Amazon has added another new charge, and the October Prime promotion is officially in effect!

As the bonus tide recedes, the sudden drop in orders seems to have become a regular feature of cross-border sellers. Some sellers look at this rationally and seek to increase their sales, while others sigh and feel bitter about the loss of orders.

As time comes to the second half of August, many Amazon sellers have deeply experienced the difficulty of operating in the off-season.

From the "doubling of traffic and orders" in mid-July to the "bottom out of both sales and traffic" in August, for Amazon sellers, the period after Prime Day and before the autumn promotion has always been the most difficult low period.

Although everyone in the industry knows that August to September is usually the off-season for cross-border e-commerce, the huge gap between before and after still makes most Amazon sellers feel as if they have ushered in the darkest moment:

"Sales volume in August has shrunk significantly, but the only thing that remains unchanged is that advertising costs will not decrease."

"July's net profit doubled compared to June, which boosted our confidence. But we didn't expect to be poured cold water again in August."

"Sales plummeted to the bottom after Member Day, and even less in August."

It can be seen that, except for some seasonal products in the back-to-school season, unstable orders and plummeting traffic have become the common situation for Amazon sellers in August. One of the more significant trends is that Amazon's traffic and sales profits in August fluctuated greatly like a roller coaster. "The order volume after Prime Day was surprisingly unstable, and in August, the increase was small and the decrease was fast."

Compared with the previous month , there are two reasons for the low sales this month:

• On the one hand, Prime Day has overdrawn a lot of consumer demand . Data shows that in 2024, Amazon's two-day sales totaled $14.2 billion, an increase of 11% year-on-year, setting a new sales record;

• On the other hand, August is a holiday period in Europe and the United States, with many people going on vacation and fewer business activities, so market demand is relatively sluggish .

But it is worth mentioning that according to the feedback from sellers, compared with the same period in previous years , the sales in August this year were also relatively poor. Some sellers even said that the order volume of the same product was only half of that in August last year.

In addition to the continued decline in consumer demand, Amazon sellers are also facing increasing sales challenges both inside and outside the platform. [To fight the cross-border peak season, you can learn more about the actual combat strategy at the Amazon Global Selling 2025 Sales Launch Conference . Click here to register .]

From an internal perspective, Amazon has been taking frequent actions since August, continuously upgrading its supervision of accounts : strictly checking CPC certification of children's products, banning accounts on a large scale, launching new verification methods, and reviewing the authenticity of accounts and inventory...

In addition to the successive number-scanning scandals, sellers are also overwhelmed by the adjustments of multiple policies : on August 13, Amazon announced the launch of a new "refund only" policy; starting from August 15, Amazon began to charge advertising management fees for advertisements placed on the Canadian site...

In addition, from the perspective of external factors, the intensified competition among multiple platforms has become a commonplace topic. In August this year, sellers on platforms such as AliExpress and TikTok Shop posted news of a surge in sales during the back-to-school season promotion. Official data from TikTok Shop showed that from August 6 to 10, the platform's overall payment GMV increased by 120%, and the average customer spending increased by 111%.

▲ The picture comes from TikTok Shop

With internal changes in front and external competition behind, Amazon sellers are inevitably facing more severe challenges.

Under this circumstance, many sellers have begun to pin their hopes on the boosting effect of the big promotion on October Autumn Membership Day.

It is learned that on August 23, Amazon Global Store officially announced that the 2024 Amazon Prime Member Promotion will start in October this year. This promotion will cover 19 countries including Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, and Canada.

▲ The picture comes from Amazon Global Store

Although the specific date has not yet been determined, many sellers have already made preparations for it.

It is worth mentioning that according to sellers, perhaps in order to avoid the recurrence of previous "0 yuan purchase" incidents, Amazon has added a new option this year: sellers can choose "whether discounts are stacked" when managing promotions . This is good news for novice and more careless sellers.

▲ The picture comes from the seller’s disclosure

However, at the same time, some sellers found when creating promotions that the news that "Prime exclusive discounts will be charged" that had been circulating in the industry has been confirmed.

According to Amazon's announcement, starting from August 14, 2024, Amazon will introduce Prime-exclusive discount fees for promotional activities on the US site, and the first charge will be implemented during the Prime membership promotion in October.

▲ The picture comes from the seller’s disclosure

Although Amazon stated in its announcement that all items in the same promotion will be charged only once and there will be no charge for unsold items , most sellers are still dissatisfied with this increased cost.

I still remember the 2023 autumn promotion, when Amazon sold more than 150 million units . Many sellers increased discounts during the promotion to increase competitiveness and attract consumers. According to a survey, more than 50% of sellers successfully achieved sales growth during last year's autumn promotion, and 13% of sellers achieved the achievement of successful sales explosion.

Although the sales data shows that the popularity of Amazon's autumn sale has been growing year by year, compared with the familiar faces of Black Friday, the third autumn sale is still unfamiliar to some sellers. Although Amazon recently announced that the sale will be held in October, the industry has not discussed this sale much.

Some sellers have chosen to participate in the autumn promotion and are optimistic about it : on the one hand, they believe that the event will always have some boosting effect on traffic; on the other hand, the unexpected order growth on Prime Day in July this year has given them enough confidence.

At the same time, most sellers believe that due to factors such as sluggish demand and intensified competition, their profits will not increase significantly even if they have a surge in orders.

However, for now, there is still a long time to go before October. For Amazon sellers, the top priority is to keep pace with the times, upgrade sales strategies, and adjust the correct operation routes to survive this "long" off-season and usher in a truly bumper harvest.

What do you think of this year's autumn sale? Will you participate? Welcome to discuss in the comments section~