I can't believe I'm writing this, but Amazon just announced that the two glorious worlds of Amazon and Shopify are not merged.

Historically, your Shopify email list was an entirely different entity from Amazon. You built up your Amazon business, and you were also building up your Shopify business.

Now they have MERGED. But not in the way you think.

Amazon basically has taken down their border wall.

Well... their ads border wall, at least!

All advertisers, big and small, have access to this as of this newsletter.

What changed?

You can now securely upload your private first-party data, like Shopify email subscribers, and let Amazon match those individuals with its own massive data layer of shopping, browsing, and streaming signals.

There has always been a shopper silo issue on Amazon. They arrive on their app and search for "dog treats" for little Fido.

Now there's an entirely new shopper. Let's call them the "warm Shopify lead." You have their email, and now you have handed it over to Amazon to do some black magic.

Say goodbye to wasted ad spend on people who already love you!

Once your emails are uploaded, you can identify the "warm Shopify lead" mid-search and adjust your bids. This is so insanely helpful for larger brands with 20,000+ email lists.

This might be one of the most exciting developments in 2026, and I have the pleasure of telling you about it.

So, how good is this for you? How does 30% higher ROAS sound? I thought so.

Now, before you start screaming at me about the concerns regarding cannibalization, please hear me out.

The common retort is this: "But, Jon! If they are already on my email list, why should I pay Amazon to show them an ad? Won't they just buy from my website anyway?”

Great question, but you are being way too paranoid.

• Skip the Brand Terms: If a subscriber searches your exact brand name on Amazon, they are already looking for you. Don't waste aggressive ad spend here.
• Win the Category Searches: The real magic happens when a subscriber searches a generic category term. Showing up at the top of their feed keeps your brand top-of-mind exactly where they already want to buy.
• Wake Up Lapsed Buyers: Win-back emails often go unopened. Re-engaging a cold Shopify subscriber while they are actively shopping on Amazon is your best shot at winning them back.

Now what?

You have some housekeeping to do next. Your next step is to segment your email list into active subscribers, non-buyers, and high-value repeat buyers.

Resist the urge to launch massive standalone campaigns dedicated to these lists. That is not the right move here.

Instead, start by applying your segmented audiences to existing campaigns. In other words, only apply a positive bid modifier like 25% when a user from your list is searching.

It's also a good idea to leave your branded search bid settings untouched to prevent true ad-spend cannibalization.

Basically, be smart about this new power. And it IS power you have now.

RIP strict separation! Hello hyper-efficiency on the greatest selling platform in human history. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

Amazon Thinks I'm Fat

No, seriously.

Amazon has a bizarre "About You" page that builds a profile based on what you buy and what you share with Alexa via your voice.
​
Honestly, none of this should surprise you.
​
The results are like a dating profile, but if you were 100% honest.
​
Much of it is accurate, but some of it is straight up hilarious.
​
Amazon knows that I’ve purchased an umbrella recently and own a Webster gas grill. Riveting stuff! 😂
​
The one that offended me is that Amazon thinks I weigh 295 pounds. I have always averaged 240 pounds so I have no idea where they got that data point.
​
It also knew the ages of my sons, being addicted to Vuori clothing, owning a Toyota Tundra, and my love of organic groceries.
​
It’s time to find out what Amazon knows about YOU.
​
On desktop, hover over “Hello, [your name]” in the upper-right corner and select “Account.” Find “Ordering and shopping preferences,” then select “Your Shopping preferences.”
​
From there, scroll to the bottom of the page and select “Manage your information” to see the details Amazon has associated with your account.
​
On the Amazon mobile app, tap the menu icon at the bottom of the screen and go to Account > Shopping preferences > About you.
​
I bet you are going to laugh. I’m still offended that Amazon thinks I’m fat.

The takeaway here is that Amazon is allowing customers to edit their own personal data.

Every purchase a customer makes creates a paper trail and impacts what they see across categories and ads for years to come. I had a feeling this existed, but now we know 100% for sure.

Amazon is obviously shifting from a first-sale position of keyword, rank, click BUY. Customer journey over.

One creepy example is Alexa learning the names of the people in your home. Instead of simply making recommendations for my wife on the app for running shoe socks, Alexa can now say, "Hannah might be interested in these running socks with the arch support she searched for last week." See how invasive that is? Invasive, yes. Effective? Also, yes. Amazon is betting that customers won't care. Evidence is them making these customer traits public.

Now, it's initial purchase, creates customer trait; trait gets edited with additional purchases; Amazon shows the best option in the future.

Basically, we are entering the Wild West of AI on Amazon, and sellers need to adapt like yesterday.

‍