Important Amazon Weekly News #10

Amazon has rolled out a new Partial Refunds feature for FBA sellers, allowing them to issue partial refunds to customers without requiring the physical return of an item. The update is now live in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Italy, and Spain.

According to Amazon, the goal is to reduce reverse logistics costs and speed up customer service. Sellers can now:

• Save on return shipping and processing fees;

• Set their own percentage for partial refunds;

• Choose which products are eligible;

• Adjust parameters anytime.

These transactions appear in the FBA Returns Dashboard as Complete – Return not expected, meaning no physical return is required.

Why it matters
Returns are one of the most expensive pain points of selling on Amazon. This update could significantly cut costs for sellers, especially those dealing with low-priced or bulky products where returns often make little financial sense.

Community response
Still, many sellers are wary. Concerns include the possibility that:

• Customers might request refunds while keeping undamaged products;

• Amazon could auto-approve certain partial refunds without seller input;

• Managing small refund requests could demand extra oversight to prevent profit loss.

Industry experts suggest Amazon must enforce strict criteria — such as mandatory photo proof of damage or defect — to prevent abuse. Otherwise, this seemingly seller-friendly tool might turn into a costly loophole.

OpenAI has unveiled Instant Checkout, a new feature that lets ChatGPT not only search for products but also complete purchases directly within the chat — no redirects, no external websites. It’s the first real move toward agentic commerce, a model where AI assists users in making faster, more informed buying decisions.

Currently in limited testing, ChatGPT Instant Checkout is already being integrated with marketplaces that offer open APIs. According to Marketplace Pulse, the AI can independently find products, compare prices, and process payments.

What it means for Amazon sellers
Unlike Walmart or Target, which allow open API integrations, Amazon keeps its ecosystem closed — relying on internal tools like Rufus and Alexa Shopping instead. For now, this limits AI agents’ access to Amazon listings. However, it also signals a major shift: in the near future, listing visibility will depend not only on Amazon’s search algorithm but also on how well AI agents can interpret your product titles, attributes, and reviews.

Why it matters
AI is becoming the new middleman between brands and consumers. To stay visible, your listings must be “AI-readable” — with clear titles, structured descriptions, and context-rich keywords. High-quality content and authentic reviews will increasingly influence which products AI recommends.

The bottom line
Instant Checkout isn’t just a tech update — it’s a wake-up call. As AI-driven shopping expands, sellers who optimize their listings for machine understanding will gain the upper hand. The next era of e-commerce won’t just be about winning over human buyers — but also about convincing intelligent assistants to choose your product first.

Amazon has introduced a new feature called “Add to Delivery,” giving Prime users the ability to add products to an upcoming shipment with just one click. The feature is already live for select U.S. customers in the Amazon Shopping app and will roll out to all Prime members in the coming months.

How it works
When a shopper already has an active order awaiting delivery, certain product pages now display an “Add to this delivery” button. Tapping it automatically adds the item to the same package — no need to re-enter addresses or confirm delivery options.

According to Amazon, this update aims to:

• Reduce the number of separate packages and lower the carbon footprint;

• Streamline the buying process and shorten the path from discovery to purchase;

• Encourage spontaneous add-on purchases — customers can now “top up” their delivery in seconds.

What it means for sellers
For merchants, “Add to Delivery” could boost visibility and conversion rates for products in frequently reordered or impulse-friendly categories — household goods, kitchen items, personal care, and everyday essentials. Amazon is actively testing which product types perform best under this new, ultra-convenient format.

Amazon has updated two key analytics tools for sellers — Voice of Customer (VoC) and Returns & Recovery: Insights and Opportunities — designed to help sellers better understand return reasons, monitor customer experience, and improve product quality. The community, however, remains divided on their effectiveness.

What’s new in Voice of Customer
The dashboard now features a High Return Rate metric that highlights listings with above-average return rates. Amazon has also refined the Negative Customer Experience (NCX) calculation, offering more accurate and detailed feedback analysis.
VoC now enables sellers to:

• Track customer experience metrics and return trends;

• Analyze feedback across marketplaces and languages;

• Receive automated recommendations for improving listings and product quality.

Still, many sellers complain that VoC lacks actionable insights — feedback is often vague or inaccurate, and support requests sometimes disappear into the system.

Returns & Recovery Dashboard
The new Returns & Recovery: Insights and Opportunities panel consolidates data for both FBA and FBM orders. Key sections include:

• Return Insights — filters by marketplace and category, root-cause analysis, and suggestions to reduce returns;

• Recovery — FBA return analytics and tools for identifying items eligible for Grade and Resell;

• Resource Center — guides and materials for managing returns efficiently.

For example, if frequent returns stem from inaccurate sizing info, the dashboard can flag the issue and prompt listing updates.

Seller feedback
While sellers acknowledge the dashboards’ potential, many note incomplete data, limited granularity, and poor transparency. As one seller put it, “Amazon gives us information, but not the means to act on it.”

Bottom line
These dashboards mark a real step toward smarter analytics and automation. They can help reduce returns and improve customer satisfaction — once Amazon fine-tunes data accuracy and makes the tools truly actionable.

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