49% of 1P brands see net margins decline after #AVNs with Amazon, according to m
By Martin Heubel ยท April 21, 2026 ยท Curated by George's Blog
49% of 1P brands see net margins decline after #AVNs with Amazon, according to my industry study with Stratably.
That number alone is staggering.
Now, #Amazon has overtaken Walmart in quarterly revenue for the first time in history: $213.4bn vs $190.7bn in Q4 2025.
Market dominance at that scale removes the pressure to treat suppliers generously.
And Amazon knows it.
That's why margin exploitation across both 1P and 3P is accelerating. A 3.5% fuel surcharge for FBA sellers here. A rejection of cost price increases with 1P vendors there.
๐๐บ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป ๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ผ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐บ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ด๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ๐๐ถ๐น๐น.
Which means the conversation your board needs to have isn't how to grow Amazon.
๐ ๐๐'๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐.
Most leadership teams aren't ready for that conversation.
The structural barriers run too deep:
โ Assortment is built for offline channels, not Amazon
โ Trade negotiations still anchor in legacy retailer logic
โ No clear view of total cost to serve Amazon
โ Fear of Buy Box sanctions forcing concessions during AVNs
โ Operational processes that haven't been redesigned for 1P efficiency
The brands that thrive in the phase of Amazon's next growth cycle won't be the ones with the largest Amazon revenue.
They'll be the ones who decided early that market share without margin is not a strategy.
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