Acadia

This week on the Ecommerce Braintrust podcast I’m joined by Acadia Retail Operations Manager Tamara Vukovic to discuss the update to fees we saw earlier this year on Amazon.  In previous episodes we’ve discussed each of the fees, what they mean for brands and what to expect with their rollout.  This week, Tamra and I dig into how they’ve played out for brands. We discuss the way Amazon’s fee update practices have always followed a bit of a ‘carrot and stick’ approach and this latest round is showing some clear carrots for brands who have strong, optimized operational practices.  Case in point?  The introduction of new sizing tiers for products. The implementation of granular size tiers and the adjustments in FBA fulfillment fees are designed to help sellers optimize their shipping and handling costs, ultimately benefiting those with efficient inventory and shipping practices. Tamara is an operational whiz on Amazon and has clear perspective on how the dust has settled with the 2024 fee updates.  Listen to her take by searching for “ecommerce braintrust” in your favorite podcast app, or streaming via the link in the comments. 

Are Sponsored Brand ads a key part of your #PrimeDay strategy this year? If so, I'm curious how it's playing out. We're seeing a number of anomalies across SB ads from product images with no product titles at all to deal badging covering the product title itself. It looks like it's time to pivot to more emphasis on Sponsored Products and also time to ensure your primary image offers a clear view of your product title. Juan Munoz Dominguez Emily Ostrander Dusan Tepavac Carlos Sastre Garulo Ross Walker

Happy to share Acadia has been named Media and Creative AOR for Fresh Thyme Market , a midwestern community focused grocer. This is a unique opportunity for Acadia to showcase the power of having creative and media/analytics all under one roof and working together every step of the way. Fresh Thyme plays an incredibly important role in their communities.  We love their selection, their team, their employees, and their culture and could not be more proud to help them grow.  Fresh Thyme exists in a very competitive market filled with larger national players like Kroger and Whole Foods.  Bring it on, we love a good fight. We can't wait to help tell their unique story, highlight the incredible offerings, delight customers (old and new), and out-flank larger competitors with better media stewardship and creative that romances the unique shopping experience at Fresh Thyme. Thank you to Katrina Tecmire and the rest of the amazing Fresh Thyme team for putting a ton of trust in Acadia. We promise to care as deeply about your brand and customers as you do.  To the Acadia team, this process has once again confirmed how much of a privilege it is to work with you everyday. The creativity, scrappiness, and cando spirit is truly something I am awed by. From Yoga Mats, to Shopping Carts, and many packed in a rental van...it was all fun. Now, lets get moving.

I'm happy to announce I will be speaking at eTail Boston's 25th anniversary event happening this August 12-15! I'll be joining Ash McMullen of Advantice Health and Stephanie Grubert of Torani on a panel: Utilizing Tentpole Events To Drive Near and Long Term Brand Health. To find out more about the event, click here: https://lnkd.in/gtNW7ptf #eTail25 #eTailBoston eTail™

Don't build 100 APIs. Instead, use the best available tech to bring data together. I see too many companies fall into the trap of building and maintaining countless APIs. That quickly becomes a hamster wheel that drains resources and distracts from core business goals. Here's a better strategy: 1. Leverage best-in-class technology for data integration 2. Focus on what you do best: analyzing and acting on the data We use tools like Fivetran to ingest data from various platforms. They handle the complex task of keeping up with API changes, allowing our team to concentrate on turning that data into actionable insights for our clients. Your strength lies in how you use data, not in how you collect it. #DataIntegration

If you’re a 1P brand on Amazon and you see the letters A-V-N, you might experience an involuntary stress response 😉   Annual Vendor Negotiations happen each year and they are often accompanied by some feelings of stress and a shroud of mystery - how do you as a brand successfully navigate AVNs? This week on the Ecommerce Braintrust podcast I’m joined by Claire McBride of Stratably to discuss the research she conducted with Martin Heubel of Consulterce.  Their Amazon Vendor Negotiation (AVN) Benchmark Report is a study of 2024 AVNs aiming to benchmark how the negotiations ended up, the impact to trade terms and profitability, and brands’ key priorities going forward. There were a few surprising results from the study that Claire and I discuss including the fact that 9% of brands studied experienced a decrease in trade terms.  Another notable finding we discuss was that for the average brand, Amazon operates as a growth engine that is significantly outpacing the broader retail market, growing about four times faster with a relatively healthy margin profile. This contradicts the general narrative in the industry where Amazon is often perceived as a challenging platform that compresses vendors' margins. The report suggests that despite these challenges, brands can still achieve healthy margins, marking an interesting divergence from common preconceptions about selling on Amazon. As we all get through Prime Day next week and then move on to preparing for your 2025 AVNs the following week, this is a report well worth reviewing. Listen by searching for “ecommerce braintrust” in your favorite podcast app, or streaming via the link in the comments. And find a link to download the report in the show notes.

Are you looking to connect more effectively with your customers through Google? Discover how mapping the SEO customer journey can boost your visibility, engagement, and conversions. Learn about the latest strategies and insights to take your marketing game to the next level. Tailoring your content strategies to align with customer behavior and needs significantly enhances your overall marketing efforts. By creating content that resonates with what customers are searching for, you improve user engagement and boost conversion rates, as it guides them through their decision-making process. This approach also strengthens your SEO performance, as search engines prioritize relevant and useful content, driving more organic traffic to your site. Additionally, understanding customer behavior helps allocate resources more efficiently, focusing efforts on what matters most to your audience. Optimizing for zero-click searches enhances organic discovery by ensuring that your content appears directly on the search results page, providing immediate answers and engaging users. This increased visibility and user engagement can lead to higher brand awareness and trust, making users more likely to engage with your paid campaigns when they see them. By building a strong organic presence, you create a foundation that complements and amplifies the effectiveness of your paid efforts. Learn more about the framework and see it illustrated through a use case from the link in the comments!

Don't make data more complicated than it needs to be. People are often intimidated by data and technical concepts, but the right explanations can make them more accessible. Here's my approach to demystifying data: 1. Use simple charts: A basic bar chart often trumps fancy visualizations. 2. Speak plainly: Big words don't equal big impact. Clear, everyday language works best. 3. Simplify without sacrificing sophistication: Keep the analysis deep, but present it clearly. I'm not saying you should give up advanced analysis, but you have to present it in a way that listeners can understand. If your audience is nodding politely but not acting, your message isn't getting through. #DataAnalytics #Simplicity #DataVisualization

You have to make the data actionable. At Acadia, our approach is simple but mighty: we sift through mountains of data to extract the two or three key insights that matter most. Our goal is not to inundate clients with endless information but to deliver concise, meaningful recommendations that drive business decisions. We specialize in transforming overwhelming data into straightforward recommendations. We filter every analysis through a lens of clarity: -Can we explain this insight to someone completely unfamiliar with our industry? -Can we articulate it at a casual gathering? By making data accessible, we ensure that our clients can use it effectively. Don't let complex data become a roadblock. #ActionableInsights #DataDrivenDecisionMaking

A great listen with Amazon Prime Day less than two weeks away #primeday2024