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This week’s Selling on Giants breaks down the biggest shifts impacting Amazon, Walmart, and the broader eCommerce landscape, with a focus on compliance risk, customer behavior, and tightening margins.

These are not surface-level updates. This is how operators are responding in real time.

Top stories this week:

• “Made in USA” enforcement is tightening
  A new executive order increases scrutiny on product claims. If your listings are not fully compliant, you are exposed to suppression, penalties, and account risk.
• Amazon buyer abuse and feedback threats
  Customers are leveraging negative feedback to push refunds and concessions. Learn how to protect your rating without sacrificing margin.
• NRF forecasts 4.4% retail growth
  Demand is steady, but competition is tightening. Growth comes from execution, not market lift.
• Walmart UPC and GTIN exemption friction
  More visibility into denials, but the process remains inconsistent. Listing velocity now depends on structured, precise submissions.

Additional insights covered:

• Shipping pressure from USPS losses
  Rising costs and service variability are forcing brands to rethink carrier strategy.
• Amazon returns and recovery data expansion
  New visibility into return reasons and costs creates opportunities to improve contribution margin.
• Target’s $915M retail media growth
  Paid visibility is becoming a baseline requirement across retail platforms.
• Sam’s Club and the participation era
  Membership, retention, and customer ownership are becoming central to growth.
• Shift away from third-party tools
  Amazon continues to pull sellers into its native ecosystem, changing how brands operate.

The bigger picture:

• Compliance is tightening
• Customer behavior is more aggressive
• Growth is steady, not explosive
• Margins are under pressure
• Platforms are taking more control

The edge is not in hacks. It is in execution. Clean data. Clear systems. Fast decisions.

If you are an eCommerce brand operating on Amazon, Walmart, or beyond, this episode gives you a clear operator lens on what matters right now and how to respond.

Like, follow, and subscribe to stay ahead of what is actually changing in eCommerce.

Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level insights built for serious marketplace brands navigating complexity with discipline.

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Consumers everywhere are noticing something strange.

Your favorite snack looks the same.
The price looks the same.
But somehow… the product inside feels smaller.

Welcome to the era of shrinkflation.

In this episode of Selling on Giants, we break down why products across grocery stores and marketplaces are quietly getting smaller — and why inflation is only part of the story.

The bigger shift is happening behind the scenes.

Modern retail economics — especially the rise of Amazon, eCommerce logistics, and marketplace fulfillment costs — are creating powerful incentives for brands to design smaller, lighter, and more efficient products.

What looks like shrinkflation on the shelf may actually be margin engineering driven by logistics, packaging optimization, and marketplace economics.

This episode connects the dots between consumer trends, global retail strategy, and the operational realities brands face when selling across Amazon, Walmart, Target, and other modern commerce platforms.

Along the way, we look at some real-world examples making headlines right now — from shrinking chocolate bars to evolving product packaging strategies.

Because once you understand the economics behind it, shrinkflation stops looking like a mystery… and starts looking like a system.

In this episode we cover:

• The rise of shrinkflation and why brands reduce product size instead of raising prices
• Why consumers notice price increases more than quantity changes
• The Reese’s example and how iconic products make shrinkflation visible
• Cadbury and the global chocolate shrink trend happening across Europe
• How Amazon fulfillment fees and shipping costs influence product design
• Why smaller packaging improves logistics efficiency in eCommerce
• The growing policy debate around shrinkflation transparency

Key takeaway

Products are getting smaller not only because of inflation, but because modern retail and marketplace economics reward smaller, more efficient product designs.

As eCommerce continues to reshape global retail, packaging, product sizing, and fulfillment efficiency will play an increasingly important role in how brands manage margins.

Shrinkflation may not be a temporary trend.

It may be the future of retail product design.

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Selling on Giants

Real insights on Amazon, marketplaces, and the changing economics of modern retail.

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This week on Selling on Giants, Mr. Will breaks down several major shifts shaping eCommerce, Amazon selling, and retail strategy. From AI entering Seller Central to retail media becoming a billion-dollar business, the rules of marketplace growth are evolving fast.

The common thread across this episode is simple.
Platforms are becoming smarter, more automated, and more data-driven.

Key topics in this episode include:

Amazon Adds AI to Seller Central Analytics
Amazon is embedding generative AI directly into Seller Central to help sellers analyze sales trends, advertising performance, and inventory movement via natural-language questions. For smaller brands, this could function like having a built-in analyst. For experienced operators it speeds up pattern detection across complex data sets.

Agentic Commerce and the Rise of AI Shopping Agents
New research from McKinsey highlights the next phase of online commerce. AI systems will not only recommend products but may soon execute purchases on behalf of consumers. That means product discovery could shift from human browsing to machine-driven decision making.

Target’s Advertising Business Keeps Growing
Target generated $915 million in advertising revenue in 2025 through its Roundel media network even while retail sales remained soft. This reinforces a massive industry shift where retailers are evolving into media companies and brands increasingly pay for visibility inside retail ecosystems.

Amazon Expands Product Opportunity Explorer
A new “Saved Opportunities” feature allows sellers to track niches and product ideas directly inside Seller Central. This signals Amazon’s continued push to keep product research and demand validation inside its own platform rather than relying on third-party tools.

Tariffs, Supply Chains, and Retail Cost Pressure
Costco is proactively adjusting sourcing strategies as tariffs begin influencing global supply chains again. Brands should expect renewed pressure on margins as retailers negotiate pricing with suppliers.

Returns Continue to Drain Retail Profitability
Retailers processed roughly $706 billion in product returns in 2025. Operational gaps and omnichannel returns like buy online return in store are becoming major margin challenges across retail.

Celebrity Backed Brands Continue to Reshape CPG
Kim Kardashian has joined energy drink startup Update as a co founder as the brand launches into Walmart with a paraxanthine based formula targeting wellness focused consumers.

The Bigger Theme

The future of commerce is becoming increasingly automated and data driven.

Retailers are building media businesses.
Platforms are embedding AI into operations.
And shopping behavior itself may soon be influenced by autonomous AI agents.

For brands and marketplace operators, the companies that adapt fastest to these structural changes will have the strongest advantage.

If you sell on Amazon, operate across marketplaces, or care about the future of retail, this episode provides the operator-level perspective behind the headlines.

Subscribe to Selling on Giants for weekly operator-level insights built for serious marketplace brands navigating complexity with discipline.