I hate talking about inflation. It's a reminder of how little impact I have on the world and how powerful market forces are. They are bigger than me, they are bigger than a war, and in spite of what other's say... they're bigger than a president. Market forces are the sentiment and decisions of billions of people. These all combine to change what a dollar means.
They're here and they are affecting selling on Amazon.
This week a 5% surcharge for fuel and inflation will affect all Amazon FBA fees.
Average Container Costs are still double what they were a year ago.
Advertising cost per click is up 25%. Return on Ad Spend is down 15%.
Could these forces be a reason that the aggregator Suma Brands announced layoffs?
There's a lot I can say. But I'm more interested in solutions for your business not a long meandering of why these could be happening.
Get your unit economics in order. It's not easy. Software helps, but diving in and understanding what's a variable expense and what's not will help.
I will plug that SmartScout's FBA Calculator is the only one that actively helps you model around FBA fees. It show's you if you were to get a lower fee, how you can do that (size/weight).
Next, become familiar with Amazon settlement reports. Someone in your business (maybe you!) needs to know the ins and outs here. The settlement report is the source of truth. Below is a reference of the latest trends.
(Data comes from Perpetua and Freightos)
