China on My Mind: How U.S.-based sellers can compete with Amazon's new low-priced Chinese marketplace

After years of telling U.S. sellers they cannot list generic products, Amazon plans to launch a marketplace of nothing but generic items from Chinese sellers. This is purportedly to compete with Shein and Temu. This puts many U.S. sellers in a terrible position. They already struggle to compete with Chinese sellers: Chinese manufacturers don’t always follow U.S. regulations for testing and product specifications, making their products cheaper. Chinese manufacturers are subsidized by the CCCP. Chinese sellers get shipping rates subsidized by U.S. taxpayers, thanks to the ridiculous ePacket agreement. Chinese manufacturers sometimes use enslaved, imprisoned and abused labor, while U.S. sellers must prove their entire supply chain is ethical. Where does this leave U.S. sellers? They must pivot quickly to create products and brands that make sense in a changing marketplace. This session will discuss: Choosing products and categories where quality and safety inherently matter to buyers Focusing on brand building to overcome generic knockoffs Protecting IP and brand as much as possible Rethinking where you manufacture, how you manufacture, and what inputs you use Creating a bullet-proof fulfillment strategy for always-available products Leveraging Amazon’s “made in the USA” and other affinity programs Benefitting from Subscribe & Save Using sophisticated audience-specific branding, imagery and messaging to compete Specializing in categories and products where competitors, especially in China, are unable to quickly adapt and duplicate And let’s not forget about playing defense and knowing best practices around: Brand Registry reporting Report a Violation Escalate to Amazon executives Reach out to governmental and extra-governmental agencies Don’t give up on Amazon. Compete where sellers on Amashemu and other platforms can’t possibly beat you.