Amazon’s New Ad Format Brings Seasonal Appeal to Sponsored Brands

Welcome to Hunter's Insights - your go-to for key Amazon updates and industry insights! In this edition, we break down essential shifts and new developments, helping you stay ahead in the fast-paced world of e-commerce:

🆕 Amazon’s New Ad Format Brings Seasonal Appeal to Sponsored Brands

💻 Amazon Tests New Store Subpage Placements to Boost Sales

🚫 New Guidelines for Amazon Bundles: Ensuring Compliance and Brand Protection

🔗 Amazon Launches Direct Links to Brand Stores for Premium Beauty Sellers

🔎 Revolutionizing E-Commerce: Amazon’s Olympus AI Enhances Product Discovery

🚛 Amazon Announces Supply Chain Updates and Enhancements for 2025

💰 Amazon Introduces Minimum Price Floors for Percent-Off Discounts

🆕 Amazon’s New Ad Format Brings Seasonal Appeal to Sponsored Brands

Amazon has introduced a new Sponsored Brands ad format aimed at creating a more engaging shopping experience. This innovative format incorporates the second and third A+ images from product listings, resulting in visually attractive ads that capture shoppers' attention and enhance interaction. By utilizing these additional images, brands are encouraged to optimize their secondary visuals with clear, benefit-driven messaging.

This ad format also shows promise for seasonal marketing. A notable example is the subtle addition of a red bow on the main product image, which adds a festive touch and positions the item as an ideal holiday gift. This simple yet effective strategy aligns with the intent of seasonal shoppers, demonstrating how minor visual enhancements can significantly boost relevance and appeal.

Another important aspect of this ad format is its incorporation of concise, problem-solving video content that effectively highlights product benefits. These videos adhere to best practices for Sponsored Brands Video (SBV) ads, designed to engage viewers and increase conversions.

Currently, Amazon's algorithm dictates the use of this format, limiting direct control for brands. However, this development emphasizes the need for sellers to optimize their imagery and video assets in preparation for increased adoption and potential future updates to customization options.

💻 Amazon Tests New Store Subpage Placements to Boost Sales

Amazon is currently experimenting with new placements for Sponsored Brands (SB) Store subpages, providing sellers with new opportunities to attract traffic and boost sales. This strategy emphasizes the creation of product-specific Store subpages, which function like enhanced A+ pages to attract new-to-brand (NTB) customers.

Brands that utilize these subpages can display individual product details, highlight unique selling points, and enhance the overall shopping experience. These subpages allow for customized content, making it easier to engage potential buyers and convert them into loyal customers.

As these tests progress, sellers should focus on optimizing their Store subpages. Treating them like A+ content - with clear messaging and high-quality visuals - can significantly impact the attraction of NTB customers and drive sales growth. Adopting this trend may be crucial for Amazon's competitive edge.

🚫 New Guidelines for Amazon Bundles: Ensuring Compliance and Brand Protection

Amazon has revised its Consumables Bundling Policy based on seller feedback, introducing stricter guidelines to protect product integrity and brand reputation. The new rules will take effect immediately for new bundles and will apply to existing bundles starting January 1, 2025. These updates aim to clarify previous ambiguities and promote compliance throughout the marketplace.

According to the revised policy, only bundles that are packaged by the manufacturer are allowed unless sellers obtain a Letter of Authorization from the brand owner. This letter must confirm that all items in the bundle come from the same brand. However, there is an exception for gift baskets, which can include products from multiple brands as long as they are appropriately packaged for gifting.

Unauthorized bundles - created by resellers who combine products from different brands without permission - will no longer be permitted. Listings created by brand owners or authorized sellers will remain active, provided they adhere to the updated guidelines.

🔗 Amazon Launches Direct Links to Brand Stores for Premium Beauty Sellers

Amazon has introduced a new feature for Premium Beauty brands that allows direct connections from product detail pages (PDPs) to their brand stores. This update aims to enhance brand visibility and boost sales by providing a seamless way for customers to explore additional offerings.

With this feature, category displays on PDPs now include a "Discover More from the Store" link. A single click will take customers directly to the brand’s storefront, creating a cohesive shopping experience and encouraging exploration of the brand.

This change emphasizes the growing importance of optimized brand stores. Sellers are encouraged to invest in improving their storefront design and navigation to make the most of this opportunity, ultimately increasing customer engagement and driving conversions.

🔎 Revolutionizing E-Commerce: Amazon’s Olympus AI Enhances Product Discovery

Amazon is preparing to launch Olympus AI, an advanced multimodal system designed to transform product discovery and marketing. By integrating text, image, and video analysis, Olympus aims to redefine how customers search for and engage with products, prompting sellers to adjust their listing strategies to fit this new AI-driven environment.

One of the standout features of Olympus AI is its ability to conduct precise searches using both visual and descriptive prompts. For example, a customer could search for “red jacket with silver zippers,” and the AI would analyze product images and videos to deliver accurate results. Additionally, Olympus indexes video content, allowing users to locate specific scenes - such as product demonstrations - using natural language queries. This highlights the importance of video optimization for sellers who want to maintain visibility in search results.

The launch of Olympus may also indicate a significant shift in Amazon’s A9 algorithm, suggesting that products with optimized multimedia content are likely to receive higher search rankings. Sellers should focus on creating visually rich listings and enhancing metadata to adapt to these changes. Moreover, the platform's advanced capabilities may lead to new advertising formats, such as scene-based ads that target specific moments within video content.

🚛 Amazon Announces Supply Chain Updates and Enhancements for 2025

Amazon has announced significant updates to its supply chain services, underscoring its ongoing investment in efficient and cost-effective solutions for sellers. Key improvements include enhancements to Amazon Warehousing and Distribution (AWD), Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF), and the Buy with Prime program, all aimed at optimizing inventory management and supporting sellers across multiple sales channels.

In 2024, AWD expanded its range of product types, improved the speed and accuracy of replenishing Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), and launched Multi-Channel Distribution (MCD) to facilitate bulk distribution to various channels. Additionally, MCF now delivers orders 40% faster and offers real-time delivery estimates for direct-to-consumer websites. The Buy with Prime program has also introduced new marketing tools and bundling options to enhance traffic and sales.

Starting in 2025, Amazon will implement new fee structures to support these services. Highlights include discounts for AWD Smart Storage and Managed Service options, distance-based fees for MCD outbound transportation, and minimal increases in MCF fees, which remain well below competitor averages. Notably, fulfillment fees for some large standard-size units in the Buy with Prime program will decrease, ensuring competitive delivery rates.

💰 Amazon Introduces Minimum Price Floors for Percent-Off Discounts

Amazon has introduced a new feature for sellers that allows them to create percent-off price discounts while keeping prices within a desired range. This option enables sellers to set a minimum discounted price, giving them better control over their pricing strategies and helping to prevent unintentional low-price scenarios.

Here’s how it works: When setting up a percent-off discount, sellers can specify both the discount percentage and the minimum discounted price. If the calculated discount would lower the product price below the specified minimum, the discount will automatically deactivate. For example, if a seller offers a 20% discount on a $100 product with a $75 minimum discounted price, the discount will deactivate if the regular product price falls below $93. This feature ensures that sellers can maintain pricing structures that align with their goals.

This new option complements existing fixed-price discounts, providing sellers with more flexibility in creating promotions. Primary account users can access the Price Discounts tool in Seller Central, and they can extend permissions to secondary users through the Global User Permissions settings.

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