In this episode of The Watson Weekend sponsored by Elastic Path, hosts Rick Watson and Jessica Lesesky explore the latest developments in e-commerce and retail with special guest John Shea from Momentum Commerce. They discuss Target's employee bonus cuts, the Kate Spade x Target collaboration, PetSmart's ship-from-store strategy, NRF's optimistic sales forecasts, and Amazon's potential bid for TikTok. John Shea shares expert insights on Amazon's evolution into a trillion-dollar platform, the strategic value of Amazon Marketing Cloud, and how brands can successfully navigate the marketplace. The conversation covers brand building on Amazon, the economics of first-party versus third-party selling, and data-driven strategies for success in an increasingly competitive landscape.

00:00 Introduction

02:25 Headline Hangover Sponsored by Passport

10:37 Amazon's Potential TikTok Acquisition

15:08 Introducing John Shea 

16:21 Amazon's Trillion Dollar Marketplace

18:21 Amazon as Platform vs Channel

24:05 Amazon Marketing Cloud Explained

32:46 First-Party vs Third-Party Strategy

41:37 Amazon Compliance Challenges

45:54 Economic Outlook and Category Performance

#ecommerce #retail #amazon #digitalmarketing #retailmedia #amazonmarketplace #tiktok #brandstrategy