Keep Up With Amazon & Walmart Seller News – 06.17.2025

 

Amazon Vine Now Open to Resellers — What Sellers Need to Know

Amazon has expanded its Vine program to include authorized resellers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, and Australia. Previously limited to brand owners, this change allows resellers with Brand Registry roles to enroll eligible FBA products and generate reviews from Vine Voices.

Why This Matters

For sellers managing new ASINs, especially in international markets or slower-moving categories, this opens up a powerful way to jumpstart review generation. With Vine, resellers can offer free product units to Amazon’s most trusted reviewers, who then provide detailed, honest feedback.

Key Requirements

To participate, resellers must:

• Be assigned a Brand Representative or Reseller role in Brand Registry
• Enroll products with fewer than 30 reviews
• Offer the product via FBA in new condition
• Have the product fully launched with images and descriptions

Certain categories like adult items, digital products, or bulky goods are excluded. Accessories are allowed if they are compatible with widely owned products.

Our Perspective

While this move could accelerate review generation for cold-start ASINs, it introduces new risks for brands—especially those with retail presence or multiple authorized sellers. Giving resellers direct access to Vine could lead to:

• Inconsistent messaging in reviews that do not reflect the brand’s positioning
• Review suppression or confusion if products are incorrectly enrolled
• Abuse by bad actors, including counterfeiters or black hat resellers manipulating the system

This could undermine hard-earned brand trust and complicate review governance.

What Sellers Should Do

• Audit reseller access in Brand Registry regularly
• Monitor new Vine reviews for tone, accuracy, and potential conflicts
• Clarify reseller agreements to define review-related permissions and responsibilities 

Vine remains a powerful tool—but this change makes it more important than ever to stay vigilant about how your products are represented on Amazon.

 

Amazon Introduces Dedicated Stolen Goods Policy — What Sellers Need to Know

Starting June 30, 2025, Amazon will implement a new stolen goods policy aimed at reinforcing its commitment to preventing the sale of stolen merchandise. While this policy has always been part of Amazon’s broader enforcement efforts, the update formalizes the rule as a standalone policy in response to recent government regulations.

What’s New

This is not a new expectation but rather a regulatory-driven clarification. Amazon is now officially separating its rules against selling stolen goods into a distinct policy while continuing to enforce its existing Responsible Sourcing and supply chain verification requirements.

What Sellers Need to Know

If you’re sourcing products from distributors, wholesalers, or liquidators, this is your heads-up to double-check your documentation and supply chain visibility. Sellers must be able to prove:

• Where the product originated
• That it came from a legitimate and traceable supplier
• That the paperwork reflects the sales volume on Amazon over the past 12 months

Failure to comply could result in:

• Listing removal
• Account suspension
• Loss of fund disbursement
• Disposal of inventory at your cost
• Legal action, depending on severity

Our Take

This is another move by Amazon to shift more compliance responsibility onto third-party sellers. For brands and authorized resellers, the impact may be minimal as long as documentation is tight. But for sellers operating in gray market categories, liquidation, or retail arbitrage, this is a wake-up call.

Expect more scrutiny on invoices, receipts, and supplier contact info. If your supply chain can’t withstand an audit, it’s time to tighten up.

What You Should Do Now

• Review your sourcing documentation and ensure it traces back to the original manufacturer
• Organize and update invoices to reflect sales volume across all Amazon marketplaces
• Respond quickly to any Amazon documentation requests through the Account Health dashboard

Amazon has made it clear: if you can’t prove it’s not stolen, you shouldn’t be selling it.

 

Seller Loses Over $9,000 in Pokémon Card Return Fraud — Sparks Outrage in Seller Forums

A recent post in Amazon’s Seller Forums has ignited backlash over return policy abuse, after a seller reported losing more than $9,000 worth of Pokémon TCG inventory due to a fraudulent buyer.

The seller, DOGO_ENTERPRISES, shared that a buyer placed two FBA orders for 50 units of Pokémon Prismatic Evolutions Elite Trainer Boxes. According to the post, the customer opened the packs, kept the valuable cards, then returned the empty boxes and worthless contents for a full refund. Amazon processed the return, and the seller received no reimbursement — nor buyer contact details to report the theft to authorities.

“It’s like scratching a lottery ticket and then asking for the money back when they saw that they didn’t win,” the seller wrote.

The Fallout

The post triggered dozens of responses from other sellers, many of whom expressed similar frustrations:

• “Only list disposables here, not valuables” — a common warning repeated across replies.
• Some sellers revealed they’ve had fake products swapped and returned, with Amazon refunding customers before inspection.
• Others accused Amazon of siding with buyers by default, even in high-value fraud scenarios.

One seller reported that Amazon only reimbursed 40 percent of the cost on a $600–700 item, despite clear signs of fraud. Others raised concerns that FBA returns are rarely verified, especially for premium or collectible items.

Why It Matters

This situation underscores a major vulnerability for FBA sellers handling high-value inventory. Without transparency, return fraud not only causes immediate financial losses, it also leaves sellers with no recourse when buyer abuse occurs. And with the upcoming enforcement of Amazon’s new stolen goods policy, sellers fear that the pressure is only increasing on their side, not the buyer’s.

The seller community is calling for stricter inspection protocols, return restrictions for premium items, and more balanced protections. Until then, many advise avoiding FBA altogether for high-ticket or collectible inventory.

 

Amazon Launches “Product Selector” Quiz Tool to Boost Storefront Conversion

Amazon has introduced a new Product Selector feature for Brand Stores — a quiz-style interactive tool that helps shoppers discover products through a guided Q&A flow. Brands can now create up to four simple, image-supported questions that filter down to personalized product recommendations based on customer preferences.

Why It Matters

For brands with deep catalogs or nuanced product lines, this is a low-lift way to streamline discovery and boost conversion. It mimics the experience of guided selling in retail — narrowing choices through personalized questions that make decision-making faster and more engaging.

Key Features

• Quiz-style interface with up to 4 questions and 6 answers each
• Visual answer options using high-quality lifestyle or product images
• Dynamic filtering to ensure product matches only show if they align with selected responses
• Custom branding tools: fonts, colors, button styles, and intro messaging
• Fallback options if no match is found (up to 4 alternative products or redirect to a store page)

Use Cases for Sellers

• Prime Day prep: Direct traffic to budget-friendly or best-match deals
• Gift guides: Recommend by occasion, recipient, or preferences
• Category filtering: Help customers navigate large or complex catalogs
• Routine product discovery: Recommend products based on needs or usage style

How to Build It

• Select up to 50 featured products
• Map answer choices to relevant SKUs
• Use clear, benefit-driven language and avoid overlap across answers
• Optionally include product images with clean composition and high contrast
• Preview and test in Brand Store Builder before publishing 

This tool is now live inside the Brand Store builder under the “Add new section” menu. Brands looking to enhance product discovery and reduce friction during browsing should start experimenting with Product Selector ahead of major sales events.

 

Amazon Adds “Copy and Move” Tools to Brand Store Builder — Save Time Updating Pages

Amazon has rolled out Copy and Move functionality in Brand Store Builder, giving sellers a much faster way to replicate and reorganize Store content. These features allow you to duplicate entire pages or individual sections with just a few clicks—eliminating the need to rebuild layouts from scratch.

Why It Matters

For brands running frequent promotions or managing multiple product categories, this update cuts down the time required to build and scale your Storefront. It’s especially useful ahead of major sales events like Prime Day or the holiday season.

What You Can Do with It

• Page replication: Copy a successful layout and swap in new products for different categories
• Top product showcase: Reuse key sections across multiple pages without recreating design elements
• Seasonal refreshes: Duplicate promotional pages and adjust the content for upcoming sales campaigns

How It Works

From the Brand Store builder:

1. Click the three-dot menu next to a section or page
2. Choose Copy section or Move section
3. Update the page name (important, since shoppers will see this)
4. Customize content as needed

This makes it easier than ever to keep your Brand Store fresh, flexible, and conversion-ready without eating up time in your content workflow.

 

Amazon Tests Out-of-Home Ads with Scientific Precision — What It Means for Brands

Amazon is taking its ad measurement strategy beyond screens with a first-of-its-kind experiment that quantifies the impact of out-of-home (OOH) advertising on digital shopping behavior. Conducted across the UK, this field study used a randomized control test to understand how billboards and other physical ads influence online activity — including traffic, consideration, and conversions.

Why It Matters

This is a major step in Amazon’s efforts to tie offline media to online retail performance with the same rigor as digital ads. For brands investing in omnichannel marketing, this could mean better attribution models and more confidence in upper-funnel spend.

The experiment found statistically significant uplifts in product detail page views, branded searches, and purchases among consumers exposed to OOH ads — all tracked back to Amazon’s marketplace activity.

Implications for eCommerce Sellers

• Expect OOH media to become a bigger part of full-funnel strategies if Amazon can reliably prove ROI
• Amazon may expand media buying services and DSP offerings that incorporate OOH in campaigns
• This research could eventually lead to new seller tools or dashboards that visualize attribution from offline ads

Amazon continues to blur the lines between offline and online, and this signals that it’s not just experimenting for branding’s sake — it’s working toward measurable commerce impact.

How Tariffs Are Shaping Amazon Sales Forecasts

In Stratably’s latest June benchmark of 142 professionals across consumer brands and agencies, the majority of Amazon sellers are holding steady or slightly lowering their sales forecasts in response to tariff uncertainty.

Here’s what the data shows:

• 67% of brands are keeping forecasts unchanged
• 24% have slightly lowered forecasts
• 2% have significantly reduced them (jumping to 10% for non-CPG brands)
• 6% have increased forecasts (only 1% significantly)

This nets out to 21% of brands reducing their Amazon outlook, but the cuts are described as measured, not dramatic. The mood across the industry is cautious but stable — a clear “wait-and-see” posture rather than a pullback.

Why It Matters for Sellers

Stratably’s analysis provides a helpful signal for eCommerce leaders looking to gut-check their own forecast assumptions. Brands are:

• Balancing risk and resilience rather than making wholesale shifts
• Watching competitors closely for pullbacks that could open up market share
• Keeping promotions and inventory plans flexible, particularly ahead of key events like Prime Day

Notably, non-CPG brands are feeling more pressure and appear quicker to adjust forecasts downward — a potential opportunity for well-positioned sellers in those categories.

BellaVix Takeaway

This is a time to be thoughtful, not reactive. If your costs are impacted by tariffs, trimming your forecast may be justified. But with continued shopper demand and resilient retail performance from January to April, overcorrecting could mean lost opportunity.

Keep an eye on Stratably’s upcoming benchmarks on ad budgets and Prime Day strategy shifts. They’re our go-to resource for data-backed insight on how the market is actually moving.

 

Beauty’s Big Shift: BoF x McKinsey Report Reveals Where the Industry Is Headed

The latest State of Fashion: Beauty report from Business of Fashion and McKinsey & Company outlines a rapidly evolving beauty landscape where consumer expectations, brand discovery, and distribution are transforming fast — and opening the door for independent brands to gain meaningful share.

What the Data Shows

• Global beauty is projected to reach $580 billion by 2027, growing at 6 percent annually — outpacing both fashion and luxury categories
• Shoppers are increasingly drawn to authentic, values-driven brands that prioritize clean ingredients, transparency, and personalization
• Amazon’s role in beauty is growing, particularly in mass and affordable premium categories
• Social-first and creator-led strategies are no longer optional, especially with Gen Z expecting brand visibility across platforms

What This Means for Beauty Sellers on Amazon

• Speed and storytelling win: Brands that launch quickly and communicate a clear identity are outperforming. Optimized SEO, review generation, and customer education are essential to compete
• The masstige opportunity is real: Mid-tier brands with premium design and benefit-forward messaging are thriving. This is where many Amazon-first beauty brands can scale fast
• Product detail pages are your flagship: Visuals, A-plus content, and benefit callouts should mirror what works in your DTC strategy
• Top-of-funnel traffic must convert: Whether from TikTok, Instagram, or creators, traffic needs to land on listings built to convert — with social proof, fast load speeds, and trust signals

BellaVix Insight

The beauty industry’s future will be shaped by how well brands balance speed, identity, and omnichannel cohesion. Amazon is not just a place to distribute products — it is now a discovery and brand-building engine. For founders and marketers, the opportunity is wide open.

 

Amazon Invests in Liquid-Cooled Data Centers — What It Signals for the Future of AWS and Sustainability

Amazon Web Services is diving deeper into liquid cooling technology to power its next generation of high-performance data centers. As demands from generative AI, machine learning, and cloud computing surge, AWS is moving away from traditional air cooling toward more efficient, sustainable solutions.

What It Means

• AWS is now deploying direct-to-chip liquid cooling in production environments, not just in R&D
• Liquid cooling helps reduce energy use and carbon output — supporting Amazon’s broader commitment to reaching net-zero carbon by 2040
• This shift enables AWS to handle denser, hotter chips used in AI workloads without compromising on performance or reliability

Why This Matters for eCommerce Sellers

While this update may seem technical, it reflects how Amazon is future-proofing its infrastructure to handle massive increases in data volume, AI usage, and real-time analytics. For eCommerce brands, this investment signals:

• Faster and more reliable AWS services, which power tools across Seller Central, Amazon Ads, inventory management, and more
• Scalability for AI-driven features like personalized recommendations, dynamic pricing, and ad targeting
• Continued alignment between technology innovation and sustainability goals, which is becoming more important to both brands and consumers

BellaVix Insight

Behind every Amazon tool your business touches, from ad bidding algorithms to product recommendations, sits AWS. By investing in liquid cooling, Amazon is ensuring the engine that powers its entire ecosystem stays fast, clean, and ready for what comes next.

 

Amazon Ads Launches Generative AI Video Tool for Brands

Amazon Ads has introduced a new generative AI-powered video creation tool, giving brands and advertisers a fast, low-lift way to produce video content tailored for product pages, Sponsored Brands, and other placements across Amazon.

What the Tool Does

• Uses product images and basic prompts to instantly generate short videos
• Automatically matches content with relevant scenes, text overlays, and brand visuals
• Designed to increase engagement on listings, especially in mobile-first formats
• Requires no video editing skills or prior assets, making it accessible to small and mid-size brands

Why It Matters

As video becomes a dominant format across Amazon’s ad ecosystem, this tool allows sellers to level the playing field with high-performing content — without needing a full creative team. Video has been shown to improve conversion, retention, and consideration across several Amazon placements.

For sellers:

• Faster launch times for Sponsored Brands or DSP campaigns
• Dynamic content testing without high production costs
• Potential to drive more shopper engagement and higher ROAS, especially on mobile

BellaVix Insight

Amazon is making it easier for every brand — not just the biggest ones — to bring products to life through video. With generative AI, content production is no longer a bottleneck. For sellers looking to boost ad performance, this is one of the most practical new tools Amazon has rolled out this year.

 

The Munger Operating System: Timeless Mental Models for Better Decision-Making

This deep dive into Charlie Munger’s “Operating System” offers a clear framework for living a life of clarity, discipline, and long-term success. Munger, the longtime business partner of Warren Buffett, is known for his plainspoken wisdom and commitment to multidisciplinary thinking.

Key Takeaways for Business and Life

• Think in systems, not tactics: Munger believed in building a personal operating system based on mental models drawn from economics, psychology, history, and more
• Avoid standard biases: From confirmation bias to sunk cost fallacy, Munger’s advice focuses on recognizing and neutralizing the thinking errors that cloud judgment
• Invert, always invert: One of his core principles — look at problems from the opposite angle to uncover blind spots and avoid catastrophe
• Play the long game: Munger prioritized delayed gratification, patience, and integrity, which he considered non-negotiables for compounding results

How It Applies to eCommerce Operators

• Evaluate strategy through multiple lenses, not just one metric or short-term ROI
• Build teams and businesses that prioritize clarity, simplicity, and trust over speed and flash
• Be aware of noise vs. signal when making marketplace decisions — whether about ad spend, inventory, or product expansion
• Don’t chase trends. Instead, build moats with long-term thinking, consistent value delivery, and a refusal to compromise on fundamentals

BellaVix Insight

The most successful eCommerce brands aren’t chasing hacks — they’re following systems. Munger’s thinking reminds us to slow down, think better, and operate with intention. In a world of algorithm tweaks and constant change, these timeless principles are the real edge.

 

Shopify Report: What Really Drives Customer Loyalty in 2025

Shopify’s latest report breaks down the evolving drivers behind customer loyalty in today’s omnichannel environment. The takeaway? Loyalty isn’t built on points or perks alone — it’s earned through consistent value, emotional connection, and frictionless experiences.

Key Findings

• 76% of consumers say they’ll switch brands after one bad experience
• 84% of shoppers prefer to buy from brands that offer personalized rewards and communication
• Brand trust and shared values are increasingly top factors in repeat purchasing, especially among Gen Z and millennial shoppers
• Omnichannel shoppers are more loyal, with higher lifetime value and stronger brand relationships

What This Means for eCommerce Brands

• Reliability beats gimmicks: Consistent delivery, accurate listings, and quality customer service still outperform complex loyalty programs
• Storytelling matters: Shoppers are drawn to brands that stand for something and speak directly to their lifestyle or values
• Loyalty is omnichannel: A smooth experience from social discovery to Amazon product page to email follow-up keeps customers coming back
• Personalization is expected: Generic messages and blanket offers don’t cut it — customers want tailored content and incentives

BellaVix Insight

Customer loyalty on Amazon doesn’t start at checkout — it starts at the first click. Whether through A-plus content, responsive customer service, or aligned brand values, loyalty is earned every step of the way. For brands looking to build not just repeat purchases but long-term advocates, this data underscores the importance of strategic, consistent brand execution across every channel.

 

Omnichannel Loyalty Is the New Standard — Are You Ready?

Shopify’s latest insights on omnichannel loyalty reveal a clear shift: today’s consumers don’t separate shopping channels — and neither should your loyalty strategy. Brands that connect the dots between platforms, stores, and digital touchpoints are seeing stronger retention and higher lifetime value.

Key Insights

• 73% of consumers use multiple channels during their buying journey
• Shoppers are 29% more likely to purchase again when they interact with a brand on more than one channel
• Omnichannel loyalty programs lead to 33% higher customer retention compared to single-channel efforts

Why It Matters for eCommerce and Amazon Sellers

• Amazon is part of the journey: Even when loyalty is built on your DTC site or social platforms, many customers still choose to purchase on Amazon — the experience must feel connected
• Consistent brand experience is key: From product pages to customer emails, your tone, visuals, and values need to travel with the customer
• Data sharing is power: Brands that sync customer behavior across marketplaces and owned channels gain a better understanding of what drives repeat purchases
• Rewards should follow the shopper: Flexible, cross-channel loyalty programs are winning — those confined to one storefront are losing relevance

BellaVix Insight

Loyalty is no longer just about points — it’s about presence. The brands that win are those who meet customers wherever they are and make every touchpoint count. Whether it’s a product recommendation on Amazon, a social media ad, or a follow-up email, omnichannel cohesion builds trust and repeat business.

 

If You’ve Been Optimizing the Wrong Part of Your Listing  — Now’s the Time to Fix It.

 

AspiCon 2025 is just around the corner! This four-day virtual summit, happening June 24–27, features 40 sessions led by top industry experts — all focused on creative strategies that deliver real, measurable results.

BellaVix’s session — SEO x Advertising: How Paid and Organic Work Together — is designed for action, featuring real-world tactics you can start implementing right away.

For just $8, you’ll learn how to:

• Increase your click-through rate with stronger hero images

• Use visuals that convert more shoppers into buyers

• Create A+ Content and Storefronts that support the sale

• Understand the buyer psychology behind Amazon purchases

• Apply proven strategies to reduce wasted ad spend and increase ROI

🎟️ Secure your spot before access closes:
https://goaspi.com/ASPICON25-Will-Haire

 

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