Amazon Exec on How It’s Helping Small Business Sellers During the Holiday Season and Beyond

Why it matters:

• More than 60% of sales on Amazon are made by independent, third-party sellers, most of them small and medium-sized businesses.
• U.S. independent sellers sold 4.5 billion products on Amazon in 2023 and had average annual sales of more than $250,000.
• More than 500,000 independent sellers worldwide are already using the new generative AI listing tools Amazon is offering.

E-commerce giant Amazon decided almost 25 years ago that a quick path to growth was to think small — and to invite independent, third-party sellers, most of them small and medium-sized businesses, to sell on its platform.

Those independent sellers now generate nearly two-thirds of the sales made on Amazon. And Amazon is looking to grow those sales with new tools for small business sellers.

At Amazon’s annual Accelerate conference in September, Amazon Store CEO Doug Herrington unveiled a number of tools to aid small and medium-sized sellers, including tools they can use even when selling goods on other platforms.

Natalie Angelillo, Director of External Relations at Amazon, spoke with CO— about the new ways Amazon is helping small sellers during the holiday season and why Amazon believes helping small merchants sell more on a variety of platforms is a smart strategy.

Angelillo, whose job involves meeting Amazon sellers and small business owners at events around the country, said she often meets new sellers who say they decided to sell on Amazon because they first experienced the platform as customers.

“They understand that the investments that Amazon’s made in the customer experience, in protecting the customers and the brand value, are transferable to those small businesses that want to sell on Amazon,” Angelillo said.

“The trust consumers have in Amazon — it’s more important than ever these days as more and more places proliferate to sell,” she said.

[Read more: Amazon Exec on How New Services Solve Its Small Business Sellers’ 3 Biggest Pain Points to Unleash Growth]

Amazon’s AI-powered dashboard yields ‘critical’ marketing tools and data insights

One of the new tools sellers are using this holiday season is the Next Generation Selling Experience interface, which was designed with a focus on helping new businesses get started selling.

“It’s a new modernized interface that gives them a personalized dashboard that has critical data and insights that are relevant to them and their business,” Angelillo said. “So when you’re busy and you’re about to go through your first holiday season or maybe your tenth holiday season, and there’s 8 million things to think about, having a dashboard that gives you a set of insights that are tailored specifically to what you’re worried about or you want to focus on is really beneficial as sellers [handle] the holiday rush,” she said.

At Accelerate, Amazon announced a number of AI-powered enhancements, including A+ Content tools.

The generative AI capabilities enable sellers to high-quality product images that enhance their brand storylines to draw customers.

[Read more: How Artificial Intelligence (AI) Is Changing How Marketers Sell Everything From Food to Fashion]

‘It’s going to help SMBs craft instantaneous business plans’

Amazon also unveiled a generative AI-based sales assistant codenamed Project Amelia that is available round-the-clock to answer questions and provide data that helps sellers better manage their businesses.

“It’s really your business partner in your pocket,” Angelillo said, describing Project Amelia as a tool that will give sellers “super-charged, personalized insights.”

“It’s going to help [sellers] craft instantaneous business plans to respond to different shifts they may be making in their business,” she said. “They can ask it, ‘I’m interested in going into this product line, does that make sense for me?’ or ‘Should I participate in this holiday event?’”

The new AI tools are “designed to save sellers time, and to simplify the selling process for them so they can focus on other aspects of their business,” Angelillo said.

Over 500,000 sellers have tried the new generative AI listing tools already.

Angelillo said she has seen a marked increase over the past year in the use of AI tools, and the enthusiasm for them, on the part of small business sellers.

“I would say 100% of the sellers I’m talking to now are really enthusiastic,” she said. “I think they’re actually starting to see the possibilities for it.”

“I think people are becoming more comfortable with the idea that you are not necessarily relinquishing any kind of control. It’s a partner. It’s a way to help you do the easy things or the repetitive things or the things that take a lot of time,” Angelillo said. “It’s a way to do those things quickly so that you can focus on the things you love to do as a business owner.”

Expanded supply chain and fulfillment tools for small businesses

Amazon also is expanding the ways sellers can use its supply chain and fulfillment tools when they sell on marketplaces other than Amazon, such as their own websites and social media.

Its Buy with Prime option, for one, now lets merchants add a Buy with Prime button on non-Amazon sites.

“We’ve spent a lot of effort and investment and time and focus on making sure that our sellers have the opportunity to be very successful selling in our store,” Angelillo said. Now, she said, Amazon is focusing on “helping sellers grow their business no matter where they chose to sell — whether that’s adding a Buy with Prime button to their website or helping with their logistics.”

“We understand the value of helping small businesses grow globally and we understand what that does for communities across the U.S.,” she said.

“Sellers last year — just their Amazon business alone — generated 1.8 million jobs. And if collectively we can increase that, because they’re hiring more and they’re returning more of that economic value to their local communities, I think we all win,” she said. “When other businesses in those communities see that prosperity — not just for the sellers but for their community as a whole — that’s when the light bulb goes on for them. They’re excited to build their own business, and they see that it’s possible for them too.”

CO— aims to bring you inspiration from leading respected experts. However, before making any business decision, you should consult a professional who can advise you based on your individual situation.

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