Do you have ambitious sales targets with Amazon in 2027? I have bad news for you
By Martin Heubel · October 23, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
Do you have ambitious sales targets with Amazon in 2027? I have bad news for you:
Your Vendor Manager won't let you grow in double digits unless you're taking their Net PPM demands seriously.
That's because Vendor Managers have the clear mandate to rather forfeit growth if that means safeguarding their profitability. And by profitability I don't mean cash margin. I mean Amazon's Net PPM percentage (%).
I've spoken to several 1P vendors recently growing 20-50% YoY on a $20MM+ net receipts base.
Unsurprisingly, their KAM teams were delighted by this growth performance. But while outgrowing their category peers, their Net PPM dropped by ≥400bps, due to price matching and 3P resellers fighting for the Buy Box.
The result?
Amazon's Vendor Managers removed items from deals and threatened to pause orders for structurally deficient ASINs unless the brand fully offset the year-to-date margin loss.
Suddenly, the growth success story turned into a margin nightmare.
It's a good reminder that growth on Amazon 1P should never be viewed in isolation, because those sales must proportionally support Amazon's Net PPM%.
An easy way to govern your sales growth is by using my Amazon Vendor Profitability (AVP) Matrix: It lets you assess which part of your portfolio is actually growing and whether your sales growth is adding or subtracting margin points from Amazon's Net PPM.
I've explained the framework in detail here: https://lnkd.in/eSGzbk3t