Hey,
Quick Quiz Before We Dive In:
What percentage MORE did Amazon sessions with Rufus convert compared to sessions WITHOUT Rufus on Black Friday?
A) 20% more
B) 50% more
C) 80% more
D) 100% more
(Scroll to the very bottom for the answer—most sellers are getting this wrong)
It's Cyber Monday week. You're grinding, stacking sales, and watching your ads like a hawk. I get it.
But while you're focused on this week's revenue, don't miss the 4 big shifts that'll affect how you sell in 2026. Let's hit them fast.
Amazon's AI chatbot Rufus saw a 75% day-over-day increase in sessions that resulted in purchases on Black Friday, compared to just 35% for sessions without Rufus, according to data from Sensor Tower.
Here's what happened: Sessions on Amazon that included Rufus and resulted in a purchase surged 100% on Black Friday compared to the previous 30 days. Sessions without Rufus that still converted? Only up 20%.
Amazon launched Rufus in beta in early 2024 and rolled it out to all U.S. customers later that year. The chatbot helps shoppers find products, get recommendations, and compare options. And now it's clear—shoppers are using it to buy.
This isn't just an Amazon thing. Adobe Analytics tracked over 1 trillion visits to U.S. retail sites and found AI traffic increased 805% year-over-year on Black Friday. Shoppers who came from an AI service were 38% more likely to buy compared to non-AI traffic sources.
The categories? Electronics, video games, appliances, toys, personal care, and baby products. All high-competition, high-volume categories where Rufus is now influencing buying decisions.
What This Means for Your Listings
Rufus doesn't just scrape your bullet points. It interprets your content to answer shopper questions like "What's the best X for Y?" or "Compare these 3 products."
If your listings aren't written to feed Rufus the right information, you're invisible to a growing segment of buyers who are converting at higher rates.
Most sellers haven't adjusted yet. That's your window.
Takeaway for Amazon Sellers:
Optimize your listings for Rufus now while your competition is still asleep on this. Focus on clear, conversational product details that answer common buyer questions. Think about how shoppers actually ask questions ("Which laptop is best for video editing under $1,000?") and make sure your listing content directly addresses those queries. This is especially critical if you sell in high-traffic categories like electronics, toys, or personal care where Rufus adoption is highest.
Amazon is piloting "Amazon Now," a 30-minute delivery service for groceries and household essentials in select areas of Seattle and Philadelphia.
Daphne Howland/Supply Chain Dive
The service costs about $14 per order for non-Prime members and about $4 for Prime members. Orders under $15 also incur a fee of about $2.
To make this work, Amazon has placed small fulfillment facilities designed for efficiency "close to where Seattle- and Philadelphia-area customers live and work." These micro-fulfillment centers stock thousands of items and use AI-driven inventory management to predict local demand.
What's eligible? Milk, eggs, produce, toothpaste, cosmetics, over-the-counter medicine, paper goods, chips, dips, seasonal items and more.
This isn't Amazon's first rodeo with ultra-fast delivery. On Oct. 21, the company launched Amazon Now in the United Arab Emirates, where deliveries can arrive in as little as 15 minutes, with some customers receiving orders in 6 minutes.
Why This Matters
Ultra-fast delivery changes buying behavior. According to FreightWaves, grocery shoppers tend to return to the marketplace twice as often as non-grocery shoppers. Amazon knows this. They're using speed as a loyalty driver.
For now, this is Seattle and Philly only. But if it works, expect rapid expansion to New York, San Francisco, and other dense urban markets by mid-2026.
Takeaway for Amazon Sellers:
Evaluate whether your products qualify for ultra-fast delivery programs and ensure inventory is positioned in Amazon's regional fulfillment network. Focus on high-demand, everyday essentials and grocery-adjacent items that align with quick-turnaround shopping behaviors. Products optimized for same-day and rapid delivery programs may gain significant visibility advantages as Amazon expands this service to additional markets. If you sell consumables, household essentials, or personal care items, start thinking about how to position inventory closer to major metro areas now—before your competitors do.
Join Gary Huang and Sebastian Herz, founder of Zignify Global Sourcing, as they break down the new rules of sourcing in 2026. With shifting tariffs, rising costs, and global supply chain uncertainty, many Amazon sellers are asking the same question:
👉 Is China still the best place to source products?
👉 Or is it time to adopt a China-Plus-One strategy?
In this episode, Sebastian shares 10+ years of sourcing expertise across China, India, Vietnam, Pakistan, and emerging regions. You’ll learn how top Amazon sellers are adapting their sourcing playbooks, how to evaluate new supplier markets, and how to build resilient, cost-efficient product supply chains for long-term success.
If you're an e-commerce seller looking to reduce risk, increase profitability, and stay competitive in 2026 and beyond, this episode is packed with actionable insights.
Still With Me?
Only about half of readers make it this far in the newsletter. That means you're more committed to staying ahead than 50% of your competition. The next 2 stories could save you thousands in logistics costs and return fees. Let's keep going…
BNSF Railway and CSX launched faster intermodal schedules for coast-to-coast transport, with 5-day-a-week service from Los Angeles to multiple CSX destinations on the East Coast.
First, what's intermodal? It's when freight moves in containers that can transfer between trucks, trains, and ships without unpacking. Think of it as Legos for logistics—same container, different transportation modes.
What's New:
As of Nov. 17, BNSF now offers five-day-a-week intermodal schedules from Los Angeles to many CSX destinations, including:
• Los Angeles to Northwest Ohio terminal (89 hours) • Los Angeles to Philadelphia (158 hours) • Los Angeles to Louisville, Kentucky (109 hours)
Transit times have been reduced significantly, with improvements ranging from 22 to 52 hours depending on the route.
Why This Matters for Sellers
If you're importing from China via West Coast ports (Long Beach, LA, Oakland) and restocking East Coast FBA centers, these new rail schedules can shave 2+ days off your cross-country transit times.
Faster transit = less capital tied up in inventory in motion. It also means you can react quicker to stockouts or demand spikes.
This also matters for domestic manufacturers or suppliers shipping from West to East. Rail is cheaper than expedited trucking, and now it's competitive on speed too.
Cost vs. Speed
Rail is typically 30-50% cheaper than over-the-road trucking for long-haul routes like LA to the East Coast (2,200+ highway miles). But historically, rail was slower. These new schedules close that gap.
If you're currently using expedited truck freight to hit tight FBA delivery windows, compare the math. You might be able to switch to intermodal and save thousands per container without sacrificing speed.
Takeaway for Amazon Sellers:
Sellers shipping products from West Coast ports should explore these accelerated intermodal rail options to reduce transit times when restocking East Coast fulfillment centers. Faster cross-country shipping can help optimize inventory distribution and reduce stockouts. Consider adjusting supply chain strategies to leverage these improved rail schedules for high-volume inventory movements—especially if you're currently paying premium rates for expedited trucking. Run the numbers: rail is 30-50% cheaper than truck freight on these routes, and now the speed gap is closing fast.
Amazon rolled out 2 new tools to help sellers manage returns more profitably: a price-based threshold for returnless refunds and a new returns dashboard with detailed insights.
What's New:
Returnless Refund Thresholds: Sellers can now set a maximum item price between $1 and $75 to determine which products can qualify for refunds without customers needing to return the item, a program known as Returnless Resolutions. You can also enable this on a product-by-product basis.
Returns and Inventory Recovery Dashboard: The dashboard offers merchants information on top return reasons, recommendations to reduce return rates, and metrics such as recovered value of returned units.
Why This Matters
Returns are expensive. If you're selling a $7 item and the return shipping costs $9, you're underwater before you even restock it (if it's even resellable).
Returnless refunds let you cut your losses on low-value items while keeping customers happy. No return shipping fees. No restocking headaches. No disposal costs for damaged goods.
The new dashboard helps you identify patterns in returns—like "customer says item doesn't fit" or "arrived damaged"—so you can fix the root cause (better sizing charts, better packaging, clearer product descriptions).
The Balancing Act
Setting your returnless threshold too high means you're eating the cost of refunds on items that could've been resold. Setting it too low means you're still paying return fees on items that aren't worth the hassle.
The sweet spot? Most sellers should start around $10-$15 for consumables and household items, then adjust based on your actual return rates and average selling prices.
Important Restrictions
Not everything qualifies. The program does not cover items with an average sales price above $75 and is limited to customers "who don't have a history of returns abuse."
If a customer is flagged for abuse, Amazon will still require the return as normal.
Takeaway for Amazon Sellers:
Sellers should strategically configure returnless refund thresholds to balance customer satisfaction with profitability, particularly for low-cost items where return shipping exceeds product value. Use the new dashboard to identify patterns in return reasons and adjust product descriptions, images, or specifications to reduce return rates. Start with a $10-$15 threshold for consumables and household items, then review quarterly using the dashboard data. The downside? Set your threshold too high and you'll eat unnecessary refund costs on items that could've been resold. Set it too low and you're still paying return fees on junk inventory. Review this at least quarterly and adjust based on your actual return data.
ICYMI (In Case You Missed It)
Catching up on the last 2 weeks:
The Future of Shopping? AI + Actual Humans.
AI has changed how consumers shop, but people still drive decisions. Levanta’s research shows affiliate and creator content continues to influence conversions, plus it now shapes the product recommendations AI delivers. Affiliate marketing isn’t being replaced by AI, it’s being amplified.
Hit reply and tell me in ONE WORD: Which story was most valuable to you this week?
Rufus / Delivery / Rail / Returns
(I read every reply—and it helps me know what to cover more of)
Quiz Answer:
D) 100% more.
Sessions with Rufus that resulted in a purchase surged 100% on Black Friday compared to the previous 30 days. Sessions without Rufus? Only up 20%.
If you guessed wrong, you're not alone—most sellers have no idea how big Rufus has become.
Here's what to do next: Audit your top 10 listings this week. Ask yourself: "If a shopper asked Rufus 'What's the best [product] for [use case]?' would my listing answer that question clearly?"
If not, rewrite your bullets and descriptions to sound more conversational. Think FAQ-style content, not keyword-stuffed robot speak.
That's it for this week. Get back to selling—and don't sleep on Rufus.
– Gary