Podean Marketplace Index: Australian brands lag on Amazon media and AI readiness

Podean, a global marketplace partner, has launched The Marketplace Index 2026, its annual benchmark of Amazon brand performance.

Now in its fourth year, the report scores more than 3,500 brands in the most competitive categories across six markets: Australia, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, the UK and the US.

New this year, AI Readiness is a fifth scoring pillar alongside Retail, Content, Customer and Media. It reflects the growing role of AI shopping assistants and discovery tools in how customers find and buy on Amazon. Podean says the 2026 report shows winning on Amazon requires a full-funnel, multi-market strategy that includes media, content and, increasingly, AI readiness.

The report ranks brands within their categories and against category peers, market competitors, and leading brands across Amazon. It sets benchmarks brands can use to measure performance and identify strengths and weaknesses, and tracks how performance has changed over the past three years.

It also compares brands in each market with peers in other Amazon marketplaces, to show where performance standards differ and where growth opportunities exist beyond a brand's home market.

Among the key findings in Australia, Beauty and Health and 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.

Top-scoring brands include Colgate, Nivea, NYX Professional Makeup and CRZ Yoga, several of which also ranked highly last year. These brands compete in categories with the market's best sellers, which Podean says shows digital shelf execution and sales success go hand in hand.

Content showed the biggest improvement, with scores up 10 percentage points year on year, driven by stronger titles, image stacks and growing use of A+ content. Many brands still underuse A+, and around one in five has no active brand store.

Media is the weakest area, with a wider gap than in the US and UK, driven by limited ad placements and intense competition. While 84% of brands run sponsored ads on brand terms, 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.

Travis Johnson, global CEO of Podean, said: "Brands have no shortage of data, but understanding what strong performance actually looks like is much harder. 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."

Hope Williams, Managing Director, NZA, said: “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.

“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.”