This Week in M&A Issue #254
September 14, 2026
Hello friends!
Today’s trend of the week is “bicycles”. 🚲
Bike sales aren’t slowing down just because summer is.
According to the latest Shopify sales data, bicycle lights saw sales jump 123% in August, while bicycle trainers increased 66% and kids’ bikes rose 53%.
The opportunities go beyond selling bikes. Entrepreneurs could tap into related products such as maintenance gear, indoor cycling equipment, and accessories for kids’ bikes.
There’s also plenty of room for content businesses covering topics like bike maintenance, indoor cycling, safety, gear reviews, and guides to choosing the right accessories.
This is also encouraging news for anyone concerned about seasonality in the cycling niche. People are still buying bike products as winter approaches, suggesting demand could extend beyond the traditional summer cycling season.
It looks like there’s still plenty of mileage in the bicycle market.
Today we have for you:
- Amazon makes it easier to reach millions of B2B customers
- Google says its search results are getting worse in Europe
And:
- We’re giving away tickets to Affiliate Grand Slam
- How to expand your ecommerce business internationally
- Amazon opens Sponsored Ads to audiobook authors
Alright, let’s dive in.
Amazon
Image Source: Giphy (Andrey Smirny)
It’s Now Easier For Amazon Sellers to Promote Products to B2B Customers
Want to sell your Amazon products to both businesses and consumers? It just got a whole lot easier.
Starting August 31, sellers can create exclusive, limited-time deals for Amazon Business customers across 10 markets, including the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Mexico, and Australia.
That puts these promotions in front of a pretty large audience. Amazon Business now has more than 11 million registered business organizations globally, with more than 1.8 million joining in the first half of 2026 alone. The platform generated more than $60 billion in annualized sales in Q2.
Sellers can run a deal for anywhere from one hour to 30 days, using either a fixed price or percentage discount. The deals are only shown to registered Amazon Business customers and are based on the seller’s Business Price, not the regular consumer price.
There are a few rules to qualify. Products must be new, have at least a 3.5-star rating, and meet Amazon’s pricing and seller performance requirements. Standard deals need to offer at least 10% off, while deals tied to events like Prime Big Deal Days, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday need to be at least 15% off.
Amazon is also giving eligible deals some extra promotion during major shopping events. Until December 31, 2026, they may be included in dedicated email and push notification campaigns at no extra cost.
For sellers with products used by offices, restaurants, hotels, contractors, or other businesses, this could be worth testing. Business customers may buy in larger quantities and come back for repeat orders.
Since these deals are built around Business Pricing, it’s worth reviewing your existing B2B prices before deciding which products to promote.
You can find the new feature in Seller Central under Price Discounts, as long as your products already have Business Prices.
The Opportunity podcast
![How to Expand Your Ecommerce Business Internationally With Andy Hooper [Ep.222] (1)](https://1745913.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/1745913/How%20to%20Expand%20Your%20Ecommerce%20Business%20Internationally%20With%20Andy%20Hooper%20%5BEp.222%5D%20(1).png)
Thinking About Taking Your eCommerce Business International?
It’s easy to look at international expansion and see a bigger customer base waiting on the other side. The reality can be a little more complicated.
In the latest episode of The Opportunity Podcast, we chat with Andy Hooper, CEO of Expandly, about expanding ecommerce businesses internationally and the lessons he’s learned from helping thousands of sellers enter new markets.
We cover how to approach international expansion, common mistakes to avoid, and what founders should consider before entering a new market.
If international growth or acquisitions are on your radar, this episode is worth a listen.
Google Says Its EU Search Changes Are Making Results Less Useful
Google says its latest changes to Search in Europe have made its results worse than at any other point in the company’s history.
The changes are being made to comply with the EU’s Digital Markets Act (DMA), which is designed to give competing services more opportunities to appear alongside Google.
So what does that actually mean for Search users?
For searches about things like hotels, flights and restaurants, Google is giving more space to specialist sites such as Booking.com and Expedia. Instead of Google showing its usual results, users may see one specialist service at the top, two more with less information, and then a carousel of businesses underneath.
Google is also removing some features, including real-time pricing, from these results.
Google says the problem is that this can make it harder for people to find what they are looking for. The company claims that earlier DMA-related changes already caused a 30% drop in free, direct booking traffic to European businesses.
That could be a bigger concern for businesses that rely on Google for customers. If Google gives less visibility to certain business listings, there could be fewer clicks and bookings coming from organic Search.
Google says it tested the latest changes with millions of European users and found that many were unhappy enough to search for the same thing again.
Of course, Google has a clear interest in highlighting the downside of the EU’s rules, and regulators may see things differently.
For businesses targeting European customers, though, it is another Search change worth keeping an eye on. A strategy that works in the US may not produce the same results in Europe as Google continues adapting Search to meet the DMA.
Read All About It!
🏆 Google’s top ranking factors: according to 131 SEO professionals
✅ How to do ecommerce niche validation: create a viable business idea
🛠️ How to build your first AI SEO agent: full SEMrush walkthrough
🌍 TikTok Shop opens cross-border sales between EU and UK: sell to EU shoppers
Events
Win a Free Ticket to Affiliate Grand Slam in Rome!
We’re heading to Affiliate Grand Slam in Rome this November, and we’ve got a few extra tickets to give away.
As one of the event sponsors, we’d love to use those tickets to invite some of our customers so we can finally meet you in person.
If you’re an affiliate, ecommerce entrepreneur, online business owner, or just someone interested in joining the space, this is a great chance to spend a few days around other people building businesses online, hear from some of the biggest names in the industry, and hang out with the Empire Flippers team.
And the best part? Your conference ticket is on us.
If you’re going to be in Rome anyway, come say hi. And if you weren’t planning on going, this might be your excuse.
Good luck!
Please note: The giveaway covers the Affiliate Grand Slam conference ticket only. Travel to and from Rome, accommodation, meals, and any other personal expenses are not included and are the responsibility of the winners.
Amazon KDP
Amazon Expands Sponsored Ads to Audiobooks
Amazon is giving authors a new way to promote their audiobooks.
As of August 28, authors, including those publishing through ACX, can advertise audiobook titles with Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands in the US. Previously, these ad formats were only available to author advertisers promoting digital and print book ASINs.
There is one requirement to get started. Authors need to claim their pen name through Author Central. Once that is done, their Audible title ASINs can become available for advertising through Amazon’s advertising console or API.
The biggest benefit may not be additional ad placements. It’s better attribution.
Authors can now include print, digital, and audiobook versions in the same campaigns. This makes it easier to see when an ad for one format leads to a purchase of another.
For example, someone could click an ad for the Kindle version but decide to buy the Audible version instead. Amazon can now connect those actions and report the purchase as an attributed conversion.
Authors can also track standard metrics such as impressions, clicks, and attributed conversions to see how their campaigns are performing.
This is a big opportunity for independent authors to cash in on a growing market. US audiobook sales reached $2.43 billion in 2025, up 9% year over year, while 157 million US adults had listened to an audiobook, according to the Audio Publishers Association.
Amazon has offered Audible advertising to vendors and publishers for several years. Vendors gained Sponsored Products access globally in 2023, followed by Sponsored Brands in nine markets in 2024. Authors are now getting similar access, although it is limited to the US for now.
Amazon hasn’t said when the feature will expand to other markets or whether additional ad formats will be added.
Money Nomad
Looking for a side hustle?
Try Money Nomad, our sister marketplace built specifically for profitable side hustles and micro-businesses that are too small for Empire Flippers.
Check out this recent listing available on the Money Nomad Marketplace:
Listing #10163 – $76,125.00
Amazon FBA | home, equipment
This Amazon FBA business sells home improvement tools across UK and EU markets with 13 SKUs generating $15,955/month in revenue. Fully enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry 2.0, the brand requires just 4 hours/week to manage and benefits from reliable multi-supplier sourcing with a strong presence in Italy (42%), UK (36%), and Spain (10%). Learn More
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