The Amazon Q4 leadereship guide

Before the main topic, I want to share few observation about Amazon October Prime Day Deals, that just took place October 7 and 8th.

Two principles that have been true from my perspective about October Prime Days:

• It’s typically not as impactful as July Amazon Prime Days

• It does officially kick off the holiday shopping season (promotions and deals start on Amazon and major retailers)

Overall, this Prime Day did inch growth YoY in sales, BUT, what we’ve observed:

Less serious deals (30% or more) across various categories. Definitely less in CPG.

And while traffic was up, conversion rates were lower than last year.

To me that speaks that customers really are waiting till Black Friday and December to do their shopping, customers are more savvy, and perhaps macro and inflationary environment is influencing spending as well.

While I rarely recommend my CPG clients run big discounts for October Prime Day, I know a lot of brands on Amazon do. And this October Prime Day just felt slower, and more sluggish.

Now let’s move to the truly exciting time of the year.

Intro

For most CPG brands, Q4 determines how the year finishes, and how next year begins.

If you are responsible for Amazon performance a a business owner, or an CxO, but aren’t in Seller Central every day, here’s how to keep your team (or agency) focused on what matters most.

October

Theme: Set the Stage 

October is all about tuning in the system and tightening plans. 

Important dates:

Prime Big Deal Days  - Oct 7–8 - dress rehearsal for Black Friday/Cyber Monday

FBA shipment cutoff for BF/CM - October 30, 2025

Before the month ends, brand presence should be locked: images, A+, and any seasonal visuals uploaded and approved. Treat late October as a “listing freeze” period - only exceptions are for reinstatements or ASIN compliance emergencies.

Questions for you as a leader: 

• What products are we  promoting more?  Focus and budget split catalog wise?  Any adjustments for seasonality, gifting?

• Do we have learnings from last year’s Q4 we’re applying this time? (if data and same team from last Q4)

• Q4 ad budget plan - do we plan to pace it, or front load it? Any concerns on going over, or not using all of it? 

• How are we adjusting for the Black Friday/Cyber Monday week?

• Do we have a plan to win on re-targetting after holiday traffic? Is there a plan/opportunity to turn holiday browsers into customers?

This is also the moment to make sure social and email are starting to hum in sync with Amazon. October content should spark curiosity - early discovery, anticipation, and not quite discounts yet.

November

Theme: execute, monitor and protect the Amazon machine.

Key Dates:

• Thanksgiving: November 27

• Black Friday: November 28

• Cyber Monday: December 1

In practical terms:

• Make sure all SKUs are live, catalog clean, no FBA inventory issues. Ultimately, nothing that impedes buyability.

• If using FBM, review handling times and closures—especially around Black Friday weekend and late December.

• Daily ad budgets:  ensure daily pacing and monitor spend spikes closely.

Q4 ads can drive awareness that pays off in January, but only if your team tracks more than clicks.

Social and email should now mirror, or at the least line up with, your Amazon rhythm: spotlight top-sellers, gifting hooks, and remind your customers why your product belongs in their carts now.

December

The biggest misconception about December isi that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are the peak.

For most CPG categories, the real stretch, what I call the Golden Stretch (continuous run of high daily sales) runs from December 7 through 22.

Key Dates:

• The “Golden Stretch”: December 7–22

• Christmas: December 25 (Thursday)

• The Second Wave: December 26–31 (notable for Beauty, Wellness, and Personal Care)

During this window:

• Keep ads running strong through mid-December; this isn’t the time to taper off.

• Monitor reviews, customer messages, account health notifications closely—what happens in this stretch has amplifying effect through Q1

• If inventory allows, target your competition OOS product pages

And if you planned ahead in November, you should have inventory hitting FBA in time for the late-season lift.

January 

Theme: Reflect and re-design

Before you get really busy with 2026 planning, have your team do a debrief before the end of the month:

• What worked, what didn’t and why? What drove performance, what fell short, or was missed

• Did we meet our Q4 goals?

• What we should differently next year, and what should stay the same?

Asking these questions across all main areas: advertising, inventory, catalog/brand presence, will give you enough lessons and insights to make next Q4 a lot better.

Use this time to recalibrate for 2026—pricing, catalog focus,budgets, internal ownership, external partnerships.

If you’d like a structured Q4 playbook tailored to your brand, or if you need hands-on expert help on Amazon, just reply to this email.

Saludos,

Irina