What Amazon Sellers Must Do to Survive in 2026

Is your Amazon business running on a "patchwork" of short-term strategies? In 2026, the margin for error on Amazon has never been thinner. Chris McCabe sits down with Cas Sanderson of Cartograph to break down the Amazon mistakes that quietly drain sales, waste ad spend, and put long-term growth at risk.

Amazon is no longer the same game it was two years ago. In this episode, Chris McCabe and Leah McHugh break down what they saw at Prosper Show 2026, and why the gap between top sellers and everyone else is getting wider fast. The biggest shift? There’s no real “middle” anymore. You’re either scaling with strategy, capital, and precision… or you’re getting squeezed on margins and falling behind. If you don't have a viable strategy for 2026, you're already behind the curve.

As black hat tactics evolve, sellers are finding it harder and harder to protect their listings. In this episode, Chris McCabe sits down with Shane Barker of TraceFuse to pull back the curtain on the increasingly sophisticated world of Amazon review manipulation, and discuss what it actually takes to win a dispute in today’s high-stakes ecosystem.

Is your brand ready for the "Agentic AI" shopping revolution? In this episode, Chris McCabe sits down with Matt Kostan from ProductPinion to break down how agentic AI shopping, Amazon Rufus, and LLM-powered search are reshaping ecommerce. They discuss what this shift means for Amazon sellers, brands, and listing strategy, including how to stand out when AI models are choosing which products to recommend.

Are you getting "mush" back from Amazon Seller Support? In this episode, Chris McCabe and Leah McHugh dive deep into the current state of Amazon Seller Performance as they prepare for the 2026 Prosper Show and MDS Inspire. The landscape has changed: Account Health leadership is shifting, and the escalation strategies of the past are being replaced by AI-driven decision trees. Chris and Leah break down why your current appeal strategy might be failing and what you need to change before your next submission.

Is your Amazon brand being managed by an expert, or a $2,000-a-month "ghost" agency? if you’re paying pennies for account management, you’re likely getting exactly what you paid for. In this episode, Chris McCabe sits down with Andrew Morgans of ⁨Marknology⁩ to discuss the trend of agencies slashing retainers to stay alive, the reality of offshore outsourcing, and why brands are finally hitting a "come to mama" moment with their in-house teams.

Think you know Amazon’s rules? Think again. In this episode, Chris McCabe and Leah McHugh break down the surprising results of Leah’s recent Amazon Policy Quiz. If you’re a brand owner or high-volume seller, the data is alarming: even experienced sellers are failing critical compliance questions that lead to immediate account suspension.

Is Amazon product search dead? Are keywords obsolete? Is AI about to rewrite the rules of eCommerce overnight? In this episode, Chris McCabe sits down with Bradley Sutton of Helium10 to break down the truth behind Amazon’s AI-powered search assistant, Rufus, and what the data actually shows.

Most sellers think they’re playing a "cat and mouse" game with Amazon’s TOS, but many times they're actually playing with federal law. In this episode, Chris McCabe sits down with Andrew Smith of Swapt to unpack one of the hottest and most misunderstood topics in eCommerce right now: how brands can encourage repeat purchases, improve customer education, and build long-term growth without crossing compliance lines. Questions for Andrew? Reach out at https://swaptqr.com/ or reach out to him directly at [email protected] Join us in NYC on Thursday, Feb 12 for an in-person, hands-on meetup built for serious brand owners navigating tighter enforcement and intensifying competition. See Andrew Swapt LIVE for his session on "How to Increase Customer Loyalty on Amazon." Tickets + details: https://luma.com/bgw413hl

Amazon enforcement is getting stricter, and a lot of sellers are still getting tripped up by the same avoidable compliance gaps. In this episode, Chris McCabe and Leah McHugh talk about what’s actually causing suspensions right now, why “longer appeals” often backfire, and how the rise of AI-generated advice is leading sellers to submit misinformation (including completely made-up “laws”) into cases.