Three months, three highlights, three minutes. Every week at Rich Insight, we compile a list of the top marketplace news stories as part of our Friday newsletter. At the end of every quarter, we round-up the headline story, key marketplace moves and essential Amazon goings-on. Here’s your marketplace round-up for October-December 2023.
Headline Story
Amazon slashes fees to fight Shein
In November 2023, Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein applied to go public in the United States. With 2022 revenues of $23 billion and a valuation of £66 billion, it could be one the largest IPOs in years, but Amazon has not taken the news lying down. In a direct challenge to Shein’s growing dominance in the low-cost apparel market, Amazon has decided to cut its referral fees for the sub $15 apparel category from 17% to 5% and its sub $20 apparel category from 17% to 10%, as well as adding new FBA incentives for apparel sellers (the reduced fees will start on January 15, 2024).
Amazon’s rare move to slash its referral fees by up to 70% could be the start of a price war - aimed at luring both sellers and customers away from Shein. This move also suggests Amazon is prepared to do battle with its challengers (even if they are competitors in just one category like Shein) and could signify a bigger move into fast-fashion from Amazon this year.
Marketplace Moves
eBay announced 2023 active buyer figures: 132 million people made at least one purchase, while 16 million made at least six purchases (at an average of $800). eBay also added a new ‘combined shipping’ element, enabling buyers to reduce shipping costs when purchasing items from one seller, and hinted at changes to its search engine in 2024.
TikTok Shop continues its rollout of new marketplace features, introducing Direct Post, which enables brands to post third-party video content directly to TikTok, and launching an AI Creative Assistant to provide guidance on creating TikTok campaigns. B&Q’s marketplace, DIY.com, will feature third-party brands across its website banners while Zalando’s new fulfilment service, ZEOS, extends logistics to third-party retailers. Japanese marketplace Mercari has reduced its USPS shipping costs for lightweight goods, but US-based Bonanza will charge sellers $2 if they don’t use Bonanza’s shipping labels (the first mainstream marketplace to do so).
Meanwhile, the worldwide marketplace club welcomes two new German members - luxury fashion platform, Fashionette, and B2B overstock platform, Smatch, which helps retailers offload excess textiles - and may soon say hello (again) to Tesco Marketplace. High-end fashion marketplace Farfetch also secured a $500 million lifeline from South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang.
Amazon Analysis
New year, new rates. The world’s leading marketplace has released a set of incoming fee changes, including:
- An increase in average fees per unit sold by $0.15.
- Raised fees for fulfilling off-Amazon orders by an average of 3.5%.
- The introduction of a ‘low inventory fee’ in 2024 if sellers have too little stock stored at Amazon.
New year, new features. Amazon has launched its European Expansion Accelerator, an automated solution designed to scale brands’ Amazon business to one or all other Amazon Europe stores (there are currently nine) in three business days. Amazon has added sustainability badges for standards such as recycled electrical content and plant-based fibres, as well as a new search filter for its ‘made by small-business’ badge.
Finally, Amazon announced that it will launch its drone delivery service (known as Prime Air) in the UK and Italy in late 2024, enabling customers to receive packages under 2.2kg in one hour or less.
Looking ahead: Q1 2024
Black Friday. Christmas. January Sales. The festive shipping season continues in the first month of the year as consumers return unwanted gifts and hunt for bargains - but what trends will continue in 2024? Check out our next blog on 2024 marketplace trends to find out.
For advice on optimising your sales over the next quarter, sign up to our weekly newsletter or get in touch with us directly.
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