{ "site": { "name": "Amazon Brand Guide", "url": "https://amazonbrandguide.com", "tagline": "A daily brief for brands that sell on Amazon.", "description": "One useful Amazon tip every morning, plus the official updates that matter to brand owners. Listings, ads, reviews, pricing, FBA and Brand Registry, written by people who read the fine print.", "title": "Amazon Brand Guide: Daily Tips for Amazon Sellers", "language": "en-US", "publisher": { "name": "XENA Intelligence", "legalName": "XENA Intelligence Inc.", "url": "https://xenaintelligence.com/", "address": { "locality": "Louisville", "region": "KY", "country": "US" }, "credit": "Published by XENA Intelligence", "blurb": "Amazon Brand Guide is published by XENA Intelligence, the Louisville company behind SearchPanel, which checks how AI assistants from ChatGPT to Amazon Rufus describe each of your products. They track what the machines say about you; we write down what Amazon says to you." }, "author": { "type": "Organization", "name": "The Amazon Brand Guide desk", "url": "https://amazonbrandguide.com/#about" }, "about": [ "Amazon Brand Guide is a free daily brief for brand owners who sell on Amazon. Each issue picks one move worth making this week and explains it in plain English, then rounds up the official updates that change how you sell.", "We only cite Amazon itself: Seller Central News, Amazon Ads, About Amazon and Amazon's own help pages. Every figure links to where Amazon published it. If Amazon hasn't said it, we don't chart it. No affiliate links, no sponsored tips." ], "logo": "/logo.png" }, "sources": { "holiday": { "label": "Seller Central News, Holiday 2026", "url": "https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-forums/discussions/t/3e31fbb7-04e0-4ed4-873e-f74b1052e2ff" }, "accelerate": { "label": "Amazon, Accelerate 2026 recap", "url": "https://sellingpartners.aboutamazon.com/accelerate-2026-recap" }, "assistant": { "label": "About Amazon, Seller Assistant", "url": "https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/innovation-at-amazon/seller-assistant-plugin-amazon-quick-claude" }, "alexa": { "label": "About Amazon, Alexa for Shopping", "url": "https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/alexa-for-shopping-ai-assistant" }, "unboxed": { "label": "Amazon Ads, unBoxed 2026", "url": "https://advertising.amazon.com/library/news/unboxed-2026-news-announcements" }, "reviews": { "label": "Amazon Ads, Review Requests", "url": "https://advertising.amazon.com/resources/whats-new/get-product-reviews-faster-with-review-requests" }, "grading": { "label": "Seller Central News, Customized grading", "url": "https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-forums/discussions/t/731e6e69-5bfa-4a4f-9685-acb9da76153b" }, "multichannel": { "label": "Seller Central News, Multichannel tools", "url": "https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-forums/discussions/t/998f83ff-9183-4a2d-8deb-1a41a8442a03" }, "challenge": { "label": "Seller Central News, Seller Challenge", "url": "https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-forums/discussions/t/b87fd1ae-4473-4f4f-a769-c74ab375693c" } }, "keyDates": [ { "date": "2026-10-14", "label": "AWD arrival deadline for Black Friday Week", "short": "AWD cutoff", "src": "holiday" }, { "date": "2026-10-15", "label": "Holiday peak fulfillment fees begin", "short": "Peak fees on", "src": "holiday" }, { "date": "2026-10-20", "label": "Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday deal submissions close", "short": "Deals closed", "src": "holiday" }, { "date": "2026-10-21", "label": "FBA arrival deadline, minimal shipment splits", "short": "Minimal splits", "src": "holiday" }, { "date": "2026-10-28", "label": "FBA arrival deadline, Amazon-optimized splits (most sellers)", "short": "Optimized splits", "src": "holiday", "hero": true }, { "date": "2026-10-31", "label": "Last day of off-peak storage for AWD with auto-replenishment", "short": "AWD off-peak ends", "src": "holiday" }, { "date": "2026-11-27", "label": "Black Friday", "short": "Black Friday" }, { "date": "2026-11-30", "label": "Cyber Monday", "short": "Cyber Monday" }, { "date": "2026-12-31", "label": "Last day to sign up for the free 12-month Amazon Quick Plus subscription", "short": "Quick Plus offer ends", "src": "assistant" }, { "date": "2027-01-14", "label": "Holiday peak fulfillment fees end", "short": "Peak fees off", "src": "holiday" } ], "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-23", "issue": 1, "published": "2026-10-23T07:00:00-04:00", "updated": "2026-10-23T16:30:00-04:00", "seo": { "title": "Black Friday 2026 FBA Deadline: What to Ship by Oct 28", "description": "FBA inventory on Amazon-optimized splits must arrive by Oct 28 for Black Friday 2026. How to triage SKUs, plus peak fees, deal costs and new Amazon tools." }, "takeaways": [ "FBA stock on Amazon-optimized shipment splits must arrive by October 28 to count for Black Friday. Ship your top sellers first.", "Peak fulfillment fees run October 15 to January 14: $0.32 more per unit on average, plus the 3.5% surcharge. Price deals at peak rates.", "Alexa for Shopping rewards listings that clearly explain the product. Rewrite keyword-stuffed bullets as checkable claims.", "Review Requests ads open in US beta in late October for products with fewer than 1,000 ratings and reviews." ], "featured": { "kicker": "Today's tip", "category": "Inventory", "title": "Five days to the inbound cutoff. Pick favorites.", "deck": "If you chose Amazon-optimized shipment splits for Black Friday stock (most sellers do), Amazon wants it to arrive by October 28. Arrive. Not leave the factory, not sit at the port. This weekend is for triage.", "body": [ "Here is the uncomfortable part. You probably can't get everything in. So don't try. A half-stocked catalog spread evenly across forty SKUs is worse than twelve SKUs that never go out of stock in the week that matters most.", "Rank by what already sells, then by what it earns. The winners get the trucks, the cash and your attention. The rest can wait for January, when nobody is fighting you for dock space." ], "steps": [ { "t": "Rank", "d": "Sort SKUs by recent units, then margin. Circle the top fifth." }, { "t": "Reserve", "d": "Short on space? Bid in Capacity Manager instead of rationing every SKU." }, { "t": "Replenish", "d": "On AWD with auto-replenishment? You pay off-peak storage through Oct 31. Push stock forward now." }, { "t": "Reroute", "d": "Whatever misses the cutoff: fulfill it yourself, and promise delivery dates you can keep." } ], "quote": { "text": "The sooner your products are in the network, the easier it is for them to reach customers during peak demand.", "by": "Amazon, Seller Central News", "src": "holiday" }, "visual": { "type": "bars", "title": "Why AWD earns its keep in Q4", "note": "Sellers who enrolled in AWD in Q4 2025, as reported by Amazon.", "unit": "%", "items": [ { "label": "Increase in shipped units", "value": 13, "display": "13%+" }, { "label": "Reduction in out-of-stock days", "value": 30, "display": "30%+" } ], "src": "holiday" }, "sources": [ "holiday" ], "howto": { "name": "How to prioritize FBA inventory before the October 28 Black Friday cutoff", "description": "A four-step weekend plan for deciding which SKUs get into Amazon's network in time for Black Friday Week 2026." } }, "stats": [ { "value": "350M+", "label": "customers used Alexa for Shopping in the past year", "src": "accelerate" }, { "value": "40%", "label": "more spent per order by customers who shop that way", "src": "accelerate" }, { "value": "$0.32", "label": "average per-unit peak fulfillment increase, Oct 15 to Jan 14", "src": "holiday" }, { "value": "3.5%", "label": "fuel and logistics surcharge, stacked on top of peak fees", "src": "holiday" } ], "tips": [ { "category": "Listings", "layout": "feature", "title": "Your listing now has a very well-read reader. Write for it.", "body": [ "In May, Amazon folded Rufus into Alexa for Shopping, which now sits in the main search bar and answers questions like a store clerk who has read every listing. At Accelerate, Amazon put it plainly: the shift rewards sellers who clearly explain what a product does over those who game search terms.", "So stop stuffing. Open your best seller and read the first two bullets out loud. If they sound like a keyword report, rewrite them as plain claims a shopper could check: size, material, who it's for, the problem it solves." ], "action": "Rewrite two bullets on one ASIN today. Keep every claim consistent with what your reviews already say.", "visual": { "type": "diagram", "name": "listing-anatomy", "title": "Anatomy of a listing that answers questions" }, "sources": [ "alexa", "accelerate" ] }, { "category": "Advertising", "layout": "split", "title": "Let the robot prune. You set the fence.", "body": [ "Amazon's new auto-optimization adds search terms that perform, pauses the ones that don't, and keeps every bid under a maximum you set. Amazon says new campaigns using it reached a first sale 40% faster in early results." ], "action": "Turn it on for one new campaign, set a max bid you'd defend to your accountant, and check the change log on Monday.", "visual": { "type": "diagram", "name": "ppc-flow", "title": "How auto-optimization loops" }, "sources": [ "accelerate" ] }, { "category": "Reviews", "layout": "split-rev", "title": "Finally, a polite way to ask for reviews at scale", "body": [ "Review Requests, a new Amazon Ads format, opens in US beta in late October. It shows verified recent buyers a one-click rating prompt while they shop. It's only for products with fewer than 1,000 ratings and reviews, and campaigns pause on their own once you cross that line." ], "action": "Make a shortlist of newer ASINs that deserve more reviews than they have. Those go first. Never offer anything in exchange for a review; that rule hasn't moved.", "visual": { "type": "bars", "title": "Ratings and reviews per week, closed beta", "note": "Amazon internal data, US closed beta, June 3 to 21, 2026. Before the test = 1x.", "items": [ { "label": "Before the test", "value": 1, "display": "1x" }, { "label": "During the test", "value": 3, "display": "3x", "accent": true } ], "src": "reviews" }, "sources": [ "reviews" ] }, { "category": "Pricing", "layout": "wide", "title": "Know what a deal costs before you fall in love with the discount", "body": [ "Deal submissions for Black Friday Week closed on October 20. If you got in, good. Now do the math you skipped in July. Best Deals, Lightning Deals and Prime Exclusive Price Discounts carry the same fees as Prime Day, and peak fulfillment rates have been on your invoices since October 15." ], "action": "Run each hero SKU through the Revenue Calculator at peak rates. Write the lowest price you'll accept on a sticky note. Stick it to the monitor.", "visual": { "type": "fee", "title": "The deal fee, in one line", "parts": [ { "value": "$100", "label": "upfront, per promotion" }, { "op": "+" }, { "value": "1.5%", "label": "of promotional sales" }, { "op": "capped at" }, { "value": "$5,000", "label": "maximum variable fee" } ], "src": "holiday" }, "sources": [ "holiday" ] }, { "category": "Amazon Business", "layout": "split", "title": "Somebody has to buy 400 water bottles for the office party", "body": [ "Business customers are a different animal. Amazon's numbers from Accelerate: orders nearly two and a half times larger than consumers, three times the conversion rate, and returns at less than half the frequency. The new Amazon Business Deals let you set volume pricing that only business buyers see." ], "action": "If your product belongs in an office, a classroom or a clinic, set up one Business Deal on your best fit ASIN before December gifting season starts.", "visual": { "type": "bars", "title": "Business buyers vs consumers", "note": "Consumer baseline = 1x. Returns shown as 'less than half' because that's how Amazon put it.", "items": [ { "label": "Order size", "value": 2.5, "display": "~2.5x", "accent": true }, { "label": "Conversion rate", "value": 3, "display": "3x", "accent": true }, { "label": "Return frequency", "value": 0.5, "display": "< ½" } ], "src": "accelerate" }, "sources": [ "accelerate" ] }, { "category": "Account Health", "layout": "quote", "title": "The appeal process just grew a spine", "body": [ "Listing Protection reaches every Account Health Assurance seller in the US by the end of this year, worldwide in 2027. When a listing gets flagged, it usually stays live while you fix it or argue. AHA sellers also get Seller Challenge: three reviews of listing-level decisions every 180 days." ], "action": "Check the banner on your Account Health dashboard to see if you're enrolled. Save your challenges for decisions that are clearly wrong, not ones you could just fix.", "quote": { "text": "In most cases, your listing stays active until we issue a decision, and your business keeps running while we review.", "by": "Claire O'Donnell, VP, Selling Partner Trust & Store Integrity", "src": "accelerate" }, "sources": [ "accelerate", "challenge" ] }, { "category": "FBA", "layout": "note", "title": "Define \"like new\" before January defines it for you", "body": [ "You can now tell Amazon how to grade your FBA returns: packaging, accessories, authenticity markers, and the price to resell at by condition. Rules can cover one ASIN, the whole catalog, or a CSV. Write them for your most-returned products now. The post-holiday returns pile is coming whether you're ready or not." ], "sources": [ "grading" ] }, { "category": "Brand Registry", "layout": "note", "title": "Fifteen minutes of paranoia, well spent", "body": [ "Search your brand name and your top three keywords. Look for listings using your photos, sellers you don't recognize on your ASINs, and knockoffs with suspiciously familiar titles. Report what you find through Brand Registry today. Holiday traffic draws opportunists, and they don't take weekends off." ], "sources": [] }, { "category": "Operations", "layout": "note", "title": "Hire the free assistant. Give it a tiny job first.", "body": [ "Seller Assistant can now run workflows on its own, with guardrails and an audit trail, even when you're logged out. Every primary account holder can sign up for a free 12-month Amazon Quick Plus subscription through December 31, 2026, plus two coworkers. Start with an alert, something like \"tell me when a top-10 ASIN drops below four stars.\" Let it earn the keys." ], "sources": [ "assistant" ] } ], "updates": [ { "date": "2026-10", "dateLabel": "Oct 2026", "tag": "Seller Central", "title": "Run eBay, Shopify, TikTok and Walmart from Seller Central", "summary": "Connect other storefronts, edit a listing once and push it everywhere, fulfill every channel's orders from one screen. Rolling out gradually to US sellers at no extra cost.", "src": "multichannel" }, { "date": "2026-10", "dateLabel": "Oct 2026", "tag": "FBA", "title": "Set your own grading rules for FBA returns", "summary": "Tell Amazon what counts as sellable as new, by category, ASIN, catalog or CSV, including used-price percentages by condition.", "src": "grading" }, { "date": "2026-10-15", "tag": "Fees", "title": "Holiday peak fulfillment fees are live", "summary": "October 15 to January 14 for FBA, Remote Fulfillment, MCF and Buy with Prime. Same average increase as last year, $0.32 per unit, with the 3.5% surcharge on top.", "src": "holiday" }, { "date": "2026-09-30", "tag": "Ads", "title": "unBoxed 2026: one console to rule them all", "summary": "Amazon Ads Agent merges the ads console and DSP. Full-Funnel Campaigns let AI handle the channel mix; Amazon says beta testers saw 67% higher long-term ROAS. DVA+ puts display, video and audio in one campaign.", "src": "unboxed" }, { "date": "2026-09-29", "tag": "Reviews", "title": "Review Requests ads, US beta in late October", "summary": "Paid invites to verified recent buyers, for products under 1,000 ratings and reviews. Managed in Amazon Ads Agent.", "src": "reviews" }, { "date": "2026-09-29", "tag": "Account Health", "title": "Listing Protection for Account Health Assurance sellers", "summary": "Flagged listings stay live in most cases while you resolve or dispute. All US AHA sellers by year-end, worldwide in 2027.", "src": "accelerate" }, { "date": "2026-09-23", "tag": "AI tools", "title": "Seller Assistant learns to work unsupervised (with permission)", "summary": "Always-on workflows with seller-set guardrails, plus a plugin that brings Seller Central data into Amazon Quick and, in beta, Anthropic's Claude.", "src": "assistant" } ], "faq": [ { "q": "When is the FBA inventory deadline for Black Friday 2026?", "a": "Amazon asks for FBA inventory to arrive by October 28, 2026 if you use Amazon-optimized shipment splits, and by October 21 if you chose minimal shipment splits. AWD inventory for Black Friday Week had to arrive by October 14. Arrive means at Amazon, not shipped from your factory or waiting at the port.", "src": "holiday" }, { "q": "When do Amazon's 2026 holiday peak fulfillment fees apply?", "a": "From October 15, 2026 to January 14, 2027, for FBA, Remote Fulfillment, Multi-Channel Fulfillment and Buy with Prime. Amazon puts the average increase at $0.32 per unit, the same as last year, and the 3.5% fuel and logistics surcharge still applies on top.", "src": "holiday" }, { "q": "How much does a Black Friday deal cost on Amazon?", "a": "For Black Friday Week and Cyber Monday, Best Deals, Lightning Deals and Prime Exclusive Price Discounts carry the same fees as Prime Day: $100 upfront per promotion plus 1.5% of promotional sales, with the variable part capped at $5,000. Submissions for 2026 closed on October 20.", "src": "holiday" }, { "q": "Is Amazon Warehousing and Distribution (AWD) worth it for Q4?", "a": "Amazon reports that sellers who enrolled in AWD in Q4 2025 saw shipped units rise by 13% or more and out-of-stock days fall by 30% or more. If you use AWD with auto-replenishment, storage stays at off-peak rates through October 31, 2026, so moving stock forward now costs less.", "src": "holiday" }, { "q": "How should I write Amazon listings for Alexa for Shopping?", "a": "Write for a shopper asking questions, not for a keyword index. Alexa for Shopping, which absorbed Rufus, answers questions right in Amazon's search bar, and Amazon says the shift rewards sellers who clearly explain what a product does. Use plain, checkable claims: size, material, who it's for and the problem it solves.", "src": "accelerate" }, { "q": "What are Amazon Review Requests ads?", "a": "Review Requests is an Amazon Ads format that shows verified recent buyers a one-click prompt to rate a product they bought. It opens in US beta in late October 2026, only for products with fewer than 1,000 ratings and reviews, and campaigns pause automatically once a product crosses that line.", "src": "reviews" }, { "q": "Does a flagged listing stay live under Amazon's Listing Protection?", "a": "In most cases, yes. With Listing Protection, a flagged listing usually stays active while Amazon reviews it and you fix or dispute the issue. It is for Account Health Assurance sellers, reaching all of them in the US by the end of 2026 and worldwide in 2027. AHA sellers also get Seller Challenge.", "src": "accelerate" } ] } ] }