Ecommerce Braintrust

Once again, Kiri speaks with Russ Dieringer, founder of Stratably, a company dedicated to elevating the digital IQ of leading consumer brands. Just like last year, Kiri and Russ share their predictions in ecommerce, for 2024.

Make sure you tune in to find out more!

Russ Dieringer is the founder of Stratably, a company dedicated to elevating the digital IQ of leading consumer brands.  Each week, Russ creates impactful, practical, and easy-to-digest research that speaks to all layers of an organization, helping them see further around the corner of what’s coming in retail.

In this episode, Kiri and Russ go back to their predictions for 2023, and recap what predictions came true. The results are mixed, listen to hear what they were right about.

They also share their predictions for 2024:

• It's predicted that brands will continue to maintain their spending on retail media.

• Both Amazon and Walmart Connect are expected to experience increased spending from brands.

• Marketplace and retail media will attract a new generation of talent native to the industry.

• Russ predicted Amazon's rapid growth in general merchandise categories and foresees its continued double-digit growth rate in 2024.

• Brands are expected to demand proof of incrementality for their retail media ad spend and marketplace investments.

• Walmart will likely respond to Amazon’s AMC success with their own significant data clean room announcement and partnership.

• Russ controversially predicts Amazon's complete closure of Fresh physical stores, with a shift in focus to existing online fresh business.

• Amazon will make Prime Video ad-supported for all Prime users, offering brands a significant advertising opportunity.

• Amazon is expected to lead in streaming TV advertising with larger reach and superior measurement capabilities.

• Walmart and TikTok will potentially enter a significant advertising and commerce partnership.

In this episode of The Ecommerce Braintrust, host Kiri Masters shares a special replay from "Unpacking the Digital Shelf," presented by our friends over at the Digital Shelf Institute, Peter Crosby and Lauren Livak. They’re diving into the realm of Amazon Marketing Cloud, an open database that provides deeply insightful data for advertisers, with Ross Walker, the retail media team lead at Acadia, joining them to unfold the complexities of AMC and, more importantly, how to use it to our advantage. Whether you're an executive, an e-commerce manager, or a budding data analyst, get ready for a knowledge-packed session.

Make sure you tune in to find out more!

In today’s episode, Peter, Lauren and Ross discuss:

- AMC offers the ability to positively target customers based on specific behaviors, which includes customers who added items to the cart but didn't purchase.

- Use of the AMC in remarketing to customers who were previously exposed to a campaign.

- AMC helps brands identify their prime products for generating new customers and aids in making wise marketing decisions.

- Introduction to the ASIN Overlap report aiding in predicting customers' future purchases.

- Differences in the adoption and usage maturity of the AMC among clients, ranging from unawareness to sophisticated usage.

- Successful clients often have internal abilities and use AMC data for informed marketing decisions.

- Importance and significance of the 'New to brand' metric for Amazon sellers and vendors.

- Insights offered by AMC allow a better understanding of marketing performance from a new-to-brand perspective. 

- The emergence of the incremental ROAS concept for assessing sales lift and ROAS due to increased ad spending.

- Potential improvements for Amazon Media Console, such as AI capabilities for natural language queries.

- Recommendations for incorporating AMC into future strategies by tracking new-to-brand campaigns.

- Challenges in effective utilization of data when outsourcing AMC insights to third-party tools.

- The bystander effect of very few brands using AMC to upload and anonymize CRM data to target customers through Amazon DSP.

- The importance of the 'New to brand' metric surfaced by AMC in evaluating the effectiveness of campaigns in attracting new customers.

- Possible shift towards a focus on acquiring new customers rather than upselling to existing ones in uncertain economic times.

- Features of AMC being complex and requiring understanding of writing SQL code.

- Explanation of the queries AMC offers for various stakeholders to get insights into their advertising performance. 

- The use of AMC in providing broader picture of a brand's performance on Amazon. 

- Use of AMC to target audiences based on shopper behavior, location, and other factors.

In this episode of The Ecommerce Braintrust, host Kiri Masters talks with Chris Perry, co-founder of firstmovr. They delve into the concept of "smarter growth" and how it can help brands and retailers achieve incremental growth in the e-commerce space. From driving households, baskets, and trips to leveraging category management principles, they cover a range of strategies and tactics. 

Chris Perry is the Chief Learning Officer at firstmovr, a Satellite Center of Excellence (COE) for CPG Omni Education & Change Management on a mission to help empower first movers — both people and organizations — to win in a disruptive marketplace.

Make sure you tune in to find out more!

In today’s episode, Kiri and Chris discuss:

- Introduction to firstmovr as a center for omni education and change management in e-commerce.

- The "smarter growth framework" as a means to organize and drive incremental growth.

- Drawing principles from brick and mortar to leverage them for e-commerce success.

- Moving beyond tactics to focus on the "why" of growth and driving incrementality.

- The importance of understanding household penetration, buy rate, and the four quadrants of growth.

- Applying the SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) framework for more strategic and measurable growth goals.

- Emphasizing the need for intentional content optimization and leveraging levers at scale.

- Examples of best practices in basket building, including stocking up, trade up, and bundles.

- Strategies employed by Procter & Gamble (PNG) and L'Oreal in driving growth through advertising and product differentiation.

- Harnessing shopper purchase data for targeted personalization in advertising.

- Practical ways for brands to deploy investments and gain more control over their growth strategies.

- The upcoming "smarter events" by Firstmover, offering education and support for implementing smarter growth strategies.

In this episode of The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, Kiri Masters is joined by Damiano Ciarrocchi, head of Retail Strategy at Acadia. They discuss the Chewy Retail Media Network and how pet brands can advertise on Chewy.com. Acadia just launched an advertising management capability for the Chewy retail media network, adding this platform to the roster of retail media networks Acadia now supports.

Damiano highlights the uniqueness of Chewy as a retail media network, its hyper-specific focus on the pet category, and the potential for brand loyalty among pet owners. They also explore the advertising opportunities on Chewy, including conquesting, and the technical aspects of the platform, such as the current use of Promote IQ and the future launch of banner ads. Additionally, they touch on the importance of campaign tagging and the audience targeting capabilities on Chewy.

In today’s episode, Kiri and Damiano discuss:

• Introduction to Chewy Retail Media Network and its comparison to Amazon advertising - High-level observations about Chewy RMN, including its hyper-specificity and the loyalty of its pet product shoppers
• Positive results and efficiency of sponsored ads on Chewy RMN
• Importance of considering Chewy as a viable retail network option for pet brands 
• The possibility of brand conquesting on Chewy and its significance for competitors 
• Discussion on Walmart's stance on conquesting (uncertain, but potential loophole)
• Technical aspects of the Chewy Media Network, including its use of promote IQ and the availability of product listing ads (PLA)
• Mention of future plans for launching banner ads on Chewy RMN
• Overview of additional features provided by Pacvue, including campaign tagging and budget management
• Importance of campaign tagging for retail media allocation and comparing performance across platforms
• Audience targeting capabilities on Chewy, focused on contextual targeting rather than specific audience demographics.

Learn more about Acadia's Chewy advertising capabilities at https://acadia.io/services/retail-media-marketplaces/chewy-retail-media-management/

About Chewy's Retail Media Network: Chewy's retail media network is still quite new, having only opened up to advertisers recently. But it offers interesting potential, especially for brands in the pet care space looking to find new customers. As background, Chewy is solely focused on pet products, so their shopper base is very loyal and niche compared to mass retailers like Amazon or Walmart. Pet owners tend to stick with brands their furry friends like, making it a great channel for customer retention. How the Chewy Advertising Platform Works The self-serve platform Chewy uses is called PromoteIQ, by Microsoft. It's fairly basic - you get a simple dashboard to launch campaigns and view reporting. Right now Chewy only offers one campaign type, product listing ads (PLAs), similar to Amazon's sponsored products. But they plan to launch sponsored brand campaigns soon. Acadia partners with the ad tech platform Pacvue to enable enhanced campaign management and reporting beyond what PromoteIQ provides. Bidding and Targeting Capabilities Here's where Chewy differs from Amazon - you bid at the individual product (SKU) level rather than on keywords. So you can set a higher budget for your higher priority items. The ad targeting is contextual, meaning products show for shoppers browsing related categories or searching relevant terms. You control bids by product category and subcategory. Chewy does allow keyword bid modifiers, but you lack visibility into performance by keyword. So optimization can be more challenging than in Amazon. Why Chewy is Worth a Look for Pet Brands While the platform needs development, there are compelling reasons for pet brands to consider Chewy: - Early adopters can gain an advantage before competitors join - Conquesting competitors' shoppers is possible here - Loyalty means getting trial can lead to long-term buyers - Chewy incentivizes brands who help them grow revenue If you’re a brand in the pet category that sells on Chewy.com, it’s a no-brainer to get started with ads.

In this episode of The Ecommerce Braintrust, Kiri Masters talks with Todd Hassenfelt,  Global Digital Commerce Sr Director of Strategy & Execution at Colgate-Palmolive, to discuss Amazon Inspire. 

As a leading figure in the global digital commerce space, Todd brings his expertise and insights to the table as they explore whether Amazon Inspire has the potential to challenge social media platforms like TikTok. 

They dive into the details of Inspire, its features, user traction, and its impact on brands. Tune in to gain a deeper understanding of this emerging platform and its potential implications for the ecommerce industry.

In today’s episode, Kiri and Todd discuss:

- Todd shares his experiences and insights from working in the digital commerce industry. 

- The main topic of discussion is Amazon Inspire, a social media-like platform on Amazon. 

- They explore whether Amazon Inspire can compete with social media platforms like TikTok. 

- Todd discusses his initial reaction to seeing the light bulb icon of Amazon Inspire on the Amazon shopping app. 

- He highlights the evolution of the platform, including the shift to a sparkle icon and the addition of features like content sharing. 

- The seamless user experience of Inspire is emphasized, with the ability to toggle between images, visit product detail pages (PDP), and make purchases without leaving the platform.

- Todd suggests that Amazon Inspire is currently still in its early stages and may not have garnered much attention yet, but brands should keep an eye on it. 

- Brands can post content on Inspire through Amazon Brand Stores or by working with influencers.

- Todd mentions the growing presence of user-generated content (UGC) on Inspire, particularly video reviews, which brands should pay attention to and address any concerns. 

- Kiri expresses her disappointment in Amazon's missed opportunity to engage with brands more effectively on Inspire, similar to their earlier program called Spark. 

- She believes that brands could create engaging content on the platform, enhancing the user experience and contributing to discoverability. 

Bruce Smith is the Founder & CEO of Hydrow, the leading at-home connected rower that brings the on-water experience of rowing straight to your home. A lifelong entrepreneur, rower and coach, Bruce has dedicated his career to helping others experience the power of the sport at all levels. Bruce founded Hydrow to capture the unique experience of on-water rowing and make it universally accessible, helping people everywhere feel more connected to one another and live healthier lives on a daily basis.

In this podcast, host Kiri Masters and Bruce discuss:

1. How did Bruce first fall in love with rowing?
2. How Bruce led Community Rowing in Boston to become the largest rowing outreach organization in the world, and tripled operating income of the organization, during the great financial crisis.
3. How Bruce came to found Hydrow and early days.
4. How Hydrow is building a content-first, product-led DTC strategy.
5. How personalization has been a big unlock as a strategy - leveraging 1P data from customers. In comparison to a market awareness approach.
6. Hydrow also sells on Amazon. At one point in time, that was taboo for DTC brands. What place does marketplaces like Amazon have for Hydrow, now and in the future?

In this episode of The Ecommerce Braintrust, Kiri Masters talks with Colleen Basaydin, Global eCommerce Director at Mondelez, about the challenges and strategies in the digital commerce space. They discuss the importance of being where the customer is, adapting to changing trends, and the value of marketplaces like Amazon.

With over 20 years of expertise in Sales, Customer Marketing, and Digital Commerce, Colleen has worked with a diverse range of retail customers and brands. She transitioned into the digital commerce space over a decade ago, starting with the baby gear industry and supporting companies like Newell Brands during their digital transformation. She now plays a pivotal role at Mondelēz, guiding their approach to digital commerce and educating the company on best practices, particularly in their relationship with marketplace giant, Amazon. 

In today’s episode, Kiri and Colleen discuss:

• Colleen emphasizes the need to be where customers are and adapt to their changing shopping behaviors.

• They highlight the blurring lines between shopping channels and the importance of providing solutions that meet customer needs.

• Colleen discusses consumer sentiment and trends to inform strategy, particularly in the marketplace space.

• The challenges in the industry include the rapid pace of change, profitability concerns, and finding the right partners and capabilities for product development.

• It is important to have a diverse team with unique skill sets and backgrounds to drive positive change.

• Colleen shares her own career journey and the transformation of Mondelez's digital commerce team.

• They also discuss the complexity of selling food products online, the importance of assortment planning, and the future growth of marketplaces.

• Colleen's work with Amazon has led to significant growth and transformation for the company.

• They highlight the importance of testing and innovation, particularly in markets like China.

• The early days of selling on Amazon were described as the "Wild, Wild West" for big brands.

In this episode of The Ecommerce Braintrust, Kiri Masters, shares updates and reminders related to peak season dates, including Prime Day and Black Friday Cyber Monday. She also discusses a fascinating update about Amazon Marketing Cloud, focusing on three key points: Day Parting Settings, Geotargeting, and AMC Custom Audiences. These best practices offer insights for optimizing advertising strategies and maximizing performance on Amazon.

In today’s episode, Kiri talks about:

• Important Dates for Ecommerce Sellers

  • Reminder to send FBA and Multichannel Fulfillment Inventory to Amazon by October 26.
  • Importance of shipping inventory early due to potential carrier backlogs.
  • Example of inventory shortage in previous Q4 season.
  • Ensuring inventory arrives before cutoff dates to maximize advertising strategy.

• Updates on Amazon Marketing Cloud

  • Day Parting Settings: Report available in Amazon Marketing Cloud to view performance by hour. Testing showed slight increase in ROAS and Troas during non-midnight to 5 am hours.
  • Geotargeting: Focusing on specific areas of states or DMAs can lead to more visibility and better performance. Test combining geotargeting and day parting for optimal results.
  • AMC Custom Audiences: Creating an audience of customers who added products to cart but didn't make a purchase. Effective for reminding potential customers about the brand.

• Benefits of Amazon Marketing Cloud

  • Overview dashboard for analyzing customer journey and conversion paths.
  • Audience Insights for understanding shopper demographics, location data, and interests.
  • Using AMC Insights to segment targeting and optimize performance.
  • Success story of account's performance growth after incorporating AMC before Prime Day.

• Integration of DSP and PPC with AMC

  • AMC as an advanced reporting package suitable for Amazon DSP users.
  • Bringing together data from DSP and PPC to understand their impact on performance.

In today’s episode are revisiting the most popular episode of 2023, featuring Kiri Masters and the director of SEO in Acadia, Scott Walldren.

Scott shares his insights and expertise on ecommerce-specific SEO strategies. With the changing landscape of paid traffic, SEO has emerged as a crucial long-term traffic strategy for retail and ecommerce brands. Scott dives into the key considerations and tactics necessary to optimize your online store for search engines.

Make sure you tune in!

Scott Walldren is the Director of SEO for Acadia since October 2022. Previously, he spent 8 years developing and eventually heading up the SEO practice at 360i for Dentsu international. In addition to SEO, Scott has managed millions in paid search spend for national brands at Digitas and Razorfish and as a consultant inside and outside of startups. He lives in the far north Atlanta suburbs (close to Lake Lanier) with his wife, 3 kids, and 3 cats.

Incidentally, he has some hands-on experience (albeit about 10 years old) setting up a store, product feeds and running ads on Amazon when he was at Case-Mate.

In today’s episode, Kiri and Scott discuss:

• E-commerce-specific SEO strategies - What's different about ranking content for ecommerce vs other types of sites - It’s blessed and cursed by the nature of its templates and functions and as a result, you need to think through both your indexation strategy and how your content will be syndicated.

• What has changed in this area / what should be the focus in 2023 - Reputation matters more than ever. Who you are as an ecommerce business extends beyond your website and should include how you take ownership of your whole discoverable presence. I’m not just talking making sure you’ve claimed and utilized social media profiles but am speaking more about claiming and maintaining your Google Business Profile, and if applicable your knowledge panel.

• Biggest mistakes - What are ecomm brands usually doing wrong with SEO?

  • #1 mistake: Launching without consulting with a competent SEO or developer with proven SEO chops. It’s easier to let the cat out of the bag than to put it back in the bag.

• Who’s getting it right? Scott is a huge fan of REI. Unlike many ecommerce sites, they have a strong brick and mortar presence which contributes significantly to their success. But strictly looking at their ecommerce approach they have put in the work to understand keyword strategy and how people search for product categories, products, and how-to guides.

In this podcast episode, Kiri delves into the unique aspects of Walmart's marketplace and why simply copying and pasting content from Amazon won't yield meaningful results. 

She explores Walmart's Listing Content score and its impact on visibility, sales, and conversion. Learn why increasing the quality score from 70% to 90% can lead to a 13% increase in conversion and how to optimize your listing content for maximum success on Walmart. Kiri also discusses the differences in the content breakdown between Walmart and Amazon, along with the recent changes implemented by Walmart.

Tune in as we unravel the intricacies of the Walmart algorithm and why it's worth considering Walmart.com as a channel for ecommerce growth. Whether you’re a brand looking to expand your online presence or a seller seeking a comprehensive understanding of the Walmart marketplace, this episode is packed with valuable insights to help you achieve your goals. So sit back, relax, and let's dive into the fascinating world of Walmart and its unique approach to ecommerce.

In today’s episode, Kiri talks about:

• Walmart vs. Amazon - the importance of understanding the differences for ecommerce growth

•  Walmart's Listing Content Score and Quality Score

• Walmart's Content Optimization and Algorithm

• Optimizing Content and Ad Strategy

• Walmart's Attractiveness for Ecommerce Growth

• Video Content on Walmart.com

• Importance of Establishing a Presence on Amazon

• Walmart's Third-Party Marketplace and Attribution

• Content Quality Score and its Components

• Obtaining Product Reviews

• Impact of Quality Score on Conversion Rate and Sales

• Importance of a High-Quality Score on Walmart

• Tips for Optimizing Content on Walmart