In September, Shanghai hosted a series of major industry expos: The China International Furniture Fair (Shanghai), China Build (Shanghai), and WMF International Woodworking Fair took center stage in the Hongqiao district, while the Modern Shanghai Design Week and the China International Furniture Expo (CIFE) ran concurrently at the World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center and Shanghai New International Expo Center in Pudong. Expo floors buzzed with international buyers registering, consulting, and connecting with suppliers. For many soft furnishings and outdoor home furnishing vendors—particularly those heavily reliant on Amazon—the top priority upon returning to their offices was reviewing Seller Central access rights.

Starting in July 2026, Amazon will fully implement Passkey, enabling fingerprint, facial recognition, PIN, or QR code authentication to replace some “password + verification code” logins. Currently in a transitional phase, certain accounts and high-risk functions will soon require Passkey as the primary authentication method. However, legacy practices such as shared main account access, full agency control, and multi-store remote switching must be overhauled before peak selling seasons.

Soft Furnishing Brands: Ending “Group Chat” Main Account Sharing

At the Pudong Home Furnishings and Furniture Expo, similar concerns were widespread. The operations manager of a functional chair exporter explained to Home Furnishing New Paradigm that soft furnishings—with their high unit values and long inventory cycles—are especially vulnerable to backend disruptions.

Traditionally, main account passwords circulated freely among operations, customer service, and finance teams via group chats. Under Passkey, credentials are device-bound, and Amazon explicitly discourages main account sharing. The recommended solution? Leverage User Permissions to create distinct secondary accounts for each team member, each tied to their own authentication method. This renders the old “group chat verification code request” model obsolete—and far riskier.

“Large items aren’t like fast-moving consumer goods. A half-day backend outage could halt shipments to overseas warehouses,” the manager noted. Their focus now isn’t training staff on Passkey but restructuring access: Core personnel manage the main account, while operations, customer service, and finance teams use independent secondary accounts. Report viewers can’t adjust pricing; after-sales teams can’t access payments. The principle is clear: Centralize control, minimize risk.

Outdoor Furnishing Sellers: Remote Management Overhaul

The challenge is even greater for outdoor furniture sellers. A Ningbo-based exporter of patio tables and umbrellas, managing stores across the U.S., Europe, and Australia, faced a post-expo reckoning: To avoid account associations, they’d relied on VPS (Virtual Private Servers) and fingerprint browsers for environment isolation.

Passkey complicates this setup. Older Windows devices, virtual machines, and basic remote desktops lack full compatibility with the new authentication. Worse, switching between stores on the same remote machine risks key-binding failures or triggering Amazon’s fraud detection systems.

“We’ll still need VPS, but not for main account security,” the seller told Home Furnishing New Paradigm. Their revised strategy: Remote tools manage IP and browser fingerprints, but main accounts and sensitive operations migrate to local, controlled devices. Each store operates via independent secondary accounts, each with its own authentication key.

This adds management overhead but pales in comparison to supply chain disruptions from login failures. The seller emphasized that Passkey addresses authentication identity and credential sharing but doesn’t eliminate the need for multi-entity anti-association measures—independent credentials, networks, devices, and payment methods remain essential.

Agency Operations: From “Password Handoffs” to “Role-Based Access”

Agencies serving North American markets are feeling the impact most acutely. One agency head observed that clients now prioritize “main account ownership and permission recovery protocols” over “ranking optimization strategies.”

Historically, agencies logged in directly via main accounts and shared credentials across teams. Passkey renders this “full-service” model cumbersome and risky. A more compliant approach is gaining traction: Brands retain main account control, while agencies receive secondary accounts with role-specific, function-limited access—complete with audit trails and automatic permission revocation upon staff departure.

These shifts extend to logistics. Overseas warehouse providers now urge clients to include “backend emergency contacts” and “order modification protocols” in monthly reconciliations. After all, if sellers can’t access their backends due to authentication issues, order processing, returns, and reshipments stall—with immediate repercussions for cross-border sellers.

Conclusion: Organizational Agility Defines Peak Season Success

Against the backdrop of Hongqiao and Pudong expos—where tens of thousands of industry professionals and buyers from nearly 100 countries gathered—the global home furnishings sector signals recovery. Yet beneath this surface, a quiet revolution in backend governance is underway. Amazon’s transition is gradual, but this phase offers a critical window for enterprises.

For cross-border merchants, the true challenge isn’t adopting fingerprint logins but restructuring outdated permission systems. Phasing out shared main accounts, implementing role-based sub-account frameworks, and revising agency contracts are no longer optional—they’re survival imperatives. The battleground for cross-border home furnishings has shifted from expo handshake deals to the meticulous management of backend access screens.