Every week I dive deep into Amazon strategy, advertising insights, and e-commerce trends—here’s a quick 5 min roundup of what caught my attention this week and what I wrote about.

Away - the OG DTC luggage brand you see in every airport - is now on Amazon

They went direct as a 3P seller.

• Live on Amazon with 9 core SKUs
• Nordstrom is next (premium aluminum + softside lines)
• Entered Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2023
• 17 stand-alone stores, with more on the way

Why the pivot to Amazon now? Until recently, brands like Away couldn’t see how much market share they were losing by not being on Amazon.

That data is now publicly available.

It’s making Amazon’s pitch to “holdout” DTC brands a lot easier.

Weeks after Amazon's Alexa+ AI launch, a mystery: where are the users?

According to Reuters, since Amazon announced their newly revamped AI-voice assistant, no one actually has access to it [I can confirm that I do not have access as an Echo Show user].

Alexa+ was marketed as being able to respond to multiple prompts in sequence and even act as an “agent” on behalf of users by taking actions for them without their direct involvement. That contrasts with the current iteration, which generally handles only a single request at a time.

It's no surprise why Amazon is pouring billions in resources to this. I can't even tell you how many times I'd rather just talk to a voice assistant in my home (Alexa) vs. opening up the ChatGPT app on my iPhone.

Amazon has such a huge lead with millions of devices already in homes - if they can figure out the voice portion, it unlocks incredible potential for their business and for brands on the platform.

It's no surprise Vacation Susncreen isn't all-in on Amazon

The brand story just doesn’t hit the same within the constraints of the platform.

Vacation is (arguably) one of the most aesthetically dialed-in DTC brands in the game:

• Retro visuals—think 1980s Miami Beach
• A brand voice that’s as fun as it is absurd
• Cinematic product videos and animations
• PR stunts that land: TSA, Martini & Rossi, AriZona, Kim K

But search for them on Amazon and it feels… muted. The storytelling loses its magic when you’re sandwiched between Banana Boat and Supergoop. Amazon is built for purchase, not personality.

ChatGPT still isn't great at recommending products on Amazon. My story:

Doing some research on Vitamin D3 + K2 supplements, and ChatGPT recommended a daily dosage, notes, and asked me to consider specific brands and products on Amazon. Amazing.

The link ChatGPT told me to follow, "NOW D3+K2" took me to a completely different brand product detail page that was selling a hyaluronic acid face serum from Foxbrim Naturals...

No clear reason why this brand or product was recommended. I can't find any keywords on the Amazon detail page that would have triggered the search within ChatGPT

How much would a brand pay for this placement within ChatGPT?

Amazon’s Rufus AI Is Quietly Rewriting Product Pages — Here’s What Brands Need to Know

The default questions that show up aren’t random. They’re generated based on your product detail page content—specifically, bullet points, images, and customer reviews.

If your brand hasn’t clearly addressed key functional benefits in the PDP (like “Does this jacket provide adequate wind protection?”), you’re leaving that up to Rufus to answer using third-party signals.

Our recommendation for brands:
• Review your top-selling ASINs and look at the default questions showing up in the Rufus module.
• Revisit your bullet points, main images, and A+ content—are you clearly answering the questions your customers care about most?
• Pay attention to how your competitors are triggering Rufus responses

I talk about Amazon, e-commerce, and advertising strategy in my weekly newsletter.

I also spent 7 years working at Amazon in Seattle under the most influential people at the company, now I consult for some of the largest Amazon brands in the world.