Ecommerce Braintrust

Thank you for an incredible 2025! 🎉 We are grateful for such an engaged community of listeners. To celebrate, we're re-releasing 3 of our most popular episodes of the year. This week, we're bringing back "The Maturation of AMC for Sponsored Ads" with Ross Walker and Carlos Sastre. We hope you enjoy it!

Mike Black, Chief Growth Officer at Profitero, dives into the intricacies of e-commerce analytics. He explains the concept of the digital shelf and why effective search positioning is crucial, sharing insights on how moving up search results can dramatically boost sales. The impact of online reviews on conversion rates is explored, revealing how they influence both digital and in-store behaviors. Mike highlights the importance of maintaining high star ratings and how early review accumulation aids in establishing social proof. Prepare to rethink your e-commerce strategy!

Thank you for an incredible 2025! 🎉 We are grateful for such an engaged community of listeners. To celebrate, we're re-releasing 3 of our most popular episodes of the year. This week, we're bringing back "Vendor P&L Proliferation - Why It's Happening and Why It Matters" with Armin Alispahic. We hope you enjoy it!

Join Armin Alispahic, a marketplace operations expert, Ross Walker, a media specialist, and Pat Petriello, Director of Retail Marketplace Strategy, as they tackle the latest in retail. They discuss Amazon's new Seller Challenge initiative to improve seller compliance and eligibility for Account Health Assurance. Dive into the groundbreaking partnership with Nielsen, enhancing DSP measurement credibility. Plus, get the lowdown on Seller Fulfilled Prime updates and the innovative sponsored prompts, paving the way for AI monetization on Amazon.

🎙️Interview with Ross Walker & Danilo Alvares 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 Account Management. We're diving into a big topic this week: programmatic media buying through Amazon DSP, and the many different ways brands can leverage it. If you've been wondering how to get started with ADSP or how to access the right inventory to drive real results, this episode has you covered. To help us unpack it all, we've invited two of our in-house experts: Ross Walker, Director of Retail Media, and Danilo Alvares, Senior Retail Media Manager. Tune in to find out more! Quote: "The key, I would say, is balancing scale and transparency depending on what the brand is trying to learn and achieve." Danilo Alvares KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, Julie, Jordan, Ross, and Danilo discuss: Ways to Access Amazon DSP: The difference between the traditional Amazon Managed Service, agency/tech partner "seats," and brands owning and operating their DSP seat in-house. Evolution of DSP Access: How Amazon has opened up the DSP ecosystem, making it more user-friendly and accessible for agencies and self-service buyers. Buying Models - Crawl, Walk, Run: The progression from open auction (crawl) to private auctions (walk) to preferred deals and programmatic guarantees (run), describing the level of control, complexity, and inventory at each stage. Aligning Deal Types with Brand Goals: How brands should approach DSP deals based on their growth stage, goals (reach vs. efficiency), and market maturity. Custom Deals & Working with Amazon Supply Desk: Insights on negotiating custom inventory deals that align closely with brand audiences, often requiring a strong relationship with Amazon's supply desk team. Latest Updates – Project Deal Builder: The team discusses Amazon's new (beta) Project Deal Builder, which aims to democratize custom deal-making for DSP buyers further. Transparency and Measurement: Examination of how transparency, reporting, and measurement vary across different buying models—and how tools like AMC (Amazon Marketing Cloud) help unify data analysis. Favorite Types of Buys: Both Danilo Alvares and Ross Walker share their excitement around mixing precise audience targeting with creative formats and leveraging new inventory opportunities like streaming TV.

🎙️Black Friday & Cyber Monday 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 Account Management. We're coming to you late in the day on December 3rd, less than 48 hours after the whirlwind of Cyber Monday has wrapped up. The dust is barely settling, and we're diving straight into what really went down. To help us make sense of it all, we've gathered a powerhouse panel. From the operations and organic side of the action, we have Gavin Farnan and Celina Arbelaez from our Account Management team, two people who've been in the trenches all weekend. And bringing the media perspective, we're joined by Hyunsoo Park and Ross Walker, ready to unpack the wins, surprises, and standout trends of the season. Let's dive in. Quote: Over the BFCM weekend, we saw a 1.5x lift in sales, and then over the 12 days, a 1.6x multiple compared to last year's BFCM. Gavin Farnan KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, the team discusses: Personal Recaps: The group shares what they bought during the sales Shift in Shopping Patterns: The panel discusses how consumers are increasingly buying earlier in these tentpole events, with a higher share of sales happening in the initial days of Turkey 12, and why waiting for bigger deals later doesn't always pay off. Data & Sales Insights: Client data showing a 50–60% year-over-year lift in sales, and the group explores trends in daily sales spikes and the spreading out of purchases across event days. Cross-Channel Promotions: The challenges and strategies around promo consistency across Amazon, D2C, and other retailers like Target and Ulta, and the importance of deal badging on Amazon for visibility. Event Differences & Glitches: Insights into new Amazon features like improved deal badging, the impact of glitches (like PPD discount badge issues), and increases in category discount depth. AI & Discovery: The growing importance of AI-driven discovery with Amazon's Rufus and how brands must optimize content to be surfaced by these tools, despite the limited data currently available from Amazon. New Ad Tech & Sponsored Content: The rollout and mixed success of product video ads, sponsored brand video priorities, and ongoing Amazon ad platform updates leading right up to the event. Q4 Holiday Advice: Practical tips for brands to close out the quarter strong, like maintaining bestseller rank, doubling down on winning products, leveraging creator campaigns and off-Amazon traffic, and keeping content fresh and responsive to new search behaviors. Team Takeaways: Encouragement to focus budget and effort on high-performing keywords and channels, and reminders not to slack off as shipping cutoffs approach.

DESCRIPTION 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 excited to welcome back two familiar voices: Ross Walker, Director of Retail Media, and Pat Petriello, Director of Retail Marketplace Strategy. They're here to help us unpack the wave of announcements that came out of unBoxed 2025 and break down what they really mean for brands. Let's dive in. Quote: It's a trap! Every single one of our brands that has said, 'Forget about it—go upper funnel. Go conquest new territory. Go get new customers.' That's been the more effective use of dollars. Ross Walker KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, Julie, Jordan, Ross, and Pat discuss: Overarching themes from Unboxed: democratization and simplification of Amazon's ad products and tools Unified reporting: Merging Sponsored Ads and DSP platforms for easier campaign management and deeper, cross-platform insights Creative Agent: Amazon's advanced AI tool for quickly generating and testing high-quality video and creative assets—especially impactful for brands without in-house creative teams AMC Agent: Making Amazon Marketing Cloud more accessible with natural language queries and easier data exploration, streamlining technical work for agencies The evolving role of agencies and partners: How AI-powered solutions shift agency focus from tactical execution to strategic guidance and validation New ad formats: Sponsored Product Video and other SERP-based innovations, plus the impact on conversion and brand visibility Sponsored Brand Reserve Share of Voice: Its potential uses, strategies, and when it makes sense to invest Upcoming and lesser-discussed features: Project Complete TV for streamlined top-funnel investments and new full-funnel campaign capabilities

🎙️Live at unBoxed With Chris Conetta of Amazon DESCRIPTION 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. In this special episode, we're coming to you live from Amazon unBoxed in Nashville, where we're sitting down with Chris Conetta, Director of Amazon DSP Supply. Together, we dig into Amazon's latest investments and breakthrough product updates within its Demand-Side Platform (DSP). From new integrations and measurement innovations to tools designed to make programmatic advertising more accessible and effective for brands and agencies. Let's dive in. Quote: It goes back to this theme of democratizing the ad experience, 100%. With Creative Agent, we're now democratizing the ability to create video assets at scale. Chris Conetta KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, Julie, Jordan, and Chris discuss: Amazon's journey in expanding DSP from a closed beta to an integrated, open internet solution with recent high-profile partnerships (Roku, Disney, Netflix, Spotify, Sirius, etc.). Comparison of Amazon DSP's differentiation against other legacy programmatic platforms, focusing on authenticated reach, authenticated signals, and lower programmatic fees. The pivotal role of Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) in providing holistic, transparent measurement. The new Ads Agent, which leverages AI to make AMC data more accessible for all users. Announcement and impact of unifying Sponsored Products and DSP into a single ads console, making campaign management and measurement across channels simpler and more unified. Introduction of the "full funnel campaign" product, designed to easily map and optimize brand touchpoints along the customer journey from streaming to conversion. The debut of Creative Agent, a tool that democratizes and streamlines creative production for video assets, empowering AB testing and campaign agility for brands. Discussion of Deal Builder and Inventory Hub, new solutions aiming to make the selection and bundling of media inventory more efficient and tailored to campaign goals. Greater theme of democratizing access to advanced advertising tools, enabling brands and agencies of all sizes to maximize their Amazon and open internet advertising results.

🎙️Interview With Adam French 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 Account Management. Today, we're diving into one of the most quietly powerful and still widely underutilized growth levers on Amazon: Creator Connections. To help us unpack how brands can tap into this channel effectively, we're joined by first-time guest Adam French from our Account Management team. Adam has been deep in the trenches running the Creator Connections program across dozens of consumer brands, and he's bringing a ton of hands-on insight to today's conversation. Let's dive in. Quote: We always recommend starting with a 10% baseline commission and running that for 30 days. That gives a great indication of who's engaging and what kind of traction the content gets before adjusting upward. Adam French KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, Julie, Jordan, and Adam discuss: The history and evolution of Amazon's creator and affiliate programs, including the Associates Program, Influencer Program, and now Creator Connections. Limitations of earlier programs and how Creator Connections offers new opportunities for brands to proactively collaborate with creators. The difference between Affiliate Plus campaigns and the new Sponsored Content Requests, and how each fits into broader marketing strategies. Guidance on setting commission rates for campaigns, testing performance, and optimizing investment. Tips for brands on managing selection and content quality control when working with Amazon creators. Real-life success stories of brands in categories like home & kitchen and premium beauty using Creator Connections to drive sales and brand awareness. Key limitations and current challenges of the platform, particularly in terms of granular reporting of campaign results. How Amazon could improve Creator Connections to better meet brand needs in the future.

Armin Alispahic, an e-commerce operations expert, joins retail media strategist Pat Petriello for an insightful discussion. They analyze significant updates to Amazon's FBA fees and how sellers must optimize or risk falling behind. Pat also elaborates on Amazon's partnerships with Twitch and Spotify, enhancing programmatic advertising strategies. The duo delves into the limitations of Amazon's new AI-driven Storefront Page Builder and contemplates the future of search with conversational AI, highlighting key trends shaping the retail landscape.