Amazon Unveils AI Innovations, a Fully Automated Supply Chain, and Buy with Prime Enhancements for Sellers at Accelerate, its Fifth Annual Seller Conference Explore the latest insights and key announcements from Amazon.

Pop quiz: What do trusted payment options, supply chain automation, and AI-driven innovations have in common?

They're essential components that can help to drive the success of any business. That's why Amazon introduced an exciting new set of features designed to help independent sellers optimize their operations and drive growth during the fifth-annual Amazon Accelerate seller conference in Seattle. Amazon has a robust history of partnering with independent sellers around the world, helping them harness its innovative and cost-effective resources to grow into successful brands. Today, more than 60% of sales in Amazon's store come from independent sellers – most of which are small- to medium-sized businesses. Selling in Amazon's store unlocks a powerful and proven economic engine for independent sellers, giving them 24/7 access to hundreds of millions of Amazon customers worldwide. Many of these sellers turned out en masse at Accelerate to learn about new developments, meet one-on-one with Amazon experts, network, and more.

This year's announcements didn't disappoint. From boosting productivity with AI-powered tools to fully automating supply chain services to leveraging the trust of the Prime brand, Amazon helps businesses large and small streamline operations, attract more customers, and scale their businesses across channels.

Let's dive into these developments and discover how they can help your business succeed.

Boost growth productivity with new generative AI tools

Amazon has been tapping into the power of AI for years, and at Accelerate, Amazon unveiled a powerful set of generative AI tools designed to propel seller growth, and taking center stage is a new generative AI-powered selling assistant codenamed Project Amelia.

Project Amelia, built using Amazon Bedrock, provides independent sellers with tailored business insights, recommendations, and solutions to streamline operations and increase productivity. By answering questions, offering real-time metrics, and diagnosing business challenges, Amelia helps sellers more effectively manage tasks like inventory and sales forecasting. Over time, Amazon says that Amelia will evolve to anticipate sellers' needs and even act on behalf of sellers, freeing them to focus more on growth.

In addition to Project Amelia, Amazon rolled out several other generative AI tools that help create high-quality product listings faster, generate rich content, make personal recommendations to customers, and even produce engaging video ads. Together, these innovations simplify operations, reduce time spent on manual tasks, and help sellers more easily reach and engage with customers.

Amazon is applying this innovative thinking across the entire seller experience, including ensuring a trustworthy shopping experience. For example, earlier this year, Amazon introduced Project P.I., which uses computer vision in fulfillment centers to uncover defects like damaged products or issues such as wrong color or size before products are shipped to customers. Project P.I. also leverages generative AI to identify root causes and provide guidance to sellers on preventative measures – changing packaging, updating listings, and more – to enhance the overall customer experience.

By integrating AI across the selling experience, Amazon allows sellers to operate more efficiently, maximize their reach, and enhance the overall customer shopping experience.

Increase sales by 20% with Amazon's fully managed supply chain service

What if you could leverage the power of Amazon to manage your entire supply chain by partnering with Amazon? For independent sellers, that's now a reality. Amazon announced its fully managed, end-to-end Supply Chain by Amazon service is now available to sellers. It offers sellers a comprehensive solution for global and domestic logistics, warehousing, and multi-channel distribution. The service simplifies operations, allowing sellers to move products from factories to customers faster and more efficiently, resulting in an average 20% increase in sales conversions, the company says.

Sellers simply provide product details and pickup locations and Amazon oversees the rest, including carrier pickup, inventory consolidation, strategic replenishment and placement into fulfillment centers nearest to customers, and continuous analytically driven optimization based on demand, inventory levels, and costs. Sellers can choose between using individual services or having Amazon manage the entire process, from carrier pickup to fulfillment center replenishment. Amazon estimates that sellers can reduce the total amount of inventory needed to stay in stock by about 20% by simply reducing from two inventory pools to one, and that percentage increases during seasonal or volatile demand. By handling supply chain operations, Amazon allows sellers to focus more on creating great products and less on tedious and laborious logistics.

Amazon seller Steve Neufer, co-founder of Juvo+, already is reaping the advantages. "Amazon is a great partner for businesses of all sizes because they help take that on for us. This frees up time and energy to focus on elevating brands, understanding customer needs, and building great products," he said. "Becoming an expert in supply chain is not how sellers win; we win by making better products for the customer."

Grow your business across sales channels

Independent sellers worldwide often sell products on their own brand sites or other channels. Now, they have stronger support with Amazon's expanded Buy with Prime and Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) services. Buy with Prime, which is available in the U.S., leverages the trusted Prime brand to boost traffic and sales directly on merchant websites while Amazon MCF allows merchants to use Amazon's fulfillment network to pick, pack, and ship orders across Amazon's fulfilment network and channels beyond Amazon.

So far this year, Buy with Prime orders surged more than 45% year-over-year, with a 16% rise in revenue per shopper. New features announced at Accelerate a couple weeks ago include PayPal integration for checkout and advertising solutions, including Amazon DSP for Buy with Prime and partnerships with Google Shopping Ads and TikTok Ads, to help merchants drive traffic and sales. Additionally, the service expanded its brand offerings, adding notable names like IZOD, Elizabeth Arden, Dollar Shave Club, and more.

Amazon MCF also continues its rapid growth, now serving more than 200,000 U.S. merchants with a 70% year-over-year increase in orders so far this year. Enhancements include a 40% faster Standard Delivery option along with the introduction of MCF Fast Badges and estimated delivery dates in Google Shopping Ads and TikTok ads. These updates allow merchants to scale more efficiently, reach a wider audience, and improve conversion rates.

Want to learn more? Watch the Amazon Accelerate General Sessions on demand to discover how Amazon's latest innovations are helping independent sellers thrive.