Overview

Amazon’s third‑quarter 2025 results underscore a marketplace that is increasingly dominated by independent sellers, who now supply roughly 62 % of all paid units—a historic high. Third‑party seller services generated $42.5 billion, up 12 % YoY and outpacing Amazon’s own retail growth. Sellers should take note because AI‑driven listing tools and a sharp rise in advertising spend are reshaping how products win the buy‑box.

Key Points

• Marketplace share hits 62 % — Independent sellers accounted for nearly two‑thirds of paid units, the highest proportion ever recorded.
• Seller services revenue climbs to $42.5 bn — A 12 % YoY increase that eclipses the 10 % growth seen in Amazon’s first‑party online store.
• AI listing adoption reaches 1.3 m sellers — Over a million merchants now rely on Amazon’s generative‑AI tools for titles, bullet points, and descriptions.
• Advertising revenue surges to $17.7 bn — Up 24 % YoY, advertising now represents 10 % of Amazon’s total revenue and is consuming more prime real‑estate on search and product pages.
• Rufus AI assistant influences 250 m users — The shopping assistant drives a reported 60 % lift in purchase completion, reshaping discovery beyond keyword matching.
• Logistics spend tops $35 bn — Capital investment in fulfillment infrastructure expands same‑day delivery to 60 % more rural areas and adds perishable grocery coverage in over 2,300 cities.

How AI Listing Tools and Advertising Landscape Are Changing

1. AI‑generated content creation — Sellers input product specs into Amazon’s generative‑AI platform, which outputs optimized titles, bullet points, and descriptions; for example, a home‑goods vendor reduced manual copy time from 4 hours to under 15 minutes per SKU.
2. Dynamic ad placement algorithms — Amazon’s ad engine now evaluates real‑time performance signals (click‑through rate, conversion, relevance) to allocate sponsored slots; a toy seller saw a 30 % increase in impression share after enabling automated bid adjustments.