Vendor Central & Seller Central Case Studies

Case Studies

Optimizing a Vendor Central Account

Executive Summary

We were contacted by a multinational consumer personal healthcare brand to help manage their Amazon Vendor Central account. Our client had only achieved 8% growth in year-over-year sales, which was disproportionate to growth within the category and on Amazon in general. The audit of their account identified specific areas for improvement that we prioritized. We then developed a strategy for our client to re-vamp their catalog, create effective advertising campaigns utilize Vendor Central features to increase their monthly sales more than 100% within 12 months.

Goals

Make top selling product best seller within its category
Expand sales through Amazon Marketing Services Campaigns
Gain market share with in the product categories
Increase year-over-yearShipped Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) 10%
Boost conversion rates by 10%

Challenge

Our challenge was to identify the best opportunities for growth within the product category. As a large corporation, there was a huge catalog of products to focus on. Sales had been growing on a year-over-year basis – however the lower than expected growth required us to study in-depth the areas of their strategy that were working and separate them from the underperforming areas. The biggest challenge we faced would be to achieve top seller status for their product within the personal care category, however we knew that through advertising, detail page content and merchandising strategies it could be achieved.

Actions

Executed thorough market analysis to identify immediate areas for growth
Cleaned up Amazon catalog to reduce duplicates and take advantage of opportunities
Performed in-depth keyword research into each product category
Introduced SEO content into frontend and backend of listings
Utilized Vendor Central features and improved images to create a better converting product listing page
Created a growth strategy using Vendor Central merchandising features
Developed Amazon Marketing Services campaigns to increase listing traffic

Results

Top selling product is now a best seller with 30,000+ units shipped through first 6 month of 2017
Advertising campaigns that have generate more than $275,000 in additional sales at 20.83% ACOS
Increased market share from 28.3% to 41.8% within 12 months
Shipped COGS increased 58.72% year-over-year on a LTM basis. YTD Shipped COGS increased 73.25% over total 2016 Shipped COGS through first 7 months of 2017
Y-o-Y conversion rates have increased 24.79% through first 7 months of 2017

Summary

Our client was extremely satisfied with the results we were achieved in such a short time period. The strategy we implemented for them allowed them to hit all their business’s goals for Amazon in 2017 by May. We are now partnered with this client to launch them on Amazon marketplaces in Europe, Canada and Asia – as well as launching 2 new private label brands to sell exclusively on Amazon. The client is continuing to experience strong growth month-over-month and forecasts indicate they will be doing over $350,000 in Shipped COGS per month by the end Q4.

Launching a new apparel business on Seller Central

Executive Summary

A small apparel business reached out to us regarding launching their brand on the Amazon platform. The company was previously only using their website and paid advertising to generate product sales. Our client had the capability to produce any apparel product, and we worked with them to identify which products would perform best on the Amazon platform. Through our product development and launch strategy, we generated tremendous growth for our client over a 9-month period.

Goals

Challenge

The main challenge our client faced was gaining initial traction on the Amazon platform. This company had no prior Amazon sales experience or even an Amazon account. Our client needed to build his sales history over-time without large advertising budgets. We would be building their entire account from scratch and implementing a game plan to maximize their growth in the long-term.

Actions

Executed thorough market analysis to identify immediate areas for growth
Performed in-depth keyword research into each product category
Created SEO content for front-end and back-end of each listing
Developed launch strategy to build initial sales history
Initiated effective advertising campaigns to boost sales growth
Implemented additional listing features to increase conversion rates over-time

Results

Summary

Our client was blown away by the results we achieved in such a short time period. We turned Amazon into their largest sales channel, and more than quadrupled the entire company’s monthly revenue in a 9-month period. This client is continuing to perform strongly on the Amazon platform, and we are working with them to launch additional apparel brands on the platform.

Executing a New Product Launch

Executive Summary

A nutritional supplement company engaged us to help grow their sales on the Amazon platform and launch a new product. Our client had previously set up their Amazon accounts and had seen low growth on a year-over-year basis. The new product had the potential to do well within its category and we focused our efforts on the initial product launch. Our aim was to capture market share within in this category for our client. We developed a product launch strategy that would maximize sales and conversion rates – leading to long-term viability of this product.

Goals

Challenge

The primary challenge with any product launch is generating the sales history to get the product ranking within the Amazon A9 algorithm. We needed to identify the best and highest traffic keywords that would lead to initial product sales. Nutritional supplements are extremely competitive on the Amazon platform with many sellers even engaging in unethical practices to tarnish competitors’ products. Our strategy needed to focus on providing the best shopping experience for customers – leading to positive reviews and the social proof the product would need.

Actions

Studied keyword trends and identified primary keywords to target
Created SEO content for front-end and back-end of the listing
Developed promotional strategy to increase sales and conversion rates
Built effective, low cost advertising campaigns to increase product sales history
Designed additional images and content to help increase product sales
Implemented additional listing features to increase conversion rates over-time

Results

Sales grew 3070.24% from Month 1 to Month 3; Average growth rate of 500.1% per month
Conversion Rates increased an average of 36.1% month over month
Average customer purchase increased 12.84%
Advertising campaigns generated $14,000+ in sales at an Average Cost of Sale (ACOS) of 20.1%

Summary

The initial product launch far surpassed our client’s expectations. The prior two years they had averaged $60,000 in sales – but by month 3 the product we launched did $88,000+. Our client is now on track to do over $1,000,000+ a year in sales with that product alone. We are now focused on launching additional products for this client as well as identifying other growth opportunities within the existing product catalog on Amazon.

Turning Around a Struggling Seller Central Account

Executive Summary

We were approached by an apparel manufacturer that had been selling on Amazon for more than a year. The client was managing their own account and had experience steady growth month over month, but sales had been sliding over the prior 3 months and now was selling about 50% less than their best month. We focused on the customer sales data to develop a product optimization and marketing strategy that would increase page views and conversion rates drastically, leading to greater than a 200% increase in units sold and 300% increase in overall revenue in 2 months.

Goals

Challenge

The steady decline in sales indicated immediate issues with the account that needed to be addressed. Resolving these issues became our primary goal and we needed to create better SEO content that would help improve the product listings’ visibilities. The conversion rates of the products had also decreased steadily over the prior 3 months so we also needed to develop a strong promotional strategy to convert more shoppers to customers.

Actions

Investigated product listings and sales data to identify causes of sales decrease
Introduced improved SEO content into frontend and backend of listings
Analyzed client sales data to determine opportunities for growth
Initiated effective advertising campaigns to boost sales growth
Developed promotional strategy to increase sales and conversion rates
Implemented additional listing features to increase conversion rates over-time

Results

Revenue increased 300.28% to $75,833 – more than double their best month ever
Units sold increased 222.82% to 1,259
Overall listing traffic increased 50% and overall conversion rate increased 100%
Created $24,000+ in sales from advertising at an ACOS of 17.23%
Generated $39,000+ in promotional sales

Summary

After experiencing steady growth during the first month, our client was amazed by the incredible jump in sales during the second month. Our content and marketing strategies allowed the client to experience immediate growth and they have continued to grow at an average of 11.3% per month. Amazon is now their largest sales channel, and we are continuing to work with the client to develop additional brands and products that will increase that growth further.

Creating a Prime Day Strategy to Maximize Sales

Executive Summary

One of our clients in the Beauty & Personal Care category asked us to develop a strategy for Prime Day and Countdown Week to maximize their product sales. The client wanted to take advantage of the increased traffic on Amazon. We crafted a strategy that utilized lightning deals, coupons, promotions and increased advertising designed to sell a large volume of products. Our strategy led to the client selling $200,000+ on Prime Day and $400,000+ during the countdown week – more than doubling their best ever sales day in units and revenue.

Goals

Develop a coupon campaign strategy to increase conversion rates
Create effective advertising campaigns to maximize advertising budget
Design a promotion strategy to market additional products and maximize average order value
Schedule all campaigns to ensure there was no overlap of promotions

Challenge

Creating a strategy that incorporated all the different promotion types and advertising required in-depth planning. We need to ensure that the timing of our promotions, coupons and lightning deals did not overlap giving unnecessary promotions and reducing the product margin. Many of the promotions had to wait right up until Prime Day was announced to make sure the scheduling was correct. It was also a challenge to forecast our campaign budgets and keyword bids and schedule these campaigns to co-inside with the promotions.

Actions

Set up coupon campaigns leading up to Prime Day to increase conversion rates
Created promotions designed to increase the average order value of each customer purchase
Implemented lightning deals to boost product specific sales
Built advertising campaigns to promote coupons in the lead up, and products during Prime Day

Results

Sold $205,000 on Prime Day and $409,000 during Countdown Week
Advertising Campaigns Generated $95,541 in sales at an ACOS of 22.3%
Conversion rates increased 25.7% on average before Prime Day
Achieved best sales month ever with $1,210,000 in revenue – 38% higher than the previous best

Summary

The client was ecstatic about the performance of the promotions. Our team did an incredible job scheduling all the promotions under a tight timeline, and the entire strategy went off without a hitch. Along with experiencing the client’s biggest sales day in terms of units and revenue, the client also had their highest sales month ever selling more than $1.2m. We are continuing to work with the client to develop a similar strategy for the Q4 period to achieve similar results.

Creating Consistent Growth in the Pet Supplies Category

Executive Summary

We were approached by a company in the pet supplies space that had licensing agreements with various brands and strong manufacturing capabilities that was interested in partnering to diversify and grow their Amazon sales. The client had a 1P relationship with Amazon and had a large catalog listed on Vendor Central. Our client was looking for guidance on where to focus their energy, how to maximize their sales and create effective advertising campaigns. Over a 2-year period, our Amazon strategy and execution grew their monthly Shipped Cost of Goods sold from $30,000 to over $600,000.

Goals

Determine best opportunities for short-term growth with the existing catalog
Identify long-term growth opportunities in the pet supplies category
Build an advertising strategy to maximize advertising sales
Optimizing listing content for best organic rankings and conversion rates

Challenge

The initial challenge was to find the quickest growth opportunities in our client’s extensive product catalog. Sales on Amazon had been consistent, however the well-known brand names that they had licensed should have been driving far more. We would need to clean up and optimizing the existing content within the account to show that we could drive sales – and increase our client’s trust in our abilities. Finally, we would have to find incredible growth opportunities for our client’s over the long term to justify the client manufacturing new products.

Actions

Completed thorough market analysis to identify immediate areas for growth
Analyzed company catalog and capabilities to introduce new products to the market
Performed in-depth keyword research into each product category
Created SEO content into frontend and backend of listings, and improved imagery to increase product conversions
Developed a growth strategy utilizing Vendor Central promotions and coupons
Implemented Amazon Advertising campaigns to drive customers to top product listings

Results

Achieved 9.82% average monthly growth over a two-year period
Grew account from $30,000 in monthly Shipped COGS to over $600,000
Identified product opportunity that now generates over $200,000 in Shipped COGS a month
Generated over $2.4 million dollars in advertising sales – equal to 42% of the total account sales

Summary

We delivered steady month-over-month growth that our client never imagined, which helped increase their willingness to test new product markets. Our initial optimizations generated initial account growth, that gave us time to be certain on the products to help them launch. One product we identified alone now generates over 33% of their total monthly sales. Their Amazon channel has grown exponentially having increased their yearly sales 20x since we began working together. We look forward to continue to work with our client to identify new product opportunities that their licenses will help them dominate.

Developing a Scalable Advertising Strategy to Help Increase Sales

Executive Summary

Our client was in the educational materials category and came to us looking to improve their advertising performance and their sales. They had previous been working with another agency that had drastically increased their advertising spend – but the sales results were not there to justify keeping them on. The client was looking to increase their advertising efficiency by decreasing the Average Cost of Sales (ACoS) below 60% and increasing advertising sales. We developed a strategy using their data to decrease ACoS by 50%, increase advertising sales by 100% and increase overall account sales with better organic ranking for top search terms.

Goals

Challenge

The primary challenge was delivering the results the client wanted to see in a short time period. They had previously worked with another agency that could not provide reliable results – and it was important for us to deliver quickly to create confidence in our capabilities. We would need to analyze the advertising data to determine what was currently going wrong with the account and the best way to grow sales. It would be important to monitor advertising spend closely to ensure that we were not wasting advertising dollars on campaigns that underperform.

Actions

Paused existing campaigns that were underperforming and leading to wasted ad spend
Created new advertising campaigns that would provide a solid return on investment
Identified keyword opportunities and implemented ranking campaigns that helped improve organic visibility
Scaled budgets of well performing campaigns to maximize advertising sales

Results

Decreased ACoS from 66% to 27% - drastically improving advertising efficiency
Increased advertising spend 134% while maintaining consistent ACoS
Created ranking campaigns that allowed our top products to earn 30+ Amazon’s Choice badges
Increased overall account sales by 61% in a three-month period

Summary

We made our client more than pleased with the advertising results we delivered. Her primary concern was the advertising spend was killing her profits, and we were able to maximize her profitability through improving the advertising efficiency. The client has continued to experience overall sales growth and we are working to identify new product opportunities as well as new advertising opportunities to further improve organic visibility on the Amazon platform.