This Issue's TLDR...

• The danger of AI-maxxing
• The real story of inventory commingling at Amazon
• Another Amazon Aggregator domino falls

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There's a word that I've been thinking about a lot lately:

AI-maxxing

I thought I was the first to conceive the word, and that heaps of internet praise would follow when I introduced it to the world.

I was wrong about that.

Turns out, the internet had been AI-maxxing for a little while now, so much so that Grok already had a definition for me:

Regardless, I've been thinking about this word a lot because each day I get fed a firehose of cool new vibe-coded AI builds from very smart people in the different Amazon and eCommerce communities that I'm part of.

It makes me feel like an imposter.

Despite the fact that I, too, am fastidiously building AI agents (I built 2 last week).

And despite the fact that my Amazon agency is rapidly deploying AI to automate workflows and/or remove humans from various tasks.

In short -- I'm AI-maxxing too!

Which means...like many of my peers, I'm getting excited about what I've built and thinking about how it's going to turn me into a millionaire or deci-millionaire.

But here's some harsh truths:

• Most vibe-coded tools won't turn into commercial successes
• Most vibe-coded tools won't yield operational savings (maybe they will initially, but not over the long term)
• Most vibe-coded tools will have a useful life that is waayy shorter than you think

On that last point...

Remember when Midjourney was at the pinnacle of the GenAI image mountain?

Or, remember when you were getting hammered with ads from an AI ad-maker called Icon? Well...

@levelsio @levelsio Icon, the AI Admaker, just went bankrupt They paid $12M for the domain http://Icon.com and now it's dead 3:9 PM • Mar 5, 2026 57 Retweets 1969 Likes Read 375 replies

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Point is...

This AI world is moving super fast, and seemingly viable (or exciting!) businesses are replaced overnight.

Your vibe-coded tool is not going to survive.

My suggestion to you...

Focus on AI adaption, not AI adoption.

That is...

Your focus should be adapting AI to how you and/or your company currently work.

Find a workflow that takes too much time, or that you have to repeat on a regular basis, and engineer AI into it so that you either get a better or faster output.

Resist the urge to jump between AI platforms. Resist the urge to commercialize something that you built to solve your own problems. Resist the urge to adopt something that someone else said was a "game-changer" for them.

FRIENDS OF B@A SmartScout Most of you probably know...I'm a BIG SmartScout fanboi. I use it daily, and I bother Scott Needham and the team there with feature requests every month. EVERY seller and brand should be using it, IMO, and, to that end, I asked the SmartScout team for a special offer for my Best@Amazon audience. This is ONLY available to Best@Amazon readers. And, here's the offer: Free SmartScout trial for 10 days and then 35% off for 3-months You won't find this offer anywhere else. Go ahead and look. Or, just take the offer. Get the "JON SPECIAL" offer

BEST from my Inbox

If you're headed to Prosper next week, you're probably planning to network with Amazon and eCommerce peers.

My buddy Danan from Ecom Triage (aka The Party Guy) is once here to help, with a curated list of all of the Prosper adjacent activities. (Bookmark this)

Thanks, Danan!

BEST from LinkedIn

Commingling at Amazon fulfillment centers is going away on March 31.

WOO!

This isn't new-news -- it was announced in September 2025 at Amazon Accelerate (to a chorus of cheers from the audience!).

I'm mentioning it, though, because this LinkedIn post from Deepak explains why "bad ideas" regularly get "shipped" at Amazon.

Thanks, Deepak, for sharing.

BEST from X

Meanwhile, in the Amazon Aggregator world, the dominos keep falling... ☠️☠️

Drew Fallon @drewfallon12 Private credit is still paying for the amazon aggregator bubble. BlackRock's TCP Capital Corp. just wrote down a $25M loan to Infinite Commerce- an Amazon aggregator that sells everything from spa products to light bulbs - from 100 cents on the dollar to zero. The loan was 3:30 PM • Mar 5, 2026 2 Retweets 13 Likes Read 2 replies

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BEST from YouTube

This video is a great reinforcement of my favorite phrase: "It depends."

When people ask me for strategy guidance or insight, that's always my answer because...it's true.

In this video, Stephen and Andrew explain how the following category traits determine ad strategy.

• Category Trait #1: Margin Profile and Contribution Margin
• Category Trait #2: Repeat Purchase Rate and Customer Lifetime Value
• Category Trait #3: Customer Consideration Window
• Category Trait #4: Price Point and Average Order Value
• Category Trait #5: Competition Level and Brand Loyalty in Commoditized Categories

Thanks, Stephen and Andrew!

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