This Week in M&A Issue #207

Walmart Stock Soars as ChatGPT Becomes Its New Shopping Assistant

As AI-driven search tools like ChatGPT reshape how people find information, many websites are quietly losing revenue. This isn’t because users have stopped searching on Google, but because their most valuable pages are going unseen by both search and AI crawlers.

Between May 2024 and May 2025, AI crawler traffic jumped by 96%, with OpenAI’s GPTBot accounting for nearly a third of it. Yet, data from Semrush shows that users aren’t abandoning Google. Instead, they’re expanding their search habits across platforms. This means websites must now satisfy both traditional and AI crawlers without increasing their crawl budgets.

The problem is that most companies focus on how many pages get crawled instead of which pages should be crawled. Cloudflare found that AI bots like Claude’s crawl tens of thousands of pages for every single referral click they generate, consuming resources while sending little traffic in return.

According to Search Engine Land, the solution lies in strategic prioritization, ensuring crawlers focus on pages that actually drive revenue.

A helpful model is the PAVE framework, which evaluates pages by Potential, Authority, Value, and Evolution. Pages that rank low on these factors waste crawl budget that could be directed toward high-value, conversion-oriented content.

Another major factor is technical setup. Sites relying heavily on JavaScript face a “9x rendering tax” since most AI crawlers skip JavaScript altogether. Server-side rendering (SSR), where pages are pre-built in HTML before loading, not only improves crawlability but also boosts site speed. Deloitte found that even a 0.1-second faster load time can lift retail conversions by 8.4%.

Crawl budgets shift with every deployment, so continuous monitoring is essential. Unifying crawl data with SEO and AI visibility metrics gives you a real-time view of what’s actually working.

Since both Google and AI crawlers currently decide what gets seen, businesses that ensure their most valuable pages are fast, visible, and crawlable will win more clicks, customers, and revenue.

Amazon is set to raise fulfillment fees for independent sellers starting next year, marking the first increase after no changes in 2025.

According to an official blog post on October 15, U.S. Referral and Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) fees will go up by an average of $0.08 per unit sold. Sellers will have at least 90 days’ notice before the new rates take effect.

Dharmesh Mehta, Amazon’s VP of worldwide selling partner services, emphasized that these fee adjustments are below inflation and smaller than the 3.9%-5.9% cost increases seen from major U.S. carriers over the past two years. He also reassured sellers that no new FBA fee types will be introduced in 2026, signaling Amazon’s goal of minimizing operational burdens while maintaining stability.

Despite these assurances, many sellers are raising concerns. This announcement comes at a time when Amazon sellers are already facing record-high advertising costs, potential looming tariffs, and rising storage fees. Some sellers also point out that Amazon added three to five new fee types earlier this year, which has compounded operational expenses and made planning for profitability more challenging.

For independent sellers, even small fee increases can affect margins, especially when combined with advertising and storage costs. Sellers are advised to use Amazon’s tools, like the revenue calculator, fee preview reports, and profit analytics dashboards, to model the impact of these changes on individual products and adjust pricing or strategies accordingly.

Marketplace Pulse recently released a fascinating “Amazon aggregator autopsy” in the aftermath of Thrasio’s collapse.

In a recent interview, Thrasio co-founder John Hefter shared the first insider account of what went wrong. The strategy of buying and growing Amazon brands works in principle, but operational inefficiencies and the extreme conditions of 2021 made success nearly impossible.

Thrasio started smart, acquiring businesses at reasonable 2x EBITDA multiples. But by 2021, competition was fierce, and the company was paying 7x for low-quality brands just to hit growth targets. Easy money and sky-high valuations fueled a frenzy, with over 100 aggregators competing for the same assets. Aggregators raised $12.3 billion in 2021, mostly debt, but that dropped to $2.7 billion in 2022, leaving many overextended and vulnerable.

Speed made things worse. Thrasio grew from four founders to 1,600 employees across ten global offices in just two and a half years, acquiring 200 brands, sometimes multiple deals per week. Errors, such as ordering massive amounts of slow-moving inventory, proved costly and nearly impossible to correct. Operational excellence became critical, and many aggregators simply couldn’t keep up.

Despite the chaos, roll-ups still work. Software aggregators serving Amazon sellers, like Threecolts and Carbon6, reached nine-figure valuations, proving that consolidation can succeed with the right asset class and strategy.

Hefter believes future success is possible at lower multiples with better infrastructure, but the bar has risen. Amazon sellers have become more sophisticated, making execution and discipline more important than capital alone.

Thrasio’s story is a warning: buying and growing multiple brands can work, but moving too fast, overpaying, or running operations poorly can ruin even the best strategies.