Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Selling on Giants: The eCommerce Marketplace Podcast
| Titre | Date | Durée | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Grocery Store That Beat the Soviet Union and What Amazon Sellers Can Learn From It | 27 août 2026 | 00:17:08 | |
Most sellers think competition is the problem. But what if too many options, too many SKUs, and too many competitors are actually the system working? In this episode of Selling on Giants, Mr. Will breaks down why crowded marketplaces are not always a warning sign. In many cases, competition is proof that demand already exists, and the brands that know how to read that demand can turn a noisy category into a source of intelligence. The episode starts with the famous story of Boris Yeltsin walking into a regular grocery store in Houston in 1989 and being shaken by what he saw. Fully stocked shelves. Endless product choices. Multiple brands, flavors, pack sizes, and price points. It was not luxury that made the store powerful. It was normal abundance. That grocery store represented something bigger than food. It showed the strength of a system where millions of small decisions from businesses and consumers created more variety, more feedback, and better outcomes than one central plan ever could. That same idea applies directly to Amazon, Walmart, Target, and modern marketplace strategy. Amazon is not just a marketplace. It is a real-time feedback loop. Sellers launch products, customers click or do not click, ads test demand, listings convert or fail, reviews build or stall, competitors respond, prices shift, and the algorithm reallocates visibility based on what the market is telling it. In this episode, we cover:
This episode is for Amazon sellers, ecommerce founders, brand operators, and marketplace teams that feel stuck in crowded categories and are trying to decide whether the opportunity is still worth pursuing. The answer is not always to pull back. Sometimes the better answer is to study the category more closely. Competitors show you what customers already buy. Reviews show you what customers care about. Pricing shows you what the market accepts. Creative shows you what messages are being tested. Search results show you where demand already exists. The brands that scale are not always the ones with the cleanest plan before launch. They are often the ones that create better feedback loops, test with discipline, and respond faster than everyone else. At BellaVix, we help brands turn marketplace complexity into clear operating plans. That means structured testing across listings, pricing, ads, creative, promotions, and merchandising, with real performance data guiding what gets scaled and what gets cut. BellaVix has helped brands sell over five hundred million dollars on Amazon and is a Verified Ad Partner, but the real work is helping brands stop guessing from a boardroom and start learning from the market. The key question: Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level breakdowns on Amazon, Walmart, retail media, marketplace strategy, AI commerce, eCommerce growth, and what actually changes for brands responsible for profitability. | |||
| Ozempic Comes for Halloween, Walmart Booms & AI Shoppers Spend More | 25 août 2026 | 00:14:33 | |
Ozempic is influencing the Halloween aisle while Walmart and AI reshape how consumers discover, buy, and receive products. In this August 25th episode of Selling on Giants, Mr. Will breaks down why Hershey is expanding beyond traditional candy as GLP-1 medications reshape consumer snacking, how Walmart is building a complete marketplace flywheel, and why AI-referred shoppers are becoming some of the most valuable visitors in eCommerce. Why is Hershey expanding beyond traditional Halloween candy? Hershey is adding popcorn, cheese puffs, pretzels, and other savory snacks to its Halloween assortment as consumers become more health conscious and GLP-1 medications influence appetite, portion size, and snacking behavior. Chocolate remains the preferred Halloween treat, but Hershey sees an opportunity to serve the entire occasion instead of defending a narrow definition of the candy category. The company’s zero-sugar candy, mint, and gum business grew more than 4 times between 2020 and 2025. Hershey is also using AI to shorten product development by roughly 3 months and identify changes such as the rise of trunk-or-treat events. Ozempic is shorthand for a much wider GLP-1 trend, and the immediate retail effect is not the disappearance of candy. It is a shift in portions, formats, ingredients, and occasions. Why is Walmart Marketplace growing so quickly? Walmart is connecting marketplace assortment, fulfillment, stores, shopper data, and advertising into one reinforcing system. Walmart’s global eCommerce business grew 23% in the second quarter, while Walmart eCommerce in the U.S. grew 24%. Walmart Marketplace net sales increased more than 50%, Walmart Connect grew 43%, and store-fulfilled delivery increased 40%. Nearly half of Walmart’s marketplace volume now flows through Walmart Fulfillment Services. Marketplace expands product selection, Walmart Fulfillment Services improves delivery, more transactions create better shopper data, and Walmart Connect turns that data into advertising revenue. That revenue helps Walmart continue investing in price, technology, and fulfillment. What does delayed back-to-school shopping signal for the holidays? National Retail Federation data shows that shoppers had completed only about 44% of their back-to-school lists by early August, compared with 23% in early July. Consumers are beginning their research, but many are waiting longer to finish purchases as they spread spending across paychecks, wait for promotions, or delay decisions until they know exactly what is required. Brands may see early traffic without matching conversion, assume demand is weak, and cut advertising or increase discounts too soon. If purchases arrive within a shorter window, advertising costs rise, inventory tightens, and there is little time to recover. Holiday planning needs to account for a longer research period followed by a more compressed conversion window. Why are Amazon drones and Home Depot’s 3-hour delivery important? Amazon plans to expand Prime Air drone delivery from 11 locations to nearly 500 cities and towns by the end of the year. More than 60% of the products customers frequently purchase from Amazon meet the basic size and weight requirements, with delivery available in as little as 30 minutes. Home Depot is also rolling out 3-hour delivery nationwide by using more more than 2,000 stores as local fulfillment hubs. The larger trend is the move from planned convenience to immediate problem solving. A product is now competing against the fastest way the customer can solve the problem. Two-day delivery once felt remarkable. In more categories, it is beginning to feel slow. Are shoppers coming from AI tools actually buying? Yes. Adobe Analytics found that traffic arriving at U.S. retail websites from AI tools increased 62% year over year in July. Compared with October 2024, AI referral traffic increased more than 1,200%. The quality of that traffic is the bigger story. AI-referred shoppers generated 53% more revenue per visit and converted at a rate 60% higher than other website traffic. This was the 11th consecutive month that AI traffic outperformed other traffic on conversion. These shoppers also stayed longer, bounced less often, and added products to their carts more frequently. AI tools are completing part of the research before the shopper reaches the retailer. A customer can describe a need, compare options, narrow the decision, and then click through with stronger purchase intent. Traditional search often provides a list of possible answers. AI increasingly attempts to recommend one answer, which makes the selected position more valuable and may make second place less visible. How can brands prepare for AI-driven product discovery? The first step is not publishing hundreds of generic articles written by AI. It is making product information easy for people and machines to understand. Specifications, ingredients, compatibility, sizing, pricing, availability, use cases, customer questions, and policies need to be accurate and consistent across the brand’s website and marketplace content. Adobe found that 39% of the retail homepages in its broader sample were not fully machine readable. Brands can begin testing by asking several AI assistants to recommend products in their category. They should document whether the brand appears, whether the information is accurate, which competitors receive the recommendation, and which sources the AI appears to trust. AI discovery is not replacing Amazon, Google, or retail media overnight, but waiting for perfect attribution gives competitors time to establish authority first. How are tariffs changing eCommerce pricing decisions? New U.S. tariffs of 50% took effect on roughly $20 billion in Canadian exports, and Canada announced dollar-for-dollar retaliation beginning September 8th. Brands importing Canadian products or components may face higher landed costs, while brands selling into Canada may need another pricing adjustment. Exposure depends on product classification and current treatment. Major retailers may also be operating with different economics. Walmart recognized nearly $2.9 billion in tariff refunds during the quarter. Target recognized almost $1 billion, and Ross received roughly $250 million. These one-time benefits can give a retailer room to promote inventory while a brand’s next replacement order still arrives at a higher cost. Matching a competitor’s price without understanding why it can afford the promotion is how brands win the sale and lose the business. Price the next unit, not the last unit. What do K Pop Demon Hunters and Labubu teach eCommerce brands? The Christian metal band Demon Hunter sued Netflix and a concert promoter over the name as the K Pop Demon Hunters franchise expands into live events and merchandise. Netflix disputes the allegations, and no court has ruled that infringement occurred. For operators, the lesson is that Amazon Brand Registry protects rights a brand already owns. It does not provide trademark clearance or determine whether a name is safe as the brand expands into new products, categories, events, or merchandise. Success makes intellectual property conflicts more expensive, so brands need to understand their rights before the viral moment. Pop Mart offers the other side of viral growth. The Monsters family, which includes Labubu, generated more than 4 billion yuan during the first half of the year, but its share of company revenue declined from nearly 35% to 26%. Twinkle Twinkle revenue increased more than 580%, and 6 Pop Mart franchises each generated more than 1 billion yuan. The strategic win is not simply creating one viral character. Pop Mart is using the attention, cash flow, and customer acquisition from Labubu to build a portfolio that does not depend entirely on Labubu. Durable companies turn a cultural moment into distribution, customer relationships, new products, and repeatable growth. Virality is rented. A portfolio is owned. What is the common thread across this week’s retail news? Commerce is becoming more compressed. Consumers research earlier and buy later, retailers deliver faster, and AI shortens product discovery. Tariffs, health trends, and pop culture are also forcing faster decisions. The answer is not simply to move faster. Brands need an operation that moves quickly without losing control of inventory, margin, compliance, or advertising. Follow Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level coverage of Amazon, Walmart, TikTok Shop, AI commerce, retail media, tariffs, marketplace strategy, and the changes actually affecting eCommerce operators. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| Marketing vs. Finance: The eCommerce Growth Problem | 20 août 2026 | 00:49:14 | |
In this episode of Selling on Giants, Will Haire sits down with Gavin Trippe of P1 Commerce to reveal one of the biggest problems facing growing eCommerce brands: the disconnect between marketing and finance. | |||
| TikTok Shop Passes Target Online & Taylor Swift Shows How Fast Culture Becomes Commerce | 18 août 2026 | 00:11:11 | |
This week on Selling on Giants, the biggest eCommerce story starts somewhere unexpected: Taylor Swift. Bridal brands are already preparing products around the expected look of Swift’s wedding dress before most consumers have even seen it. That is a perfect example of how modern demand gets created. Culture creates attention, social media amplifies it, AI helps shoppers narrow their choices, and marketplaces compete to capture the transaction. At the same time, TikTok Shop is proving that social commerce is becoming much more than impulse buying. In this episode, Mr. Will covers: The Taylor Swift effect on eCommerce demand
TikTok Shop passes major retailers in online spending
Europe’s new packaging compliance rules
New Canadian tariffs take effect
The de minimis door stays closed
Country-of-origin enforcement gets tougher
Walmart keeps building its fulfillment network
Consumers are warming up to AI purchasing
The bigger takeaway: eCommerce is becoming more cultural at the top of the funnel and more operational underneath it. Attention can create demand overnight, but brands still need clean product data, compliant packaging, accurate landed costs, strong inventory placement, and reliable fulfillment to turn that attention into profitable growth. Follow Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level coverage of Amazon, Walmart, TikTok Shop, AI commerce, retail media, tariffs, marketplace strategy, and the changes actually affecting eCommerce operators. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| Amazon Ads Move Into Creator Content & TikTok Shop Is Becoming a $50B Marketplace | 11 août 2026 | 00:20:09 | |
This week’s Selling on Giants News and Updates focuses on the systems underneath eCommerce growth as brands move deeper into Q4 planning. Amazon is changing how seller financing interacts with marketplace rights, Sponsored Products are expanding into creator content, Item Highlights are officially live, and AI-generated people now carry new disclosure requirements. Walmart is pushing further into connected TV and seller search intelligence, while TikTok Shop continues evolving from a social-commerce experiment into a real marketplace. At the same time, tariff changes and refund uncertainty are making Q4 profitability harder to forecast even when inventory is already in place. In this episode, Mr. Will covers:
The bigger takeaway: The second half of twenty twenty six is becoming less about chasing more traffic and more about strengthening the systems underneath growth. Review financing agreements. Watch where Amazon ads are spending. Clean up Item Highlights. Add AI creative compliance to the workflow. Confirm Walmart integrations. Treat TikTok like a marketplace if shoppers are using it like one. And rebuild Q4 margin models using current landed costs, not assumptions from three months ago. Follow Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level breakdowns on Amazon, Walmart, retail media, AI commerce, marketplace strategy, and what platform updates actually mean for sellers. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| Amazon 3D Models Explained: Will They Become a Requirement for Sellers? | Ganesh Singh | 06 août 2026 | 00:31:58 | |
Amazon is investing heavily in interactive 3D product models, and this shift could change how brands compete on the marketplace. | |||
| The Founder Bottleneck: Why Scaling Starts With Discipline | 06 août 2026 | 00:14:42 | |
Most ecommerce brands do not lose because Amazon gets harder. They lose because the operator behind the business becomes the bottleneck. In this episode of Selling on Giants, Mr. Will breaks down the founder discipline required to scale on Amazon, Walmart, Target, and other marketplaces without letting ego, overcommitment, or emotional decision-making take over the business. Using Napoleon’s idea that the most permanent victories are the ones we win over ourselves, this episode looks at what really holds marketplace brands back. It is not always competition. It is not always ad costs. It is not always the algorithm. Many times, the issue is the founder’s inability to say no, delegate, protect the team, and build systems that can operate without them being involved in every decision. Mr. Will shares a personal story from the early days of BellaVix, including what happened when saying yes to the wrong scope caused a client relationship to break down. A beauty brand was performing well on Amazon, but when the client asked BellaVix to take over social media, the decision to say yes created execution issues, weakened confidence, and eventually cost the relationship. That lesson became part of a bigger leadership shift: the goal is not to be the hero in every part of the business. The goal is to build a team, create systems, and lead with enough discipline that the company can scale beyond the founder’s personal capacity. In this episode, we cover:
This episode is for ecommerce founders, Amazon sellers, brand operators, and marketplace teams that want to grow but feel stuck in the same cycle: reacting to every performance dip, chasing every new tactic, saying yes too often, and carrying too much of the business personally. The market is harder today. Fees are higher. Ads are more expensive. Competition is real. Platform rules keep changing. But some brands are still growing because they operate with discipline. They know what matters. They review the data. They improve listings. They test creative. They allocate budget with purpose. They do not panic every time the numbers move. The brands that scale are not always the flashiest. They are usually the most consistent. At BellaVix, we do not chase hacks. We build systems. We help brands create clear KPIs, structured weekly reviews, stronger conversion strategies, better budget allocation, and team ownership across Amazon and Walmart marketplace operations. BellaVix has helped brands sell over five hundred million dollars on Amazon and is a Verified Ad Partner, but the real value is helping teams turn complexity into execution. If your brand is growing but feels heavy, this episode is a reminder that the next stage of scale may not require another tactic. It may require a better operating rhythm, stronger boundaries, and a founder willing to stop being the bottleneck. The question is simple: Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level breakdowns on Amazon, Walmart, retail media, marketplace strategy, AI commerce, eCommerce growth, and what actually changes for brands responsible for profitability. | |||
| Amazon’s Ad Tax, Seller Financing & Walmart Ad Controls | 04 août 2026 | 00:12:44 | |
Amazon’s marketplace keeps growing, but advertising is growing even faster. This week on Selling on Giants, Will Haire breaks down what Amazon’s latest earnings reveal about the rising cost of visibility and how agentic shopping is changing product discovery. You’ll also learn:
The common thread is simple: marketplace growth now depends on connecting advertising, pricing, inventory, financing, and compliance before peak season exposes the gaps. Follow Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level breakdowns on Amazon, Walmart, retail media, AI commerce, marketplace strategy, and what platform updates actually mean for sellers. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| The Jevons Paradox: Why Amazon Keeps Getting Harder Even When the Tools Get Better | 30 juil. 2026 | 00:16:01 | |
Why better tools do not make Amazon easier Amazon has become more efficient for sellers. Products can launch faster, listings can be optimized faster, ads can be automated, and content can be generated almost instantly. But when everyone gets access to those same efficiencies, the baseline moves. How Jevons Paradox applies to eCommerce Jevons Paradox originally explained why more efficient coal usage led to more coal consumption, not less. The same principle applies to Amazon. Better tools bring in more sellers, more listings, more ads, more capital, and more competition. Why progress does not always feel like progress Your conversion rate may improve. Your listings may get cleaner. Your creative may perform better. Your campaigns may become more efficient. But if the entire category is improving around you, those gains get absorbed into the new competitive baseline. Why Amazon can feel like Sisyphus pushing the rock uphill You optimize, improve performance, lower A-Costs, clean up your catalog, and gain ground. Then the market adjusts. Competitors enter, costs rise, Amazon changes rules, reviews shift, and you have to start pushing again. That does not mean something is broken. That is the game. Why efficiency alone is not an advantage anymore When everyone has better data, automation, AI tools, and reporting, optimization becomes table stakes. The advantage moves higher into strategy, positioning, creative, offer clarity, margin discipline, audience building, and brand durability. What Amazon ads reveal about the broader marketplace Advertising is the clearest example because CPCs, ROAS, DSP, T A-Costs, and lower funnel efficiency show the pressure quickly. But the lesson is bigger than ads. This is about how Amazon, marketplaces, and eCommerce systems mature over time. Why brands need to build for durability The question is not how to make Amazon easier. The better question is how to keep winning as Amazon gets more competitive. That requires stronger systems, better margins, clearer positioning, stronger creative, and the discipline to think beyond short-term efficiency. The bigger takeaway: Amazon did not get harder because the tools got worse. Amazon got more efficient, and more people showed up. That means the next advantage does not come from using the same tools as everyone else. It comes from building a brand that can survive when everyone else becomes more efficient too. The edge is not in surface-level optimization. It is in durability. Follow Selling on Giants for operator-level breakdowns on Amazon strategy, marketplace growth, retail media, eCommerce leadership, advertising, AI commerce, and what it really takes to build a brand that holds up as the market gets more competitive. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| eCommerce News Update: New Tariffs, Amazon Seller Rights, TikTok Shop Plus, and AI Shopping | 28 juil. 2026 | 00:20:30 | |
This week’s Selling on Giants News and Updates examines how new tariffs, marketplace regulation, artificial intelligence, fulfillment costs, and platform loyalty programs are reshaping eCommerce heading into Q4. The expected tariff relief did not arrive. Amazon and Walmart sellers are facing new landed-cost calculations, Congress is proposing stronger protections for suspended marketplace sellers, TikTok is testing its own Prime-style membership, and AI assistants are moving closer to selecting products and completing transactions. For marketplace operators, the platforms are becoming more powerful, but they are also facing greater scrutiny over pricing, seller enforcement, advertising automation, and control of the customer relationship. In this episode, Mr. Will covers: New tariffs and Q4 landed costs The temporary ten percent import surcharge expired, but new Section 301 tariffs of ten percent or twelve and a half percent took effect across imports from sixty trading partners. Brands need to review country of origin, HTS classifications, product exemptions, customs entry dates, and the effect of higher duties on contribution margin before approving Q4 purchase orders, pricing, or promotions. New tariffs on certain Canadian imports Covered Canadian products are scheduled to face an additional fifty percent duty beginning August nineteenth. This does not apply to every Canadian product, but it reinforces that North American sourcing is not automatically protected from trade disruption. The Online Sellers Bill of Rights Proposed federal legislation would establish new standards for how dominant marketplaces notify, investigate, suspend, and withhold funds or inventory from third-party sellers. The bill is not yet law, but it signals that seller suspensions, frozen funds, automated appeals, and marketplace due process are becoming national policy issues. Amazon marketplace enforcement scrutiny A Senate inquiry is reportedly examining allegations that intermediaries offered to bribe Amazon employees to reverse suspensions or provide marketplace advantages. The allegations remain under investigation, but sellers should avoid anyone promising guaranteed reinstatement through internal Amazon contacts. Amazon pricing and channel conflict California’s ongoing case against Amazon raises questions about how Amazon’s pricing policies may influence prices across Walmart, Target, direct-to-consumer websites, and other retail channels. Brands need centralized pricing governance because one discount can affect Featured Offer visibility, Vendor Central negotiations, wholesale relationships, and margin across every channel. Amazon Business reaches sixty billion dollars Amazon Business now generates sixty billion dollars in annualized gross sales and serves more than eleven million organizations. Sellers should review business-only pricing, quantity discounts, recurring orders, bulk fulfillment, pallet delivery, and product content designed specifically for commercial buyers. Amazon Ads expands automation Amazon introduced new Brand Plus and Performance Plus features involving first-party audiences, AMC data, audio inventory, Prime Video signals, and automated Streaming TV buying. The opportunity is stronger campaign optimization. The risk is allowing Amazon’s systems to make more decisions without understanding where budgets are being spent. TikTok Shop Plus tests a Prime-style membership TikTok is testing a paid U.S. membership that may include free shipping, coupons, and product discounts. The unresolved seller question is who funds those benefits. Brands need to understand the effect on shipping costs, commissions, discounts, returns, and contribution margin before participating. Facebook Marketplace launches a seller app Meta introduced Seller, a dedicated application for frequent Facebook Marketplace sellers. The app includes bulk listings, inventory management, buyer messages, performance reporting, relisting, and AI-assisted listing creation. FedEx announces holiday demand surcharges FedEx released its 2026 peak-season fees, including increased charges for residential deliveries, expedited services, additional handling, oversized packages, and Ground Economy shipments. DTC and merchant-fulfilled sellers should model Q4 shipping costs now rather than discovering in November that holiday orders are no longer profitable. Shein feels the impact of tariff changes Shein reported declining U.S. revenue and a quarterly loss as the end of duty-free de minimis treatment increased costs. The company remains a major global competitor, but its results show that ultra-low-cost cross-border retail is losing part of its structural advantage. Microsoft Copilot moves toward eCommerce checkout A new agentic-commerce integration from ESW is designed to support product discovery, checkout, and payment through Microsoft Copilot. AI shopping is moving from answering product questions toward becoming a transaction channel. Product titles, specifications, compatibility, availability, pricing, and structured catalog data will increasingly determine which products AI systems recommend. The bigger takeaway: Profitable growth is becoming more operationally demanding. Brands need to understand landed cost, protect seller accounts, centralize pricing, monitor advertising automation, model holiday fulfillment expenses, and improve product data for both traditional search and AI-assisted shopping. Follow Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level breakdowns on Amazon, Walmart, retail media, AI commerce, marketplace strategy, and what platform updates actually mean for sellers. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| Drone Delivery Is Here: How Drones Will Transform Last-Mile E-Commerce | Beth Flippo, CEO of DEXA | 23 juil. 2026 | 00:39:52 | |
Drone delivery isn't science fiction anymore—it's already changing the way products move from businesses to customers. | |||
| eCommerce News Update: Amazon AI Shopping, TikTok Shop, Tariffs, and Stripe’s $53B PayPal Bid | 21 juil. 2026 | 00:14:44 | |
This week’s Selling on Giants News and Updates examines how Amazon, TikTok, Google, DoorDash, Instacart, and the payment industry are competing to control more of the customer journey. The biggest shift in eCommerce is no longer happening only on the traditional search results page. Product discovery is moving into AI conversations, social content, delivery apps, retail media networks, and connected checkout experiences. At the same time, tariffs, marketplace compliance, global logistics, and payment consolidation are changing the economics behind every transaction. In this episode, Mr. Will covers: Tariff uncertainty and Q4 landed costs The temporary ten percent United States import surcharge is approaching its current expiration date, while new tariffs on certain Brazilian goods and additional forced-labor-related trade actions remain in development. Brands preparing Q4 purchase orders need to review country of origin, HTS classifications, customs entry dates, exclusions, and multiple landed-cost scenarios before finalizing pricing or promotional plans. Amazon account deactivation and Account Health Amazon published a new prevention and reinstatement guide covering performance metrics, intellectual property complaints, authenticity concerns, restricted products, identity verification, tax records, and INFORM Act requirements. The real operator lesson is that Account Health needs a daily owner. Sellers should organize invoices, authorization letters, compliance documents, and supplier records before Amazon requests them. Amazon expands Global Warehousing and Distribution Amazon expanded GWD into Shanghai and added support for Free on Board shipping terms. China-sourced sellers can now compare Amazon’s upstream warehousing and replenishment model against freight forwarders, overseas warehouses, third-party logistics providers, AWD, and direct-to-FBA shipping. The potential benefit is lower storage and more automated replenishment. The tradeoff is greater dependence on Amazon throughout the supply chain. Amazon Alexa creates a second product-discovery shelf New research found that many Alexa for Shopping recommendations did not appear among the corresponding top organic Amazon search results. That means sellers may soon be optimizing for two different discovery systems: traditional keyword-based search and AI-generated recommendations based on shopper intent, attributes, specifications, compatibility, and use cases. TikTok Shop tests platform-managed growth TikTok is reportedly recruiting sellers for a managed-services pilot in which the platform would oversee advertising, creator recruitment, content production, listing optimization, and creative testing. Brands approached for the program need to model the full cost, including service fees, commissions, advertising, samples, fulfillment, returns, and product margin. They should also clarify creative ownership, reporting transparency, pricing control, and creator relationships. AI-generated videos flood TikTok Shop Synthetic product demonstrations and AI avatars are creating faster content production, but also introducing new risks around inaccurate claims, weak disclosure, and loss of brand control. TikTok Shop sellers should create a formal AI affiliate-content policy and regularly review the videos generating the most traffic and sales. DoorDash becomes a Shopify sales channel Eligible Shopify merchants with physical stores can now publish products directly to DoorDash while keeping product, inventory, and order management inside Shopify. This gives local retailers another way to reach nearby customers seeking same-day or one-hour delivery, but merchants still need to account for commissions, store labor, packaging, refunds, and channel-specific pricing. Google AI Mode connects with Instacart Google AI Mode can now help shoppers build a grocery list and move selected products into an Instacart cart. Search is beginning to move from answering questions to executing shopping tasks. Product availability, attributes, imagery, retailer content, category placement, and structured data increasingly influence which products AI places into the basket. Instacart expands beyond grocery Instacart partnered with Tractor Supply to offer same-day delivery from more than twenty-four hundred locations, including pet products, livestock supplies, tools, hardware, lawn products, and outdoor merchandise. Delivery platforms are becoming broader marketplaces built around local inventory and immediate fulfillment. Stripe and Advent make a bid for PayPal Stripe and Advent International reportedly offered more than fifty-three billion dollars to acquire PayPal. The offer has not been accepted, but the potential combination highlights the growing value of merchant infrastructure, wallets, Venmo, buy now pay later, fraud prevention, checkout data, and AI-enabled payments. The bigger takeaway: Platforms increasingly want to control discovery, advertising, content, inventory, fulfillment, payments, and the customer relationship. The answer is not to chase every new channel. Serious operators need to understand who controls the customer data, who owns the creative, where the inventory sits, how the platform makes money, and whether the brand still controls its economics. Follow Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level breakdowns on Amazon, Walmart, retail media, AI commerce, marketplace strategy, and what platform updates actually mean for sellers. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| Founder Burnout Isn’t a Workload Problem. It’s a Leisure Deficit. | 16 juil. 2026 | 00:13:58 | |
This episode of Selling on Giants takes on founder burnout from a different angle. Most people treat burnout like a workload problem. Too many meetings, too many emails, too many fires, and too many people needing something at the exact same time. The usual advice is to hire more people, delegate better, take a vacation, or finally get a hobby that does not involve checking Slack between sets at the gym. But that diagnosis misses the deeper issue. Founder burnout is not always caused by working too much. Sometimes it comes from building a life where nothing exists outside of work anymore. In this solo episode, Mr. Will breaks down the idea of a leisure deficit, inspired by philosopher Joseph Pieper’s view that leisure is not laziness or idleness. Leisure is the space where meaning, perspective, creativity, and connection are rebuilt. And for founders, that space often disappears first. In this episode, we cover: Why burnout is often misdiagnosed Burnout is usually framed as exhaustion from workload, but for many entrepreneurs, the real issue is that every part of life has become useful, optimized, monetized, or tied back to the business. How entrepreneurship turns everything into output Time becomes a resource. Conversations become transactions. Rest becomes recovery for more work. Even family time can become something you are physically present for while mentally still working. Why productivity can become dangerous Productivity looks responsible, but when it becomes the only scoreboard, people become outputs, time becomes units, and leadership becomes transactional. The business may still hit numbers, but the culture starts to thin out. Why fulfillment is social Your best memories are probably not dashboards, revenue milestones, or optimized workflows. They are shared experiences with people. A real conversation. A dinner where nobody is rushing. A win celebrated together. Success can scale alone, but fulfillment usually does not. What leisure actually means Leisure is not scrolling, zoning out, or doing nothing while your brain keeps running. Real leisure is presence. It is being engaged in something that has no immediate business purpose. Why founders lose creativity inside the grind The best ideas usually do not arrive while staring at a screen. They come when your brain finally has space. On a walk, in the shower, mid-conversation, or during a moment that does not look productive on a calendar. The hidden business cost of burnout A leisure deficit does not only hurt the founder. It hurts the company. When leaders are constantly in the weeds, they stop coaching, stop developing people, stop thinking long term, and eventually stop creating leverage. Mr. Will’s personal story This episode ends with a personal story about taking on a major enterprise client, saying yes to too much, burning out team members, losing weight, missing family time, and realizing that growing one client came at the expense of BellaVix, his team, and his health. The bigger takeaway: You do not fix burnout by working less. You fix it by living more. By creating space that is not tied to output. By being present in moments that do not serve the business. By reconnecting with people as people, not as functions inside a schedule. Because fulfillment is not built in the work. It is built around it. Follow Selling on Giants for operator-level conversations on entrepreneurship, leadership, marketplace growth, Amazon strategy, eCommerce operations, and what it really takes to build a business without losing yourself in the process. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| eCommerce News Update: Amazon Buy Box Changes, Walmart AI Shopping, and Q4 Prep | 14 juil. 2026 | 00:19:27 | |
This week’s Selling on Giants News and Updates focuses on what marketplace operators should do now that Prime Day is behind us and Q4 planning is already underway. Amazon is opening holiday deal submissions, changing how sellers compete for the Featured Offer, expanding Seller Central passkeys, adding B2B pallet delivery, and pushing Amazon DSP deeper into full-funnel media. Walmart is doubling down on value, AI shopping, and marketplace maturity, while broader retail updates continue pointing toward one theme: The second half of the year will reward operators with cleaner systems, better data, stronger inventory planning, and sharper execution. In this episode, Mr. Will covers: Amazon Featured Offer changes Amazon is removing the separate Featured Offer eligibility requirement for more sellers. That does not mean every seller can win the Buy Box. It means more offers can compete, while price, delivery speed, account health, inventory, and customer experience remain the deciding factors. Holiday deal submissions are already open Amazon opened holiday deal submissions on July eighth, including Best Deals, Lightning Deals, and Prime Exclusive Discounts. Q4 planning is not a future project anymore. Brands need to identify hero ASINs, confirm inventory, model margins, and submit eligible deals early. Amazon holiday fulfillment guidance Amazon’s holiday fulfillment timelines and peak season fee guidance reinforce that Q4 is usually won before October. Sellers should work backward from inbound deadlines, manufacturing schedules, freight timelines, AWD utilization, and FBA replenishment plans. Seller Central passkeys for secondary users Amazon is expanding passkeys for secondary users, making account access more secure for employees, agencies, contractors, and partners. Sellers should audit user permissions, remove outdated access, and eliminate shared logins. Amazon Business pallet delivery Amazon Business introduced pallet delivery for eligible FBM orders, giving commercial buyers a better option for larger shipments. This matters for brands selling industrial, healthcare, foodservice, janitorial, office, or bulk products. Amazon DSP expands into Spotify podcast ads Amazon DSP now supports buying Spotify podcast inventory, showing that Amazon Advertising continues moving beyond marketplace search into a broader full-funnel media ecosystem. Prime Day advertising lessons Post-event analysis shows the best advertisers were not simply the biggest spenders. They adjusted budgets, watched pacing, protected inventory, and optimized during the event instead of waiting for next-day reports. AI across eCommerce software AI is becoming embedded into product content, merchandising, customer engagement, marketing automation, and workflow tools. The opportunity is not using AI for the sake of it. The opportunity is using AI to reduce repetitive work while protecting quality and operator judgment. Walmart price cuts and consumer value pressure Walmart and Sam’s Club are lowering prices across seasonal grocery and household staples, reinforcing that shoppers are still spending but remain highly value-conscious. Walmart Sparky and AI shopping Walmart’s Sparky AI assistant continues showing how AI shopping tools may influence discovery, comparison, and conversion. Sellers need complete product data, strong images, accurate attributes, reviews, and clear positioning so AI systems can understand and recommend their products. USPS, trade policy, Google Merchant Center, and Costco Shipping changes, trade policy hearings, Google product feed updates, and Costco’s June sales results all point to the same operating reality: costs, data quality, sourcing, and value communication matter more heading into the second half of the year. The bigger takeaway: The second half of 2026 is not about chasing every platform update. It is about building a cleaner operating system. Better inventory planning. Cleaner product data. Stronger access controls. Sharper promotional strategy. Smarter ad pacing. Better shipping math. More disciplined pricing. And a clear answer to the question every shopper is asking: Why should I buy this product now, from this brand, instead of the alternative? Follow Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level breakdowns on Amazon, Walmart, retail media, AI commerce, marketplace strategy, and what platform updates actually mean for sellers. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| Amazon Listing Optimization in the AI Era | Working Session with Jon Tilley of ZonGuru | 09 juil. 2026 | 00:53:27 | |
For years, brands focused on keyword density, search volume, and traditional SEO tactics. But Amazon's product discovery engine is evolving, and AI is changing how listings are understood, ranked, and recommended. In this episode of Selling on Giants, Will Haire sits down with Jon Tilley of ZonGuru for a live working session exploring the future of Amazon listing optimization. Instead of another theory-heavy discussion, they demonstrate how AI is reshaping product listings and why many brands are still optimizing for an Amazon algorithm that no longer exists. Using a real client example, they walk through how AI analyzes brand positioning, customer reviews, competitors, and product attributes to build listings that are designed for both human conversion and machine understanding. What You'll Learn:
Whether you're an Amazon seller, brand owner, agency, or eCommerce marketer, this episode will help you prepare for the next evolution of Amazon search and product discovery. https://www.zonguru.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/zonguru/ Subscribe for weekly conversations with industry leaders covering Amazon strategy, retail media, AI, eCommerce growth, and marketplace innovation. | |||
| Post-Prime Day News: Amazon Security, AI Shopping, Walmart Updates, and the Profitability Test | 07 juil. 2026 | 00:16:20 | |
This week’s Selling on Giants News and Updates moves beyond the Prime Day revenue headlines and focuses on what marketplace operators should do next. Prime Day generated record online spending, but smaller baskets and value-focused purchasing made profitability more important than top-line growth. Consumers continued spending, but they concentrated more heavily on lower-priced essentials, beauty, supplements, grocery, and products they could easily justify buying. For Amazon and Walmart sellers, the real question is not whether sales increased. It is whether the event left the business stronger. In this episode, Mr. Will covers:
The bigger takeaway: The market is not getting easier. It is getting more operational. The brands best positioned for the second half of the year will have cleaner account access, stronger profitability reporting, structured product data, reliable fulfillment, better inventory placement, and enough discipline to separate promotional revenue from durable growth. Follow Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level breakdowns covering Amazon, Walmart, retail media, marketplace operations, AI commerce, supply chain strategy, and what platform updates actually mean for sellers. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| Bruce Lee’s Amazon PPC Lesson: Stop Swinging at Keywords That Don’t Land | 02 juil. 2026 | 00:15:17 | |
This episode of Selling on Giants takes a different look at Amazon PPC, keyword stuffing, and why most ad accounts do not need more campaigns, more keywords, or more daily adjustments. They need subtraction. Using Bruce Lee’s philosophy from Tao of Jeet Kune Do, Mr. Will breaks down why high-performing Amazon ad accounts are not built by adding endless layers. They are built by removing what does not work, focusing on what actually lands, and simplifying the system so the signal becomes clear. Bruce Lee’s idea was simple: do not add moves for the sake of adding moves. Strip away what is unessential. Keep what works under pressure. Amazon advertising works the same way. In this episode, we cover: Why most Amazon PPC accounts are overbuilt Many accounts look sophisticated from the outside, with hundreds or thousands of keywords, dozens of campaigns, overlapping match types, competitor campaigns, defensive campaigns, and constant bid changes. Under the hood, much of that structure creates noise instead of performance. Why every keyword is a punch Every keyword is an attempt to land with the right shopper at the right moment. The question is whether those punches are actually landing, or whether the account is spending money swinging at traffic that never converts. Why adding feels like control When performance drops, sellers usually add more campaigns. When A-Costs rises, they add more keywords. When sales slow, they test another tactic. It feels productive, but Amazon does not reward activity. It rewards outcomes. Why context beats rigid PPC rules Rules like “always negate after X clicks” or “always scale low A-Costs” can be useful, but only when the operator understands the situation behind the metric. A keyword with no sales might need to be cut, lowered, isolated, or given more time depending on context. What BellaVix removes first The episode breaks down the practical subtraction process, including irrelevant traffic, non-converting spend, overlapping campaign structure, low-value tactics, and over-optimization caused by reacting to unstable data. What high-performing accounts keep Once the noise is removed, the account should be built around high-intent keywords, clear campaign roles, bidding tied to real math, non-brand growth, and decisions grounded in context instead of guesswork. Why simple does not mean easy Simple accounts are easier to understand, faster to manage, and better at revealing what is actually working. But simple still requires judgment, discipline, and knowing when to push, pull back, cut, or leave the account alone. The bigger takeaway: You do not need more keywords. You need better ones. You do not need more campaigns. You need clearer ones. You do not need another strategy stacked on top of a cluttered account. You need less of what is not working. This episode is for Amazon sellers, brand owners, marketplace operators, and ad managers who are tired of confusing activity with progress and want a cleaner way to think about profitable growth. The question is simple: are your keywords landing, or are you hoping one eventually does? Follow Selling on Giants for operator-level breakdowns on Amazon PPC, marketplace strategy, Walmart growth, retail media, and the systems that help brands scale profitably. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| Post-Prime Day News Update: Smaller Baskets, AI Shopping Traffic, and Walmart’s Retail Media Push | 30 juin 2026 | 00:23:08 | |
This week’s Selling on Giants News and Updates breaks down what happened after Prime Day and what it tells us about the second half of eCommerce in 2026. Prime Day beat expectations, but the headline sales number does not tell the whole story. U.S. online spending grew strongly, but average order value declined, household spend softened, and shoppers leaned heavily into lower-ticket products, essentials, grocery, household items, supplements, and consumables. The consumer is still spending. They are just spending more intentionally. In this episode, Mr. Will covers: Prime Day beat expectations, but baskets got smaller Prime Day delivered strong top-line growth, but smaller average orders show that shoppers were more value-conscious. For sellers, the post-event review cannot stop at revenue. Brands need to look at contribution margin, inventory depletion, new-to-brand customers, Subscribe and Save enrollment, organic rank movement, ACoS, TACoS, and ROAS. AI shopping traffic is no longer experimental AI-referred shopping traffic surged during Prime Day and converted better than many traditional sources. That is a major signal for Amazon sellers, DTC brands, and marketplace operators. AI discovery is becoming measurable, which means product data, structured attributes, clear bullets, reviews, images, and product feeds matter more than ever. Amazon’s Item Highlights and title changes Amazon’s new Item Highlights field, combined with the upcoming 75-character title limit, shows that listing optimization is entering a new phase. Sellers can no longer rely on keyword-stuffed titles. Titles, highlights, bullets, images, attributes, and A+ Content need to work together as one structured listing system. FBM handling times and operational discipline Amazon’s new seller-fulfilled handling time requirements are now live. Sellers need accurate SKU-level handling times or Amazon may adjust them based on historical performance. This impacts delivery promises, conversion, Buy Box eligibility, and Seller Fulfilled Prime performance. The INFORM Act as an account health issue Amazon is reminding high-volume sellers to keep business information, identification, bank details, tax information, and annual certifications current. Compliance is no longer background paperwork. It is part of account health and long-term marketplace stability. Walmart acquires Vibe.co and moves deeper into connected TV Walmart’s planned acquisition of Vibe.co shows that Walmart is building a full-funnel advertising platform, not just a marketplace. Walmart Connect, VIZIO, first-party shopper data, closed-loop measurement, and self-service connected TV could make streaming advertising more accessible to marketplace brands. Walmart Sparky and AI-powered shopping Walmart’s Sparky AI assistant is becoming part of the shopping experience, including live commerce. Alongside Amazon, Google, OpenAI, and Shopify, Walmart is rebuilding product discovery around conversational AI and machine-readable product data. WFS long-term storage fees and Walmart Marketplace maturity Walmart Fulfillment Services is introducing long-term storage fees for aging inventory. This brings Walmart closer to the FBA model and reinforces that inventory planning, sell-through, bundling, liquidation, and SKU discipline matter more as Walmart Marketplace matures. Walmart product claims enforcement Walmart is tightening policy around Made in USA, biodegradable, compostable, PFAS, and other product claims. Sellers need to make sure packaging, images, descriptions, attributes, and marketing claims are accurate and supported. FedEx, tariffs, and supply chain pressure FedEx results suggest parcel demand remains healthy, but shipping costs and carrier margins are still under pressure. At the same time, new tariff proposals tied to forced labor enforcement could expand sourcing complexity beyond China. Sellers need to stress test landed costs, shipping assumptions, supplier documentation, and margin sensitivity before peak season. The bigger takeaway: Prime Day may be over, but the real work starts now. The strongest brands will not be the ones that only celebrated top-line sales. They will be the ones that review margins, clean product data, fix listings, audit compliance, protect inventory, and prepare for the next wave of platform changes. The market is still growing. It is just getting less forgiving. Follow Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level breakdowns on Amazon, Walmart, retail media, AI commerce, marketplace strategy, eCommerce profitability, and what actually changes for brands responsible for growth. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level breakdowns on Amazon, Walmart, retail media, marketplace strategy, AI commerce, eCommerce growth, and what actually changes for brands responsible for profitability. | |||
| From Farmers Market to National Retail: 30 Years of Growth for Left Coast Naturals | 25 juin 2026 | 00:26:11 | |
In this episode of Selling on Giants, we sit down with Ian Walker, President and Co-Founder of Hippie Snacks and Left Coast Naturals, to unpack what it really takes to build a successful retail brand. | |||
| Prime Week News Update: Amazon Prime Day, Walmart Deals, and Target Circle Deal Days | 23 juin 2026 | 00:19:31 | |
This week’s Selling on Giants News and Updates breaks down the biggest retail promotional window of the summer. Amazon Prime Day is the center of gravity, but it is no longer the only event competing for shopper attention. Walmart Deals, Target Circle Deal Days, Best Buy Tech Fest, TikTok Shop promotions, DTC websites, email offers, Google Shopping, and retail media campaigns are all fighting for the same customer during the same week. The customer is not thinking about retailer calendars. They are thinking: Everything is on sale. In this episode, we cover: Amazon Prime Day is the main event Amazon Prime Day remains the center of gravity, with major discounts, daily deal drops, Amazon Haul promotions, and Alexa for Shopping becoming part of the customer discovery experience. Why Amazon Haul matters Amazon Haul’s aggressive discounting shows how Amazon is pushing value-conscious shoppers toward lower-priced products, creating greater pressure on private-label brands, low-ASP sellers, and price-sensitive categories. Alexa for Shopping and AI-driven discovery Amazon is training shoppers to delegate more of the buying process to AI. That means sellers need listings that are clear to both humans and shopping agents, with strong product data, attributes, reviews, pricing, and fulfillment signals. Amazon’s upcoming title changes Starting July 27th, Amazon’s title structure changes will force sellers to rethink keyword-stuffed titles, searchable fields, Item Highlights, and how listing content works together after Prime Day. Walmart Deals is no longer a side event Walmart Deals is running directly against Prime Week traffic, supported by Walmart Plus, Walmart Connect, Sam’s Club Connect, and a stronger retail media infrastructure. Walmart Connect and full-funnel retail media Walmart’s growing retail media stack, including first-party audiences and off-platform measurement, shows that Walmart is becoming a more serious advertising ecosystem for marketplace sellers. Target, Best Buy, TikTok Shop, and DTC competition Target Circle Deal Days, Best Buy Tech Fest, TikTok Shop Deals For You Days, and brand websites are all part of the same promotional moment. Shoppers are comparing across platforms, not shopping in isolated channels. Why execution matters more than discounts The deepest discount does not matter if the listing does not convert, the Buy Box is unstable, the campaign runs out of budget, or the hero product goes out of stock. The bigger takeaway: Prime Day has become the summer version of Black Friday, but even that framing may be too narrow now. This is a retail-wide promotional battle. Amazon is still the main event, but Walmart, Target, Best Buy, TikTok Shop, and DTC brands are all fighting for the same consumer attention. Promotions amplify fundamentals. They do not replace them. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level breakdowns on Amazon, Walmart, retail media, marketplace strategy, AI commerce, eCommerce growth, and what actually changes for brands responsible for profitability. | |||
| Why Some eCommerce Founders Get Lucky and Others Stay Stuck | 18 juin 2026 | 00:14:22 | |
This episode of Selling on Giants breaks down why some eCommerce founders always seem to catch a break while others stay stuck, even when they are operating in the same market, using the same tools, and facing the same competitors. The easy explanation is luck. But after working across enough Amazon, Walmart, Target, and broader marketplace accounts, the pattern looks different. Some brands are not luckier. They interpret signals differently, move faster, stay engaged longer, and treat setbacks as feedback instead of failure. In this episode, we cover: Why “luck” is often behavior, not randomness Why opportunity usually looks like a problem first How two founders can see the same data differently Why speed matters more than perfection How failure separates operators Why expectations shape execution The market is hard, but some brands are still growing The bigger takeaway: Luck is not always random. A lot of the time, luck is how you interpret what is in front of you. Same market. Same challenges. Same inputs. Different approach. The brands that move forward treat data as feedback, act before the window closes, and stay engaged after others stop. They do not ignore problems. They simply do not let problems decide what happens next. The edge is not magic. It is perception. Behavior. Speed. Resilience. If you are building on Amazon, Walmart, Target, or across marketplaces, this episode gives you a practical way to think about momentum, setbacks, and why some founders seem to create more opportunity than others. Follow Selling on Giants for operator-level breakdowns on marketplace strategy, Amazon growth, Walmart expansion, eCommerce leadership, and what it really takes to build a stronger brand. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| Last-Minute eCommerce Prep Before Amazon Prime Day, Walmart Deals, and Target Circle Week | 16 juin 2026 | 00:14:31 | |
This week’s Selling on Giants is focused on one thing: last-minute preparation before the biggest promotional window of the summer. Amazon Prime Day runs June twenty third through June twenty sixth. Target Circle Deal Days runs during the same window. Walmart Deals starts one day earlier, on June twenty second, and runs through June twenty eighth. That means consumers are not thinking about this as one Amazon event. They are thinking, everything is on sale. They will compare Amazon, Walmart, Target, brand websites, Google Shopping, email offers, Meta ads, TikTok content, and whatever promotion gets in front of them first. For sellers, that makes this more than a marketplace event. It is a retail-wide battle for attention, trust, inventory, and conversion. In this episode, Mr. Will breaks down the final actions brands can still take one week out. At this stage, the goal is not to rebuild the strategy. Inventory should already be moving. Promotions should already be approved. Budgets should already be aligned. The job now is to remove friction before traffic arrives. In this episode, we cover: Amazon Prime Day hero ASIN audits Why brands need to review top-performing ASINs like first-time shoppers, checking main images, reviews, pricing, A plus Content, mobile experience, and the first three images before expensive event traffic hits. Amazon ad cleanup before CPCs rise How sellers can use recent search term reports to remove waste, cut irrelevant traffic, clean up high-spend non-converting terms, and stop funding keywords that already proved they do not convert. Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, video, and placement coverage Why Prime Day shoppers do not move in a straight line, and why brands need visibility across Top of Search, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Brand Video, Product Pages, and Brand Store pathways. Subscribe and Save, bundles, and cross-sell opportunities How brands can turn first-time Prime Day buyers into longer-term customers by reviewing Subscribe and Save offers, Brand Store navigation, bundles, and complementary product paths before customers leave. Inventory alignment with advertising Why brands should protect hero ASINs first, align spend with available inventory, and avoid pushing traffic into products that may run out of stock during the event. Walmart Deals preparation What sellers should check before Walmart Deals, including Buy Box ownership, Walmart Connect coverage, listing quality, WFS inventory, fulfillment speed, and competitive pricing. Target Circle Deal Days preparation Why brands active through Target and Roundel should review budgets, campaign caps, promotional participation, product content, hero SKUs, and inventory before Circle Deal Days begins. DTC and website readiness Why brand websites still matter during Prime Day week, including summer sale landing pages, email and SMS capture, retargeting, bundles, and pre-event email campaigns. Team readiness and reporting Why every brand needs clear owners for budget pacing, Buy Box checks, pricing, inventory monitoring, promotion issues, dashboards, and escalation before the event starts. The bigger takeaway: Prime Day has become the summer version of Black Friday. Amazon is still the center of gravity, but Walmart, Target, and DTC brands are all competing for the same shopper during the same promotional window. The winners will not always be the brands with the deepest discounts. They will be the brands with the strongest operational execution, cleanest customer experience, best inventory discipline, and fewest surprises. Promotions amplify fundamentals. They do not replace them. Follow Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level breakdowns on Amazon, Walmart, retail media, marketplace strategy, eCommerce growth, and what actually changes for brands responsible for profitability. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| Why Great Products Fail in Retail (And How 7 Summits Snacks Got It Right) | 11 juin 2026 | 00:24:00 | |
In this episode of Selling on Giants: Going Retail, Will sits down with Kristyn Carriere, co-founder of 7 Summits Snacks, to discuss the realities of building a food brand and successfully expanding into retail. | |||
| Amazon Brand Gallery, AI Search, Reddit Visibility, and Why eCommerce Is Becoming More Connected | 09 juin 2026 | 00:20:51 | |
This week’s Selling on Giants breaks down the June ninth marketplace updates shaping Amazon sellers, Walmart operators, retail media teams, and eCommerce brands preparing for a more connected and more demanding commerce environment. The theme this week is clear: eCommerce is not getting less complex. It is getting more connected. Amazon is turning Sponsored Brands into richer discovery experiences with Brand Gallery. Amazon is also pushing AI-powered visual search, making creative assets part of product discoverability. Reddit is becoming more important for GenAI visibility as AI systems learn from real customer conversations. Walmart’s internal AI usage is so high the company had to cap access, showing that AI adoption is moving from experimentation into daily operations. At the same time, DHL’s ten billion dollar USPS deal shows how last-mile delivery is becoming shared infrastructure. Tariff policy and import volatility are putting pressure back into supply chain planning. McKinsey’s consumer research shows shoppers are still spending, but they are far more selective. Retail bankruptcies continue exposing weak operators. And brands are preparing for World Cup demand without needing official sponsorship rights. In this episode, we cover: Amazon Sponsored Brands Brand Gallery Amazon introduced Brand Gallery for Sponsored Brands, giving advertisers a richer way to showcase multiple products and brand assets. This is another signal that Amazon advertising is moving beyond single-ASIN transactions and toward brand discovery, catalog exploration, and customer lifetime value. Amazon AI visual search Amazon’s AI image generator for search bar queries shows that shoppers may increasingly search with concepts, aesthetics, and outcomes instead of exact keywords. For sellers, that means product photography, lifestyle imagery, structured data, and creative quality are becoming part of search visibility. Reddit and GenAI visibility AI search engines and large language models increasingly rely on Reddit discussions to understand products, categories, buying advice, and customer sentiment. In an AI-driven world, authentic reputation may become one of the most valuable marketing assets a brand can build. Walmart’s internal AI adoption Walmart reportedly capped usage of an internal AI tool after employee demand exceeded expectations. The bigger signal is that AI is becoming operational infrastructure inside companies, not just a customer-facing commerce trend. DHL’s ten billion dollar USPS partnership DHL’s last-mile delivery deal with USPS shows that fulfillment infrastructure is becoming more interconnected. Even major logistics providers are choosing partnership over duplication as the last mile remains expensive and difficult to operate profitably. Tariffs, forced labor enforcement, and import timing Trade policy uncertainty and NRF’s import forecast show that supply chain planning is back in focus. Brands are pulling inventory forward to manage tariff risk, freight uncertainty, and peak-season readiness, but that also creates cash flow and forecasting pressure. The selective consumer McKinsey’s latest consumer research reinforces that shoppers are still spending, but they are asking harder questions before they buy. Value does not always mean cheapest. It means the purchase feels smart, trustworthy, and worth the money. Retail bankruptcies and operational discipline Retail bankruptcies continue showing that revenue does not protect businesses. Weak margins, poor inventory management, high fixed costs, and failure to adapt continue separating strong operators from fragile ones. World Cup marketing without official sponsorships Brands are finding ways to participate in World Cup demand through cultural relevance, watch parties, social content, fan experiences, and seasonal campaigns without paying for official sponsorship rights. The bigger takeaway: Advertising connects to creative. Creative connects to search. Search connects to AI interpretation. AI interpretation connects to customer conversations. Supply chain connects to ad efficiency. Inventory connects to ranking. Fulfillment connects to customer trust. And cultural relevance connects to demand. The edge is not in hacks. It is in execution, clean systems, and fast decisions. Follow Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level breakdowns on Amazon, Walmart, retail media, AI commerce, marketplace strategy, supply chain risk, and what actually changes for brands responsible for growth and profitability. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| Why eCommerce Founders Stay Stuck Chasing the Wrong Wins | 04 juin 2026 | 00:11:45 | |
This episode of Selling on Giants breaks down why so many eCommerce founders stay busy, grow revenue, and still feel stuck. The problem is not effort. It is incentive design. Using the game theory concept of the Stag Hunt, this episode explores the difference between chasing short-term wins and building the systems, teams, and trust required to scale. In the beginning, every founder hunts rabbits. They run the ads, fix the listings, answer customer service emails, chase invoices, and handle whatever is on fire that day. Rabbits keep the lights on, and early in the business, that matters. But eventually, survival behavior becomes the ceiling. If every important decision still runs through the founder, the company is not truly scaling. It is staying dependent on one person’s urgency, judgment, and control. In this episode, we cover: Why founders get trapped chasing rabbits What the Stag Hunt teaches about leadership Why ecommerce rewards reactive behavior How control becomes the ceiling Why teams need shared context Why tactics are not enough to scale The operator takeaway: Rabbit hunting keeps the business alive. Stag hunting is how the business scales. The best founders eventually stop asking, “What can I fix today?” and start asking, “What system are we building that makes the next stage easier?” That shift changes everything. It impacts hiring, delegation, accountability, strategy, marketplace expansion, advertising, and leadership. It is the difference between a founder-owned job and a company that can compound without everything depending on one person. The bigger picture: If you are building on Amazon, Walmart, Shopify, or across marketplaces, the question is not only what tactic should come next. The better question is whether your team is aligned around the bigger hunt. The edge is not in more activity. It is in trust. Coordination. Clear priorities. Better systems. Follow Selling on Giants for operator-level breakdowns on eCommerce leadership, marketplace strategy, Amazon growth, Walmart expansion, and what it really takes to build a durable brand. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| Amazon Brand Verification, AI Shopping Agents, Walmart Drone Delivery, and the New eCommerce Growth Gap | 02 juin 2026 | 00:21:18 | |
This week’s Selling on Giants breaks down the June second eCommerce updates shaping Amazon sellers, Walmart operators, retail media teams, and brands trying to grow in a marketplace environment that keeps getting more complex. The theme this week is clear: eCommerce is still growing, but growth is not being handed out evenly. Amazon is tightening Brand Registry and identity verification. AI shopping agents are becoming the new layer between customers and products. Google wants more of the checkout experience. Meta is opening its ad ecosystem to third-party AI tools. Walmart is turning last-mile fulfillment into infrastructure. Consumers are still spending, but they are becoming harder to win. In this episode, we cover: Amazon Brand Registry rejections and verification friction Amazon opened up more guidance around Brand Registry enrollment rejections, appeals, and trademark verification. For sellers, this is not paperwork anymore. Brand Registry is foundational infrastructure because it unlocks A+ Content, Brand Stores, Sponsored Brands, Brand Analytics, and brand protection tools. Why identity verification is becoming marketplace infrastructure Amazon is reminding sellers to keep identity, ownership, banking, business records, and verification documents clean and current. A simple account update, EIN change, ownership change, banking update, or marketplace expansion can trigger additional review if documentation does not line up. The rise of AI shopping agents and agentic commerce AI agents are becoming a major layer in product discovery. Instead of shoppers manually browsing search results, AI systems may compare reviews, check pricing, evaluate availability, and recommend products before the customer ever visits a website. Why product feeds are becoming the new SEO Product data, structured attributes, pricing accuracy, inventory availability, taxonomy, review signals, and catalog consistency are becoming strategic assets. If AI systems cannot clearly interpret your product, your brand may become harder to recommend. Google’s universal shopping cart and the fight for checkout control Google’s unified shopping cart shows that the company wants to move deeper into the transaction layer, not just search and discovery. The battle for eCommerce is increasingly about who owns the decision layer between the consumer and the purchase. Meta opens advertising to AI tools Meta is expanding third-party AI integrations inside its advertising ecosystem. Campaign creation, optimization, audience management, and creative workflows are becoming more automated, which shifts the value of operators and agencies toward strategy, creative direction, and data interpretation. McKinsey’s consumer research and the selective shopper Consumers are still spending, but they are more intentional. They want value, quality, convenience, trust, and a clear reason to buy. Weak positioning and unclear offers are getting exposed faster. Target’s World Cup activation and cultural commerce Target’s soccer event tour shows how retailers are becoming media and lifestyle platforms. Major cultural moments like the World Cup create opportunities for brands that plan inventory, creative, and retail media early. Walmart passes one million drone deliveries Walmart’s drone milestone is not really about drones. It is about last-mile infrastructure. Walmart is using stores, delivery, pickup, Walmart+, marketplace growth, and retail media to build a commerce ecosystem that competes directly with Amazon on convenience. U.S. eCommerce keeps taking retail share Census data shows eCommerce sales grew faster than total retail sales in Q1 twenty twenty six. The channel is still expanding, but brands need to ask whether they are growing faster than the market or quietly losing share. The bigger takeaway: The next phase of eCommerce will not be won by brands that only chase traffic. It will be won by brands that are easier to trust, easier to understand, easier to fulfill, easier for AI systems to interpret, and easier for customers to justify buying. The edge is not in hacks. It is in execution, clean systems, strong data, and fast decisions. Follow Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level breakdowns on Amazon, Walmart, retail media, AI commerce, marketplace strategy, and what actually changes for brands responsible for growth and profitability. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| Yew Nutraceuticals | How a Science-Backed Wellness Brand Launched Retail-First | 28 mai 2026 | 00:27:24 | |
In this episode of Selling on Giants: Going Retail, we sit down with Chris MacLean, co-founder of Yew Healthy Aging Nutraceuticals, to explore what it really takes to launch a science-backed wellness brand into retail. | |||
| Amazon Prime Day Returns, Walmart Growth, AI Shopping, and the New Rules of eCommerce Risk | 26 mai 2026 | 00:19:44 | |
This week’s Selling on Giants breaks down the May twenty sixth marketplace updates shaping Amazon sellers, Walmart operators, retail media teams, and eCommerce brands preparing for a more demanding commerce environment. The theme this week is simple: commerce is becoming more intelligent on the front end, but more demanding on the back end. Platforms are getting smarter. AI is changing how products are discovered. Walmart is building a serious commerce infrastructure engine. Amazon is preparing sellers for Prime Day return disputes. Supply chain risk is still very real. And consumers are still spending, but far more selectively. In this episode, we cover: Amazon SAFE-T claims and Prime Day return risk Amazon is encouraging sellers to prepare SAFE-T claim workflows ahead of Prime Day. For FBM sellers, Seller Fulfilled Prime, high-ticket items, electronics, and seasonal categories, return fraud and reimbursement disputes are not edge cases. They are part of the operating model. Why sellers still want buyer blocking tools Seller Forum discussions show growing frustration around repeat return abuse, fraudulent claims, switcheroo returns, and limited seller-side protection. Amazon continues to prioritize marketplace openness and customer trust, which means sellers need better documentation, margin discipline, and return workflows. Walmart’s Q1 FY27 results and marketplace growth Walmart reported strong growth across eCommerce, advertising, marketplace, membership, and store-fulfilled pickup and delivery. The bigger signal is that Walmart is no longer just a traditional retailer adapting to eCommerce. It is becoming a commerce infrastructure platform competing more directly with Amazon. Why Walmart can no longer be treated as a secondary channel Walmart Connect, marketplace expansion, fulfillment positioning, membership behavior, and omnichannel logistics are becoming more important. Brands that treat Walmart like an afterthought will fall behind as the platform matures. Supply chain risk from the Strait of Hormuz Geopolitical disruption can quickly impact fuel, resin, plastic packaging, food logistics, freight, warehousing, and last-mile delivery economics. eCommerce may feel digital, but the physical supply chain still controls margin. Retail crime as commerce infrastructure risk Organized retail crime and cargo theft are no longer only store problems. They affect inventory, marketplaces, unauthorized sellers, pricing stability, brand protection, and sourcing documentation. AI shopping agents and the future of product discovery AI agents, ChatGPT product feed ads, Google’s universal commerce protocol, Shopify AI search insights, and Amazon’s shift toward Alexa shopping agents all point in the same direction. AI is becoming the interface layer between customers and products. Why product data is now strategic infrastructure Clean titles, complete attributes, accurate pricing, review quality, product feeds, metadata, and cross-platform consistency will become more important as AI systems compare, recommend, and help purchase products. The consumer is still spending, but more selectively Recent retail earnings show a consumer that has not disappeared, but has recalibrated. Value, trust, convenience, promotions, and strong positioning matter more, while weak mid-tier products face more pressure. The bigger takeaway: The next stage of eCommerce is not just about being better at selling. It is about being harder to break. The brands that win will have cleaner data, stronger documentation, tighter margins, better fulfillment, clearer product positioning, and enough operational discipline to survive a market where platforms and customers are both getting more demanding. Follow Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level breakdowns on Amazon, Walmart, retail media, AI commerce, marketplace strategy, supply chain risk, and what actually changes for brands responsible for growth and profitability. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| How Fanatics Beat Starter: Vertical Integration, Sports Merch, and the Future of eCommerce | 21 mai 2026 | 00:13:16 | |
This episode of Selling on Giants takes a deep look at the business models behind Fanatics and Starter, and why their stories matter far beyond sports merchandise. Starter became one of the most iconic sports apparel brands of the nineteen nineties. Starter jackets were cultural status symbols across the NFL, NBA, NHL, college sports, and streetwear. The brand had relevance, demand, and identity. But underneath that cultural momentum was a structural weakness. Starter relied heavily on wholesale distribution, traditional retail cycles, and slower operational systems. It had brand heat, but it did not fully control the customer relationship, fulfillment speed, or demand response. Fanatics represents a different model. Instead of operating like a traditional sports merchandise company, Fanatics built a vertically integrated commerce engine. It controls licensing relationships, manufacturing, ecommerce infrastructure, fulfillment, customer data, and real-time demand response. That gives Fanatics a major advantage when demand spikes. When a team wins a championship, a player gets traded, or a major sports moment happens, Fanatics can react quickly and capture demand while attention is still high. This episode breaks down why that matters for modern eCommerce operators. In this episode, we cover: The rise and decline of Starter How Starter became a cultural force, why the brand mattered, and what structural weaknesses made it vulnerable when retail changed. Why Fanatics built a stronger operating model Fanatics is not just a merchandise company. It is an infrastructure company built around speed, licensing, fulfillment, and customer data. Vertical integration as a competitive advantage The more of the value chain a company controls, the more margin, data, and flexibility it can capture. Why brand heat is not enough Cultural relevance can create demand, but infrastructure determines how much of that demand a company actually captures. What marketplace sellers can learn from this Amazon, Walmart, Shopify, and DTC brands face the same strategic question: what part of the customer journey do you actually control? Why infrastructure matters more as markets change Ad costs rise, fees increase, fulfillment gets more expensive, and platform rules shift. Durable businesses are built to absorb those changes. The operator takeaway: Starter had culture, but Fanatics built control. That is the real lesson. Strong branding matters, but branding without operational durability becomes fragile. The best eCommerce brands are not just better marketers. They are better system builders. They understand their supply chain, fulfillment model, data, customer relationship, pricing power, and channel dependency. As commerce evolves, the advantage is moving toward brands that control more of the infrastructure underneath their growth. The edge is not in hype. It is in control. Vertical integration. Operational speed. Infrastructure ownership. If you are building a brand on Amazon, Walmart, Shopify, or across multiple marketplaces, this episode gives you a practical way to think about long-term durability, not just short-term performance. Follow Selling on Giants for operator-level breakdowns on marketplace strategy, eCommerce growth, retail trends, and the business models shaping the future of commerce. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| Amazon Inventory Pressure, AI Shopping, and Why Retail Media Is Becoming Shelf Space | 19 mai 2026 | 00:16:33 | |
This week’s Selling on Giants breaks down the May nineteenth eCommerce updates shaping Amazon sellers, marketplace operators, retail media teams, and brands trying to protect margin in a more complex operating environment. The theme is clear: the brands that win from here are not necessarily doing the most. They are operating the cleanest. Amazon is tightening expectations around inventory, customer service, intellectual property, and operational discipline. Retail media is becoming a required cost of visibility. AI is changing how products are discovered. Marketplaces are competing through infrastructure, payments, data, and seller workflows. In this episode, we cover: Amazon pushes FBA Liquidations as inventory pressure rises Amazon is promoting FBA Liquidations as a way for sellers to recover some value from excess, idle, unfulfillable, or customer-returned inventory. The hard truth is that recovery rates are usually low, often around five to ten percent of average selling price before fees. The real value is stopping storage fees, aged inventory surcharges, and the financial bleed tied to inventory that should no longer be sitting in FBA. Buyer satisfaction scoring gets more detailed for FBM sellers Amazon replaced the old yes or no survey with a one-to-five satisfaction rating for self-fulfilled sellers. This gives sellers more nuanced feedback, but it also raises the bar on measurable customer service quality. Buyer contact rate, response time, and dissatisfaction rate are no longer soft support metrics. They are operating standards. Amazon reinforces intellectual property compliance Amazon is increasing education around trademarks, copyrights, patents, counterfeit complaints, sourcing authorization, and Brand Registry. The operator takeaway is simple: sellers need clean documentation before there is a problem. Once an IP complaint hits, the seller is already playing defense. Amazon cancels planned SP API fees Amazon reversed planned SP API usage fees that were expected in May twenty twenty six. That matters because SP API powers reporting tools, inventory systems, advertising software, repricers, dashboards, and automation workflows. The reversal protects the economics of third-party tools for now, but sellers should continue watching how Amazon manages data access and ecosystem control. Etsy launches a ChatGPT shopping experience Etsy’s ChatGPT-powered shopping experience shows how product discovery is moving from exact keywords toward natural language intent. Instead of searching only by product terms, shoppers can describe style, use case, mood, and preference. That makes clear positioning, strong attributes, descriptive language, and visual storytelling more important. Agentic marketplaces are coming AI agents may soon compare products, evaluate reviews, analyze specs, and assist with purchases. That means listings must be understandable to machines as well as humans. Structured data, complete attributes, pricing clarity, review consistency, and trust signals will matter more. Retail media becomes shelf space Retailers are increasingly tying visibility, discovery, and merchandising to media spend. Advertising is no longer separate from retail performance. It is becoming part of distribution economics, which means sellers need to evaluate total contribution profit, not isolated ROAS. Amazon expands self-service measurement studies Amazon is giving advertisers more direct access to measurement tools. That creates opportunity for better allocation, incrementality analysis, and funnel strategy, but more data only helps when operators know how to interpret it. The bigger takeaway: Amazon is becoming less forgiving toward inventory and compliance weakness. Customer service is becoming more measurable. AI is changing how products are found. Marketplaces are competing through infrastructure. Retail media is becoming shelf placement. The edge is not in hacks. It is in execution, clean data, clear systems, and fast decisions. Follow Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level breakdowns on Amazon, Walmart, retail media, AI commerce, marketplace strategy, and what actually changes for brands responsible for growth and profitability. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| From a Toronto Café to 200+ Stores: How Lazy Daisy Foods Built a Brand Around a Customer Favorite! | 14 mai 2026 | 00:18:11 | |
In this episode of Selling on Giants, Will sits down with Dawn Chapman, founder and CEO of Lazy Daisy Café and Lazy Daisy Foods, to discuss how a beloved neighborhood café in Toronto evolved into a growing consumer packaged goods brand now carried in over 200 stores across Canada. | |||
| Amazon AI Shopping, B2B Growth, Retail Media, and the New Rules of Product Discovery | 12 mai 2026 | 00:18:31 | |
This week’s Selling on Giants breaks down how Amazon, Walmart, Shopify, Meta, and the broader retail ecosystem are moving toward a more structured, automated, and AI-mediated version of commerce. The theme this week is clear: platforms are not just helping customers buy. They are shaping what customers see, how products are explained, how ads are sequenced, and how brands are measured. In this episode, we cover: Amazon Business pushes seller certifications Amazon is encouraging sellers to upload certifications to improve visibility with B2B buyers. For procurement-driven categories, certifications can become a real advantage by helping sellers appear in searches tied to diversity, compliance, quality, and institutional purchasing requirements. Lithium battery compliance tightens Amazon is expanding documentation, testing, inspection, and listing attribute requirements for lithium batteries and battery-powered products. Sellers in electronics, toys, fitness, beauty devices, and rechargeable household products should audit compliance before suppressions happen. Prime Video ads become sequential Amazon is turning streaming into a more performance-oriented ad channel by allowing Prime Video ads to change based on what viewers have already seen. Creative strategy now needs to think in sequences, not isolated ads. Amazon launches “Join the Chat” AI shopping assistance Product pages are becoming source material for AI. Amazon’s AI can summarize listings and answer shopper questions, which means clear bullets, complete attributes, strong reviews, and consistent positioning matter more than ever. Google adds more links to AI Overviews AI search is becoming competitive real estate. Ranking alone is no longer enough. Brands need content that is clear, structured, authoritative, and easy for AI systems to cite. AI investment is rising, but impact remains uneven Companies are spending more on AI, but many are not seeing measurable ROI because tools are not the same as operational integration. The advantage still comes from execution, workflow design, and clean data. Apparel spending softens Discretionary demand is becoming more selective. Apparel brands and sellers should watch inventory depth, hero Skews, conversion trends, and promotional pressure closely. Commerce moves into media and content Sports Illustrated’s shoppable content shows how product discovery is moving beyond marketplaces and into editorial, creator, lifestyle, and entertainment environments. Walmart expands its beauty strategy Walmart is investing in premium, trend-driven beauty experiences, showing that retailers are competing on discovery, trust, and category perception, not just price. Shopify, Meta, and AI agents reshape operations and shopping Shopify’s ChatGPT and Claude connectors show how ecommerce operations are becoming conversational, while Meta’s AI shopping assistants point to a future where Instagram becomes an even stronger discovery and recommendation layer. The bigger picture: Commerce is becoming more AI-mediated, more measurable, more structured, and more controlled by the platforms that own the customer interface. The edge is not in hacks. It is in execution, clean data, clear systems, and fast decisions. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| Amazon Prime Day June 2026: Key Dates, Inventory Strategy, Ad Playbook, and What Not to Overdo | 05 mai 2026 | 00:09:35 | |
Amazon has officially confirmed Prime Day for June 2026, and the timeline is tighter than most operators expect. This episode of Selling on Giants is a focused breakdown on how to prepare without overcommitting inventory, overspending on ads, or damaging margins. This is not about hype. This is about execution. Key dates you need to know:
If inventory is not moving now, you are already behind. Inventory strategy that protects your business:
Not all products benefit equally from Prime Day. Categories driven by urgency or necessity will not see the same lift as impulse or lifestyle purchases. Promotions that actually convert:
Prime Day is one of the few times where increased traffic can carry promotional performance. Advertising approach by experience level: For newer sellers:
For advanced operators:
Where brands waste money (and how to avoid it):
Prime Day rewards preparation and consistency, not last-minute spend spikes. Real operator insight:
The bigger picture: Prime Day is not a make-or-break event. It is a controlled opportunity to accelerate performance if executed correctly.
The edge is not in doing more. It is in doing the right things at the right time. If you are selling on Amazon and preparing for Prime Day, this episode gives you a clear, operator-level framework to execute with confidence. Follow Selling on Giants for weekly insights on what actually impacts your business. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| Retail Lessons from a Brand That’s Done It Right: Neo Naturelle | 30 avr. 2026 | 00:40:56 | |
In this episode of Selling on Giants, we sit down with Marina Mushlovina and Nila Cook, founders of Neo Naturelle, to unpack how they turned a personal skincare need into an award-winning brand. | |||
| Amazon Tightens Rules, Prime Day Moves Earlier, and AI Reshapes How We Shop | 28 avr. 2026 | 00:10:12 | |
In this week’s Selling on Giants News & Updates, we break down what is actually happening across Amazon, Walmart, and the broader eCommerce landscape and what it means for brands, operators, and even consumers. Here’s what we’re covering: Amazon Compliance Is Getting Stricter Prime Day Is Moving Earlier Amazon Expands Beyond Its Marketplace Walmart Is Building a Controlled Ecosystem Retail Media Is Moving Up the Funnel Search Is Shifting from Rankings to AI Answers Operational Risks Are Increasing Platform Economics Are Changing AI Is Automating Advertising Execution The Bigger Picture Automation is increasing. Brands that focus on clean data, clear strategy, and strong execution will adapt faster and capture more value. If you are running an eCommerce brand or managing marketplace growth, this is one of those moments where understanding how the system works matters more than ever. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| Amazon Expands Into DTC Fulfillment, A to Z Claim Friction Grows, and AI Reshapes Discovery | 21 avr. 2026 | 00:09:47 | |
This week’s Selling on Giants breaks down a major shift happening across Amazon, Walmart, and the broader marketplace landscape. The headlines may look unrelated, but they all point in the same direction. Platforms are moving beyond transactions and into infrastructure, while operators face increasing pressure across fulfillment, compliance, and discovery. Top stories this week:
Operational pressure is building:
Discovery and behavior shifts:
Retail and marketplace evolution:
The bigger picture:
The edge is not in hacks. It is in execution. Clean data. Clear systems. Fast decisions. If you are operating on Amazon, Walmart, or scaling across marketplaces, this episode provides a clear operator-level perspective on what is changing and how to respond. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| What It Really Takes to Get Into Retail: Lessons from Not Bad Snacks | 16 avr. 2026 | 00:38:51 | |
In this episode of Selling on Giants, Will sits down with Milton and Gisela, founders of Not Bad Snacks, to explore what happens when a digital-first brand takes its first steps into retail. | |||
| Amazon AI Push, A to Z Claim Issues, Search Disruption, and Rising Margin Pressure | 14 avr. 2026 | 00:09:53 | |
This week’s Selling on Giants breaks down a clear shift happening across Amazon, Walmart, and the broader marketplace landscape. It is not one major update. It is a series of smaller changes that all point in the same direction. More platform control. More operational pressure. Less room for error. If you are responsible for performance, this is the environment you are operating in. Top stories this week:
Operational pressure building across the board:
Retail and demand signals:
Discovery and advertising shifts:
Macro trends shaping the market:
The bigger picture:
The edge is not in hacks. It is in execution. Clean data. Clear systems. Fast decisions. If you are operating on Amazon, Walmart, or scaling across marketplaces, this episode gives you a clear operator-level breakdown of what matters right now and how to respond. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. | |||
| Amazon Fee Increase EXPOSED: “Temporary” Surcharge, Margin Pressure, and eCommerce Strategy Shifts | 07 avr. 2026 | 00:07:24 | |
This week’s Selling on Giants goes deep on one of the most important updates sellers have seen this year, Amazon’s so-called “temporary” three point five percent fulfillment surcharge and what it actually means for your business. This is not just another fee update. This is a continuation of a pattern. If you are operating on Amazon, this episode breaks down what is really happening behind the scenes and how to respond like an operator, not a spectator. Main focus this week:
What serious operators should be doing now:
Additional shifts shaping the market:
The bigger picture:
The edge is not in hacks. It is in execution. Clean data. Clear systems. Fast decisions. If you are an eCommerce brand selling on Amazon, Walmart, or scaling across channels, this episode gives you a clear, operator-level breakdown of what matters right now and how to respond with confidence. Follow Selling on Giants for weekly insights that go beyond headlines and focus on what actually impacts your business. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level insights built for serious marketplace brands navigating co | |||
| Amazon Account Crackdown, Cash Flow Pressure, AI Discovery Shifts, and Retail Control Expands | 31 mars 2026 | 00:09:11 | |
This week’s Selling on Giants breaks down the real shifts happening across Amazon, Walmart, retail media, and AI-driven commerce. This is not a surface-level recap. This is an operator’s view of what actually changes when you are responsible for the P and L. The pressure is building across multiple fronts at the same time, and the brands that adapt fastest will hold their position. Top stories this week:
Platform and discovery shifts:
Operational and marketplace signals:
The bigger picture:
The edge is not in hacks. It is in execution. Clean data. Clear systems. Fast decisions. If you are an eCommerce brand operating on Amazon, Walmart, or beyond, this episode gives you a clear operator lens on what matters right now and how to respond with confidence. Follow the show for weekly breakdowns of what is actually changing in eCommerce, and how serious operators are adapting in real time.
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| Made in USA Crackdown, Amazon Buyer Abuse, NRF Growth, and Walmart Listing Issues | 24 mars 2026 | 00:08:31 | |
This week’s Selling on Giants breaks down the biggest shifts impacting Amazon, Walmart, and the broader eCommerce landscape, with a focus on compliance risk, customer behavior, and tightening margins. These are not surface-level updates. This is how operators are responding in real time. Top stories this week:
Additional insights covered:
The bigger picture:
The edge is not in hacks. It is in execution. Clean data. Clear systems. Fast decisions. If you are an eCommerce brand operating on Amazon, Walmart, or beyond, this episode gives you a clear operator lens on what matters right now and how to respond. Like, follow, and subscribe to stay ahead of what is actually changing in eCommerce. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level insights built for serious marketplace brands navigating complexity with discipline. | |||
| Shrinkflation Explained: Why Products Are Getting Smaller (and Why Amazon May Be Accelerating It) | 17 mars 2026 | 00:09:01 | |
Consumers everywhere are noticing something strange. Your favorite snack looks the same. Welcome to the era of shrinkflation. In this episode of Selling on Giants, we break down why products across grocery stores and marketplaces are quietly getting smaller — and why inflation is only part of the story. The bigger shift is happening behind the scenes. Modern retail economics — especially the rise of Amazon, eCommerce logistics, and marketplace fulfillment costs — are creating powerful incentives for brands to design smaller, lighter, and more efficient products. What looks like shrinkflation on the shelf may actually be margin engineering driven by logistics, packaging optimization, and marketplace economics. This episode connects the dots between consumer trends, global retail strategy, and the operational realities brands face when selling across Amazon, Walmart, Target, and other modern commerce platforms. Along the way, we look at some real-world examples making headlines right now — from shrinking chocolate bars to evolving product packaging strategies. Because once you understand the economics behind it, shrinkflation stops looking like a mystery… and starts looking like a system. In this episode we cover: • The rise of shrinkflation and why brands reduce product size instead of raising prices Key takeaway Products are getting smaller not only because of inflation, but because modern retail and marketplace economics reward smaller, more efficient product designs. As eCommerce continues to reshape global retail, packaging, product sizing, and fulfillment efficiency will play an increasingly important role in how brands manage margins. Shrinkflation may not be a temporary trend. It may be the future of retail product design. If you enjoy the show • Leave a review Your support helps more operators understand how modern retail really works. Selling on Giants Real insights on Amazon, marketplaces, and the changing economics of modern retail. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level insights built for serious marketplace brands navigating complexity with discipline. | |||
| eCommerce Platforms Want Total Control: Amazon AI Analytics, Retail Media Growth, and AI Shopping Agents | 10 mars 2026 | 00:16:38 | |
This week on Selling on Giants, Mr. Will breaks down several major shifts shaping eCommerce, Amazon selling, and retail strategy. From AI entering Seller Central to retail media becoming a billion-dollar business, the rules of marketplace growth are evolving fast. The common thread across this episode is simple. Key topics in this episode include: Amazon Adds AI to Seller Central Analytics Agentic Commerce and the Rise of AI Shopping Agents Target’s Advertising Business Keeps Growing Amazon Expands Product Opportunity Explorer Tariffs, Supply Chains, and Retail Cost Pressure Returns Continue to Drain Retail Profitability Celebrity Backed Brands Continue to Reshape CPG The Bigger Theme The future of commerce is becoming increasingly automated and data driven. Retailers are building media businesses. For brands and marketplace operators, the companies that adapt fastest to these structural changes will have the strongest advantage. If you sell on Amazon, operate across marketplaces, or care about the future of retail, this episode provides the operator-level perspective behind the headlines. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level insights built for serious marketplace brands navigating complexity with discipline. | |||
| Amazon DD+7 Payout Shock, Ad Discipline, AI Search Shifts & Google’s Commerce Protocol | March 2026 eCommerce Update | 03 mars 2026 | 00:11:28 | |
Amazon Tightens Capital. Ads Demand Discipline. AI Compresses Competition. This week’s Selling on Giants episode breaks down the structural tightening happening across Amazon, retail media, AI search, and global retail infrastructure. None of these shifts are cosmetic. Each one affects capital flow, attribution control, data visibility, and long-term margin durability. Here’s what serious operators need to understand right now: Amazon DD+7: A Working Capital Shift, Not a Fee Increase • Funds now release seven days after confirmed delivery This is not emotional. It is arithmetic. If you front inventory, freight, ads, and payroll, payout timing matters. Extended float increases working capital needs and magnifies debt cost exposure. Strong brands model this. Weak capital structure gets exposed. Sponsored Products: Is Your Account Maintained or Just Running? • Do you know your break-even ACOS? Most accounts do not fail because Amazon is “rigged.” They fail because margin math, search term hygiene, and structural clarity are missing. Discipline, not emotion, separates scalable ad accounts from expensive ones. Meta Targets Retail Media Budgets • Closed-loop measurement improvements This is budget warfare, not branding. Attribution is becoming the battleground. Platforms that prove incremental sales impact win allocation. Habit-based budget placement is losing power. AI Shopping Behavior Is Changing Product Discovery • Consumers use AI tools upstream to compare products AI compresses competition. If your PDP cannot be summarized clearly in one paragraph, positioning is weak. Structured, benefit-driven content wins. Google’s Universal Commerce Protocol • Standardized product data requirements SEO is shifting from content optimization to data architecture discipline. Messy feeds and incomplete attributes quietly erode visibility over time. McKinsey Grocery Report: Growth Paradox in MENA • Consumer confidence rising The issue is not demand. It is execution and format relevance. Retail expansion alone does not guarantee velocity. Brands must align assortment, positioning, and innovation to how shoppers actually buy. The Big Pattern Capital discipline is tightening. This is not a panic cycle. It is a precision cycle. Strong operators model cash, margin, attribution, and velocity. Undisciplined brands feel friction first. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level insights built for serious marketplace brands navigating complexity with discipline. | |||
| Supreme Court Ends Liberation Day Tariffs: What Amazon Sellers Must Know About Refunds, Margins, and Trade Volatility (February 2026 Update) | 24 févr. 2026 | 00:08:38 | |
The Supreme Court just struck down the administration’s sweeping Liberation Day tariffs — and the impact on Amazon sellers is bigger than the headline suggests. In this February 2026 edition of Selling on Giants, Mr. Will breaks down what the ruling actually means for importers, marketplace operators, and brand owners navigating volatile cost structures. This is not political commentary. It is operational analysis. Here’s what you’ll learn: What Changed
What Has NOT Changed
Why This Matters for Amazon Sellers Tariffs directly affect landed cost, and landed cost determines:
Even a 10% shift in cost can reduce contribution margin by 20% or more. That changes everything. Refund Opportunities — And Complications If you paid IEEPA-based tariffs:
Strategic question: If capital is returned months from now, do you reinvest, hedge, or stabilize? Second-Order Effects If tariffs normalize toward pre-tariff levels:
Cost relief often leads to competitive aggression. Sourcing Reality Many brands diversified manufacturing during tariff pressure:
Those shifts required new tooling, freight lanes, and working capital cycles. Even if tariffs decline, most brands will not fully reverse course. Trade policy is now a structural operating variable. Reverse Logistics & Margin Discipline Returns are a growing margin leak across eCommerce. AI is now being used to:
When tariffs compress margin on the front end and returns erode margin on the back end, disciplined operators win. Strategic Takeaways
The headline says tariffs were struck down. The operator takeaway: uncertainty remains. If you sell on Amazon, Walmart, or Target, trade policy is no longer background noise. It is a core P&L driver. Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level insights built for serious marketplace brands navigating complexity with discipline. | |||
| Infrastructure, Enforcement, and AI: Why Amazon Is Tightening the Screws While Building the Future | 17 févr. 2026 | 00:09:37 | |
Amazon is not slowing down. It is tightening standards while simultaneously building the next generation of retail infrastructure. In this February seventeenth, twenty twenty six edition of Selling on Giants, we break down what is actually changing across Amazon, retail media, AI commerce, and consumer behavior and what serious operators should be watching. This week’s episode connects the dots between fulfillment enforcement, AI driven discovery, capital investment cycles, and shifting shopper frequency. The common thread is professionalization. The margin for operational sloppiness is shrinking while the surface area for monetization expands. Here is what we cover: Amazon’s New Business Hour Delivery Rate Metric OTDR Enforcement Gets Surgical on February Twenty Eighth Amazon’s Two Hundred Billion Dollar Capex Bet Retail Media Invades the Physical Aisle Amazon Set to Surpass Walmart in Annual Revenue Shopify, Google, Bing, and the AI Commerce Layer Consumer Shopping Frequency Is Normalizing Tariffs and Advertising Pressure The big takeaway: Amazon is raising performance expectations while investing heavily in AI and infrastructure. Retailers are monetizing every high traffic surface. AI is embedding itself into discovery and checkout. And consumer behavior is stabilizing. The brands that win in this environment will not be the loudest. They will be the most disciplined. If you are running Amazon, Walmart, or Shopify at scale, this episode is your operator briefing for the week.
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| Amazon Tightens the Screws, Fulfillment Becomes Risk Management, and Clarity Beats Spend | 10 févr. 2026 | 00:08:30 | |
This week’s episode of Selling on Giants feels less like a collection of updates and more like a directional shift. Across Amazon, ecommerce, and brand marketing, the signal is getting louder and clearer. Platforms are done absorbing operational sloppiness, and the cost of getting the basics wrong is showing up faster and with fewer warnings. We start with Amazon’s updated enforcement around frequently returned items. If a vendor does not have a valid U.S. return address on file, Amazon will now dispose of high return inventory and bill the vendor for both the product and the disposal. This is not a new program and not a policy expansion. It is Amazon removing ambiguity and converting operational gaps directly into financial consequences. That same zero tolerance posture is showing up on the seller side as well. Sellers are receiving shipping address mismatch warnings even when Account Health looks clean and nothing operationally changed. Automated detection is firing before human review, and once the clock starts, sellers are forced into reactive support loops with little clarity. Clean configurations, minimal ship-from locations, and alignment between templates and reality are now as important as performance metrics. From there, we zoom out to brand marketing and culture. Super Bowl sixty once again proved that attention can be bought, but meaning cannot. The ads that worked trusted the audience, stayed culturally aware, and kept the brand front and center. The ones that failed relied on celebrity, spectacle, or jokes without payoff. The lesson is not about Super Bowl budgets. It is about signal efficiency. If your message is unclear at the biggest attention moment of the year, it will fail everywhere else too. That clarity gap is also showing up in consumer behavior. Valentine’s Day spending is rising, but consumers are adapting quietly to higher prices. Smaller bundles, fewer add-ons, and delayed purchases are becoming the norm. Seasonal demand no longer hides pricing misalignment. When value is unclear, churn does not show up loudly. It simply never comes back. We also break down Amazon’s Q4 growth, which reflects demand concentration rather than a broad retail rebound. Consumers are choosing where to buy, not necessarily buying more. Convenience and delivery reliability continue to win, making Amazon less optional during uncertain periods. Outside marketplaces, traffic is becoming more volatile. Google Discover updates reshuffled visibility quickly and without explanation, reinforcing that recommendation-based traffic is upside, not foundation. At the same time, Amazon’s physical retail experiments are better understood as ecosystem support moves, not retail disruption. We close with two bigger themes. Fulfillment is no longer a cost center. It is risk management. And in B2B, technology is not the blocker. Leadership and culture are. Across every story this week, the takeaway is the same. Gray areas are disappearing. Automation is moving faster than communication. Clean execution now matters as much as performance. If you operate inside these platforms, this episode helps you understand what is changing and how to stay ahead as the rules harden. Follow us on Selling on Giants on LinkedIn for weekly insights. | |||
| Amazon and Walmart Shift Risk to Sellers, AI Reshapes Shopping, and Why Discipline Now Wins | 03 févr. 2026 | 00:12:50 | |
Marketplaces are sending a clear message this week. Risk, compliance, and execution now sit squarely with sellers, not the platforms. From Amazon brand protection and account health to Walmart returns, catalog limits, and AI-driven discovery, this episode breaks down how responsibility is moving downstream and why disciplined operators are pulling ahead. In this episode, we cover: Amazon brand protection remains reactive Account Health is now Amazon’s primary suspension prevention system Why macro signals still matter for eCommerce operators Walmart tightens control on returns and catalog growth Leadership changes signal platform direction Seasonal and emotional demand is still alive Retail therapy is reshaping conversion AI is compressing the funnel, not flattening marketplaces Unified commerce is becoming table stakes The through line Follow us on Selling on Giants on LinkedIn for weekly insights. | |||
| How Ad Fraud Quietly Destroys eCommerce ROI with Rich Kahn | 29 janv. 2026 | 00:52:10 | |
Ad fraud has the potential to drastically change online business, if we keep underestimating it. In this episode of Selling on Giants, we sit down with Rich Kahn, Founder and CEO of Anura.io, to break down what ad fraud really looks like today and why it’s no longer a question of if you have fraud, but how much. Rich has spent more than three decades in digital advertising. He didn’t set out to build a fraud prevention company — he built one after his own marketing platform was hit and he realized there was no credible solution on the market. So he built it himself. This conversation goes beyond theory and headlines. We unpack how ad fraud actually works in the real world, how it hides inside legitimate-looking performance data, and why many brands don’t notice it until ROAS drifts, lead quality drops, and chargebacks show up months later.
• What ad fraud really is — and how it operates today Guest Resources & Contact Want to go deeper on fraud prevention, traffic quality, and performance protection? Website: https://anura.io Highly recommended if you’re serious about protecting ad spend, improving attribution, and scaling with confidence. | |||
| Amazon Creative Agent, Tariff Margin Pressure, AI Shopping Agents, and Temu’s Cross Border Surge | 27 janv. 2026 | 00:17:25 | |
This week on Selling on Giants, the signal gets louder across every platform. Creative, pricing, and discovery all move faster, and the brands that win are the ones that can iterate quickly without letting fundamentals or compliance turn into the bottleneck. We start inside Amazon’s ads stack where creative creation becomes more native and more iterative. Then we move into the less glamorous side of the business, chargebacks and dispute discipline. From there, we zoom out into the bigger shifts shaping two thousand twenty six: cross border pressure from Temu, tariff driven margin compression, AI powered shopping interfaces, and Walmart’s continued move toward curated category expansions. Here’s what we break down in this episode. Amazon Creative Agent inside Creative Studio Chargeback disputes are winnable, but outcomes stay buyer centric Amazon’s Health AI agent inside One Medical and the bigger agentic signal Temu closes the gap in cross border ecommerce momentum Tariffs squeeze the margin math and there are few clean levers Retail’s AI commerce bet creates a reach versus ownership trade The common thread Follow Selling on Giants on LinkedIn for weekly insights, and if this episode saved y | |||