Podean, in partnership with Jungle Scout, launches The Marketplace Index™ 2026, Benchmarking 3,500+ Global Amazon Brands

Now in its fourth year, the annual benchmark scores 3,500+ brands across six global markets and adds AI Readiness as a new fifth scoring pillar.

NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, October 6, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Podean, a global marketplace partner, announced the launch of The Marketplace Index™ 2026, the company's annual benchmark of Amazon brand performance in partnership with Jungle Scout, the industry-leading Amazon data platform.

Now in its fourth year, the report scores more than 3,500 brands across the most competitive categories in six key global markets - Australia, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, the UK and the US - giving brands a clear, data-backed view of how they stack up and where the opportunity to grow is greatest.

New for 2026, the report introduces AI Readiness as a fifth scoring pillar, joining Retail, Content, Customer, and Media, reflecting the growing role AI-driven shopping assistants and discovery tools play in how customers find and buy on Amazon.

"Brands have no shortage of data, but understanding what strong performance actually looks like is much harder," said Travis Johnson, CEO of Podean. "The Marketplace Index™ turns millions of performance signals into meaningful benchmarks that show brands where they stand, who is setting the pace, and where the biggest opportunities remain."

"The Marketplace Index gives brands a clearer view of how the marketplace is evolving and where new opportunities are emerging," said Jay Lovelace, CEO of Jungle Scout. "We're proud to partner with Podean and contribute Jungle Scout's Amazon marketplace data to the report, adding the category, brand, product, and keyword-level detail brands need to know exactly where to compete and invest."

Podean and Jungle Scout have partnered for five years, with 2026 marking their second collaboration on The Marketplace Index™. Jungle Scout supplies the underlying Amazon data that powers the report's scoring model, while the two companies work closely throughout the report's creation to ensure the data and insights are as accurate and complete as possible.

The Story Behind the Data
The Marketplace Index™ 2026 makes the case that winning on Amazon today requires a full-funnel, multi-market strategy that includes media, content, and increasingly, AI readiness.
- Category Leadership. The Marketplace Index™ reveals which brands are leading their categories on Amazon and the strategies they use to build and sustain a competitive advantage.
- Competitive Insights. The report shows how brands compare against category peers, market competitors, and the leading brands across the broader Amazon ecosystem.
- Performance Blueprint. The Marketplace Index™ provides clear benchmarks brands can use to measure performance, evaluate strengths and weaknesses, and guide strategic improvements.
- Year-Over-Year Progression. The report tracks how brand performance has evolved over the past three years, highlighting where meaningful gains or declines have occurred.
- Global Comparisons. The Marketplace Index™ shows how brands in each market stack up against peers across other Amazon marketplaces, identifying where performance standards differ globally and where growth opportunities exist beyond a brand's home market.

Key Findings (Australia)
- Beauty and Health lead the Australian digital shelf. Beauty and Health, Household & Personal Care are the top-performing categories, led by Skin Care, Body Care, Hair Care and Makeup. Grocery brands trail, with Pantry Staples and Wine, Beer & Spirits among the lowest scorers.
- Content sees the biggest leap forward. Content scores rose 10 percentage points year on year, driven by stronger titles, image stacks and growing A+ adoption. Still, many brands underuse A+, and around one in five has no active brand store.
- Media remains the biggest gap. Media is the weakest area, with a wider gap than in the US and UK, driven by limited ad placements and intense competition. 84% of brands run sponsored ads on brand terms, but only 56% cover category keywords, where shoppers discover new products.
- AI readiness is the next opportunity. With Alexa for Shopping only just launching in Australia, brands are still catching up. The biggest gaps are product descriptions that don't answer shopper questions and the Premium Q&A module, which almost nine in ten brands don't use.

"The Marketplace Index™ puts your whole category side by side so you can see who's winning in your space and what they're doing to get there, market by market,” said Hope Williams, Managing Director, NZA, from Podean. “For Australian brands it provides a clear view of where they actually stand in the AU markets alongside any global markets they're targeting, and which growth areas are still untapped. The brands pulling ahead are the ones with retail, content and media working together in the markets they sell in."

The Marketplace Index is Now Available
The Marketplace Index™ 2026 is available starting Oct. 6 at podean.com/intelligence, with localized versions for each of the six markets covered in the report. Brand-specific reports may be available on request by contacting Raphiel Bacar at raphiel@podean.com.

About Podean
Founded in 2019, Podean is the world's largest independent global marketplace partner and the industry's most awarded, with over 12 Amazon Partner Award titles. With more than 450 marketplace professionals across 20 countries and five continents, Podean delivers end-to-end management services across strategy, content, retail media, advertising, social commerce, analytics, and technology. The firm supports 500+ brands across 110+ marketplaces, including Amazon, Walmart, Target, Instacart, TikTok Shop, and Mercado Libre, managing more than $600M in media and driving $5B+ in combined client sales. For more information, visit www.podean.com.

About Jungle Scout
Jungle Scout delivers Amazon insights on demand. Built on more than 11 years of proprietary data and visibility into 40,000+ live seller integrations and 600M tracked products, it gives brands the clearest view of what's happening across categories, competitors, pricing, search, market share, and advertising. Its MCP and AI tools turn that data conversational, turning signals into decisions wherever teams work. Learn more at junglescout.com.

Travis Johnson
Podean
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