Ecommerce Braintrust

Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Operations.

Today were bringing back our very own Director of Retail Marketplace Strategy, Pat Petriello, to discuss how the savviest brands are balancing the needs of brand vs. performance marketing, how to avoid a life sentence in ROAS Jail, and the all-important 95/5 rule.

Tune in to find out more!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In this episode, Julie, Jordan, and Pat discuss:

• Introduction to ROAS Jail: Pat Patriello explains the concept of "ROAS jail," where marketers focus solely on Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS), leading to inefficiencies and short-term growth strategies.

• The 95-5 Rule: Only 5% of consumers are in the market for any given product at any time. The focus should be on brand building for the 95% who are not currently shopping.

• 60-40 Rule: Introduced by Pat as a guideline, suggesting a budget allocation of 60% towards brand-building and 40% towards performance marketing. This ratio helps balance short-term sales goals with long-term brand equity.

• Brand vs. Performance Marketing: Discussion on how these strategies differ and the importance of emotional connection through branding to attract long-term customers.

• Amazon's Role: Insight into how Amazon is transitioning to accommodate brand building alongside its historical strength in direct sales and conversion.

• Practical Recommendations: Tips for business leaders on how to integrate brand marketing into existing performance-focused strategies without necessarily increasing overall spending.

• Examples of Effective Brand Building: Brands like Patagonia are highlighted as successfully creating emotional connections that lead consumers directly to their products, bypassing competitive marketplace auctions.

Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Operations.

Today, we’re joined by two of the sharpest minds at Acadia—experts who live and breathe Amazon. Whether it’s diving deep into AI advancements, crafting and optimizing product listings, or navigating the ever-evolving customer journey, these two are on the front lines, ensuring our brands are set up for long-term organic success.

First up, we have Julian Galindo, Senior Account Manager on our Retail Team—a recognized authority and proud self-proclaimed nerd when it comes to AI-driven content optimization.

Joining him is Predrag Vetnic, Retail Strategist with a specialty in high-impact copywriting for ecommerce. If you’ve shopped on Amazon recently, chances are you’ve come across his work without even realizing it.

We’re thrilled to have them both on the show! Tune in to find out more!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In this episode, Julie, Jordan, Predrag, and Julian discuss:

• Amazon's AI Advancements

• Introduction to Rufus, Amazon's AI shopping assistant, which helps customers by suggesting products based on their needs and queries.

• Cosmo, the AI system powering Rufus, aims to understand the "why" behind shopping behaviors to offer more personalized results.

• Optimization Practices for AI

• Transition from keyword-based search optimization to a focus on natural language and user intent.

• Importance of tailoring product detail pages (PDPs) for Rufus, not only using keywords but targeting customer needs and relevant questions.

• SEO Strategy Evolution

• Emphasizing human-like interaction while optimizing e-commerce content for AI.

• Leveraging footprint data from user interactions to inform and refine search experiences.

• Testing and Measuring Impact

• Methods for testing the effectiveness of AI-focused optimization strategies.

• Importance of monitoring conversion rates, organic share of voice, and search rankings.

• Future of AI in E-commerce

• Speculation on the integration of AI-driven search with traditional methods.

• Discussions on how AI could revolutionize personalized shopping experiences on platforms like Amazon.

Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Operations.

It’s time for another episode of the Retail Round-Up, March edition!

From a new fee structure on promotions to a longer Prime Day event and expanded advertising capabilities, these updates could reshape how brands approach pricing, marketing, and overall strategy.

Joining us today are resident experts Ross Walker, Director of Retail Media at Acadia, and Armin Alipahic, Operations Team Lead.

Make sure you tune in to find out more!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In this episode, Julie, Jordan, Ross, and Armin discuss:

• Amazon’s New Fee Structure for Deals & Coupons – Amazon is introducing performance-based fees for Lightning Deals, Best Deals, Coupons, and Prime Exclusive Discounts starting June 2nd. These changes could significantly impact brands’ profitability, particularly ahead of Prime Day.
  
  

• Prime Day Extended to Four Days – Amazon quietly announced that Prime Day 2025 will be a four-day event, giving brands more time to compete but also raising concerns about increased promotional spending.
  
  

• Amazon’s Push Into TV Advertising – The launch of Complete TV aims to streamline TV ad buying, including both linear and streaming placements. This move aligns with Amazon’s broader strategy to dominate the traditional TV advertising space.
  
  

• Search Query Performance (SQP) API Launch – Amazon is making SQP reports available via API, allowing brands and tech providers to automate and integrate search data more efficiently. This could be a game-changer for search optimization and ad performance tracking.
  
  

• Steeper Discounts for Better Visibility – Amazon is incentivizing brands to offer discounts of 40% or more by promising additional deal placements, though the specifics remain unclear. However, higher promotional costs may make deep discounting unsustainable for many brands.

Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Operations.

Today, we’re excited to welcome back a familiar voice on the show—operations expert Armin Alispahic. Armin is here to bring us up to speed on a recent phenomenon in the Vendor space — the availability of true channel P&L analysis.

We’ll explore why this trend is only showing up now and what it means for how brands assess their business with Amazon.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In this episode, Julie, Jordan, and Armin discuss:

Understanding Vendor Profitability on Amazon:

• Two main metrics: Net PPM (Net Pure Profit Margin) and Internal Brand P&L.

• The hidden third factor—Amazon’s internal costs (fulfillment, packaging, and shipping expenses).
  
  

Why Profitability Analysis Is Becoming Crucial:

• Amazon is tightening vendor margins, requiring brands to have a clear view of their own and Amazon’s profitability.

• Increase in CRaP (Can’t Realize a Profit) items, making it essential to assess profitability at the SKU level.
  
  

Technology Driving P&L Insights for Vendors:

• Amazon's 2023 API improvements have enabled better data access for vendor P&L analysis.

• New tools now provide automated, SKU-level profitability reports.
  
  

Key Factors That Influence Vendor Profitability:

• Fixed Costs: Vendor terms (co-op, damage allowances, freight).

• Variable Costs: Chargebacks, shortages, advertising, and promotional spend.

• Operational Efficiency: Packaging, fulfillment optimization, and inventory management.
  
  

How Brands Can Leverage P&L Insights:

• Smarter Assortment Decisions: Identifying SKUs that drive profitability vs. those that hurt margins.

• Optimizing Advertising Spend: Allocating budget toward high-margin products rather than just high-volume ones.

• Better Negotiations with Amazon: Using data to drive conversations in annual vendor negotiations (AVNs).

• Cross-Team Collaboration: Breaking down silos between marketing, finance, and operations.

Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Operations.

Today, we're catching up with Ross Walker, Director of Retail Media, to discuss his recent workshop at the Commerce Media Brand Summit in Atlanta.

Ross led an in-depth session on all things bottom-of-the-funnel—what's evolving, why it matters, and how brands can maximize this critical stage.

Tune in to find out more!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In this episode, Julie, Jordan, and Ross discuss:

Defining the Bottom of the Funnel (BOF)

• BOF focuses on conversion—turning interest into purchases or fostering brand loyalty.

• Includes retargeting customers who have engaged with your product or brand.

• Targets high-intent audiences like past visitors, brand searchers, and prior buyers.

Shift in Budget Allocation

• Brands are moving budgets away from branded search and loyalty-based retargeting.

• More investment is going toward non-branded bottom-of-funnel keywords and audiences.

• Capturing new customers efficiently is now a bigger priority over maximizing ROAS.

4 Tactics for BOF Success

Day Parting:

• Optimizing spend by adjusting bids based on high-conversion hours and days.

• Late-day bidding can be effective when competitors run out of budget.

Paid & Organic Interdependency:

• Product listings must align with high-intent keywords to maximize visibility.

• Strong keyword optimization remains essential for organic rankings and paid efficiency

Video Ads for BOF:

• Vertical video performs better for high-intent searchers.

• Feature-driven videos convert better than broad brand storytelling at BOF.

AI & Automation in Bidding:

• AI is effective for optimizing bulk campaigns but still requires human oversight.

• Best use: Let AI handle 80% of the catalog while manually fine-tuning the top performers.