🚀 Skyrocket Sales with Best Seller Status

'Birthplace of Amazon' on the market for $2.28M

Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in the humble garage of this West Bellevue house in 1994. The house is now on the market again for the first time since 2019.

The 3-bedroom 2-bath house has changed hands a number of times since it was Jeff’s business lair, each time for quite a bit more money.

2019 - sold for $1.5 million
2009 - sold for $620,000

💰 BILLION DOLLAR STRATEGIES
→ what you need to know to make moolah

What’s happening with TikTok and TikTok Shop?

Some Amazon gurus think TikTok will die off soon or be banned, while others think it will quickly rise to be #2 in sales behind Amazon in e-commerce, easily beating Wally World and Shopify.

Others don’t care, they just want to make hay while the sun shines - and many of them are crushing it like Josh & Jenna Coleman, hitting $250K in just three weeks on TikTok Shop.

You may have heard 40% of Gen Z prefers searching on TikTok and Instagram to searching on Google.

Careful - just reading headlines can be misleading.

That number is actually referring to users aged 18–24 searching for dining inspiration … not people looking for general information.

TikTok users are starting to complain that overzealous shopping videos are encroaching on their entertainment oasis.

Remember in January 2023, Instagram removed the Shop tab from its app after backlash from some users who thought it took away from IG’s main focus. 

It seemed like TikTok might fill the void left by Vine years ago. Now, it’s closer to becoming one big virtual department store.

The TikTok Shop seller app has grown 230% since last year. But with only 6M monthly active users compared to TikTok’s 1.4B, there’s still a ways to go.

TikTok is targeting $17.5 billion in product sales in the US in 2024 (that’s less than a 5-day weekend in November for Amazon), hoping e-commerce sustains its revenue growth beyond social media advertising.

According to The Information, TikTok plans to build live streaming facilities across the US from which creators could sell products to viewers—like QVC. The first one is opening in Los Angeles.

It’s also testing a new feature that will automatically identify products in videos and allow users to click into a page that displays similar items for sale.

Is the TikTok hype slowly coming to an end as it matures - growth has slowed to 3% in 2023 from 12% in 2022. Or is it still just getting started?

• Want to master TikTok and learn how to sell? watch this

• Wanna learn about running ads on TikTok: here you go

  

📺 The IMPACT of ADS on AMAZON PRIME TV

Amazon's foray into advertising on its Prime Video platform represents a significant shift in the landscape of streaming services and e-commerce.

It signals a new era where the lines between entertainment and shopping blur even further, shaking up the advertising and e-commerce sectors in several critical ways.

Amazon vs. Streaming Giants: Unlike Netflix and Disney+, which have long embraced the ad-supported model, Amazon is a newcomer to this arena. With Prime Video accounting for 3.3% of US TV-watching time as of December 2023, Amazon is already ahead of Disney+ but trails behind other key players like Netflix and YouTube TV.

The challenge for Amazon will be to leverage its extensive customer data—rooted in the shopping habits of the ~70% of US adults with Prime memberships—to offer targeted advertising that promises higher returns for brands, thus convincing them to pivot from established relationships with other platforms.

Lucrative Venture: Amazon's introduction of ads is expected to be financially rewarding. Morgan Stanley forecasts Prime Video ads could generate $3.3 billion in revenue in 2024, with projections rising to $7.1 billion by 2026.

Amazon expects Prime Video's average hourly ad load to be between 2 to 3.5 minutes, below traditional TV and most streaming services, and to reach 159M monthly viewers.

This initiative is not just about ad revenue; it's also anticipated to bolster Amazon's EBITDA significantly. The approach of charging users a fee to avoid ads while promising fewer commercials than competitors might strike the right balance between revenue generation and user experience.

Market Disruption and Growth: Analysts believe Amazon's move will disrupt existing models, particularly affecting cable networks and ad-supported VOD players. Amazon's unique position—backed by massive, unduplicated reach and unrivaled first-party data—gives it a competitive edge to capture a significant share of the ad market.

By 2025, Amazon could lead the U.S. connected TV and ad-supported VOD market, which is expected to reach about $16 billion.

Path to Shoppable TV: Beyond ad revenue, Amazon aims to transform TVs into interactive shopping carts. With its vast online retail platform and detailed viewer profiles, Amazon is in a unique position to make impulse buys and planned purchases a seamless part of the TV viewing experience.

This initiative could redefine how viewers engage with content, turning passive watching into an interactive shopping session, much like it did during its Black Friday NFL game last November and with QR codes during Thursday night football.

Amazon's integration of ads into Prime Video is more than just an additional revenue stream; it's a strategic move that could redefine the intersection of streaming entertainment and e-commerce.

However, this move isn’t necessarily a slam dunk. A key asset Prime Video lacks compared to Netflix and Disney+ is a high volume of hit shows. That perception will need to change as Amazon pushes its way into the party.

💸 RE-CHECK TARIFF IMPORT CODES to SAVE $

Using incorrect tariff codes to import your products into the US could be costing you up to 40% more in duties!

The US tariff system has over 13,000 lines of codes. It is overwhelming, time consuming and confusing if you don't know what you're doing.

The HTS code system is constantly updated every month with new rules, special programs, rate suspensions and modifications.

You should periodically audit and re-check the codes you’re using.

• What if your product is made with materials that belong to 2 or more HTS codes?

• What if your product is a bundle or a kit made up of other products?

• What if your product is a wooden toy, sports equipment and an educational product.

  What HTS code would you use?

Here’s what to do now to quickly re-check your codes:

STEP 1: Ask your forwarder to send you CBP Form 7501 (customs entry form) for your most recent shipment.

STEP 2: Look at Sections 28, 33, & 34 of the CBP Form 7501. Copy the HTS code and duty rates.

STEP 3: Go to Tariff Terminator and do a free check by pasting the HTS code into the free tariff checking audit tool.

Tips on how to read Customs Form 7501

 🐶 MEET RUFUS - AMAZON’S AI SEARCH ASSISTANT

Amazon has launched Rufus, a generative AI-powered shopping assistant designed to revolutionize the way customers interact with its vast product catalog and make shopping on its platform even more personalized and efficient.

Rufus, in beta on mobile, is trained on Amazon's extensive product data, customer reviews, community Q&As, and web information to offer tailored advice, product comparisons, and recommendations based on conversational context.

Amazon admits it is still rough around the edges, but has high hopes for it.

Impact on Search for Sellers:

• Enhanced Visibility: Sellers may see increased visibility for their products as Rufus can guide customers to items that precisely match their queries and needs, potentially driving higher engagement and sales for products that are well-reviewed and have comprehensive information available (Amazon recently bumped up backend search field capacity)

• Improved Product Discovery: With Rufus, products that might have been buried in search results could now be recommended to customers based on their specific questions or needs, improving discoverability.

• Quality Content Importance: The effectiveness of Rufus in recommending products will likely emphasize the importance of high-quality, informative product listings, reviews, and Q&As. Sellers will need to ensure their product information is thorough and customer feedback is positive to be favorably recommended.

Impact on Search for Buyers:

• Personalized Shopping Experience: Buyers will benefit from a more personalized and interactive shopping experience, where they can get expert advice and recommendations as if they were talking to a knowledgeable sales assistant.

• Informed Decision-Making: Rufus aims to simplify product research, comparison, and decision-making processes for customers, making it easier to find products that meet their needs and preferences without having to sift through countless similar options.

• Efficient Product Discovery: Customers looking for products for specific occasions, purposes, or based on certain criteria can leverage Rufus for more efficient discovery, potentially reducing the time and effort spent on finding the right products.

🤔 AI + WEB 3 MAKES a LOT of SENSE

A few years ago, NFTs and Web 3 were the rage. Pixelated jpegs of apes were selling for millions. A lot of successful Amazon sellers, always looking to make even more money, starting buying crypto assets. Even the founders of Helium 10 launched a project called Bulls & Apes (they have since exited).

As the graphic above shows, several of the biggest NFT projects, while down overall, have still retained a lot of value. Luxury brands like LVHM are leading the way in how the next generation of the NFT technology will be used.

In late 2022, AI became the hot new thing everyone was talking about. Everything was AI this or AI that. YouTubers claimed you could get rich in your underwear working 5 minutes a day publishing 500 different KDP travel guides using AI.

But here’s what very few are talking about in coffee shops and the mainstream media: Web 3 and NFTs are not dead. They took a hit, but so did a lot of internet companies when the Dot-com bubble hit its peak in March 2010. But look where we are now and what emerged out of those ashes.

The super off-the-chain smart people, including Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, believe crypto and the blockchain (which is what NFTs are built on) will work together to help build a decentralized AI that emphasizes security and privacy. It will change everything from finance to supply chain logistics to commerce (retail & digital).

Smart business folks like you pay attention to their current balance sheet, but they also try to stay ahead of the curve and see what’s coming.

In fact, as the chart below shows, bet you didn’t know mining Bitcoin is still a bigger business revenue-wise than Spotify or eBay.

There is a strong chance you’re gonna start hearing a lot more about AI & Web 3 working together and see some emerging tech around it.

Keep your eyes open and your ears to the ground.

✌🏼 The BDSS 9 Virtual Summit is coming up February 20-22 - don’t miss it!

See you again on Thursday …

The answer to today’s STUMP BEZOS is
a 41.5% increase