Post on 17-Jul-2020
Q&A
Amazon Strategies for a Shifting Landscape
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Ryan BarkerSales Engineer, ChannelAdvisor
Michael SchwartzSenior Client Strategy Manager,
ChannelAdvisor
Presented by
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● The Pandemic & Commerce
● Amazon’s Response to COVID-19
● Managing Stock Levels & Fulfillment
● Key Adjustments to Ad Campaigns
● Q&A with the Experts
Today’s Agenda
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The Pandemic & Commerce
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Infrastructure Overwhelmed
Stretched Fulfillment Capacity
‣ Yet the economy hasn’t stopped, and a combination of panic buying and staying at home has catalyzed online purchasing
‣ Online sales velocity is testing an already stressed fulfillment network in the US, with many brands choosing to cut ad spend or remove listings to keep up with the demand
Social Distancing & Business
‣ Mass closings of B&M retailers have left many manufacturers scrambling to recover lost revenue velocity via e-commerce
‣ The recent wave of shelter-in-place orders has had a mixed impact on fulfillment centers, ranging from staffing issues to total facility closures
The Pandemic & Commerce
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Shifting Consumer Buying Patterns
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Shifting Consumer Buying Patterns
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Shifting Consumer Buying Patterns
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The Stimulus Bump & Step-Function Growth
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Slowing Prime Delivery
● Prime listings showed ship times up to 30 days from mid March to April
● Impact across catalogs has been inconsistent, with more popular and lighter items shipping faster (7 days)
● Most listings appear back to normal shipping timelines for Prime
Amazon’s Response to COVID-19
Restrictions to Inbound FBA
● Nonessential categories saw temporary halt to new shipments
● Most if not all categories are now able to send inbound inventory
● Reports indicate that shipment quantity is limited to ~30 days of inventory
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Amazon’s Response to COVID-19
● Restrictions to purchase orders and FBA replenishment
● Delayed delivery times for “Shipped by Amazon” (1P & 3P)
● Freeze on all new deal and coupon submissions
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“
”
Desperate times breed desperate measures
— William Shakespeare
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Top Strategies for a Shifting Landscape
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Budget & Product Focus
COVID-19 Strategies
Budget & Product
● Decreasing Demand● Inventory & Fulfillment● New Products● Offset with Ad Spend● Recent Performance● Amazon Store &
Sponsored Brands
● Evaluate both FBA and FBM products in your catalog
● Evaluate recent performance and reallocate budget to your most efficient products & campaigns
○ Faster shipping times○ FBA items that will not run Out of Stock○ Deeper inventory levels○ Higher margins
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Understand Decreasing Product Demand
COVID-19 Strategies
● Budget & Product
Decreasing Demand
● Inventory & Fulfillment
● New Products● Offset with Ad Spend● Recent Performance● Amazon Store &
Sponsored Brands
● Shopping trends are very fluid — large spikes and large valleys across many categories
● Evaluate your catalog and understand where demand is shifting, and tailor ad budgets accordingly
○ Lower demand — Decrease bids or pause entirely○ Higher demand — Increase bids & budgets○ If leveraging automation, pause or adjust
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Plan Around Inventory & Fulfillment
COVID-19 Strategies
● Budget & Product● Decreasing Demand
Inventory & Fulfillment
● New Products● Offset with Ad Spend● Recent Performance● Amazon Store &
Sponsored Brands
● How does a product category surge in demand relate to current inventory levels
○ Fulfillment by Amazon vs. by Merchant○ Days/weeks of cover vs. ability to restock○ Add FBM capabilities wherever able
● Increase where competitive advantages exist
● Stop advertising where inventory is planned to Out of Stock
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Launching New Products
COVID-19 Strategies
● Budget & Product● Decreasing Demand● Inventory &
Fulfillment
New Products
● Offset with Ad Spend● Recent Performance● Amazon Store &
Sponsored Brands
● Capitalize on competitive weaknesses by growing market share for newer product lines
○ Existing brands and products are running low○ Consumers more willing to purchase when a
product fills a need, even with fewer reviews○ Winning bids are extremely cheap right now
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Offset B&M Losses with Increased Ad Spend
COVID-19 Strategies
● Budget & Product● Decreasing Demand● Inventory &
Fulfillment● New Products
Offset with Ad Spend
● Recent Performance● Amazon Store &
Sponsored Brands
● Omnichannel brand manufacturers may want to take this time to increase ad spend on e-commerce channels
○ Internal needs to offset lost revenue at B&M
○ Amazon seeing higher-than-ever volume… BUT■ Prime shipping delays impacting efficiency■ Category demand varies widely
○ Consider increasing budgets where able now, and allocating further increases once FBA opens up
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Closely Monitor 7-Day Performance
COVID-19 Strategies
● Budget & Product● Decreasing Demand● Inventory &
Fulfillment● New Products● Offset with Ad Spend
Recent Performance
● Amazon Store & Sponsored Brands
● Keep a close eye on your last 7-day performance
○ Remember it likely differs from historical performance
○ Adjust bids based on changes in demand○ Shorten lookback time on any automation tools○ Be proactive with manual adjustments
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Amazon Store and Sponsored Brands
COVID-19 Strategies
● Budget & Product● Decreasing Demand● Inventory &
Fulfillment● New Products● Offset with Ad Spend● Recent Performance
Amazon Store & Sponsored Brands
● Screen time increases during work-at-home situations
● Consider running more branding opportunities
● Amazon Stores — one of Amazon’s most effective brand exposure strategies
○ Control messaging & buyer experience● Leverage Sponsored Brand betas to drive traffic
○ Custom lifestyle images (desktop & mobile)
○ Video in search (desktop & mobile)
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Leveraging Ad Management Automation
Automatic Ad Management
● Save time by setting filters to automatically add products to your campaigns
● Pause products that no longer fit your specifications
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Leveraging Automated Bid Management
$Automated Bidding (ABM)
● Create rules that will automatically adjust bids for targets based on profitability and traffic goals
● Set an ACOS, ROAS or CPO target and let ABM do the work to reach your goal
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Leveraging Automated Keywords
Keyword Automation
● Identify long-tail high performing queries and automatically promote to biddable keywords for your manual campaigns
● Reduce wasted spend by adding queries with high spend and low conversions as negative keywords
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Leveraging Campaign Scheduling
Campaign Scheduling
● Spend smarter by automatically activating campaigns during hours when buyers convert and pausing when they don't
● Set a custom schedule or use ChannelAdvisor’s calculated “peak hours”
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Intersection of Paid & Organic Strategies
● For brands and sellers without Buy Box competition, advertising strategy should be aimed at driving organic growth
● Optimize listing content to both lower ad cost-per-click & increase ranking on Search Engine Results Page (SERP)
● Sellers with strong execution during COVID-19 will see strong organic ranking gains
○ Many competitors will OOS completely○ Higher relative sales velocity combined with
search relevancy = higher position
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Tools to Help You Scale
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A Holistic View of Your Ad Strategy
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Scale with Automation
Sponsored Ads
$Automated Bidding
(ABM)
Create rules that will automatically adjust
bids for targets based on profitability and
traffic goals that you set.
Set an ACOS, ROAS or CPO target and let ABM
do the work to reach your goal.
Automatic Ad Management
Save time by setting filters to automatically add products to your
campaigns and pause products that no
longer fit your specifications.
Keyword Automation
Identify long-tail high performing queries and
automatically promote to biddable keywords for
your manual campaigns.
Reduce wasted spend by adding queries with high
spend and low conversions as negative
keywords.
Campaign Scheduling
Spend smarter by automatically
activating campaigns during hours when buyers convert and pausing when they don't. Set a custom
schedule or use ChannelAdvisor’s calculated “peak
hours”.
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COVID-19 Resourceswww.channeladvisor.com/covid-19-resources/
Resources
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