You fought hard to finish strong in 2020. During that battle for growth, you undoubtedly felt pressure from a surge of unauthorized sellers on Amazon. This dramatic rise in seller activity was inevitable, but it remains difficult to quantify. By tracking the increase across our customer base, we made the effort to not only measure it, but also look for indications of permanence. In other words, we sought an answer to the question regarding the recent increase in online shopping: “Is this the new normal?”
Consumers we polled early in the COVID-19 pandemic reported a plan to permanently shift more of their spend to Amazon — and it’s clear now that they followed through with making this shift. Based on those insights, we predicted the number of sellers would rise dramatically to meet that consumer demand. We were right.
The influx of accompanying unauthorized seller activity was somewhat expected, given the effects of the pandemic on consumers’ access to products and— now— to consumer convenience. However, the actual results are still shocking. The increase in Amazon seller activity exceeds 200% through January and shows no signs of slowing down.
What We Learned From Amazon Seller Activity
Seller activity metrics on Amazon include number of offers, listings by seller type, % of Buy Boxes owned, etc. We wrestled with finding a measure that would represent actual changes in seller activity but would not be altered by our brand enforcement measures. After all, we act the moment a seller lists our customers’ branded products without authorization.
We discovered there is one measure of seller activity that is at least visibly unaffected by brand protection. That metric is the change in the number of new sellers that appear on a brand’s products. Tracking the levels of sellers from month to month served as an effective proxy.
As you can see, the numbers rose steadily through most of 2020 and took a sharp increase as the holidays approached and we moved into the new year. Our data indicates the increase in illegitimate sellers is only going to get worse.
In other words, more and more new sellers are going to appear as buyers continue to embrace Amazon shopping as a preferred channel for purchases and shift the flow of revenue accordingly to the pockets of those taking advantage of eCommerce.
Why the Increase in Online Shopping Sparked So Many New Sellers
Though gray market product sources remain the same, there are a few noticeable accelerants of unauthorized sales.
Counterfeiters took advantage of:
Disruptions in the supply chain and out-of-stock products. They took the opportunity here to test the demand for products.
Competitiveness of other sellers on those branded products and pricing floors. They took the opportunity here to vet opportunities of mass manufacturing and proliferation of knock offs.
Unauthorized sellers of legitimate products took advantage of:
Large distributors that encouraged their customers to sell online and provided training and support to do so.
Languishing inventory and economic pressures that incentivized liquidations of severely discounted products.
It’s daunting to face a growing horde of unauthorized sellers. They are fast. They are nimble. They are resourceful. And they often know no bounds. They are even creative at breaking through Amazon’s controls put in place to protect consumers. These illegitimate sellers skirt the system and harm your brand so they can increase their own profits.
The good news is, you don’t have to confront this surge in unauthorized sellers alone. Gray Falkon has your back. Despite this rise in new sellers on Amazon, Gray Falkon customers continue to see an 80%+ rate of unauthorized seller removal, plus constant increases in Buy Box win rates.
Our process is more efficient and more effective than any alternatives based on traditional or legal remedies. Our system scales and operates at greater than the speed of unauthorized seller activity. In fact, we can start our unique and effective brand protection in as quickly as 30 minutes from the time you ask us to start.
Let us get to work for you so you can put your focus back where it needs to be — on growing your brand.
You fought hard to finish strong in 2020. During that battle for growth, you undoubtedly felt pressure from a surge of unauthorized sellers on Amazon. This dramatic rise in seller activity was inevitable, but it remains difficult to quantify. By tracking the increase across our customer base, we made the effort to not only measure it, but also look for indications of permanence. In other words, we sought an answer to the question regarding the recent increase in online shopping: “Is this the new normal?”
Consumers we polled early in the COVID-19 pandemic reported a plan to permanently shift more of their spend to Amazon — and it’s clear now that they followed through with making this shift. Based on those insights, we predicted the number of sellers would rise dramatically to meet that consumer demand. We were right.
The influx of accompanying unauthorized seller activity was somewhat expected, given the effects of the pandemic on consumers’ access to products and— now— to consumer convenience. However, the actual results are still shocking. The increase in Amazon seller activity exceeds 200% through January and shows no signs of slowing down.
What We Learned From Amazon Seller Activity
Seller activity metrics on Amazon include number of offers, listings by seller type, % of Buy Boxes owned, etc. We wrestled with finding a measure that would represent actual changes in seller activity but would not be altered by our brand enforcement measures. After all, we act the moment a seller lists our customers’ branded products without authorization.
We discovered there is one measure of seller activity that is at least visibly unaffected by brand protection. That metric is the change in the number of new sellers that appear on a brand’s products. Tracking the levels of sellers from month to month served as an effective proxy.
As you can see, the numbers rose steadily through most of 2020 and took a sharp increase as the holidays approached and we moved into the new year. Our data indicates the increase in illegitimate sellers is only going to get worse.
In other words, more and more new sellers are going to appear as buyers continue to embrace Amazon shopping as a preferred channel for purchases and shift the flow of revenue accordingly to the pockets of those taking advantage of eCommerce.
Why the Increase in Online Shopping Sparked So Many New Sellers
Though gray market product sources remain the same, there are a few noticeable accelerants of unauthorized sales.
Counterfeiters took advantage of:
Disruptions in the supply chain and out-of-stock products. They took the opportunity here to test the demand for products.
Competitiveness of other sellers on those branded products and pricing floors. They took the opportunity here to vet opportunities of mass manufacturing and proliferation of knock offs.
Unauthorized sellers of legitimate products took advantage of:
Large distributors that encouraged their customers to sell online and provided training and support to do so.
Languishing inventory and economic pressures that incentivized liquidations of severely discounted products.
It’s daunting to face a growing horde of unauthorized sellers. They are fast. They are nimble. They are resourceful. And they often know no bounds. They are even creative at breaking through Amazon’s controls put in place to protect consumers. These illegitimate sellers skirt the system and harm your brand so they can increase their own profits.
The good news is, you don’t have to confront this surge in unauthorized sellers alone. Gray Falkon has your back. Despite this rise in new sellers on Amazon, Gray Falkon customers continue to see an 80%+ rate of unauthorized seller removal, plus constant increases in Buy Box win rates.
Our process is more efficient and more effective than any alternatives based on traditional or legal remedies. Our system scales and operates at greater than the speed of unauthorized seller activity. In fact, we can start our unique and effective brand protection in as quickly as 30 minutes from the time you ask us to start.
Let us get to work for you so you can put your focus back where it needs to be — on growing your brand.