create a smoother shopping experience, benefiting both customers and sellers by improving product visibility, reducing returns, and boosting conversions.

❌ Amazon Removes Cost-Saving Shipment Option While Lowering Fees

Amazon is implementing changes to its fulfillment process that will impact how sellers manage their shipments. Starting February 20, 2025, the option for partial shipment splits for standard-size products will no longer be available. This option previously allowed sellers to ship to fewer fulfillment centers at a reduced fee.

Key Updates:

• Lower Fees for Bulky Products: Beginning January 15, 2025, inbound placement fees for minimally split shipments will be reduced by an average of $0.58 per unit.

• Elimination of Partial Shipment Splits: After February 20, 2025, sellers will not be able to select this cost-saving option for new shipments. However, existing plans made before this date will still be honored.

What Are the Remaining Options?

• Minimal Shipment Splits: Pay a fee to send inventory to the fewest locations.

• Amazon-Optimized Shipment Splits: Ship to multiple fulfillment centers at no additional cost, but only if specific requirements are met.

Sellers dealing with large, bulky products may benefit from the fee reduction, while those handling standard-size items will need to adjust their shipping strategies. It’s advisable to review and update fulfillment plans now to avoid potential disruptions when these changes take effect.

👥 Amazon Expands Sponsored Display with AMC Audience Targeting

Amazon has introduced AMC Audience Targeting in Sponsored Display, changing how sellers can reach potential customers. Unlike Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands, which adjust bids based on search activity, Sponsored Display now allows advertisers to target audiences beyond search queries.

What’s New?

• Reach Beyond Search: Ads can now target shoppers even if they haven’t searched for a product.

• More Precise Messaging: Custom images and messaging can be tailored to specific audience segments.

• DSP-like Targeting: This feature offers advanced audience selection while remaining within the self-serve ad console.

Why It Matters for Sellers

• Greater Control: Advertisers can refine targeting and optimize campaigns with increased precision.

• New Strategies: This shift opens up new ways to engage high-value customers.

• Better Performance: More relevant ads can lead to improved conversions and ad efficiency.

This update adds a new level of flexibility to Sponsored Display, making it a more powerful tool for reaching the right audience at the right time.

🌐 Amazon Adds Geographic Filtering to Vendor Central Sales Reports

Amazon has introduced a new geographic filtering feature in Vendor Central's sales reporting section. This update allows sellers to analyze their performance by city, state, country, and postal code, helping vendors make more informed decisions based on regional sales trends.

Key benefits:

• Better Inventory Allocation: Identify top-performing regions to optimize stock distribution effectively.

• More Accurate Cost Calculations: Improve shipping forecasts to enhance pricing strategies.

• Enhanced Business Planning: Gain deeper insights into regional demand patterns.

The geographic filtering option is now available in the Sales Report section under the "View By" menu. With this update, Amazon provides vendors with valuable data to improve efficiency and profitability.

🛒 Amazon Expands DSP Ads to Whole Foods: A New Opportunity for Sellers

Amazon has now enabled advertisers to display ads through Amazon DSP in physical Whole Foods locations. This represents a significant expansion of Amazon's advertising capabilities beyond its online marketplace, creating new opportunities for brands that sell in Whole Foods stores.

Key Takeaways:

• Amazon DSP ads can now be shown in physical Whole Foods locations.

• Brands that sell in Whole Foods may have a first-mover advantage.

• This extends advertising reach from online marketplaces into retail spaces.

For sellers with products available in Whole Foods, this could be a transformative opportunity to enhance visibility and boost in-store sales. 

As more brands start to recognize the potential of Amazon DSP's expanding reach, competition is likely to increase. Now is the time to consider how this new advertising placement can be integrated into your marketing strategy before it becomes commonplace.

💾 Amazon's MYE UI Update Removes Key A/B Testing Data

Amazon's latest update to Manage Your Experiments (MYE) has removed critical A/B testing data, making it more difficult for sellers to make informed decisions. The new interface eliminates statistical significance metrics and conversion unit data while introducing potentially misleading “winning” labels.

Key Changes:

• Statistical Significance: This metric is no longer displayed, requiring sellers to manually calculate whether a test result is meaningful.

• Misleading Labels: The “winning” labels may be deceptive, as they do not take statistical confidence into account.

• Conversion Unit Data: This data has been removed, forcing sellers to track and analyze it manually.

While these changes may appear to simplify A/B testing, they could lead to decisions based on incomplete data. Sellers relying on MYE for optimization should proceed with caution and consider alternative methods to validate their test results.

📈 Amazon Enhances Sponsored TV Ads with Interest-Based Targeting

Amazon has introduced new targeting options for Sponsored TV (STV) ads, allowing advertisers to reach more relevant audiences with greater precision.

Key Updates:

• Interest and Lifestyle Audiences: Advertisers can now target viewers based on their interests and shopping behaviors.

• In-Market Categories and Lifestyle Audiences: Similar to Sponsored Display (SD) campaigns, these options help connect with users who are actively searching for related products.

These enhancements provide advertisers with more opportunities to refine their campaigns and improve performance. It’s advisable for advertisers to explore these new features to optimize their targeting strategies.

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