Record-breaking Christmas Sales – What convinced customers?

Updates: Amazon

High return rate visible on the PDP

New requirements for product titles from 01 January 2025

According to an announcement in Seller Central, new requirements for the creation of product titles will apply in the new year.

• For most product categories, titles may not exceed 200 characters, including spaces.
• The special characters !, $, ?, _, {, }, ^, ¬, and ¦ are not allowed, unless they are part of the brand name.
• Titles may not contain the same word more than twice. Prepositions, articles, and conjunctions are exceptions.

Our take: Most of these new regulations are already familiar. We simply anticipate stricter enforcement moving forward. Tip: Check the backend for content overwrite suggestions—Amazon may also promote AI-generated content here.

News: Amazon

Amazon introduces new fee for products with high return rates

Amazon is planning to introduce an additional fee for products with above-average return rates from February 2025. The aim is to minimize returns and promote sustainability.

• What does this mean for sellers? Retailers must analyze their return rates carefully and take measures to reduce them if necessary. Amazon provides exceptions, details on the calculation and further information on the processing fee for returns in Seller Central.
• Which products are affected? Items with returns that are significantly higher than average are affected, especially in categories such as clothing and electronics.

More Amazon-News:

• Amazon warns retailers selling their goods on Temu for a cheaper price
• Project Kuiper: Amazon plans satellite-based internet service in the UK

News: E-Commerce

Record sales: Holiday shoppers spend 1.2 trillion dollars online

Salesforce data shows that record e-commerce sales of 1.2 trillion US dollars were generated worldwide during the 2025 holiday season.

• Focus on mobile users: a total of 842 billion US dollars in sales were generated worldwide via mobile devices. Retailers using social commerce strategies were able to generate 20% of global Christmas sales via platforms such as TikTok Shop and Instagram.
• AI as driving force: both customers and retailers used AI to improve the shopping experience, influencing 229 billion US dollars – or 19% – of all online orders.

More E-Commerce-News:

• UK: 67 million Christmas presents returned
• Africa’s e-commerce said to explode: 113 billion dollars expected by 2029
• TikTok Shop expands offering: collector categories and protection against counterfeits
• Study shows generational shopping preferences

News: AI in Online Retail

71% of consumers want generative AI when shopping

A study by Capgemini shows that 71% of consumers would like to see generative AI integrated into their shopping experiences.

• Search with AI: more than half (58%) of consumers have replaced traditional search engines with AI tools for product/service recommendations, a significant increase from 25% in 2023.
• Desire for personalization: two thirds of Gen Z and millennials want hyper-personalized content and product recommendations supported by AI.

More News on AI:

• Amazon’s AWS invests 11 billion US dollars in the development of AI infrastructure
• The future of AI in 2025
• Alibaba’s AI search engine reports 500,000 users

Did you know?

(Source: Remazing Amazon Shopper Report 2024 by Remazing & Appinio)