Amazon is experimenting with a feature that could innovate the way shoppers evaluate offers on the platform. We are talking about a native price history tracking system, integrated directly into the mobile app. It allows consumers to verify in real time if a discount is authentic or just a marketing maneuver. The feature was spotted by some users as a Price History button positioned below the list price on the product page.
Until now, this type of service was available only through external tools, but now it seems that Amazon wants to introduce this feature natively. If so, it would be a nice evident change in the relationship between seller and buyer. And, probably, also a step forward towards the direction of greater responsibility and authenticity in pricing practices.
Why Amazon wants to introduce this function
The implementation of this tool answers several needs for the e-commerce giant. Firstly, Amazon wants to strengthen consumer trust during high-traffic promotional events like Prime Day or Lightning Deals. It is in these junctures, in fact, that the perception of savings authenticity plays a central role in purchasing decisions. There is also growing regulatory pressure globally against artificial discounting practices.
Providing transparent price data helps the company remain compliant with standards regulating misleading advertising. The move is therefore a clear message to sellers. Amazon’s algorithm is able to reward offers that demonstrate a real and not artificial price reduction compared to the product’s history.
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The experience gained with Rufus AI
Let’s recall that the Price History button is not Amazon’s first attempt to offer greater price transparency. The company had already integrated a similar feature into its AI assistant Rufus. Users could query the chatbot to get a graph showing price fluctuations over the last thirty days. Thus, they could know if the current cost represented the lowest point of the period, or not.
The integration in Rufus had already demonstrated Amazon’s intention to move towards greater clarity in the information provided to customers. The goal was to improve conversion rates through the verification of offer authenticity. And, therefore, allow buyers to make more informed and conscious decisions.
What the impact on sellers will be
Such a novelty seems to be functional to a big problem that Amazon is trying to tackle. Research conducted by consumer protection organizations has in fact shown that 61% of products on Amazon used inflated reference prices to create a false perception of savings. A specific study on the vacuum cleaner sector identified that over a quarter of listings pretended to offer discounts. While, in reality, they increased prices by an average of 23%. With Amazon’s AI tools and the new tracking system, price manipulation tactics should become immediately visible to buyers.
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But what are the consequences for sellers?
First of all, sellers who violate pricing policies could suffer serious consequences. For example, they could face removal of access to the Buy Box. Or, even account suspension in the most serious or repeated cases. Other indirect repercussions will arrive precisely on the Amazon Buy Box. As is known, conquering it is a determining factor for seller success. In fact, 80% of all sales on the platform are generated from the Buy Box.
Price remains the most influential element in this competition. However, the new transparency will add a further level of complexity. In fact, documents emerging from the FTC lawsuit against Amazon revealed the existence of an anti-discount algorithm that can exclude sellers from the Buy Box if it detects lower prices on other platforms. The system effectively forces third-party sellers to maintain price parity across all sales channels.
With the addition of native tracking, customers will therefore be granted a double level of price verification. Pressure on sellers to maintain a consistent and competitive pricing policy will further increase.
Between rising costs and the need for transparency
On the sidelines of this, we can certainly state that Amazon sellers are facing increasing pressure on profit margins. Over 65% of sellers had to raise prices during 2024, in order to offset the increase in FBA fees and operating costs. A difficult element to manage was thus generated.
While sellers must raise prices to remain profitable, Amazon’s algorithms and new transparency tools impose a ceiling on these increases. The Fair Pricing Policy of Amazon works actively against sudden hikes. This allows the platform to suppress listings or remove the Buy Box from offers that appear significantly higher compared to recent prices or market rates.
Also for this reason, dynamic repricing software has become essential, with an 18% increase in the adoption of these technologies by brands and private labels compared to the previous year.
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Third-party tools will still be indispensable
Furthermore, be careful not to give in to easy temptations. That is, deluding oneself that Amazon’s feature will retire third-party analysis tools. In reality, what will happen is the transformation of the value proposition towards more sophisticated analytics.
If indeed it is true that buyers can now view a basic thirty-day history, professional sellers still need more advanced data to remain competitive.
In other words, external tools can provide even deeper and structured information such as
- extended historical data beyond thirty days for long-term trend analysis
- competitor monitoring across multiple sellers and products
- correlation with sales ranking to understand how price influences sales velocity
- API access to power automated repricing software.
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How sellers can adapt to the new scenario
The shift towards greater transparency we discussed today requires sellers to focus on price credibility rather than artificial discounts. Which, as known, are punished by Amazon’s increasingly sophisticated algorithms.
Numerous researches also demonstrate that price transparency builds significant trust in customers. An element that turns out to be greater when a price is accompanied by a reasonable justification.
Sellers are now required to shift their strategy from winning the click with a crossed-out price to justifying the value of the asking price. They will therefore have to maintain price consistency across all sales channels to avoid Buy Box suppression algorithms. Instead of relying on fake discounts, it is necessary to justify premium prices by highlighting
- superior product features
- excellent customer service
- the reliability of FBA logistics.
The use of historical data becomes fundamental to identify optimal seasonal patterns, permitting logical price adjustments rather than impulsive reactions to competition. Monitoring competitor positioning remains essential, but the goal must be strategic alignment rather than entering price wars that would have destructive effects in the medium term.
