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It is learned that on February 2, local time in the United States, Amazon announced its fourth quarter and full-year financial report for fiscal year 2022:- Amazon's net sales in the fourth quarter of 2022 were US$149.204 billion, an increase of 8.58% year-on-year; net profit was US$278 million, a decrease of 98% year-on-year;
- Amazon's net sales for the full year 2022 were US$514 billion, a year-on-year increase of 9.4%; its net loss reached US$2.722 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 108.16% , marking its first annual loss since 2014.
Looking ahead to 2023, Amazon expects net sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2023 to be in the range of US$121 billion to US$126 billion , a year-on-year increase of 4% to 8%. However, the midpoint of the range ($123.5 billion) still falls short of analysts' average expectation of US$125.11 billion. It is understood that the reason why Amazon's performance showed signs of decline was, on the one hand, due to macroeconomic pressures such as continued inflation, rising interest rates and weak consumption, and on the other hand, due to the sequelae of excessive expansion in the early stage of the epidemic. To this end, Amazon's new CEO Andy Jassy has also taken a number of measures to reduce business costs: closing some physical stores, slowing down recruitment, and launching multiple rounds of large-scale layoffs. For third-party sellers who rely on the Amazon platform for sales, Amazon's layoffs seem to have had a certain impact on them. Amazon warehouse operations are limited! Bad weather or layoffs? It is learned that recently, some sellers reported that FBA orders had not been delivered for a long time in the background. After opening a case, it was found that the AFW1 warehouse where the inventory was located had site structure damage caused by severe weather events. It has been temporarily closed and is expected to be repaired on April 30. As a result, the seller's link also showed that it was out of stock and could not be sold . ▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan We learned that on January 31, local time, a winter storm hit central and southern United States, causing significant impact. Amazon did issue a logistics delay warning for this . Therefore, it is possible that the severe weather event mentioned by the customer service caused damage to the warehouse structure. But some sellers have questioned this: "Structural damage won't start again until April 30? Did the warehouse explode?" "After laying off a large number of employees in the warehouse, Amazon's warehouse delivery has really slowed down." "Recently, after FBA receives the goods, it takes several days to register them. Could it be that the warehouse workers were laid off due to layoffs?" In addition, according to freight forwarders, before the storm hit on January 31, they had received feedback from overseas warehouses that operations at several Amazon warehouses in the western United States were restricted and logistics were likely to be delayed. In this regard, some freight forwarders speculated that the main reason might be that Amazon’s multiple rounds of layoffs have exacerbated the existing warehouse labor shortage problem. According to foreign media reports, following the layoff plan of more than 17,000 people in early January, Amazon launched a second round of layoffs at the end of January, which eventually brought the total number of layoffs to 18,000, setting a new record for the largest layoffs in history. Among them, Amazon did cut a large part of the number of warehouse staff, which will have a certain impact on the distribution efficiency of the warehouse. However, Amazon has not yet responded to the reasons for the limited operation of its warehouses. The above speculations by sellers and freight forwarders can only be used as a reference. We would like to remind relevant sellers to always pay attention to the delivery status of goods and the operation status of warehouses to avoid losses. Overall, 2023 will still be a challenging year for cross-border sellers, but as the saying goes, opportunities and challenges coexist. In order to better welcome the arrival of opportunities, cross-border sellers need to continue to deepen and refine operations, and adapt to changes in platform rules. Brand registration is the key for sellers to prepare for further progress. However, according to sellers’ feedback, Amazon’s review of brand registration seems to be getting stricter. Amazon tightens brand verification! Sellers’ brand registration has been rejected many times! It is learned that recently, many sellers in the seller group said that Amazon brand registration is becoming more and more difficult. Not only does it require a lot of information to prepare, but even if the information is ready, it may still be rejected by Amazon. ▲ The picture comes from the seller communication group There are many sellers in the forum who have encountered the same situation: "Recently, my brand registration has been rejected. I have tried changing product pictures, Chinese and English contracts, purchasing contracts + business licenses, etc., but it is still rejected. So far, it has been rejected 7 times in total." "Same problem, US filing has been rejected 5 times." “I asked the service provider to give me the verification code, but they still rejected it.” ▲ The picture comes from Zhiwubuyan We also summarize the sellers' solutions for your reference: 1. Resubmit materials to Amazon: Ensure the completeness of the submitted materials:- Proof of use: Branded product and packaging
- Trademark receipt: Convert to image and upload
- Brand authorization letter: If the brand owner has no relationship with the legal person of the business license, a legal authorization letter is required
- Contract: Product name with brand, preferably the same product as the one in the certificate of use
- Invoice: Product name with brand, other requirements are the same as the contract, note the time of re-issuance in the lower right corner
2. Open a regular English case: ask the customer service to transfer the complaint to the brand team. If the customer service cannot handle it, you can try posting 3. Find an investment manager: The investment manager can contact the brand team internally and let the brand team directly access 4. Find a service provider: spend money to register your brand. Here is a reminder to find a reliable service provider to do this. As for the reason why a large number of sellers’ brand registrations were rejected multiple times, some sellers speculated that this was because Amazon was tightening the verification of brand registrations; others believed that Amazon might have encountered the same review bug as last time. However, as of press time, Amazon has not responded to this. Here, we recommend that all sellers, under the general trend of compliance, Amazon's brand registration verification is becoming more stringent, sellers need to apply for registration of formal and reliable trademarks, regulate the use of their own brands, and prevent increased store risks due to brand abuse. What do you think about this? Welcome to discuss in the comment area~ Only by knowing the direction can you enter the market steadily! ! 2023 China Cross-border E-commerce Annual Summit kicks off at the beginning of the new year! ! March 3rd - 4th Shenzhen. Galaxy Hotel Discuss the key points of "breaking the situation" with important industry guests and start the "game" with this era |
