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Amazon after Q2 2026: sales exceed USD 200 billion, advertising grows by 26%, and AI enters the purchasing process
Last updated: 31/07/2026
Amazon closed the second quarter of 2026 with net sales at USD 200.6 billion. This is a 20% year-on-year increase. Operating profit increased from USD 19.2 billion to USD 27.5 billion, which is a 43% rise.
The financial results alone show the scale of the business. For brands developing their sales on Amazon, however, it is more important to understand where the growth is coming from and in which areas the platform is investing. Online stores, services for third-party sellers and Amazon Advertising are all growing. Amazon is accelerating deliveries, developing its own logistics services and bringing AI closer and closer to the moment of product selection.
What exactly do the Q2 2026 figures tell us, and how could this affect your brand's sales?
Table of contents:
International sales increased by 15%
Same-day or overnight delivery
Amazon Advertising is growing faster than Online Stores
AI is having an increasingly strong impact on product selection
Amazon expands logistics operations
Amazon Business reaches USD 60 billion in annual gross sales
Amazon forecast for Q3 2026
What do the Q2 2026 results say to brands?
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
International sales increased by 15%
The International segment generated sales of USD 42.2 billion in Q2 2026. This is 15% more than the previous year.
Operating profit for this segment increased from USD 1.5 billion to USD 1.7 billion.
At the same time, Online Stores sales reached USD 70.4 billion and increased by 15%. Revenues from Third-party seller services grew by 16% to USD 46.8 billion.
This second group includes, among other things, commissions and related fees for fulfillment, shipping and other services provided to third-party sellers.
The larger scale of the platform creates more sales opportunities. At the same time, the number of transactions, offers and services that sellers pay for is growing.
Therefore, it is worth comparing market growth with the results of your own account:
sales per SKU
margin after all fees
share of FBA costs and commissions
share of advertising in revenue
profitability of individual markets
High turnover does not always mean high profit. Without a P&L per SKU, it is easy to see sales growth that leaves no money in the business.
Same-day or overnight delivery
In the first half of 2026, Amazon delivered over 40% more products same-day or overnight than in the previous year.
The company also indicated that Grocery and Everyday Essentials grew significantly faster than the rest of the business.
Amazon is also developing Amazon Now, a delivery service in 30 minutes or less for thousands of everyday products.
In Q2, the solution was expanded to 80 more cities and towns in the US and several major cities in Egypt. Amazon Now is available in 9 countries and more than 250 cities and towns worldwide.
Compared to the previous quarter:
gross sales increased by more than 80%
the number of products sold increased by more than 80%
the number of customers served increased by more than 60%
Speed of delivery is becoming an increasingly important part of the offering.
Customers do not only compare price, photos and reviews. They also pay attention to when the product will arrive. If a competitor's offer is available faster, it can win the decision even before the customer reads the listing thoroughly.
Brands should regularly check:
stock level
availability of best-selling variants
delivery times visible in the offer
risk of stockout
FBA replenishment times
impact of delays on advertising campaigns
A lack of stock does not just halt current sales. It can also weaken the product's sales momentum, visibility of the offer and the effectiveness of the budget dedicated to boosting the ASIN again.
Amazon Advertising is growing faster than Online Stores
Revenues from Advertising services amounted to over USD 19.8 billion in Q2 2026. Year-on-year growth reached 26%.
By comparison, Online Stores increased sales by 15%, and Third-party seller services by 16%.
At the same time, Amazon is developing Ads Agent, an AI-powered tool designed to simplify campaign planning, launching and management. According to the announcement, setup and targeting that previously took hours can be shortened to a few minutes.
In 2026, Ads Agent was expanded to 11 more countries.
Amazon reports that advertisers using the tool achieve on average:
an 8% lower cost per single impression
a 6% lower cost of acquisition
The comparison is between advertisers using Ads Agent and those who do not.
Automation can reduce the time needed to launch campaigns and perform repetitive tasks. However, it does not exempt you from monitoring the result.
You still need to monitor:
ACOS
ROAS
cost of sales acquisition
margin of advertised products
share of advertising in total sales
profitability of brand and non-brand campaigns
impact of campaigns on organic sales
Faster setup won't help if the campaign promotes a low-margin product, has insufficient stock or directs traffic to a listing that converts poorly.
AI can perform operations faster. The brand still needs to know what result it wants to achieve and how much it can pay for it.
In practice, effective use of new tools requires not only automation but also a well-planned Amazon Ads strategy.
AI is having an increasingly strong impact on product selection
Amazon has combined Rufus and Alexa+ into Alexa for Shopping.
The new shopping assistant offers:
personalised recommendations
product comparisons
price history
Price Alerts
Auto-Buy
In Q2, the number of active users was nearly double that of the previous year. The number of interactions increased more than fivefold year-on-year.
Alexa+ was expanded to Germany, Austria, France and Brazil, among other countries.
Amazon also reports that in the US, customers using Alexa for Shopping spend an average of over 40% more per order than those who do not use the solution.
Customers who have tried Alexa+ subscribe to Prime at a rate nearly 25% higher.
The product selection process can increasingly start with a question asked to an assistant, an automatic comparison of offers or a price alert.
In such an environment, it is not only the phrases typed into the search engine that matter. What also counts is whether the system can correctly identify:
what the product is
who it is intended for
what problem it solves
how variants differ
in which situations it is worth recommending
which parameters are important during comparison
Inconsistent data, unclear titles, incorrectly constructed variants and content based on generalities can limit product visibility even outside the traditional search results list.
A well-prepared listing should answer not only the question "what phrase does the customer type?" but also "how does the customer describe their need?".
This is one of the reasons why professional sales management on Amazon for manufacturers, including content strategy, catalogue structure and listing optimisation, is becoming increasingly important.
Amazon expands logistics operations
Amazon has launched Amazon Supply Chain Services. The service allows companies to use the infrastructure supporting Amazon's business to transport, store and deliver products.
The scope covers the journey from raw materials to finished products.
Among the first customers mentioned were:
Procter & Gamble
3M
Lands' End
American Eagle Outfitters
The development of this service shows that Amazon wants to handle an increasingly larger part of companies' supply chains, even beyond the sale of the product on the platform itself.
Logistics on Amazon can be increasingly linked with other business processes of the company.
Before choosing such a model, it is worth comparing:
total cost of service
available markets
delivery time
stock level required in individual locations
dependence on a single operator
impact of the model on cash flow
possibility of auditing costs per SKU
A wide range of services can simplify operations. At the same time, it increases the importance of data, cost control and conscious division of responsibilities.
Amazon Business reaches USD 60 billion in annual gross sales
Amazon Business has achieved USD 60 billion in annualised gross sales.
The platform also increased its product selection by nearly 30% compared to the previous year. Development included, among other things, same-day fresh food delivery for businesses in more than 2,300 cities and towns in the US.
Amazon is also developing as a purchasing channel for organisations, offices and institutional clients.
For B2B brands, this means a need to check:
business pricing
quantity discounts
bulk packaging structure
availability of invoices
content tailored to business needs
profitability of larger orders
capability to handle repeat purchases
A product purchased by a business may require a different pitch than the same product offered to an individual customer. Unit cost, availability, repeatability of deliveries and ease of invoicing may be more important.
Amazon forecast for Q3 2026
Amazon forecasts that in the third quarter of 2026, net sales will be between USD 197 billion and USD 202 billion.
This would mean growth of between 9% and 12% compared to Q3 2025.
Forecasted operating profit is between USD 22.5 billion and USD 26.5 billion. A year earlier, this was USD 17.4 billion.
The rate of growth may therefore be lower than in Q2. However, the direction of development remains consistent: faster order fulfillment, greater automation, growth of Amazon Advertising and stronger use of AI.
What do the Q2 2026 results say to brands?
Amazon is developing several elements simultaneously:
trade
services for third-party sellers
logistics
Amazon Advertising
AI-assisted shopping
B2B sales
For brands, this means that a single optimisation is rarely enough anymore.
This is why more and more companies are opting for comprehensive sales management on Amazon, which combines strategy, logistics, advertising, content and analytics into a single, cohesive process.
Good content won't fix a lack of stock. A high ROAS won't save a product with a margin that is too low. Fast delivery won't help if the customer doesn't understand the difference between variants. Campaign automation is no substitute for cost control.
The result comes when strategy, logistics, content, compliance, Amazon Advertising and analytics work towards a single goal: sales that leave a profit.
So it is worth checking not only whether your sales on Amazon are growing. The more important question is: is the margin growing too? Contact us and find out the answer.
FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
What do Amazon's financial results for Q2 2026 mean for sellers?
The results show that Amazon continues to dynamically develop sales, services for third-party sellers, advertising and artificial intelligence-based solutions. For brands, this means greater competition, but also new opportunities to increase sales and automate processes.
Why is Amazon Advertising growing faster than the platform's sales?
Amazon Advertising revenues increased by 26% year-on-year, while sales in the Online Stores segment grew by 15%. This shows that advertising is becoming an increasingly important element of sales strategy and building product visibility on Amazon.
Will AI replace Amazon Ads specialists?
No. AI-powered tools can speed up campaign setup and automate some repetitive activities. However, it is still the seller or specialist who is responsible for strategy, cost control, results analysis and campaign profitability.
How does artificial intelligence affect product visibility on Amazon?
AI systems increasingly analyse not only keywords, but also the product's meaning, its use, target group and differences between variants. Therefore, a well-prepared listing should meet user needs and contain complete, consistent information.
Does fast delivery influence customers' buying decisions?
Yes. More and more customers look not only at price and reviews, but also at the estimated delivery date. Stock shortages or extended delivery times can limit sales and the effectiveness of running advertising campaigns.
What metrics are worth monitoring when selling on Amazon?
In addition to sales value, it is worth regularly analysing the margin after all fees, profitability of individual SKUs, share of FBA and advertising costs, ACOS, ROAS, stock levels and the risk of stockouts.
Does sales growth on Amazon always mean greater profit?
No. Higher sales do not always translate into greater profitability. The final result is influenced, among other things, by advertising costs, Amazon fees, logistics, product margin and stock levels. Therefore, it is worth analysing financial results for each SKU separately.
How can a brand prepare for the development of AI and automation on Amazon?
It is worth ensuring high-quality listings, consistent product data, correctly constructed variants, attractive content and regular sales performance analysis. The better described and organised a product is, the greater the chance it will be correctly interpreted by AI systems supporting the purchasing process.
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