Amazon Just Removed the Paywall on AMC’s Most Valuable Data. You Have Until December 31

5 Jun 2026

Amazon Just Removed the Paywall on AMC’s Most Valuable Data. You Have Until December 31

On June 2, 2026, Amazon announced that most sellers will miss entirely. Amazon’s 1P paid feature signals in Amazon Marketing Cloud are now free to query through December 31, 2026, for both audience creation and measurement use cases. Third-party signals such as Experian continue to require a subscription fee.

For brands that have been running AMC queries for years, this is a significant expansion of what they can analyze at no additional cost. For brands that have never touched AMC’s paid tables — which is most sellers — this is a seven-month window to access data they have never seen before, at no cost.

Here is why that matters more than it sounds.

What AMC’s Free Tier Has Always Done — and What It Missed

AMC is free to use by default, but the free version only gives you insight into Amazon advertising-specific metrics. To get organic metrics — sales and purchase behavior of customers who were not ad-exposed — you previously had to subscribe to Amazon Flexible Shopping Insights, a paid feature.

That distinction is the entire point. Your ad data was always visible. What you could not see was everything that happened outside your ads — organic purchases, organic adds to cart, Subscribe & Save sign-ups, and the behavior of shoppers who found your product without clicking an ad. Without that data, you were analyzing half the picture.

Without the paid subscription, you could only calculate LTV for ad-exposed shoppers. Organic metrics were required for full LTV analysis. For any brand trying to understand true customer lifetime value, the free tier was structurally incomplete.

That gap is now closed, temporarily.

What You Can Actually Query Now

The paid feature that matters most for most advertisers is Amazon Insights — the dataset that gives you full access to both organic and ad-attributed interactions shoppers had with your brand over the last 12.5 months. With that data now free to query, the questions you can answer are fundamentally different from what AMC’s free tier allowed.

Here are the questions worth running first.

Full customer lifetime value. What is the actual LTV of a customer acquired through advertising, including all subsequent organic purchases? Not just ad-attributed revenue — total revenue across the full relationship. Most sellers have been running LTV calculations that only captured the ad-exposed portion of shopper behavior. This fills the gap.

Organic behavior after an ad-attributed purchase. Does a customer who first buys through a Sponsored Products ad come back organically? How often? How quickly? This tells you whether your ad spend is building a customer base or just renting traffic.

Subscribe & Save conversion paths. How many purchase events does a shopper typically have before subscribing? Does your entry-level size act as a trial that leads to subscription, or does it substitute for it? That distinction changes how you should price and advertise your subscription offering.

True attribution window. Amazon’s default attribution window is 7 days. How many of your actual customers purchased 8, 14, or 30 days after their first ad exposure? If a meaningful share of conversions occurs outside the 7-day window, your campaign performance data understates the true impact of your advertising.

Retargeting share of “LTV” spend. What percentage of your ad spend is going to customers you already won? If a large share of your retargeting budget is reaching repeat buyers who would have purchased organically anyway, you are paying for revenue you did not need to pay for.

AMC also reveals how Brand Store interactions appear in a shopper’s path to purchase — including how many store visits a shopper makes before converting, and whether higher store engagement correlates with higher purchase likelihood. That data has implications for how you structure your store and allocate your brand awareness budget.

Who Can Access This and How

Since September 2025, Amazon has offered direct, self-service access to AMC for sponsored ads advertisers, removing the traditional requirement for an Amazon representative or partner to provision access. AMC now includes no-code templates and AI-powered SQL assistance, making it more accessible to teams without dedicated data engineering resources.

In January 2025, Amazon also introduced a natural-language SQL generator for Marketing Cloud, enabling marketers to create database queries using plain English. The technical barrier that previously made AMC inaccessible to smaller teams has been reduced significantly. You no longer need to write SQL from scratch to get useful output.

The free access to paid feature signals runs through December 31, 2026. That is seven months. After that date, the subscription requirement returns.

Why This Window Is Worth Acting on Now

Most brands on Amazon are optimizing campaigns based on the data that has always been free — ad spend, ACoS, attributed sales within 7 days, and click-through rates. That data tells you whether your ads are working in a narrow, transactional sense. It does not tell you whether your advertising is building a business.

The paid feature data — now temporarily free — answers the business-level questions. Are your acquired customers worth acquiring? Are they coming back? Are they converting to a subscription? Are they upgrading to larger sizes? How much of your reported LTV is organic behavior that would have happened anyway?

For brands spending $50K or more per month on Amazon advertising, running even three or four of these queries could meaningfully change how you allocate budget — not just between campaigns, but between acquiring new customers and retargeting existing ones.

The window opened on June 2. It closes December 31. Seven months is enough time to run the analysis that changes how you see your business.

Open your AMC instance and start with one question: what is the actual LTV of a customer acquired through advertising, including everything that happened after?

That number will tell you more than your ACOS report ever has.

If you want to stay updated on Amazon changes, subscribe to our blog.

If you need support with PPC, DSP, AMC, analytics, or a long-term growth strategy, contact the ANavigator team at info@anavigator.co

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Embracing Change and Innovation in Amazon E-commerce
blog
December 1, 2023
Embracing Change and Innovation in Amazon E-commerce

Amazon E-commerce Innovation: Embracing Change in a Dynamic Marketplace

The Amazon marketplace, known for its dynamic and ever-changing nature, presents a fascinating world of opportunities and challenges for sellers and brands. This platform, which started as a relatively open market, has evolved into a complex and competitive arena, demanding continuous adaptation and Amazon e-commerce innovation from its participants.

Since its early days as a burgeoning online marketplace, Amazon has transformed into a global e-commerce powerhouse, reshaping the way products are sold and marketed. Sellers now face an environment where standing out requires not only quality products but also strategic, data-driven approaches and a deep understanding of Amazon e-commerce innovation trends. Recognizing and adapting to these shifts is essential for anyone looking to carve out a successful niche in this competitive space.

Key Aspects of Amazon E-commerce Innovation

Amazon continues to drive innovation by introducing tools and programs that enable brands to optimize their presence and marketing efforts. From advanced PPC advertising options to the powerful DSP services Amazon offers, sellers have access to robust tools that enhance their visibility and help them reach their ideal customer base. This level of innovation requires sellers to constantly adapt their strategies, ensuring they make the most of these features to maximize their reach and profitability.

Moreover, Amazon’s emphasis on customer experience influences its evolving policies and standards, pushing sellers to keep up with quality, delivery, and product standards. This drive for innovation affects not only marketing approaches but also operational efficiency, requiring sellers to align their logistics and customer service with Amazon’s high standards. As the platform continues to evolve, sellers need to stay informed of the latest innovations in e-commerce to maintain a competitive edge.

Adapting to Change for Long-Term Success

Thriving in Amazon’s competitive landscape requires more than just an understanding of the basics. Successful sellers invest in learning about Amazon e-commerce innovation to make informed decisions and respond proactively to shifts in market trends and customer expectations. By embracing change, optimizing advertising strategies, and staying current with Amazon’s latest tools, sellers can ensure their businesses grow and succeed.

In the ever-evolving world of Amazon, adaptability and innovation are keys to long-term success. Those who actively embrace Amazon’s innovations and changes in the e-commerce landscape will find themselves well-positioned to thrive.

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LATEST UPDATES

Amazon GWD Expands to Shanghai and Offers 30 Days of Free Storage. Here Is What Brands Sourcing From China Should Know.
Blog
July 16, 2026
Amazon GWD Expands to Shanghai and Offers 30 Days of Free Storage. Here Is What Brands Sourcing From China Should Know.
When Amazon launched its Global Warehousing and Distribution facility in Shenzhen in April 2026, it was the first step in a stated vision: store inventory at origin in China, replenish US FBA on demand, and handle everything in between, customs, cross-border logistics, and fulfillment center delivery, through a single integrated flow. Three months later, the program has expanded meaningfully. On July 16, 2026, Amazon adds a second GWD facility in Shanghai, covering the Yangtze River Delta, one of China's largest manufacturing and export hubs. And for any brand that ships inventory to a GWD location between July 1 and December 31, 2026, the first 30 days of storage are free. That combination - a new location closer to more manufacturers, plus a free storage window heading into Q4, makes this the right moment to take GWD seriously if you have not already. What GWD Actually Does GWD is built for brands that manufacture or source from China and currently ship large quantities of inventory to the US before demand materializes. The traditional model requires estimating demand weeks or months in advance, shipping bulk into FBA, paying US storage fees, and hoping the forecast holds. Get it wrong in either direction, and you are either paying long-term storage fees on slow-moving stock or running out during a peak period. GWD inverts that logic. You store bulk inventory in China, at a facility in Shenzhen or Shanghai, close to your manufacturer, and Amazon automatically replenishes into the US FBA based on actual demand signals. Amazon handles the entire process: storage, export documentation, customs clearance, cross-border shipping, and delivery to US fulfillment centers. Sellers who enrolled in AWD during Q4 2025 saw more than 13% more shipped units and a greater than 30% reduction in out-of-stock days during the quarter. 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Sellers who enrolled in AWD and enabled automatic replenishment also keep paying the off-peak monthly storage rate through October 31, 2026 — two weeks into the peak fee window — giving AWD and GWD a structural cost advantage over holding the same inventory directly in FBA. What to Consider Before Using GWD The program is genuinely useful for the right supply chain profile. It is not the right fit for every seller. The most important constraint to understand before sending inventory to GWD is the bonded warehouse rules. Once goods are stored at GWD and an export declaration is completed, Chinese customs regulations prevent the inventory from moving back into China. The only direction is forward — into US FBA. If a SKU moves slowly or demand shifts, your options narrow fast. This is not an Amazon policy; it comes from Chinese customs law, but the operational impact falls on the seller. The 30-day free storage promotion is a useful window to test GWD with a single shipment before committing significant inventory. Amazon explicitly suggests this: start small, test with one shipment, no long-term commitment. That is sensible advice given that real-world replenishment performance, customs timing, and total cost will differ from Amazon's published examples depending on your specific products and logistics setup. The auto-replenishment feature is the operational backbone of GWD; it calculates and recommends restocking plans based on sales data, so inventory flows into FBA ahead of stockouts rather than on a fixed schedule. That feature is now fully launched as part of the July expansion. If you want manual control instead, that option remains available. How to Get Started The process runs through Seller Central. Go to Send to Amazon Warehousing and Distribution, select a ship-from address in China, choose a GWD distribution center (Shenzhen or Shanghai from July 16), select the SKUs and quantities you want to send, and submit your booking. The free storage promotion applies automatically once the shipment is received. Before sending, review the full terms and eligibility criteria at the Global Warehousing and Distribution fees help page in Seller Central. Confirm your importer of record setup is in place and that your user permissions for inventory and reporting access are configured correctly. The combination of a new Shanghai location, FOB support, and 30 days of free storage heading into Q4 is the clearest signal yet that Amazon is serious about making GWD a standard option for China-sourced supply chains, not just an experiment for early adopters. For brands that have been watching from the sidelines, the cost and risk of testing it right now is low. If you want to stay updated on Amazon changes, subscribe to our blog. If you need support with PPC, DSP, AMC, analytics, or a long-term growth strategy, contact the ANavigator team at info@anavigator.co  Book a call to get a FREE AUDIT by the link below:     Book a call – FREE AUDIT   Follow my Weekly Newsletter on LinkedIn:  / amazon-digest-for-brands-7232361008185372672   Follow me on LinkedIn:  / ookovalov  Follow ANavigator on social media:  / anavigator    /@anavigator_official  / anavigator7    / @anavigators     LinkedIn page to contact us:   Author: Oleksandr Kovalov Role: Founder & CEO @ ANavigator — The ANavigator Team
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Amazon Is Removing the Featured Offer Eligibility Gate. Here Is What Actually Changes for Sellers.
Blog
July 15, 2026
Amazon Is Removing the Featured Offer Eligibility Gate. Here Is What Actually Changes for Sellers.
Amazon just made a quiet but structurally significant change to how the Buy Box, formally called the Featured Offer, works. Starting July 2026, Amazon is removing seller eligibility requirements for the Featured Offer, with the change rolling out gradually across all Amazon stores globally and completing by the end of 2026. The EU and UK change takes effect on July 20. No action is required from sellers — existing offers are included automatically. On the surface, this sounds like good news for everyone. In practice, it changes the competitive dynamics of the Featured Offer in ways that require attention.   What the Old System Looked Like Under the previous system, a seller first had to clear a standalone performance-based eligibility check before their offer could even enter the Featured Offer pool. Only sellers who passed that gate entered a second pool where offers were ranked against each other on price, delivery speed, and service quality. Two steps: gate, then rank. That gate locked out sellers with weak account health metrics - high Order Defect Rates, chargeback issues, and poor Voice of the Customer scores. It also, as many sellers have documented for years, occasionally locks out sellers who appear to have perfectly healthy accounts and could never get a clear explanation why. Amazon's stated reason for the change is straightforward: they determined the first eligibility step was "no longer delivering additional value to customers, so we're removing it." What Actually Changes The performance metrics — chargeback rate, Order Defect Rate, Voice of the Customer complaints — do not disappear. They move from functioning as a pass/fail gate to functioning as direct weighted inputs inside a single ranking formula, alongside price, delivery speed, and service quality. One contest instead of two steps. The practical consequence is twofold. Sellers who were previously locked out of the Featured Offer entirely - including some brand owners who could not win the Buy Box on their own branded listings despite being the sole seller — now re-enter the pool automatically. For those sellers, this removes a frustrating and opaque barrier. For sellers currently winning the Featured Offer, the pool just got wider. Sellers who priced defensively against a gated field now face a wider competitor set. Competitors who were previously ineligible are now competing in the same ranking contest. Being considered for the Featured Offer does not guarantee your offer will be featured. Amazon is explicit about this. The ranking criteria — competitive pricing, delivery speed, performance — remain unchanged. The gate is gone; the competition is not. The Advertising Exposure You Need to Know About Amazon Ads documentation is explicit: without the Featured Offer, Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display serve zero impressions, even while Campaign Manager shows the campaign as delivering. This means any competitor who was previously ineligible for the Featured Offer was also invisible in your ad auctions. Once they re-enter the Featured Offer pool, they re-enter the advertising auction simultaneously. Brands that have been competing in a partially gated field will see the auction widen at the same time their Featured Offer competition widens. That is a double exposure - more Featured Offer competition and more advertising competition - arriving from the same policy change. What to Watch and What to Do The immediate action is to pull your 30-day Featured Offer percentage by ASIN, re-baseline your repricing floors, and watch daily as previously gated competitors rejoin the pool. For brands using automated repricing, check that your floor prices are set against the actual competitive set you now face, not the gated pool that existed before July. On account health: performance signals now score inside the ranking formula rather than blocking entry to it. Your Order Defect Rate, chargeback rate, and Voice of the Customer data directly affect your Featured Offer competitiveness now, not just your account standing. Maintaining clean account health metrics is no longer just a compliance exercise; it is a direct competitive input. On pricing: this change does not reward defensive pricing. The ranking formula has always weighted competitive pricing heavily. With a wider competitor pool, the pricing signal becomes more important, not less. A seller priced above the competitive floor can still win the Featured Offer if their performance metrics are stronger than lower-priced competitors, but that tolerance band is not publicly documented and narrows as competition increases. The Featured Offer is the most important piece of real estate on any Amazon listing. Amazon just changed who can compete for it. Understanding what that means for your specific ASINs, repricing strategy, and ad campaigns is the work that needs to happen now, not after you notice a drop in Buy Box share. If you want to stay updated on Amazon changes, subscribe to our blog. If you need support with PPC, DSP, AMC, analytics, or a long-term growth strategy, contact the ANavigator team at info@anavigator.co  Book a call to get a FREE AUDIT by the link below:     Book a call – FREE AUDIT   Follow my Weekly Newsletter on LinkedIn:  / amazon-digest-for-brands-7232361008185372672   Follow me on LinkedIn:  / ookovalov  Follow ANavigator on social media:  / anavigator    /@anavigator_official  / anavigator7    / @anavigators     LinkedIn page to contact us:   Author: Oleksandr Kovalov Role: Founder & CEO @ ANavigator — The ANavigator Team
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