NEW YORK, Jan 2, 2026, 07:15 ET
- Amazon has stopped offering prep and item-labeling services for U.S. FBA shipments as of Jan. 1
- The shift pushes more packaging work to third-party sellers and logistics partners
- Analysts see renewed growth into 2026 as AWS and AI spending come back into focus
Amazon.com (AMZN.O) has stopped offering prep and item labeling for U.S. Fulfillment by Amazon shipments as of Jan. 1, shifting tasks such as labeling and packaging back to sellers. Fulfillment by Amazon, or FBA, is the paid service where Amazon stores, packs and ships products on behalf of third-party merchants. Amazon said the change applies across its U.S. network and that shipments created before Jan. 1 can still receive prep, while later shipments that arrive without required preparation may lose eligibility for certain reimbursements.
The move viewed as significant for merchants because many businesses rely on Amazon’s fulfillment network to keep inventory moving quickly. The rule change also lands as sellers refresh stock after the holiday season, when timing and compliance can determine whether items stay in stock.
The shift is part of a broader operational squeeze as Amazon enters 2026 with investors watching for clearer payoffs from big spending in logistics, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. The company has been pushing to keep delivery fast while controlling costs, a balance that has become harder as consumer demand and competition shift.
A consumer-focused roundup by BGR this week pointed to the seller rule change while also flagging Amazon’s grocery push and its plans to scale passenger rides through Zoox, the company’s autonomous vehicle unit.
Amazon said in December it expanded Same-Day Delivery of fresh groceries to more than 2,300 U.S. cities and towns and expects further expansion in 2026. The push puts Amazon in a tighter race with Walmart as shoppers increasingly demand rapid delivery of everyday essentials.
Zoox expects to start charging passengers for rides in Las Vegas in early 2026, with paid rides in the San Francisco Bay Area later in the year, Fortune reported, citing a company executive. The timeline would put Zoox in closer competition with Alphabet’s Waymo in autonomous ride-hailing.
On the investment side, a Yahoo Finance analysis said analysts see renewed growth potential into 2026 after a period of slower momentum in Amazon Web Services. It pointed to expectations for stronger cloud demand and wider monetization of AI products.
In a separate Dec. 31 analysis, GuruFocus said the consensus price target for Amazon implies about 28% upside in 2026. Evercore ISI analyst Mark Mahaney called Amazon his “top pick” for 2026 and pointed to a rebound in AWS, demand for Trainium — Amazon’s in-house AI chips — and growth in advertising. GuruFocus
AWS has been racing Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google Cloud to sell the computing power needed to train and run large AI models, a market that is forcing cloud providers to spend heavily on data centers and chips. Amazon has leaned on custom silicon like Trainium to lower costs and offer customers an alternative to Nvidia-powered servers.
OpenAI signed a seven-year, $38 billion deal to buy cloud services from Amazon in November, Reuters reported, giving AWS a marquee customer as AI workloads drive demand for capacity.
For sellers, the end of Amazon’s prep and labeling services means more work has to happen before products ever reach an Amazon warehouse. Some merchants will handle those steps in-house, while others will likely outsource to manufacturers or third-party logistics firms.
