Although Charles Darwin wasn't wrong when he said, “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one most adaptable to change,” he would have been shaking in his boots at the rate of technological change happening now.
It is already hard enough to keep up with changes in the social scene and what new trend is hot on TikTok. But, in addition to that, you still have to know what's happening in the online marketplace or risk losing your source of income.
But we're not going to let that happen. This is why today, we're looking at some Amazon predictions for 2023 to get you equipped to handle the coming changes.
A thriving Amazon FBA business is more than just having great products and a seamless operational process.
You have to know how things evolve and tailor your Amazon FBA business to suit that. So before we get started on the predictions, let's look at why you should be selling on Amazon in the first place.
Why Is Selling on Amazon FBA a Great Idea?
First of all, Amazon is a behemoth in the online marketplace. Boasting over 200 million Amazon Prime subscribers, this is a great place for your online business to thrive.
Source: Net revenue of Amazon from 1st quarter 2007 to 3rd quarter 2021
So, why do buyers love Amazon so much? Because of the perks they get by using the platform, including great customer service, customer satisfaction, and cost-efficiency.
In addition to having millions of buyers at your disposal, the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program allows you to have an almost hands-off experience.
You can have your goods shipped from the factory to your buyer's doorstep without any intervention on your part. We have a detailed article for you if you'd like to learn more about selling on Amazon.
Now that that's out of the way let's move on to our Amazon predictions for 2023.
What Are Some Amazon Predictions for 2023?
As more and more buyers opt to buy online instead of going to a physical store, you can expect the number of Amazon buyers to go up. This means more opportunity for you, especially if your products are top-notch and meet the required standards.
One of the ways to ensure that your products don't go unnoticed is to stay current and adapt your business and marketing strategies to suit what's working. Here are some changes to look out for.
1. A Focus On Brands
Amazon sellers should pay attention to the fact that Amazon is becoming more of a brand-building platform. Just like Google, Amazon is focussing more on customer satisfaction and offering a wholesome experience.
In the coming year, we believe that Amazon will expand its brand-building tools through more self-service. A good hint is how we saw the availability of Brand lift metrics in Over The Top (OTT).
As Amazon sellers, you also have the ability to map your consumer path from the top of the funnel in Amazon Marketing Cloud towards the end of 2021.
Another reason why we think Amazon will focus more on brands is because of the introduction of features to support brand following. For example, the ability of potential customers to follow brands, the expansion of Amazon posts, and the ability to retarget store viewers.
Thanks to these features and more, you can build your brand store and engage existing and potential customers with your posts and interactions. If you decide to launch a new product, you can use email to spread awareness.
If you decide to use external platforms such as Facebook and Google to drive traffic to your brand store, you can get 10% of your revenue back. All of these tools and programs allow Amazon FBA business brand owners to offer the best service.
You will still have the usual tools available through the Amazon Brand Registry to build your brand. Some of these include video ads, A+ content, virtual bundles, Amazon stores, and more advertising solutions.
However, these advertising tools aren't available to third-party sellers, or non-brand registered Amazon sellers. Therefore, if you want to comfortably scale up your business or remain relevant in 2023, it's better to focus on building your brand if you don't already have one.
This will prevent you from missing out on great opportunities and falling down the Amazon sellers' ladder. The last thing you want is to decrease your product sales because you don't have a brand.
2. Sourcing from Local Manufacturers
Although browsing through Alibaba.com and finding affordable manufactures from China and so on has been the norm for a while, it looks like things are about to change for Amazon sellers.
Thanks to the global events that plagued the world for the better part of last year, we saw several loyal customers change brands because of availability.
Although sourcing for products from a country like China, where materials and labor are cheaper, is the better financial option, it can seriously hurt your Amazon FBA business if there are delays in the shipment.
Therefore, as we swiftly move into the new year, we'll see more Amazon sellers opting to deal with suppliers and manufacturers from their home countries.
Although it costs more per unit for production, Amazon sellers who opt for this route will get their products shipped out faster and more easily because of their geographic location.
So, how will this benefit you as an Amazon seller? For one, your products will constantly be available in your store, which will show buyers that you are a reliable source.
You won't lose on buyers because your products are currently unavailable.
Secondly, we saw an increase in search volume for the terms “made in U.S.A.” and “made in Canada” in the course of this year. Again, this shows that plenty of buyers favor shopping for goods made in their home country.
This can be attributed to the quality and other preferences. However, note that sourcing your products from the USA or Canada can be a lot more difficult than sourcing from China and other countries.
You'll need to do more market research to get what you want.
As we prepare to ace it in 2023 and beyond, keep this in mind. You can start your market research now to stay ahead of the FBA sellers curve.
3. Increased Social Media Feel
The growth of TikTok and other User-Generated Content (UGC) platforms continues to rise, and Amazon is taking note of that.
This American multinational technology company is at the top of its game because it keeps up with the times. And the times are pointing towards video as a major content type. So selling products is more than listing them and getting raving reviews.
Existing sellers must also find a way to show online shopping customers how the product works and engages with its environment.
This is the type of consumer experience you should focus on in 2023 and beyond. You can leverage videos as an Amazon advertising tool to show how your products work in real-time.
This prediction is similar to the social media one and can improve your advertising performance. You can think of Posts as the Amazon version of Instagram.
The best part about using the Posts feature is scheduling them to align with your brand campaigns, product launches, and other social initiatives.
Soon, more than half of the players in the Amazon marketplace will be making the most of these social features, and you should not be left behind. You always want to stay relevant with what's happening to succeed in selling on Amazon.
4. Influencer Marketing
Amazon Live has seen Amazon move stealthily into the influence marketing space. However, word of mouth remains the most trusted marketing tool, and Amazon is leveraging that. So how can you use Amazon Live to improve selling on Amazon?
Amazon Live allows you to live stream to your Amazon business audience and improve engagement. However, note that you can only use this Amazon business feature if your brand is enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry and Amazon Influencers.
This feature can increase your advertising performance and improve your Amazon FBA business. When visitors come to your store, they'll be able to watch these live streams and learn more about your brand and your products.
These Influencer streams will appear on the innovative Amazon Live page, where buyers can browse through various brands and creators. You can also choose to showcase industry events and other trending products you have.
We expect to see a spike in Amazon Influencer Marketing moving forward. Therefore, whether you are a new seller or not, leveraging these features can give you an added advantage over most sellers who aren't adapting.
5. Increased Second-Hand Items
As Amazon continues to compete against other e-commerce platforms such as eBay and the Facebook marketplace, it may increase the number of refurbished products on its site.
Purchasing products online doesn't always have to mean brand new items, and we'll be seeing more of these second-hand profitable products.
Although there are many sellers on the Amazon e-commerce platform, there are times when there's a shortage of goods.
Having second-hand options can come in handy when some items are missing in a certain product category. Therefore, after doing sufficient product research, you can decide to jump on the used products bandwagon.
So, what can we expect Amazon to do to increase awareness of this inventory? First, the company may make an effort to highlight these products on their site. For example, by allowing consumers to filter through the products based on whether they want new or used products.
The brand may also provide greater access to the Amazon Warehouse and Amazon Renewed pages. These pages already exist on the site, but many consumers and sellers don't know they exist.
Don't be surprised if you see a highlight for used items on the Homepage come next year.
The selling of second-hand items will also help meet Amazon's aim of becoming the most customer-centric company on the planet. In addition to killing it in the ecommerce game, Amazon also aims to incorporate sustainability into its business model.
Do you remember when hundreds of employees walked out of various Amazon offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other major cities? Well, Amazon decided to take note and step up its sustainability game.
Other ways this ecommerce giant is winning in the sustainability sector include the fact that it has over 60 solar and wind projects that operate globally and hosts 50 solar systems. Talk about winning in all areas.
6. Increased Number of Sellers
Just as more buyers opt to purchase their goods online, more brands are choosing to sell on the Amazon platform. Over 50% of brands already have an Amazon presence, and the number is expected to increase to over 70% over the next five years.
After all, this is where the money and customers are. If 2020 and 2021 have taught us anything, it's that we can do without the need to leave our homes to get what we need; and brands are leveraging on that.
You can sell anything from home workouts to groceries online, and you'll have a market for your business.
Many brands are starting to understand this, and thus you'll see an influx in the number of Amazon sellers in the coming year and beyond.
What does this mean for you as an existing Amazon seller? It might mean that you need to up your game to keep up with the competition.
7. Higher Advertising Costs
Although this is not necessarily a positive prediction, we still think it may happen due to the increasing population of sellers on the platform. As more inventory is added, more people join to sell products, the average cost per click will increase.
We think so because the average cost per click on the platform increased by over 50% from 2020 to 2021. Therefore, this is something to look out for, especially if you are new to the platform.
It might be time to double down on creating great content to leverage the organic search options.
Here are some ways to combat the effects of increased cost per click rates.
- Use extremely high-quality images for your listings
- Ensure that you have optimized your listings for conversions using relevant keywords
- Enroll your brand in the Amazon Brand Registry and use the A+ content option
- Add product videos to your listings to increase conversions
8. More Streaming TV Opportunities
Expect streaming TV to gain momentum, especially now with the rollout of Amazon-branded TVs. You'll be able to advertise to your customers in more ways thanks to these new opportunities.
For example, sellers will have access to more ad placements and better attribution. This is because the consumer data will remain on the same platform making it easier to access and analyze.
With other relevant integrations such as Alexa, this prediction could expand audio streaming advertising.
If things go as predicted, you will have a more integrated and seamless full-funnel advertising approach come next year.
9. Incorporation of Crypto
Are you a fan of cryptocurrency? Imagine a world where Amazon teams up with players in the cryptocurrency world. This fantasy may come sooner than you think based on current global events.
For example, countries like Venezuela and Paraguay have accepted cryptocurrency. In addition, other companies like Tesla, The Dallas Mavericks, Cryptoployee, and AMC Theatres are also leading the pack when it comes to crypto.
As ambitious and innovative as Jeff Bezos is, you can expect Amazon to integrate the use of cryptocurrency very soon. For example, the platform may soon allow buyers to pay for their purchases with cryptocurrency.
If we can take it a step further, we can predict Amazon creating its own cryptocurrency to be used on the site. But let's wait and see how this probable integration goes first.
Final Thoughts
Whether or not you think these Amazon predictions are true or not, we advise you to continue adapting to the changing times.
Regularly check the news and other relevant platforms to stay in touch with what's happening within this ecommerce platform to avoid getting left behind. Also, feel free to read our other blog posts to educate yourself on all things Amazon FBA.
Frequently Asked Questions About Amazon Predictions
1. What is the Amazon Trend Report?
Amazon checks out what most buyers have been interested in in the past year or so and uses that information to create the Amazon Trend Report. This information is used in parallel with the best-selling products on Amazon.
2. What does attribution mean in marketing terms?
Remember how we talked about increased TV streaming opportunities as a prediction of 2023? This is where marketing attribution comes in.
Marketing attribution simply means knowing how your customers came to find out about your product and what led them to make a purchase.
As a business or a seller, you can use this feature to assess the ROI of the channels you're using for marketing. Especially now, with the predicted rise of CPP, you need to know that your advertising coins are yielding results.
The availability of ad placements in streaming TV can allow you to have better attribution.
Is Amazon FBA Profitable In 2023?
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