€16 billion, advent calendars and a higher FBA surcharge

€16 billion: Amazon expands in Germany

In 2027 Amazon plans to invest more than €16 billion in Germany and presented the plan at the German government's "Invest in Germany Summit" in Berlin. The company is stepping up again: by its own account, €15 billion already flowed into the country in 2025, and more than €100 billion since 2010. The largest single item named is cloud and AI: around €4.8 billion will go into expanding the AWS Europe Region in Frankfurt to meet growing demand for AI services. A second research lab for robotics and AI is also being built in Berlin. It is meant to bring people and technology closer together in logistics so orders arrive faster and more reliably. On top of that come more than 15 new Prime Video productions by the end of 2027.

What is happening in the logistics network

A lot is already moving in the delivery network. In recent months Amazon has opened five new delivery stations, including Salzgitter, Kassel and Cottbus, and the logistics centre in Zweibrücken is already in operation. It continues in 2027: another logistics centre is being built in Könnern, and Bad Hersfeld, Dortmund and Werne will be modernised. In total, more than 3,000 additional jobs are set to be created. The announcement says nothing about fees or new programmes for sellers and vendors.

Our advent calendar study: criticism yes, doing without no

Too expensive, too much waste, too much advertising, and people buy them anyway. Together with the market research institute IFH KÖLN, we looked into this contradiction in a new study on advent calendars on Amazon. We wanted to know what buyers say about advent calendars and what they actually do on Amazon. In October, IFH surveyed 500 people, and we compared their answers with Amazon data from the past season.

Critical in their judgement, loyal when they buy

Two thirds of respondents think the contents of most calendars are not worth the price. Even so, 44 percent want to buy one for themselves this year, and 57 percent want to give one as a gift. Even if they had to save money, only 10 percent would skip a calendar entirely, and 44 percent would rather choose a cheaper model.

The calendar is also a generational question. Under 30, 71 percent buy at least one calendar for themselves. Over 70, that falls to 24 percent. It is similar when it comes to trying new brands: under 50, a good 40 percent discovered a brand through a calendar that they have bought more often since. Among people over 70, that figure is only 7 percent.

FBA gets more expensive: surcharge rises to 2 percent

From 2 November 2026, Amazon is raising the fuel and logistics surcharge on FBA shipping fees from 1.5 to 2 percent. The increase applies in ten European countries, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland. Amazon only introduced the surcharge in April 2026 and now cites further rises in fuel and logistics costs as the reason for the next step.

Amazon calculates the surcharge on the shipping fee, not on the selling price. On average, FBA in the EU therefore costs about €0.02 more per unit, and the exact amount depends on the size and dimensions of the item. Profit analytics, the revenue calculator and the fee and profitability preview already show the surcharge, per unit and for the whole business.

MCF follows later, and in fewer countries

For Multi-Channel Fulfillment, the increase applies only from 19 November 2026, and only in five countries: Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Amazon also intends to keep reviewing the surcharge as costs develop. The new rate is therefore not final.

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Brand Registry: brands decide whose content counts

Anyone who maintains titles or style names and sees the old version back a few weeks later knows the problem. Several accounts often contribute content to one ASIN, from a brand's own seller and vendor accounts through to dealers and resellers. With the Rank catalog contributors tool in Brand Registry, brand administrators now assign ranking positions to these accounts. When the details differ, Amazon follows this order. To start, Amazon automatically creates an initial ranking, which can be adjusted under "Manage".

What to check before a change

Before publishing, an impact report can be created. After up to 24 hours it shows which ASINs change and how. Amazon explicitly recommends it, because a new ranking can cause faulty variations and inconsistent detail pages. It takes up to 10 days until all previous contributions have been reprocessed. Amazon is rolling the feature out gradually, and the guide is also available in the German Brand Registry. It cannot be unlocked early.

Our recommendation

Brands with several of their own accounts or many resellers should check whether the tool is already visible in Brand Registry, and review the ranking Amazon created automatically. Before every change, the impact report is worth running, so variations and detail pages do not change unintentionally.

Amazon will present its third-quarter 2026 results on 29 October 2026 at 23:00 German time in a live conference.

Not every customer sees the same product page. According to an analysis, Amazon tested 67 variants at once on a single detail page, most often for ads, Rufus and the "Buy now" button.