Robotics push, AMC paid tables, and Prime Day 2026
EUR 10 billion investment: Amazon's robotics push in Europe
At its "Delivering the Future" event in London, Amazon unveiled the next-generation Proteus robot. The key change compared with its predecessor is how it is controlled: employees will be able to assign tasks to the robot in natural language, without technical commands or programming skills. Proteus then handles heavy transport tasks independently, such as moving carts weighing up to 400 kilograms, and can be deployed flexibly across the entire fulfillment center rather than only in specific areas as before. The system is currently being tested in Amazon's labs; deployment in Europe is planned for the first half of 2027. The previous version is already in use at 25 locations in the US.
Vulcan and STARK are coming to Europe
Alongside Proteus, Amazon is rolling out two more robotics systems to additional European sites. Vulcan is Amazon's first robot with a sense of touch and can see and feel objects at the same time to work precisely even in densely packed environments. Originally developed in the US, Vulcan is already in use at the Hamburg fulfillment center and is now being rolled out to more European locations. STARK is a collaborative tote-handling system that works directly alongside employees and takes over heavy, repetitive lifting tasks. The idea originally came from an employee in operations. After the first pilot in Barcelona, STARK is set to be deployed at 15 European sites by 2027.
EUR 10 billion investment and 25,000 new jobs
The robotics expansion is part of a broader investment plan: Amazon has announced that it will invest more than EUR 10 billion over the coming years in expanding and modernizing its European fulfillment infrastructure. In parallel, the company plans to grow its workforce in European fulfillment centers by 25,000 employees. Amazon emphasizes that the use of robotics has historically not led to job cuts, but instead created new roles in maintenance, servicing, and engineering.
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AMC paid features temporarily free
For the US market, Amazon has made the paid 1P tables in the Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) available free of charge until December 31. 1P tables are datasets that come directly from Amazon and contain Amazon's own internal data on purchase behavior and the customer journey on the platform. Specifically, this concerns Amazon's Insights tables, which until now could only be queried for an additional fee. Third-party data, so-called 3P tables from external providers such as Experian, remain subject to a fee. This change currently applies exclusively to the US market.
What the paid tables show
Ad data in AMC has always been available free of charge. The added value of the paid tables lies on the organic side of purchase behavior. Sellers can use them to analyze complete customer journeys for the first time:
- How often do customers buy again organically after an ad-driven purchase?
- Do buyers of a smaller product later switch to a larger variant?
- How long is the actual time window between ad exposure and purchase?
- How much of the measured lifetime value (LTV) is actually attributable to new customers, and how much to retargeting existing customers?
Our take
For sellers active in the US who already use AMC, it is worth actively testing the free paid tables, especially for a more robust LTV analysis and to review your own advertising strategy. In our experience, Amazon typically rolls out new features in the US market first before they follow in Europe. It is therefore quite possible that a similar opening of the paid tables will come to the European market in the medium term. We will keep an eye on this for you.
Change to referral fees for cross-border orders
From August 1, 2026, Amazon is updating the calculation method for percentage referral fees on Amazon Business orders. Specifically, this concerns orders where Amazon Business EU S.Ã r.l. is the buyer. Until now, the referral fee was calculated on the basis of sales proceeds; going forward, the fee base will uniformly serve as the basis. The aim of the change is to standardize the calculation regardless of whether Amazon Business EU S.Ã r.l. or the end customer is the buyer.
Impact on cross-border sales
The change mainly affects cross-border sales where a different VAT rate applies in the destination country than in the country of the Amazon store.
An example: If you offer an item for EUR 119 on Amazon.de and deliver it to a customer in Italy, where 22% VAT applies, you currently pay a referral fee of EUR 12.20. From August 1, it will be only EUR 11.90. Conversely, the fee can rise slightly in countries with a lower tax rate, for example for deliveries to Luxembourg with 17% VAT, where the fee increases from EUR 11.70 to EUR 11.90. IMPORTANT: The change applies only when the goods are shipped from a local address in the destination country, i.e. when they are also stored there.
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Prime Day 2026 starts on June 23
Amazon has officially announced this year's Prime Day: the shopping event runs from June 23 to 26, 2026, lasting four days. For sellers and vendors, this is one of the highest-revenue windows of the entire year – with increased customer willingness to buy across more than 35 categories, including apparel, beauty, kitchen, home, and electronics. The official start is June 23 at 12:01 a.m. PDT.
Preparation is key
With Prime Day already starting on June 23, little time remains for final preparations. Inventory levels should be sufficiently replenished to stay deliverable throughout the four-day event. At the same time, advertising campaigns should be set up in good time and deal submissions completed, as Amazon usually sets fixed submission deadlines for this.
Our tip
If Prime Day 2026 is not yet actively in your planning, you should act immediately. Beyond operational preparation, it is worth aligning pricing and campaign structure specifically with the event to make the most of the increased visibility and customer willingness to buy.
In 2026, we are focusing on new marketing channels to keep you up to date with Amazon news: Our REVOIC podcast is published every Friday, and our YouTube channel has been fully revamped and now delivers fresh content regularly.
We look forward to your feedback!
Temu must pay a EUR 200 million fine because the European Commission will no longer tolerate the sale of illegal and dangerous products on the platform.
Faster deliveries for the greater Linz area: Amazon is investing EUR 70 million in a new distribution center.
From June 25, 2026, eligible sellers in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain can receive up to 20% off Multi-Channel Fulfillment fees through two new programs.
