Hi Shailesh, “A shopping page is not a shelf; it’s a negotiation” explains Amazon’s move better than anything I have read this week. It also explains why Amazon is happy to sell sponsored questions inside its own shopping assistant while keeping outside agents out. Do you think Amazon will build its own version of Walmart’s gateway, with ads built in?
Thanks Sam, really glad that line landed with you.
And yes, I think they will. Amazon isn’t against agents, it’s against agents it can’t charge. Selling sponsored questions in its own assistant is basically the test run.
My guess is a door on Amazon’s terms. Approved agents get in, and brands pay to rank inside it.
The tricky part is trust though. An outside agent works for the shopper, not for Amazon. If the gateway keeps pushing paid results, the agent will just go check Walmart.
Hey Shailesh, “against agents it can’t charge” sums up my view exactly. On trust, I think the agent will put up with paid results only as long as they are a good match for the shopper, because its job is the shopper’s best option, not Amazon’s best margin. So the ads in a gateway would have to look a lot like good answers. As a seller on both, I am not waiting to find out: I write my Amazon listing for Amazon’s own assistant and keep my Shopify store open to outside agents.
Hi Shailesh, “A shopping page is not a shelf; it’s a negotiation” explains Amazon’s move better than anything I have read this week. It also explains why Amazon is happy to sell sponsored questions inside its own shopping assistant while keeping outside agents out. Do you think Amazon will build its own version of Walmart’s gateway, with ads built in?
Thanks Sam, really glad that line landed with you.
And yes, I think they will. Amazon isn’t against agents, it’s against agents it can’t charge. Selling sponsored questions in its own assistant is basically the test run.
My guess is a door on Amazon’s terms. Approved agents get in, and brands pay to rank inside it.
The tricky part is trust though. An outside agent works for the shopper, not for Amazon. If the gateway keeps pushing paid results, the agent will just go check Walmart.
So I’m curious what you think?
Hey Shailesh, “against agents it can’t charge” sums up my view exactly. On trust, I think the agent will put up with paid results only as long as they are a good match for the shopper, because its job is the shopper’s best option, not Amazon’s best margin. So the ads in a gateway would have to look a lot like good answers. As a seller on both, I am not waiting to find out: I write my Amazon listing for Amazon’s own assistant and keep my Shopify store open to outside agents.