[ BDSN ] The impending marketing revolution for Amazon sellers

Norm and Kevin will be talking about their CMS Cigars & Whiskey event in early November in Tampa, FL as well as what DragonFish is up to in AI and Email Marketing tomorrow, Friday, September 12 at 1pm EST in an informal AMA.

You are welcome to join us!

👀 MCPs: SHAPING the FUTURE of YOUR AMAZON BUSINESS

BDSS Dream 100 member Danny McMillan has just released a new deep dive guide on the power of MCP’s and agentic workflows that are starting to be used by smart and sophisticated agencies and sellers.

What's an MCP? (Think USB-C for Your Business Tools)

Imagine if every device needed its own special cable - phones, laptops, headphones all different. That was annoying, right? USB-C fixed that with one universal cable.

MCPs (Model Context Protocol) do the same thing for AI and your business tools. Instead of AI making educated guesses about your Amazon business, MCPs let AI directly connect to your real data - your Seller Central account, spreadsheets, emails, and inventory systems.

The Big Difference: Traditional automation tools like Zapier and Make work great for simple "if this, then that" tasks. But MCPs are smarter - they can analyze your actual business data, make judgment calls, and handle the messy, unpredictable parts of running an Amazon business.

Why Traditional Automation Isn't Enough for Amazon Sellers

You know that endless to-do list: external traffic strategies, PPC optimization, inventory planning, competitor analysis. Always on the list, never actually done.

Here's the problem with regular automation:

• It assumes your business is predictable (Amazon definitely isn't!)

• It can't handle judgment calls (like when a competitor changes strategy)

• It hallucinates data (makes up convincing but fake numbers when it doesn't have real info)

Real Example: AI tools often create "beautiful reports" about Amazon rankings that look professional but contain completely made-up data because they can't actually access Amazon's real numbers.

How MCPs Solve the Hallucination Problem

MCPs cut AI hallucinations by connecting to your real business data instead of making predictions.

• Without MCPs: AI guesses based on training data (~30% accurate)

• With MCPs: AI uses your actual Seller Central data (~85% accurate)

This means when you ask "How's my inventory looking?" you get real numbers from your actual account, not AI's best guess.

What's Changing:

• Unified data access - See Amazon + external traffic performance in one view

• Real-time optimization - Campaigns adjust automatically based on actual performance

• Instant visual reports - No more manual data pulling and spreadsheet building

• Strategic focus - MCPs handle execution while you focus on big picture decisions

The Timing Advantage: Large brands and agencies need 1-2 years to "turn the ship around" and implement these systems. You can start today.

Immediate Day One Uses for Amazon Sellers:

• Email organization - "Find all supplier emails about pricing changes"

• Inventory alerts - Get notified when stock hits reorder points

• Competitor monitoring - Track price changes and new listings automatically

• Report generation - Turn messy data into clean, actionable insights

Example Workflow: Your MCP notices a competitor dropped prices, checks your inventory levels, calculates profit margins at different price points, and suggests optimal response - all while you sleep.

The Setup Reality: 15 Minutes, Not Months

1. Instant Setup (2 minutes): Gmail, Google Drive, Calendar - just toggle and authenticate

2. API Setup (15-30 minutes): More advanced connections like Seller Central

The Truth: Most "technical" setup is just copying and pasting a few commands. If you can follow a recipe, you can set up an MCP.

When to use what:

• Zapier: Simple, repetitive tasks (new order → send email)

• n8n: Complex workflows you build once and run repeatedly

• MCPs: Variable tasks requiring judgment and interpretation

MCP Sweet Spot: Tasks that need your expertise but not your creativity - like analyzing competitor data, organizing messy files, or writing product descriptions based on research.

Why Timing Matters (The 2-Year Window)

The Pattern: In every Amazon evolution (FBA launch, advertising, aggregators), early adopters gained 2-3 year advantages before everyone caught up.

Current Situation:

• 90% of AI industry projected to support MCPs by early 2026

• Large agencies need 18-24 months to restructure operations

• Small, agile sellers can implement immediately

The Opportunity: While big competitors debate and plan, you're already running a more efficient operation.

The Mindset Shift Required

Old Thinking: "I need to learn this technical stuff to stay competitive"

New Thinking: "I need to focus on strategy while MCPs handle execution"

Your billion-dollar brain contains irreplaceable Amazon knowledge. Don't waste it tweaking code. Use MCPs to amplify your expertise, not replace it.

The Rule: If a task requires expertise but not creativity, it's perfect for MCP automation.

What's Coming in the Next 12 Months for Amazon Sellers Specifically:

• Native Seller Central integration (currently beta)

• Automated external traffic management

• Unified customer data across all channels

• Real-time profit optimization across platforms

Your Action Plan

Week 1: Start with Gmail and Google Drive MCPs (read-only, 2 minutes setup each) Week 2: Test basic automation with non-critical data
Week 3: Add one live business workflow
Week 4: Expand based on what's working

Investment: $0-500 for basic setup, or hire help for $400-600 if you value time over learning.

Ready to Dive Deeper?

This overview scratches the surface of what's possible. For complete implementation details, security best practices, advanced workflows, and real-world case studies, read Danny McMillan's full detailed deep dive.

Danny breaks down everything: exact setup steps, security considerations, advanced applications, competitive advantages, and the specific MCPs that work best for Amazon sellers.

🔭 YOU GOTTA SEE THIS

Oana’s talk won first place at BDSS 12 Virtual last month. She shares more golden nuggets in this Lunch with Norm podcast about how to rank in the new AI world on Amazon.

Turn your Amazon PPC into a PROFITABLE GROWTH ENGINE in 5 days with The Profitable PPC Challenge - the largest digital Amazon PPC training event in the world.

Master new profitability tactics from just the last few months like:

• Audience targeting

• Mass-launch AI video PPC ads

• Rufus optimization

• New PPC Product launch protocols

• Hyper profitable category targeting hacks

Secure your $27 early bird ticket here now (every prior event has sold out)

🤖  HOW to SUBMIT YOUR PRODUCTS to 3 TOP AI LLMS

Structured feeds have been essential for Google Shopping, Meta Advantage+, and TikTok Shop for a while.

And now, they’re becoming equally important for AI-powered discovery. Especially as platforms like Perplexity and OpenAI build out product recommendation systems.

Think of your feed as the dataset LLMs will eventually pull from.

Perplexity has launched a Merchant Program accepting feed uploads, called the Perplexity Merchant Program. This lets ecommerce sellers have even more control over how their products can appear in AI responses.

Plus, OpenAI is quietly testing ways to let store owners upload feeds to improve their AI responses for product recommendations.

These feeds will likely drive future AI shopping experiences across chat, search, and even voice interfaces.

So how do you set your product feeds up in an LLM-friendly way?

What to Include

To optimize your product feeds for AI, start with the essentials:

• Product title

• Description

• Price

• Availability

• Product URL

• GTIN or MPN + Brand

• Image URL

After you’ve added the basics, layer in high-value fields like:

• Category or taxonomy

• Color, material, and size variants

• Shipping cost and speed

• Review count and star rating

• Custom labels for campaigns or segmentation

Use the same language your customers use.

This means writing product information the way your customers actually talk and search, not how your internal teams or suppliers describe things. For example:

Instead of:

“Athletic footwear with moisture-wicking synthetic upper”

Write:

“Running shoes that keep your feet dry”

How do you find out how they talk?

Look at your customer reviews, support tickets, and search queries that already drive traffic to your store.

Here’s how to submit your product feeds for three of the biggest AI interfaces.

Perplexity:

In 2024, Perplexity launched their Merchant Program. This fuels the platform’s shopping experience for Pro users. Your products may appear in carousel-style answers and shopping-focused prompts, and shoppers can buy without leaving Perplexity.

You can find out more about the program and sign up here.

OpenAI (ChatGPT):

OpenAI is piloting product discovery via ChatGPT’s “Search + Product Discovery” initiative. They’re exploring using uploaded feeds to power future buying experiences inside ChatGPT.

Fill out this interest form to apply.

Google Merchant Center (AI Mode and Gemini):

Google’s Merchant Center feeds power Shopping Ads, organic Shopping listings, and likely influence how Google’s AI systems interpret and surface your products in AI Mode and AI Overviews.

⛽ AMAZON SUPERCHARGES PRODUCT OPP EXPLORER

Ahmed Sandeer on Linkedin points out Amazon recently dropped a major upgrade to Product Opportunity Explorer that every serious seller needs to know about.

The new 'Insights & Trends' tab transforms this tool from basic product research into your complete niche intelligence command center.

What's New:

Four Power-Packed Analysis Views Get instant clarity on any market with these new perspectives:

• Demand Overview - See the real size of your opportunity

• Competition Overview - Understand who you're up against

• Differentiation Potential - Spot gaps where you can stand out

• Momentum Tracker - Identify trending opportunities before they explode

Deep-Dive Trend Analysis Plot custom graphs using critical metrics like Search Volume, Conversion Rates, Top 5 Click Share, and Average Ratings. Finally, you can visualize exactly what's driving success in your niche.

Time-Travel Your Data The new comparison table shows you Today vs. 90 days ago vs. 360 days ago across dozens of metrics. Think Product Count, Average Reviews, Out-of-Stock Rates, and more. This historical view is pure gold for spotting seasonal patterns and timing your product launches perfectly.

This isn't just an update, it's a complete transformation. Product Opportunity Explorer has evolved from a basic research tool into a strategic intelligence platform that can guide every major decision in your business.

Ready to dive in? Head to Seller Central and explore the new Insights & Trends tab. Your competition won't see this coming.

✌🏼 Have a great weekend.

See you again on Monday in Seattle. Don’t forget to sign-up for the dinner BDSN is a sponsor of (I’ll be doing a short talk there too).

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