Should Amazon really be the enemy of DTC?

Most e-commerce leaders will tell you to prioritize your own site, own the customer, and push for loyalty. But Tom Funk — E-Commerce Director at Ann Clark Ltd. and veteran of Vermont Teddy Bear, Keurig Green Mountain, and Gardener’s Supply — has a very different take.

In this episode of Check In to Check Out, Tom shares why Amazon actually delivers a better customer experience than most merchant sites ever could, why his Shopify product pages send shoppers directly to Amazon, and what happened when he failed to convince a leadership team that Amazon was essential to their growth.

We get into:

The real ratio of Amazon vs. DTC revenue (and why most brands get it wrong)

The operational realities that make Amazon unbeatable for certain products

How to position DTC so it complements, not competes with, marketplaces

Tom’s hard-learned lessons about culture, data storytelling, and failed persuasion

If you’ve ever debated whether to push harder into Amazon or double down on your own site, this episode will challenge your assumptions.