I’m hoping for some direction here from you seasoned AZ sellers.
We have a very specialized dietary supplement that treats a specific disease. The sales through Amazon FBA have been good and we have many repeat buyers, using both Subscribe and Save and not. We are about to make a significant change to the serving size which will reduce the number of capsules by two thirds (6 to 2). The large serving size has been the products biggest challenge.
My question is how would you go about rolling this change out to your repeat buyers? As mentioned, we have buyers that purchase it repeatedly but not using Subscribe and Save and we also have Subscribe and Save buyers.
We don’t really want to create a new ASIN as the formula has not changed and the product is established.
We are considering creating a new SKU for the ASIN when the new version is ready and in the meantime, using package inserts or neck hangers to explain the upcoming serving size change. Not sure if this is the best way to utilize the options that Amazon has in this scenario.
Any thoughts on the best way to inform repeat buyers on upcoming product changes would be great.
Hello and thanks for your response.
Yes, I am very aware of the FDA compliance rules. We’ve been offering this product since 2020 and many people are successfully using it as their main protocol to address their symptoms.
The capsule size is not changing, however, we are removing fillers and keeping the active ingredients the same.
Thanks again for the reply.
Amazon has pretty strict rules about when and why you can contact “their” customers, and letting them know about product releases or changes does not meet this standard.
Additionally, I would think that the changes you are making to the product (different dosage per pill) would warrant a new listing with a new UPC. Therefore, your buyers, especially the Subscribe and Save, would continue ordering the existing item. They wouldn’t know about the new one unless they look.
I think the best option is to include a small insert with your product mentioning the different dosage option and maybe a QR code that links to the new Amazon listing.
NOTE: I would be very careful when creating this insert to ensure keeping within the acceptable insert policies.
This would be the way to handle it. Keep that sku off until you completely sell out of the original. Then, you can change the entire listing all at once with notes and images, along with reasoning on why the changes were made and what they are.
Your intentions are good, because you are addressing an issue and apparently also making the formula cleaner with less excipients, BUT, your repeat buyers are just going to assume that it’s not as good, will claim it doesn’t work as well, etc… Be prepared for that and negative reviews.
We have a listing that is a bottle in an IFC (box). There were supply chain issues getting the PETE blue bottle it’s normally in and we had to switch temporarily to a white HDPE bottle (tecnically better for stability).
We had a buyer leave a negative review claiming the product didn’t work anymore. Obviously we test every batch before it is released and it was over label claim by 8% (which is fine btw). I tried to contact the buyer through the brand registry review portal. She never responded to our detailed and scientific explanation and somehow forced customer service to give her a refund, which they did, even though returns are not allowed in the category. We would have refunded her anyway if she read our message… Anyway…
Be warned that supplement buyers do not like change, even if it’s better… Your repeat buyers have expectations, even if the new is better than the old.
Good luck with the transition.
ETA - Just thought of another typical nightmare situation on Amazon. Buyers (especially repeat buyers & Subscribers) don’t look at the listing again and won’t know about the change. There are a lot of dumb people out there that may report the order as “different” or even counterfeit. It could happen so be prepared.
To be honest with you, what you are doing is really a very material change as they say. This really should be a new listing to avoid all problems. I know you don’t want to lose your reviews and your rank and your subscriptions - I get it. But do you want to lose everything if the worst happens even while doing something with the best of intentions?
And we might add … that the new item should have a new UPC code.
The value of running down the old one and introducing the new one also provides one other benefit. If the customer does not like the new one and it completely tanks, you could revert back to the old one.
Example:
Coca Cola
New Coca Cola
Classic Coca Cola
I know I’m not addressing your main question, but as a consumer I appreciate going from 3 pills to 2, and I would DEFINITELY need a neck hanger on the bottle to remember (because I set out my pills into daily doses on a weekly basis).
As to your main question, I am sorry to say that this improved product is different enough to warrant a new UPC and new ASIN. I know that’s frustrating, but that’s the only clear way to signal to Buyers on Amazon that there has been a change–even with an insert or neck hanger. By removing even only fillers and changing dosing, you are both offering more convenience to your Buyers but also possibly new trouble spots if the fillers/3 pills had somehow been mitigating their consumer experience in some way.
Although… I’m wondering if you could add the new product as a variation, and offer both simultaneously? @ASV_Vites@oneida_books would 2 pills versus 3 pills work? And when the old 3 pills are out, the new child simply becomes the only child?
Thank you for your advice. It looks like we’re going to have to carefully consider introducing this product as a new ASIN with a new UPC. I will be sure to focus on Amazon’s insert policies to confirm that we stay in compliance. Thanks again.
I’m generally in agreement with the notion that this might be enough of a 'Material Change" to require both a new ASIN & GTIN, and if you wind up going that route there is an Amazon-supported mechanism that might be able to help in your dilemma, as described on the SHC (“Seller Help Content”) page “Newer version widget” (link) - but I would like to clarify something before I recommend that.
When you say that the serving size will change, is that also an indication that the Item Package Quantity - i.e., how many individual capsules the purchaser receives - will also change?
Yes, we’ve been exposed to a few negative reviews on Amazon after prior non-functional changes to other products in the past. I do get it though, especially with repeat and subscribe and save buyers. Once they find something they like, they are extremely averse to any changes and always look at it with skepticism first. With the great responses here, we’re going to revisit introducing this product change as a completely new listing. Maybe try to use Vine to get an initial product review boost.
Thanks so much for your detailed response.
Hi, thanks for your reply.
Yes, the amount of capsules in each bottle will decrease by 2/3. I’m going to investigate the Newer version widget that you posted and thanks for that. Hopefully that will be another option for us to consider.
Hello @papy and thank you for the welcome.
Yes, I think we’re leaning strongly toward using neck hangers and I appreciate your input on how they help. I will also look into the variation option that you mentioned, although some concern was posted about that possibly being against Amazon’s rules. I’ll investigate that further myself.
Thanks again.
We have a detailed Time Zone Map that has updates every two years. It also has area codes on it, and they change. For that reason we do exactly what ASV outlined above. We sell out of the previous version, then launch the new map with a new SKU. This keeps the comments and feedback in place. It is not an easy time for us as we need to flush the FC’s so only our new one is then listed. It takes about a month to make this happen.
Works for us, we just did the update through 2026 and sales are now getting back to normal.
I concur that it has to be treated as a new product.
I would consider whether there should be an overlap of availability of both products and whether the new product might benefit from being introduced at a slightly lower effective price, even if that means an increase in the price of the old product.
Orders during the period of overlap for the old product could carry promotions for the new, improved product. Hopefully, the availability of the older version will avoid a New Coke fiasco.
I must admit that I am often suspicious of New Improved anything.
