Welcome to another episode of The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast hosted by Acadia's Head of Retail Marketplaces Services Julie Spear and Director of Retail Operations, Jordan Ripley.

Today we're joined by a friend of the show and a frequent guest: Russ Dieringer of Stratably, a research firm providing unbiased insights on how to do better business with Amazon and its peers.

We'll be diving into launching products on Amazon - something many claim to have a secret sauce around, but a topic we haven't seen holistic industry research on.

Make sure you tune in to find out more!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

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

• 1P vs. 3P Brands on Amazon: The nimbleness and product innovation advantage of 3P brands.

• 25% of brands use Amazon as a launching pad for new products, adopting a "test and learn" approach.

• Many launches on Amazon are dictated by timing issues rather than strategy.

• Tactical aspects like SEO, PDP development, and inventory planning.

• Emphasis on case studies to demonstrate the impact of well-executed launches.

• Seasonality and Launch Timing: Insight on launching seasonal products 6 months in advance of peak season.

• Using Amazon's event calendar for strategic planning.

• Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC): low adoption of AMC tools.

• Potential benefits like advanced targeting, audience creation, and quicker market entry when AMC is used effectively.

• The complexity of product launches within large organizations and strategies for better coordination.

• Insights into the typical timeline for reaching baseline sales post-launch.

• Media Strategy and Ad Spend: Higher average ad spend for new products and the balance between ad efficiency and speed-to-sales.

• Importance of upper funnel support for product visibility and sales propulsion.

• The critical role of leaders in Amazon initiatives and the necessity of cross-department collaboration for successful launches.