AVN’s Remain a Challenge; Amazon Limits Private Label Ads; Amazon Remains eComm Growth Leader
By Cleveland AdminAVN Negotiations More Difficult and Slower Than Last Year
Feedback from brands selling on Amazon over the last several weeks indicates that annual vendor negotiations (AVN’s) remain a challenge. Amazon continues to focus on profitability, which is leading the eTailer to continue to ask for greater support in vendor funding, as well as things such as packaging innovations, logistics savings, and price pack architecture. Feedback also indicates that negotiations have been slower and have started later than in years past, as each Vendor Manager continues to handle a larger number of brands. While AVN’s have been a challenge for most brands, we have found that brands with profitable Amazon businesses have tended to have a better experience.
Amazon Scales Back Private Label Advertising
Amazon is quietly scaling back advertising for its exclusive private label brands, reports CNBC. Amazon had devoted valuable screen real estate to its private label brands, including exclusive “Top Rated from Our Brands” banner ads and “Similar Items to Consider” links. An Amazon spokesperson said, “We are always testing different experiences in order to provide more convenience, more efficiency and more options for customers while shopping our stores.” That may be true but we also believe Amazon is trying to mitigate the growing discomfort regulators and presidential candidate have around its power.
Opportunity in eCommerce
Our updated forecast report highlighted Amazon as the eTailer most likely to see the largest growth in terms of dollars in 2019. On a percentage basis, the omnichannel mass retailers like Target and Walmart are likely to see the strongest growth online in 2019.