🎙️News Review with Armin Alispahic and Pat Petriello

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Welcome to another edition of The Retail Round Up: your monthly recap of the biggest headlines and developments in the retail world.

This week, Pat Petriello is here to unpack everything happening in the world of ads, and Armin Alispahic will take us through the latest in operations and organic trends.

First up: Amazon fees. What changed, what's next, and how to respond, followed by rapid-fire industry updates.

Let's dive in.

Quote:

Search is not dead. I think in two years, 90+ percent of product discovery will still be going to happen through the search bar.

Pat Petriello

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In this episode, Julie, Jordan, Pat, and Armin discuss:

• Amazon FBA Fee Changes: The latest fee updates, how they compare to previous years, and what they really mean for brands, from operational efficiency to punitive costs for poor fulfillment practices.

• Survival of the Fittest: How increased complexity and tighter margins are pushing sellers to optimize their operations or risk falling behind, with commentary from Pat Patriello on treating SKUs as individual P&Ls.

• Big Retail Media Announcements: Amazon's new partnerships and platform updates, including shoppable ads on Twitch and audio/video ad placements on Spotify, and what these mean for near- and long-term media buying strategies.

• AI Tools and Storefronts: Amazon's rollout of its Storefront Page Builder powered by AI, its current limitations, and predictions for what's coming next.

• The Rise of ChatGPT in Commerce: Recent announcements about the Agentic Commerce Protocol and integrations with platforms like Walmart, Shopify, and Etsy, reflecting on how conversational AI could transform (but not immediately replace) traditional search-driven product discovery.

• Fee Updates and Pricing Transparency: New Prime Exclusive Deal structures for the holidays, plus a potentially game-changing test of displaying historical price data in the Amazon mobile app, and what that could mean for brands and consumers.