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Ads Hit $68B, AI Monetizes, Walmart Goes Global
Published about 1 month ago • 9 min read
This Week's Top Amazon Seller News
Hey Reader, Welcome back to another edition of the Amazon Seller School Weekly Newsletter, where we break down the biggest shifts in ecommerce, AI, advertising, and marketplace strategy so you can stay ahead of the competition.
This week’s updates reveal one major theme. The ecosystem is expanding fast. Ads are booming, AI is monetizing, Walmart is going global, and consumer behavior is shifting in surprising ways. Join us live today at 12 PM Eastern / 9 AM Pacific!
We’ll discuss the latest Amazon news and how it impacts your business. Tune in for valuable insights to help you stay ahead. Catch the live stream on LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook. Let’s dive in! Click here to read on our website
The News
Amazon Ad Revenue Tops $68 Billion as Full Funnel Strategy Expands
Amazon’s advertising business grew 22% year over year in Q4 2025 and surpassed $68 billion for the full year, driven by sponsored products, Prime Video ads, and expanded full funnel offerings.
Why This Matters: Amazon’s continued investment in full-funnel advertising signals increased focus on building an end-to-end media ecosystem that blends retail data, streaming, and AI tools. For operators, this points to greater reliance on Amazon’s ad stack for visibility and conversion, while brands face a more competitive environment where Sponsored Products alone may not be enough to scale efficiently in the USA marketplace.
Walmart Launches Cross-Border Shipping for U.S. Marketplace Sellers
Walmart is preparing to roll out Walmart Exports in early 2026, enabling eligible Walmart Fulfillment Services items to ship from the U.S. to customers in Mexico and Canada, with more countries planned over time.
Why This Matters: This signals increased focus on expanding Walmart’s fulfillment infrastructure to mirror cross-border capabilities long offered by Amazon, raising the likelihood of greater reliance on platform-managed logistics for international growth. For operators, it reduces execution friction for North American expansion, while brands gain a new pathway to reach Mexico and Canada without building separate cross-border systems from scratch.
Amazon Reportedly Exploring Content Marketplace for AI Licensing
Amazon is reportedly discussing plans to launch a marketplace where publishers can license content directly to AI companies, though the company has not formally confirmed the initiative.
Why This Matters: Amazon’s reported conversations with publishers suggest continued investment in formal AI content licensing infrastructure rather than relying solely on scraping or one-off partnerships. For operators and brands, this raises the likelihood that licensed data ecosystems will increasingly shape how AI systems surface answers, influence discovery, and determine which sources gain visibility in U.S. digital commerce environments.
Consumers Cut Back on Gifting but Monthly Online Spend Still Rises
A January 2026 Omnisend survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers found that while 23% are cutting back on holiday gifting, nearly half report spending more online per month due largely to inflation, tariffs, and higher shipping costs.
Why This Matters: Rising spend driven by cost pressure rather than higher demand suggests continued margin compression and increased sensitivity to price, shipping fees, and perceived value. For operators, this raises the likelihood of tighter conversion windows and greater reliance on bundling, shipping clarity, and pricing discipline, while brands that simplify offers and manage delivery expectations stand to compete more effectively in the U.S. market.
Amazon Updating How Reviews Are Shared Across Product Variations
Starting February 12, 2026, Amazon will limit review sharing across variations to only those with minor differences, removing shared reviews from variations with significant functional differences and rolling the change out by category through May 31.
Why This Matters: This suggests continued investment in review accuracy and customer trust, raising the likelihood of more product-specific performance metrics influencing visibility and conversion. For operators, this increases operational pressure to structure variations correctly and manage each child ASIN’s review profile independently, while brands that rely on blended ratings may see competitive shifts in star ratings and review counts across the U.S. marketplace.
Amazon Confirms Shift to DD+7 Reserve Policy for Sellers
Amazon reminded sellers that beginning March 5, 2026, it will move accounts to a standard reserve period of seven days after delivery, holding funds until seven days after confirmed or estimated delivery dates.
Why This Matters: The confirmed rollout suggests continued investment in payment controls tied to delivery confirmation, raising the likelihood of greater reliance on Amazon’s tracking and fulfillment infrastructure. For operators, this increases cash flow pressure and heightens the need for tighter shipment tracking and reserve planning, while brands with longer delivery windows or heavy FBM exposure may face competitive disadvantages in the U.S. marketplace compared to FBA-based models.
Top Amazon Third-Party Sellers Show Revenue Concentration and Volatility in February
SellerSnooper data for February 2026 shows Bayland Health leading at $1.15 billion in revenue, while several major sellers posted steep declines and growth remained concentrated among a small group of U.S. and China-based operators.
Why This Matters: Revenue concentration among focused, brand-driven sellers suggests continued investment in category depth, cross-sell strategy, and listing quality as core competitive levers. For operators, this raises the likelihood that sustained growth will depend on portfolio discipline and brand building rather than broad catalog expansion, while U.S. based sellers competing in consumables and home categories face intensified pressure from well-capitalized domestic and China-based brands.
Amazon and Google Lead AI Capital Spending Surge Despite Investor Pressure
Amazon projects $200 billion in capital expenditures for 2026 across AI, chips, robotics, and satellites, outpacing Google and other tech peers as investor concerns mount over the scale of AI driven infrastructure spending.
Why This Matters: The scale of investment suggests continued investment in AI infrastructure and cloud capacity that will likely shape how commerce, advertising, and automation tools evolve on Amazon’s platform. For operators, this points to greater reliance on Amazon controlled compute and AI systems over time, while brands operating in the U.S. marketplace should expect increasing integration of AI across search, advertising, and fulfillment environments supported by this capital buildout.
OpenAI Begins Testing Ads in ChatGPT for U.S. Users
OpenAI announced it has started testing sponsored ads in ChatGPT for a subset of free and Go users in the U.S., stating that ads are labeled separately and do not influence responses.
Why This Matters: The introduction of ads into a leading AI interface suggests continued investment in monetizing generative search environments, raising the likelihood of paid visibility models emerging alongside organic AI responses. For operators and brands, this points to a competitive environment where AI interfaces may become a new paid discovery channel in the U.S., increasing reliance on platform controlled placement within conversational commerce.
AWD vs 3PL Cost Breakdown Highlights Storage Strategy Tradeoffs
Todd shared a side-by-side cost breakdown comparing 2026 AWD rates to typical 3PL pricing, emphasizing per unit modeling, case pack optimization, and hidden inbound costs to determine which storage strategy fits specific SKUs.
Why This Matters: The analysis reflects growing operational pressure to model storage and inbound costs at the SKU level as Amazon’s logistics infrastructure becomes more rate-driven and region-specific. For operators, this raises the likelihood of greater reliance on detailed cost engineering to protect margin, while brands that optimize case pack efficiency and inbound strategy may gain a competitive edge in the U.S. marketplace.
Amazon Reinforces Anti-Counterfeiting Enforcement and Brand Protection Tools
A detailed guide outlines how sellers can report counterfeit listings through Amazon’s IP infringement process, leverage Brand Registry and Transparency, and work with Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit to remove infringing products.
Why This Matters: Amazon’s continued investment in brand protection programs and enforcement infrastructure suggests increased focus on automated detection and platform-level IP controls. For operators, this raises the likelihood of greater reliance on formal IP registration and Brand Registry participation to defend listings, while U.S. based brands that proactively protect trademarks and monitor ASIN-level activity are better positioned to maintain trust, pricing power, and marketplace stability.
Temu Opens U.S. Marketplace to Domestic Sellers With Local Fulfillment Options
In a seller-focused guide, Shopify outlines how Temu has been fully open to U.S. sellers since November 2024, allowing merchants to list products and use domestic self-fulfillment or Temu partner logistics without subscription, listing, or payment processing fees.
Why This Matters: The expansion of U.S.-based fulfillment on Temu suggests continued investment in faster domestic delivery to compete more directly with Amazon on speed and assortment. For operators, this raises the likelihood that multi-channel execution and shipping discipline will become more critical, while brands evaluating growth beyond Amazon can test incremental demand in the U.S. without committing to complex cross-border infrastructure.
Shein Expands Marketplace Model for U.S. Sellers With 10 Percent Referral Fee
A 2026 seller guide outlines how U.S. businesses can apply to Shein Marketplace, use domestic or Shein fulfillment options, and operate under a 10 percent referral fee model with no monthly subscription or listing fees.
Why This Matters: Shein’s structured onboarding requirements, revenue thresholds, and centralized fulfillment options suggest continued investment in platform-controlled assortment and logistics similar to other major marketplaces. For operators, this raises the likelihood that apparel and trend-driven brands will face intensified competition around speed, pricing, and inventory turnover, while U.S.-based sellers with strong supply chain control and trend responsiveness may find incremental growth outside Amazon’s ecosystem.
AdLabs Publishes PPC Audit and Optimization Playbook Built Around RPC Bidding
AdLabs released a comprehensive Amazon PPC audit guide that walks sellers through a structured account review using formulas that decompose ACOS into CPC, conversion rate, and average order value, with RPC-based bidding and placement optimization centered on conversion rate.
Why This Matters: A first principles framework for PPC management suggests increased focus on mathematically grounded bidding and tighter diagnostic discipline as auction pressure and automation increase across Amazon Ads. For operators, this raises the likelihood that consistent performance will require standardizing audits, isolating waste, and aligning bids to unit economics, while brands in the U.S. marketplace that systematize PPC decision making can scale spend with more control and fewer margin leaks.
Why Leadership Needs a Standalone Amazon P&L, Not a Blended Ecommerce Line
Todd explains how breaking Amazon out as its own business unit P&L clarifies true contribution margin by separating gross revenue from Amazon fees, ads spend, and fully loaded COGS and operating costs.
Why This Matters: Clear channel-level profitability reporting points to greater reliance on disciplined measurement as Amazon becomes a more operationally complex, fee-driven platform. For operators, this improves decision quality on pricing, ads, and inventory by tying actions to contribution margin, while brands that standardize an Amazon P&L can compete more effectively in the U.S. marketplace by funding growth based on verified returns, not blended ecommerce averages.
BigCommerce Guide Breaks Down How to Win on Walmart Marketplace
BigCommerce outlines Walmart Marketplace’s application, listing, shipping, and performance playbook, emphasizing listing quality, fast delivery programs, and the Pro Seller badge as key levers for visibility and conversion.
Why This Matters: Walmart’s selective marketplace and fulfillment plus shipping programs suggest continued investment in tighter performance based merchandising that rewards operators who can execute on content quality, delivery speed, and service. For U.S. brands and sellers, this points to a second major marketplace where disciplined catalog and logistics operations can earn outsized visibility compared to more crowded channels.
E-commerce Operator Tests an AI Agent as a Chief of Staff
Gary Huang says he replaced parts of virtual assistant work with an AI agent for research, reporting, and daily briefings, but also ran into reliability, memory, and security issues within the first week.
Why This Matters: Early operator use cases suggest increased focus on AI assisted back office execution where small teams can move faster on research and reporting without adding headcount. For U.S. based Amazon brands, this raises the likelihood of a widening execution gap between teams that build safe, repeatable AI workflows and teams still relying only on manual processes.
Amazon Reports 30% Surge in Same and Next Day Deliveries
Todd highlights Amazon’s announcement that same and next day deliveries increased 30% year over year in 2025, with Prime members receiving more than 8 billion items at that speed and same day delivery alone up 70%.
Why This Matters: Accelerating delivery benchmarks signal increased focus on regional inventory placement and infrastructure that directly ties speed to conversion, Buy Box share, and organic rank. For U.S. based operators and brands, this raises the likelihood that logistics strategy across FBA, AWD, 3PL, and inbound placement decisions becomes a primary competitive lever rather than a back end operational detail.
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