In this newsletter:

• Cartograph x Harvest Group - New and Expanded Services

• Q4 Prep

• Search Term Trends

Cartograph x Harvest Group - New & Expanded Services

Background

Harvest Group, a leading integrated commerce agency acquired Cartograph back in April (click to read the official announcement). Nothing is changing with our service or dedication to you, but joining Harvest Group gives us (and you!) access to a wealth of new resources to support your growth on Amazon and far beyond.

• Brick-and-mortar muscle - dedicated retail teams and account management across Walmart, Target, Costco, Kroger, and Sam's Club.

• Expanded creative + media support - shopper marketing, retail media, and creative services to make your brand pop.

• Connected strategy - one integrated partner covering in-store, e-commerce, DTC, TikTok Shop, insights, and supply chain across all major retailers.

• Amazon Ads Advanced Partner - a distinction held by fewer than 7% of Amazon Ads partners worldwide.

• Deep Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) Expertise - Harvest Group works closely with the AMC team on roadmap development and alpha/beta testing new features.

• 25 of Bain’s Insurgent 2026 Brands chose Harvest Group as their partner.

Harvest Group has a proven track record helping scale and support CPG brands of all sizes, and we are beyond excited to combine forces to offer multi-channel support for clients across their growth journeys.

Interested in chatting about what this new partnership could do for your brand?

Current clients: just let your Cartograph team know and we’ll set up some time to chat!

Non-clients: Shoot us a message at [email protected] or click here to fill out our contact form. 

Q4 Is Almost Here. Here’s How We’re Prepping.

Operations

Inbound is earlier this year. Amazon tightened its 2026 windows, and deadlines depend on how you split shipments. Optimized splits buy ~a week over minimal splits.

• Prime Big Deal Days: AWD Sept 2 · minimal splits Sept 9 · optimized splits Sept 16

• Black Friday / Cyber Monday: AWD Oct 14 · minimal splits Oct 21 · optimized splits Oct 28

• January restock: ship by mid-November to absorb 6–8 week holiday delays

Book capacity + pickups now. Bids climb 3–4x into Q4 and storage can triple. Plan pickups by Sept 1 (carriers are already backed up 1–2 weeks).

Fees: 2026 holiday fees are flat vs. last year, but a peak surcharge (~$0.32/unit + fuel & logistics) runs Oct 15 – Jan 14. Build it into your margin math.

Deal Planning

Prime Big Deal Days - est. early October (Amazon typically only confirms dates 2–4 weeks out; 2025 ran Oct 7–8)

• Deal submissions still open - final deadline Sept 8.

• Prime Exclusive Discounts still available; reference pricing needs 30+ days of stability.

Black Friday Nov 27 / Cyber Monday Nov 30

• Early-discount deadline Sept 5 (saves $50/promo) · final submission Oct 20.

• Plan full November activation - lead-in starts earlier every year.

Tactics: stack Subscribe & Save with Buy More, Save More or other deal types · use cart-abandoner coupons post-event · include deal fees in TACOS calculations. Note: PBDD promo prices are excluded from the Black Friday reference-price lookback.

Content That Converts

New for 2026 - lock down Titles + Item Highlights before the rush. Amazon capped product titles at 75 characters last month and moved overflow keywords and descriptors into a new searchable Item Highlights field (125 characters). If you don't set these yourself, Amazon's AI does it automatically.

• Audit high-revenue ASINs first.

• Lead titles with brand + product type + primary keyword.

• Move secondary keywords, specs, and use cases into Item Highlights (no unsupported claims).

• Use bulk upload / API for large catalogs

Seasonal checklist: 
✅Hero images with digital gift overlays (not physical promises)
✅Brand Store winter themes + gift guides
✅A+ gifting language
✅Add gifting keywords to your product copy and ad targets.

Advertising

• CPCs spike during tentpoles, so plan your budget accordingly (reference Prime Day or last year’s events if available)

• Refresh Sponsored Brand creative for the season (keep backups; % callouts get flagged).

• Lean on Sponsored TV / Display for cheaper reach when Sponsored Products CPCs peak.

• Use DSP to retarget gift buyers into January.

What We're Watching

• Shorter inbound windows - less runway than last year makes planning and proactive shipments more important.

• Capacity limits on high-supply ASINs and carrier delays of 1–2 weeks.

• Title / Item Highlights rollout still looking hit-or-miss. Verify yours before peak.

• Reference pricing - Don’t get caught by the 30-day rule. Plan ahead so you can run the deals you want to run for the big tentpoles.

• Optimize for AI. We saw a large jump in AI-based traffic during Prime Day 2026, and we expect that trend to continue. AI traffic also converted better than traffic from other channels. Make sure your backend specs are filled out and consult our AEO/GEO Playbook for more tips and best practices.

Search Term Trends - August 2026