Ecommerce Braintrust

Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Account Management. Today, we’re thrilled to be joined by Scott Lester, Senior Manager of Digital & E-commerce at eos: the brand behind the beloved Evolution of Smooth products, from body lotions and lip balms to shaving creams. We first connected with Scott at eTail East, where he spoke on marketplace optimization and strategy. His insights really stood out, and we’re excited to dive deeper into those ideas with him today. Tune in to find out more! KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, Julie, Jordan, and Scott discuss: Scott Lester’s Nontraditional Career Path: Scott shares how he went from a Spanish literature degree and pharmaceutical sales to a thriving career in ecommerce, emphasizing the value of curiosity and adaptability. Translating Brand Ethos Across Channels: The eos team maintains consistency in their brand voice across digital marketplaces, retail media, and in-store experiences. Marketplace Growth Framework: Scott walks through eos's approach to marketplace growth by breaking it into four stages: market anticipation, leveraging reviews, discover & rank, and platform optimization. Nimbleness in Product Innovation: Insights on how eos uses social and market trends (such as their "Flavor Lab" launches inspired by viral secret menu hacks) to quickly develop and release new products, benefiting from the agility that comes with being a relatively small company. The Power of Customer Reviews: Discussion on how reviews are being repurposed into user-generated content and ad creative, and why customer sentiment is now essential, especially with the rise of AI such as Amazon’s Rufus and Walmart’s Sparky. Shifting Optimization Strategies: The evolution from keyword-stuffing to a more nuanced approach focused on consumer language, mobile relevance, and content that appeals both to customers and marketplace algorithms. Paid vs. Organic in Digital Shelf Strategy: Scott explains balancing organic and paid tactics, and why he no longer believes in strict “upper/mid/lower-funnel” strategies. Instead, eos seeks to create memorable, shareable moments across multiple touchpoints. The Rise of AMC and Measurement: How Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) has moved from “nice to have” to essential for tracking incremental impact and optimizing media spend effectively. AI: Both Exciting and Alarming: Scott offers candid thoughts on the double-edged sword of AI in ecommerce, from helping with data analysis to concerns over generative imagery and deepfakes.

🎙️Interview With Lauren Livak Gilbert of Digital Shelf Institute DESCRIPTION Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Operations.   Today, we’re excited to welcome back a returning guest:  Lauren Livak Gilbert, Executive Director of the Digital Shelf Institute and co-host of the Unpacking the Digital Shelf podcast.    With over 10 years of experience in digital commerce and design, Lauren is a sought-after commerce strategist for hundreds of global omnichannel brands.    Today, Lauren joins us to share insights from a recent DSI report, Reinventing the Organization for Omnichannel Success: Beyond ‘Where Ecommerce Sits'.   Tune in to find out more! 📚 RESOURCES Reinventing the Organization for Omnichannel Success: Beyond ‘Where Ecommerce Sits’   Quote: “A lot of the traditional brands, some of the older brands that have been around for a long time, are realizing that if they don't pivot, they're going to be beaten out by these 15, 20 new digitally native brands that started yesterday.”   Lauren Livak Gilbert KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, Julie, Jordan, and Lauren discuss: Purpose of the DSI Report: The motivation behind the report, highlighting the persistent struggle brands face in truly restructuring for omnichannel, rather than simply treating symptoms of digital change. The Pace of Change in Ecommerce: How the rapid evolution of digital retail—fueled by factors like AI, frequent platform updates, and new competition—demands a more agile and adaptable organizational model than legacy in-store structures allow. Crawl-Walk-Run-Sprint Model: Lauren outlined a maturity framework for organizational evolution, ranging from the “sidecar” approach (a small, dedicated digital team) to full organizational reinvention that integrates ecommerce thinking across all functions. Training and Continuous Education: Why continuous upskilling and cross-functional training are essential. Cross-Functional Alignment: The need for breaking down silos—ensuring supply chain, R&D, sales, marketing, and other departments work seamlessly together for a unified consumer experience. Mindset Shifts for the Future: Lauren highlighted her recommended mindset shifts for building a future-ready brand, with practical steps for prioritizing the most impactful ones. Practical Outcomes of Reinvention: A successful, reinvented organization is defined by agility, frictionless decision-making, consumer-centricity, and strong cross-team collaboration. Leadership Structure Evolution: The rise of titles like Chief Growth Officer, and why unifying sales and marketing under a single leader can remove internal competition and align teams around shared targets. Start Now, but Pace Yourself: Lauren stressed both the urgency and the patience required: start making small changes now, but recognize organizational reinvention is a long-term process.  

🎙️News Review with Armin Alispahic and Ross Walker DESCRIPTION Welcome to another edition of The Retail Round Up: your monthly recap of the biggest headlines and developments in the retail world. This edition covers Amazon’s evolving AI shopping assistant, Rufus; key operational changes for sellers; tech stack shakeups among major retailers; and TikTok’s move into streamlined commerce and tracking.  Whether you’re a brand operator, advertiser, or just keeping a close eye on the e-commerce landscape, this episode packs actionable insights with plenty of wit. Let’s dive in.   Quote: As Rufus starts remembering your browsing and purchase history, it becomes easier for it to surface exactly the type of product you're looking for. And that means the shopping journey is getting way more focused. Armin Alispahic   KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, Julie, Jordan, Ross, and Armin discuss: Amazon Rufus & Personalization: The growing impact of Amazon’s Rufus AI, which remembers user shopping behaviors, and the implications for brands needing to optimize content and strategies for increasingly personalized searches. Seller Feedback & Prep Service Changes: Updates to Amazon seller feedback (now ratings-only with limited appeals), the discontinuation of Amazon’s FBA prep services starting January 2025, and new policies for handling damaged inventory are highlighted, including tips for brands to retain control and mitigate risk. Variation Themes Deprecation: The recent confusion around Amazon’s update to variation themes, initially perceived as disruptive, but later clarified to mainly affect rarely used themes with no sales in the past year. Retail Media Partnerships: Analysis of Walmart’s move away from The Trade Desk exclusivity to potentially develop its own DSP, and Macy’s adoption of Amazon’s Retail Ad Service, with thoughtful discussion on what these shifts signal for the future of retail media networks. TikTok E-commerce Integration: TikTok’s new Buy with Prime checkout option and cross-channel measurement solutions are debated, with insights on how these changes may impact the platform’s e-commerce role moving forward.  

Today, we’re joined by a familiar voice and a musically inclined CPG thought leader: Chris Perry of firstmovr. He’s spent the last several months educating brands on how to prepare for a new age of product discovery and conversion paths with the dawn of AI-enabled search.  We’re thrilled to have him back to share key insights and practical takeaways from his recent trainings. Tune in to find out more! KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, Julie, Jordan, and Chris discuss: The Changing Digital Shelf: How the digital shelf continues to evolve rapidly and the growing importance of frictionless and personalized shopping experiences driven by AI. Personal Experiences with AI Search: How tools like Rufus and ChatGPT are influencing their own shopping behaviors. Choice Paralysis and AI Solutions: Choice overload for consumers and how agentic AI tools can curate and simplify decision-making, much like a “Costco experience” for endless online assortments. Training and Transition for Brands: Chris details the challenge of bringing legacy organizations up to speed, highlighting the need to expand skillsets from basic e-commerce “math” to effectively leveraging AI “calculator” tools. Brand Case Studies and Shopper Journeys: Through real shopping scenarios (e.g., searching for whitening toothpaste for sensitive teeth), Chris explains how AI-driven search results can differ from traditional ones, urging brands to rethink content strategy and optimization. Prompting and Shopper-Centric Content: Tips for brands to analyze and adapt to AI tools’ pre-filled questions and dynamic prompts, which often reveal emerging shopper concerns and influence purchase considerations. Practical Optimization Insights: Actionable steps brands can take, such as focusing on clear, shopper-centric product content and continually testing how products show up in AI-influenced search environments. Looking Ahead: The future convergence of search and AI, predicting that the lines between “search bar” and “AI assistant” will soon blur, fundamentally changing shopper expectations. Tips for Brands: Brands are encouraged to treat the digital shelf as an ongoing process, not a project, and to use practical experimentation, shopper empathy, and iterative optimization to stay ahead.   MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Connect with Chris Perry Learn more about firstmovr Connect with our host, Julie Spear Connect with our host, Jordan Ripley Learn more about Acadia

Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Operations. Today, we’re excited to welcome Mike Black, Chief Growth Officer at Profitero+. We’ll be diving into their latest report, “The Digitally Influenced Shopper”, which reveals how shoppers are navigating today’s fractured path to purchase, how they evaluate value, and its implications for brands and retailers. Tune in to find out more!   📚 RESOURCES The 2025 Digitally Influenced Shopper Report   Quote: “Discovery, as much as we are very search-centric in the way we think about the digital shelf, is way more fragmented than that. Search is becoming very crowded. Everybody's trying to win it. We should be just as aware that there's a lot more real estate for us to capitalize on.” Mike Black   KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, Julie, Jordan, and Mike discuss: Purpose of the Digitally Influenced Shopper Report: Mike explains the motivation behind the report: to shift executive thinking beyond just tracking online transactions, and to provide e-commerce and retail media leaders with ammunition to drive internal change. Defining the Digitally Influenced Shopper: The team discusses how Profitero+ measures digital influence, including which behaviors and digital touchpoints (such as search, reviews, and social media) classify someone as digitally influenced. Generational and Geographic Trends: The report highlights how the US leads in digital adoption and how digital influence accelerates significantly among younger generations (with over 75% of Gen Z being digitally influenced, compared to fewer than half of Boomers). The Evolving Shopper Path: Shoppers are increasingly using digital resources for product discovery, decision-making, and even in-store purchases—with stats like 57% discovering new brands online and nearly half checking reviews or content while in-store. Implications for Brands: The group talks about the need for brands to rethink organizational processes, align internal teams, and focus on key digital shelf fundamentals like product availability, price, and reviews. Category Variances & Benchmarking: Advice on how brands can analyze their specific category to understand digital influence, customize their strategies, and use this research as a tool to strengthen retailer partnerships. Future Research Directions: Upcoming Profitero+ research on the ROI of digital shelf investments and the growing impact of AI-powered search, hinting at fact-based validation of AI optimization strategies.

DESCRIPTION Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Operations. Today, we’re tackling what might be the least glamourously named ad product out there: OLV, short for “Online Video.” But don’t let the name fool you. Behind that bland acronym lies a powerful tool that’s been driving some seriously impressive results. To help us unpack the magic of OLV, we’re joined by two of the masterminds making it happen on the front lines: Ross Walker and Carel van Rooyen from our retail media team.   “It's getting more and more expensive to buy incremental traffic on Amazon itself. This is true especially for brands competing in premium beauty categories or even CPG grocery categories. It's tough to get an edge.” Ross Walker   KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, Julie, Jordan, Carel, and Ross discuss: Clarification of OLV as Online Video, distinct from sponsored brand video and streaming TV. Where OLV ads run (off Amazon, across the open web and apps via Amazon’s publisher network). How OLV has helped overcome challenges like declining traffic or flat sales on Amazon. OLV’s impact on increasing glance views, revenue, and generating a "halo effect" across product catalogs. The importance of keeping creatives fresh to avoid stagnation. Best-performing audience types so far: in-market and lifestyle audiences drive awareness and new-to-brand purchases. Early success testing retargeting and AMC (Amazon Marketing Cloud) lookalike audiences for higher click-through and page view rates. Value of demographic layering, even though it narrows reach, it lowers cost per action and improves efficiency. Lower costs and less competition compared to streaming/connected TV ads. Easier creative requirements: Repurposing existing sponsored brand videos can minimize barriers to entry. OLV fills a vital role in the funnel, driving external traffic before consumers start their Amazon search, improving overall channel performance. How to fund OLV: Testing with incremental budgets where possible, or reallocating spend from less efficient campaign buckets. Examples of positive results even from modest testing budgets (as low as $2,000/month). Why focusing solely on ROAS is limiting; OLV’s bigger impact shows up in incremental lifts in overall traffic and sales. Utilizing AMC Path to Purchase reports to demonstrate OLV’s role in the customer journey. Rising success with vertical video formats and Amazon’s support for new creative options in OLV.  

🎙️News Review with Scott Ohsman, Armin Alispahic, and Ross Walker DESCRIPTION Welcome to another edition of The Retail Round Up: your monthly recap of the biggest headlines and developments in the retail world. Today, we’re joined by a very special returning guest: Scott Ohsman from the Always Off Brand podcast. We’re also bringing back our go-to experts: Armin Alispahic and Ross Walker, who always bring sharp insights and fresh perspective. This is The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Operations. Let’s dive in.   Amazon is trying to evolve their platform, they're trying to go up to the next level. And if Walmart is there to scoop up, the scrappier brands that like need more flexibility, then then so be it. Ross Walker   KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, Julie, Scott, Jordan, Ross, and Armin discuss: Amazon pulls Google Shopping ads, potentially to cut costs, protect data, or prep for AI strategies — brands reliant on co-op traffic should review their agreements. Brand Tailored Promotions coming to vendors in 2026, bringing powerful seller tools to vendor central; brands should prepare to integrate these into their merchandising playbooks. New Competitive Summary API provides location-aware pricing data and programmatic repricing options — a game-changer for Buy Box and pricing strategies. Amazon expands video measurement and retargeting, including deeper insights for Amazon Live and video ad engagement, offering more precision in campaign targeting. Early Vine Reviews program launched, enabling reviews before FBA inventory goes live — helping brands launch products with social proof from day one. Amazon fulfillment delays and fee hikes continue to strain brands, especially seasonal sellers, highlighting the need to evaluate AWD, 3PLs, and packaging strategies.

🎙️Interview With Pat Petriello of Acadia  DESCRIPTION Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Operations.  Today, we’re excited to welcome back Pat Petriello, our Director of Retail Marketplace Strategy, for a deep dive into Amazon DSP.   We’ll explore how to know when it’s the right time to invest in DSP if it hasn’t yet been part of your core strategy, and what the journey looks like for brands already deep in the DSP ecosystem as they move toward greater maturity and impact. “Long gone are the days when somebody shows up and does discovery, research, consideration, conversion, all in one session, all in one platform with really nice neat attribution for us marketers to be able to measure.”  Pat Petriello   KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, Julie, Jordan, and Pat discuss: The 95/5 Rule Recap: Pat explains that at any given time, only 5% of shoppers are actively in-market for a product, while 95% are out-of-market. Most brands focus their budgets on that competitive 5%, risking long-term growth and getting stuck in "ROAS jail" instead of building lasting brand demand. Why DSP Matters Now: Three main dynamics are accelerating DSP’s importance: A more competitive market forcing brands beyond search ads for growth. Fragmented, non-linear shopper journeys requiring brands to reach consumers across various platforms and moments. A rapid pace of development in DSP’s features and capabilities, now offering more robust audience targeting, premium inventory (like streaming TV), and richer campaign optimization tools. Rethinking DSP Budgets: Many brands default to moving funds from search to DSP, but the team argues that this is a false dichotomy. Instead, DSP should be evaluated against all upper- and mid-funnel brand-building activities, as it’s often more measurable and incremental than legacy brand media channels. How Brands Can Approach DSP: Pat outlines a practical progression: “Foundational” DSP: Focuses on lower-funnel tactics like retargeting and cart abandonment. “Intermediate” DSP: Moves into brand awareness and consideration, leveraging tools like AMC (Amazon Marketing Cloud). “Advanced” DSP: Uses innovative functionalities like streaming TV, AMC lookalike audiences, and sophisticated audience targeting for incrementality and organic growth. Measurement and Justifying Investment: How success with DSP should be measured beyond immediate ROAS, stressing KPIs like new-to-brand customer acquisition, share of voice, branded search growth, and true incrementality. What’s Hot in DSP: Pat’s personal “hype meter” is highest for premium streaming TV inventory, OLV (online video) pulsing, AMC-powered lookalikes, advanced conversion path reporting, and detailed analysis of entry-point ASINs—showing brands can start simple and scale up to advanced tactics. Actionable Advice: Brands new to DSP are encouraged to begin even with basic tactics, while those already running foundational campaigns should explore more advanced features to capture future growth and brand loyalty.

Today, we’re delighted to welcome back a longtime friend of the show, Russ Dieringer.  He’s here to share key insights from Stratably’s latest research, diving into how brands are navigating content optimization for Rufus and the evolving landscape of AI-driven search. Tune in to find out more!   KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, Julie, Jordan, and Russ discuss: Russ shares his own experience as an Amazon shopper using Rufus, noting its usefulness for browsing and specific queries, but also highlighting that most everyday shoppers aren’t aware of Rufus by name. Stratable’s survey included 286 brands and agencies, focusing mainly on mid-sized and enterprise consumer brands, to understand industry attitudes and actions towards AI optimization. Despite AI being the industry buzzword, only 12% of brands and 20% of agencies have taken concrete steps to optimize product detail pages for Rufus. There’s a lot of talk, but relatively little action so far. A major barrier is a lack of clarity from Amazon about how Rufus works and what specifically brands should do to optimize for it. Many brands are still trying to perfect basic search optimization, let alone adapt to the new AI layer, with content under-resourcing being an ongoing issue. Evaluating the impact of AI-oriented content changes is tough—only about a quarter of those who have made changes report a positive effect, and tracking the influence of AI touchpoints (like review summaries) is still a gray area. Russ recommends a balanced approach: don’t ignore AI advancements or drop everything to chase the trend. Instead, start testing and learning now, so your brand can adapt as best practices and clearer measurement tools emerge. The episode closes with an emphasis on curiosity, experimentation, and the reality that there’s no perfect playbook—brands should embrace the unknown and be proactive in learning as the ecosystem evolves.   MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Are Brands Actually Updating PDPs for Rufus? What’s Holding Brands Back from Optimizing for Rufus? Are Rufus-Driven PDP Updates Driving Results? Connect with Stratably’s Founder & CEO, Russ Dieringer Learn more about Stratably Connect with our host, Julie Spear Connect with our host, Jordan Ripley Learn more about Acadia

🎙️Prime Day Data Breakdown With the Acadia Team DESCRIPTION Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Operations. Amazon has made it official: this year’s Prime Day was the biggest one yet. We’re recording this episode on the afternoon of Monday, July 14th, just 48 hours after the event wrapped, and we’re excited to dig into the early insights. And just as Amazon has extended Prime Day into a four-day marathon, we’re expanding our post-event panel with four sharp minds to help us unpack what really happened last week. Joining us today are: Covering the operations side of things, a familiar voice on this podcast and contributor to The Retail Roundup, Armin Alispahic. Bringing the account strategy perspective: Senior Account Manager, Gavin Farnan And rounding it out on the media side, we have not one but two experts: Senior Media Managers Damiano Ciarrocchi and  Rhen McLeod. The data is just starting to settle, but that’s not stopping us from diving into some early hot takes and insights. Tune in to find out more! “I don’t think that the shopper demand necessarily weakened throughout the event, as the data shows, but the budget may have simply started to run out.” Damiano Ciarrocchi   KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, the team discusses: Prime Day Purchases & AI Features: The panel kicks off by sharing what they bought during Prime Day and their experiences with Amazon’s new AI shopping assistant, Rufus, highlighting its value for mood-based, “vibe shopping” and customer review summaries. Prime Day Performance Data: An in-depth look at sales distribution across the new four-day format, including how revenue lifts compared to past events. Operational Insights & Promo Strategies: Discussion on how the elongated event affected promotion pacing, ad budget allocation, and the shopper response to an extended sale window, along with the impact on category performance. Technical Performance & Glitches: A notably smooth Amazon ad and promo experience this year. No major outages or surprises, plus some minor issues with inventory caps and VC account eligibility. Advancement in Amazon Advertising Tools: The group explores cutting-edge ad features, especially the rollout of AMC (Amazon Marketing Cloud) audiences for sponsored product ads, offering more precise results tracking and targeting. Organic & Operational Adjustments: Implications for inventory capacity, stricter Amazon requirements, creative price strategies by brands, and shifting promo tactics to manage margin pressure and secure Prime Day badging. Post-Prime Day Lead-Out Strategies: Key recommendations for capturing post-event demand via retargeting, subscribe & save coupons, and utilizing new promo types to leverage traffic from Prime Day. Preparing for an AI-Driven Future: The episode wraps up with a forward-looking discussion on the rising role of agentic AI in online shopping, recommended optimizations for both paid and organic to better capture traffic from conversational and personalized shopping queries.