Serious Sellers Podcast: Learn How To Sell On Amazon FBA & Walmart

Helium 10 Buzz 8/23/24: Big Amazon Coupon Update | FTC Fake Review Crackdown

We’re back with another episode of the Weekly Buzz with Helium 10’s Chief Brand Evangelist, Bradley Sutton. Every week, we cover the latest breaking news in the Amazon, Walmart, and E-commerce space, talk about Helium 10’s newest features, and provide a training tip for the week for serious sellers of any level.

YouTube takes on TikTok Shop with expanded Shopify partnership
https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/20/youtube-takes-on-tiktok-shop-with-expanded-shopify-partnership/

Walmart adds a Burger King benefit to its membership program
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/22/walmart-plus-burger-king-benefit.html

Shein sues Temu over copyright infringement, alleges rival loses money on every sale
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/20/shein-sues-temu-over-copyright-infringement-trade-secret-theft.html

FTC finally makes a sneaky online shopping tactic illegal
https://www.thestreet.com/retail/ftc-online-shopping-tactic

Temu’s Semi-Hosted Japan Site Will Officially Launch on August 27
https://pandaily.com/temus-semi-hosted-japan-site-will-officially-launch-on-august-27/

50% of Amazon Prime, Walmart+ Subscribers Step Up During Sales Events
https://www.pymnts.com/news/retail/2024/50-of-amazon-prime-walmart-subscribers-step-up-during-sales-events/

How Amazon supports Black-owned businesses during Black Business Month—and all year long
https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/small-business/how-amazon-supports-black-owned-businesses-during-black-business-month-and-all-year-long

Make sure to watch this week’s training tip in our Helium 10 Alerts tool, this is something that could potentially save you thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars. That's how valuable this tip is. Lastly, don't miss our insights into Helium 10 Adtomic's new features for creating custom bid rules in PPC management, designed to optimize your campaigns effectively.

In this episode of the Weekly Buzz by Helium 10, Bradley covers:

• 00:50 - Big Amazon Coupon Change
• 03:05 - Youtube x Shopify
• 04:47 - FBA Inventory Deadlines
• 05:36 - Walmart x Burger King
• 07:07 - International Return Update
• 08:08 - Temu vs. Shein
• 09:48 - FTC vs Fake Reviews
• 12:48 - Temu Japan
• 13:11 - Prime / Walmart+ Stats
• 14:33 - Black Business Accelerator
• 15:10 - Subscribe to Helium 10’s YouTube Channel
• 15:40 - Training Tip: An Alert That Can Save you $1000’s
• 19:07 - Helium 10 New Feature Alerts

► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast

► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension

► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup  (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life)

► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft

► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos

Transcript

Bradley Sutton:

Amazon has made a big update to coupons and promotions that could save you from some expensive mistakes. YouTube's trying to pull off some TikTok shop type moves. Walmart's giving away free Burger King Whoppers these stories and more on this edition of the Weekly Buzz. How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. Hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of Serious Sellers Podcast by Helium 10. I'm your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is the show that is our Helium 10 weekly buzz. We give you a rundown of all the news stories and goings on in the Amazon, Walmart, TikTok shop and e-commerce world. We let you know what new Helium 10 features have and also give you a training tip of the week that will give you serious strategies for serious sellers of any level in the e-commerce world. Let's see what's buzzing. I've got a number of articles this week, so let's go ahead and hop right into it. First one coming up here is actually I was adding a coupon to this new product launch I'm doing of a coffin letter board and look what we found here on the coupon page. Anybody else notice this? In your browsers when you're trying to do coupons, there's this section that says stack promotions and it says do you want to allow this coupon to stack with percentage off or buy one get one. Promotions yes, allow stacking or no? Allow stacking. Now, this is pretty important because, as you know, in the past, like promotions stack with coupons and vice versa, meaning like let's say you had like a 20% off coupon on your page but then you had a 20% off promotion, that customer who's savvy could pick up both of those and apply it to your order, get 40% off right. But now, finally, you have the option to have it not stack If you're creating the coupon. Next, in the new help document about this, under stack promotions, amazon says here, based on your input provided on if you are going to stack or not, either one or both of the coupons or percentage off or buy one get one, free promotions will apply at checkout. So, for example, gave an example here it says let's say that you create a coupon 10% off and a percentage off coupon 20% off on the same ASIN, same duration. Now, if you say yes, I'm going to allow stacking during this promotion creation. Now both of these promotions are going to stack and the customer is going to get now 30% off at the checkout, right, the 10% plus the 30%. But if you select. No, I do not want them to stack. These promotions won't stack, and so the customer maybe they might see it and try and clip the coupon and do the promotion, but it says they're only going to get the higher benefit of the two promotions. So, like in that case there was a 20% off coupon and a 10% off promotion, they would get the 20% off coupon. So that's something that's pretty cool. I highly recommend doing that, for you know, usually people don't want to stack, and then when people have had stuff stacked, it's by accident and they end up losing a lot of money that they didn't realize. So if you're one of those who do not want your promotion stack, make sure to always click that no stacking.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Next article is from TechCrunch and it's entitled YouTube takes on TikTok shop with expanded Shopify partnership. All right, we talked a little bit about this, oh, I want to say, about four or five months ago, but now it looks like YouTube is ramping up efforts. It says, as TikTok shop is gaining traction, YouTube is expanding its partnership with Shopify to onboard more brands for its YouTube shopping affiliate program. All right, so now creators and influencers are going to get access to 1000s of new brands. It wasn't, like you know, before. We're just like 10 brands or something like very small number of brands you could actually promote for in a shopping experience on YouTube. Now it says 1000s of new brands are going to allow those products to be tagged in shopping videos. So you know, generating a lot of affiliate commission for these YouTube creators. Now if you're wondering, hey, what is the potential of this, well, YouTube actually had a pretty interesting stat. They said that people watched more than 30 billion hours of shopping related videos on YouTube last year and that the platform saw a 25% increase in watch time for videos that help people shop. And so you know, traditionally, the only option is okay, here I'm an influencer, I'm going to make a video about something and I'm directing people to Amazon, or I'm directing people to TikTok, or I'm directing people to Walmart or whatever, right. But now the YouTube influencers are going to be able to create content and then, right in there, link directly to Shopify products and people are going to be able to buy directly from YouTube or in the YouTube platform. And then these influencers are going to be incentivized because they now can get affiliate commission on YouTube.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Next article is from your Seller Central dashboard. Just a reminder of some important dates coming up. All right, prime big deal days is coming up in October. So now they announced that, hey, the last day that you can get inventory in to make sure that you have the Prime Ready badge is going to be September 13th. And then they reiterated again we already announced this a couple weeks ago Black Friday and Cyber Monday you've got to have your product in by October 19th. One other update they gave was hey, if you are using, you are going to get 25% off the base rate for e-storage fees and 15% off the base rate for AWD processing and transportation fees. All right, so this is going to be a limited time offer. If you're using a, amazon is giving putting some money back in your pocket for a change. What, what? What a novel concept. That is all right. Usually we're used to the uh, the other, the other side of things, right.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Next article is from CNBC. This one gave me a chuckle here. You know we've talked before about how amazon will come out with something. Wal. Walmart will come out with something. Vice versa, Walmart is now a pioneer in doing something new. Now we've always talked about the benefits that Amazon Prime starts adding, the benefits that Walmart Plus starts adding et cetera. Because the more Walmart Plus, the more Amazon Prime members, the better it is for us sellers, right, the more likely it is that we're gonna get sales increase. Well, now Walmart is doing a first. They're the first ones in this. They're adding Burger King as a benefit to the Walmart plus program. All right. So now, if you've got Walmart plus, you're going to be able to save 25% off of any Burger King order made through the Burger King app. All right. In addition, members will also be eligible for a free Whopper every three months, starting in September with a purchase. All right.

 

Bradley Sutton:

So first of all, you know it's painful to do this article. I've been on a crazy diet this week before I go traveling, lost already like eight pounds, and I'm looking at these hamburgers and fries. I'm like, oh my goodness, my stomach is growling. But anyways, I digress. What I really want to see now is all right, amazon, the ball's in your court. Let's see you make a similar deal with, like a fat burger in and out, Jollibee, something like that, and I'm going to be there. I need something for my Burger King. I'm not too much of a fan of, so. So, amazon, please hook us up with some good fast food and I am there to take advantage of it.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Next article is going back to the amazon dashboard. It's an update just on international returns, all right. So seller fulfilled international returns is going to be updated starting September 16th. So if you're an international seller who's selling in the US but you're overseas and you don't have a default US return address in Seller Central, now you are going to be required to issue a return less refund or provide a prepaid international return shipping label. So this is kind of interesting. This might seem like one of those articles. Maybe you just completely skip over, but read this in detail. But read this in detail. You know, those of you who are overseas, check do you have a U S return? Because, trust me, guys, that's going to get expensive. All of a sudden, you know your customers start getting you know returned without even you being consulted, and you don't realize it. Or you have to go pay for some international shipping which is crazy expensive, all right. So take a look at this article in your dashboard, see if that affects you, those of you overseas sellers out there.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Let's go back now to CNBC for another article, and this one's entitled Sheen sues Temu over copyright infringement, alleges rival losses money on every sale. So you know people are talking about oh man, Temu is trying to be like Amazon, you know, because they're trying to recruit US sellers and fulfilled in the US. You know, amazon trying to be like Temu. You know, trying to get Chinese sellers to ship directly with subsidized shipping. And then you know they're scared of each other for taking market share. You know, stories like that here and there have been coming up. But now it's Temu versus Sheen. All right, so this is something that was actually filed in the US. All right, this isn't some internal battle going on in the streets of Beijing or something right in China. This is happening in the US, in Washington DC.

 

Bradley Sutton:

A civil complaint where Sheen accused Temu of stealing its designs and also that an employee stole confidential trade secrets. They also say, hey, Temu is losing money on every single sale it makes and it uses trademark infringement to make up for the losses. This, this fight, you know, talks about a lot of different things, but it's kind of interesting because it kind of paints a picture of how sheen and Temu are making money and it makes you wonder, like, is that model sustainable? Like, if they are losing money in every order. How in the world can they keep that going, right? So, if you're interested in in these other marketplaces, I'm trying to get my Temu account set up just to test it out. I'm having a heck of a time getting approved on there, so so I'm still working on. I still want to be able to give you guys an update about Temu. So we'll see how it goes and let's see what if this lawsuit, ever you know, results in anything.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Next up article from the Street. It's entitled FTC finally makes a sneaky online shopping tactic illegal. Now, this article kind of confused me a little bit. I need to do some more research on this, because I'm not 100% sure that this article is going to happen the way it thinks it's going to happen. Okay, but this is a step in the right direction, all right. The article starts out hey, if you've ever read an online review for a product and thought, hey, this is too good to be true, you're probably right. It says that 30 or 40% of online reviews have been fake. But then here we go. But that will soon change, as the era of fake online reviews is about to come to an abrupt end. No, guys, I'm sorry. I don't care what FTC or Amazon or anybody, there is no way that you're going to clean up bad reviews, you know, like super fast, all right, it's just I'm sorry it's not going to happen. But again, I'm not trying to badmouth this. This is a move in the right direction, all right.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Now this new rule that's going to go in effect in October from the FTC, it's going to ban fake online reviews in several different ways. All right, the first rule says it's going to prohibit reviews from people who don't exist. Like wait, how can people who don't exist make review? No, obviously, what it's referring to is people making fake, you know. Can people who don't exist make review? No, obviously. What it's referring to is people making fake you know, profiles and leaving reviews, doing brushing and things like that, and also reviews generated by artificial intelligence. It's kind of saying that it's inferring that it's not going to be allowed. And now the interesting thing here maybe the most interesting for me is it says reviews from individuals who never experienced the product, business or service will be banned as well.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Now, why do you think I found that interesting? Because to me I'm now wondering does that mean that they're going to require Amazon, you know, Walmart, other platforms, to not accept any reviews other than verified reviews. You know, right now I can just go on any product and leave a review, right. But that almost makes me think, right that that Amazon might, or FTC might, ban that. The non-verified review is interesting. Now the rule also blocked businesses from providing compensation for positive or negative reviews. Okay, so I mean up until a few years ago that was even allowed on Amazon. It's still not illegal per se. Like I if I have McDonald’s, I can go pay somebody right now to leave a good review on my google profile. I guess you know, but that that's not going to be allowed anymore. So it's not just amazon's getting bad. It looks like that's going to be banned across the board. It says insider reviews, like by those who work for the company, is going to be prohibited. And here's a funny one, a funny statement. It says businesses will also no longer be allowed to use legal, groundless legal threats, physical threats, intimidation, to prevent a negative review. It says no longer be allowed. Does this mean that until now you've been allowed to use physical threats to get people to change? I don't know what this article is trying to say, or the FTC, I mean it is supposedly it was just quoted here but interesting stuff coming to the world of reviews.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Next article up here is from pandaily.com. Quick note Teemu is opening up a new marketplace in Japan on August 27th. Go look up information on that. Take a look at this article. It might be a good opportunity to get in a brand new marketplace. You know, right before it gets too big, who knows? If you're selling in Amazon Japan, you could probably get your stuff on the new Temu marketplace pretty fast if you hurry.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Next article is from payments.com. It was another one of these surveys. Some of these surveys are pretty interesting. It says 50% of Amazon Prime and Walmart Plus subscribers step up during sales events. Now, based on this study, they had some interesting data points here, all right. For example, it says shopper spending climbed 11% to 14 billion on this Amazon prime day. Now, 40% of all consumers participated in prime day. 20% participated in Walmart plus week, which is like their version of prime day. Now, this is pretty interesting because that Walmart number is still lagging way behind Amazon, but that surged 71% from 2022. It was only at 12% in 2022. So interesting Walmart Plus might be catching up. Walmart Plus subscriptions have increased 30%, especially among millennials and individuals earning less than $100,000 annually. But it says here Walmart Plus still lags way behind Amazon Prime, and both events saw a 50% participation rate from their subscribers. So interesting little stats that maybe you want to check this article out. Walmart plus is is still way, way, way behind amazon, according to this article, but they are catching up, maybe at a little bit faster rate than you might have expected.

 

Bradley Sutton:

All right, the last article of the day is just from amazon. Remind sellers that this month is black business month, all right. And then it talks here in this article about the Black Business Accelerator, a program that we've talked about right here on the podcast. It talks about a lot of the features they have for black owned businesses. It has some quotes here from Rod. You might remember right here he used to be. He was on the Serious Sellers podcast before. So if you have a black owned business, make sure that you get certified so you can get that badge, and then you're actually going to qualify for some special programs inside of the black business accelerator that Amazon has. Make sure to check out the article link to below for that.

 

Bradley Sutton:

So I want you guys to do is to go to YouTube search Helium 10, and make sure to hit this subscribe, the subscribe button right here at the top, and then make sure that you put notification on all, all notifications, so you know when we come out, weekly buzz and other articles. If you guys are watching a video right now, you're watching this on YouTube itself. Right under the actual video there's that subscribe button. Make sure to hit it, make sure you're subscribed, make sure it says all so that you get notified when we have new videos.

 

Bradley Sutton:

All right, let's get into our training tip of the week, and this is something that could potentially save you thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars. That's how valuable this tip is, all right. So a lot of sellers have said oh man, you know, I wish that I could be able to know if I'm on the border, what am my packaging on the border of one of these size tier changes like bulky to standard size, you know, or small oversize to just regular oversize? If I'm on the border, that could actually mean a lot of dollars to your bottom line. How are you going to find that? Whether you have a Platinum Diamond, whatever plan you have, watch this, what I want everybody to do right after this video or you can do it right now If you're at home. Go to Helium 10 Alerts. So go to your Alerts page you can find it in the tool menu and it is under operations hit Alerts and then check out on the top left-hand side under the overview section.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Normally, under overview, most sellers only have three lines of notifications talking about the buy box, monitoring slots et cetera. But if you have a package that is near the border of one of these size tiers, you are going to have a fourth line of Alerts here and it's going to say products with size tier automate optimization suggestions. And, as you can see, it says I've got three. So I click this button and it's going to take me to those suggestions. So take, you can see it says I've got three. So I click this button and it's going to take me to those suggestions. So take a look here. It took me to the place that has my dimensions and there's a big red little icon and then it's giving me a message. It says we've identified an opportunity to optimize your FBA fulfillment costs. By reducing the link by one inch, you could potentially move from size tier large bulky to large standard size, decreasing the FBA fulfillment costs from $10.75 to $7 per unit.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Guys, do the math really quick. All right, let's that. That's a whopping $3 whopping. You see, I was thinking about the Whopper that I talked about in the weekly buzz earlier. Yeah, $3.75 is nothing to scoff at. Let's do some math here. All right, so let's say I sell of this product 15 units a day, and now on my next shipment or maybe I can just change the packaging now on my next package and I can go take that one inch off, and now I save $3.75. Let's say, what did I say? Let's just say I sell 15 units a day, all right, so $3.75 times 15 units a day, that means every day. This could mean $56.25 to my bottom line. Times that by 365.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Guys, this one alert from Helium 10 has the potential to get me $20,000. I think that's a pretty valuable thing that Helium 10 is offering. So I hope everybody rushes to their computer. Check your Alerts page, check If you've got that size to your optimization active. Go to it and then take it. Take a look Now. You know some of you who are selling products that are a set size like because you have a mold or something it's not like. You can just snap your fingers and change your packaging. But, like me, if this is like one of my coffin shelves, I can easily redesign my next shipment where I can just shave off a half inch off the product itself and maybe shave it another half inch off of the packaging inside so I can cut down to that size All right. So that's a really cool update. Guys, make sure to go check that out. I said update. This has actually been around for about three or four months, but I think a lot of you guys didn't realize we had that. Now we are going to get into our Helium 10 new feature Alerts. Last week we had a huge one with a completely redesigned keyword tracker. This week I've got a lot of Adtomic updates for you.

 

Bradley Sutton:

All right. The very first one is the ability for ad Adtomic now to run sponsored ad TV ads. The first one here is now ad Adtomic is pulling in your sponsored TV campaigns. You're gonna be able to make rules in Adtomic for your sponsored TV ads. You're going to be able to see the metrics and run analytics. All of you can see me like I don't have any sponsored TV ads. It’s going to be able to see the metrics and run analytics. All of you can see me like I don't have any sponsored TV ads. It says zero right here, but now it is importing. How many of you guys out there are using sponsored TV? I'm just very curious. I'm not sure you know, like how much this is being used out there in the Amazon world. Let me know, are you, are you running sponsored TV ads? Have it? Has it worked out? Well, regardless, if you're using Adtomic, you can now make AI rules and bid rules and a whole bunch of cool keyword harvesting and things from those campaigns directly from Adtomic.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Another thing we have in Adtomic is a new way to make bid rules. Okay, so in Adtomic you can create your own custom rules. You can say, hey for my bid. If, if my ACOS is over this amount and my ROAS is less than this amount, then I want you to take the bid and increase it by 10%. Like it can get super, super granular and very complicated, and rightfully so. I mean PPC is complicated. A lot of our customers out there use a lot of different methods when they're running their PPC, so you need this level of granularity to be able to make rules. But other people you might be like overwhelmed, like oh man, I don't got time to make all these rules. I really like some templates and so you know, now we actually have some templates. So if you go to add Tomic and hit add new rule, you know you choose all the products that you want to apply to this rule. Now, on the right hand side, you choose all the products that you want to apply to this rule. Now on the right hand side you are going to see this button that says apply template. So hit that and you'll be able to choose from some bid templates that we have, and we're going to keep adding more.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Like I believe destiny from better media is working on some. But, for example, you've got one that says high a cost bid window and current bid safety net set up to lower a cost. That sounds like a mouthful right there, but basically what it means is like hey, you're decreasing bids on a high a cost target within a window based on certain kinds of criteria. Another one is decrease when cost per click is lower than the bid. So some people are like hey, I've got a bid that's $4, but if I'm getting cost per click for only three, I don't need to be at $4. You know somebody could bid me up and I could lose money. I want to go decrease it. You can just create a rule and all the little algorithms instead of having to, you know, come up with the actual rule step by step, it's going to just automatically create that for you. You've got an automatic bid rule, that's that takes away your wasted spend who doesn't want that? And then another automatic or another template that increases your exposure and resets your bid if you feel that there's a certain you know threshold that you're not reaching.

 

Bradley Sutton:

So a couple cool updates right there in Adtomic. Now, the coolest one of them all is now you can do paw. You can set a rule to pause your targets. Okay now, why is? Why is this important? I have rules in Adtomic where, for my search terms, I'm like, hey, if I get 20 orders and, by the way, guys, you know whether you use Adtomic or not this is something that I hope you guys are doing with your own software or with your own spreadsheets but basically I have rules where I'm like, hey, if I get 30 clicks or something like that 25 clicks, 30 clicks, 20 clicks with no sales I want to pause this or I want a negative match, right, this search term.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Now, I've always suggested do not negative match search terms in your performance manual campaigns, your, your exact manual campaigns, because now it's going to look like you have a target active but you really pause it in the background and then you might be like, oh no, I can't add any more keywords or targets to this campaign, cause I have so many, but in actuality you had pause all of them. You just don't realize it. So because of that, now we have the ability to make a rule. Let me show you guys how to do that here in Adtomic. I can go in here and I can select a new rule type and I'm going to put bid. All right, I hit next. Now it's going to take me to the new bid rule page and then watch this from here.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Under the criteria, I can say, hey, if my ACoS is greater than I don't know, 50%, right, I can actually now choose to pause targeting. All right, so it's going to pause the target. So if you've got an exact manual product targeting, ASIN targeting campaign, a keyword, exact campaign, and you've never and you always had to pause the targets manually, one by one, because you couldn't do a negative match or you didn't want to do a negative match. Now you can set that as a rule in your Adtomic. Another super cool thing that saves you tons of time and, as we know, time is money. So if you guys haven't gotten into Adtomic, make sure to go to h10.me/adtomic and sign up now, because this is what I use to manage all my campaigns and it's just getting better and better as we go along. All right, guys. That's it for this week. Thank you so much for and tuning in. We'll see you next week to see what's buzzing.

#589 - Amazon PPC for Product Launch and Campaign Optimization

Are you still using the same Amazon PPC strategies you started with? Join us as Vincenzo Toscano from Ecomcy breaks down the evolution of Amazon PPC campaigns, sharing expert tips for launching and optimizing campaigns for maximum profitability. Vincenzo offers insights on how to adapt your strategies as your business grows and reveals common mistakes sellers make, like applying the same tactics across different stages of a product's lifecycle. From keyword adjustments to bid optimization, you’ll get a comprehensive guide to staying competitive.

Explore the crucial role of keyword optimization during a product launch with Vincenzo's actionable advice. Discover how focusing on exact-match keywords and leveraging tools like Helium 10’s Cerebro can amplify your product’s success. Learn about the importance of the honeymoon period, and why organic positioning should be prioritized to build a solid foundation for future campaigns. With Vincenzo's guidance, you'll be armed with the knowledge to set up effective campaigns right from the start.

Get to grips with the hierarchy of PPC campaign types and how to set ACoS goals tailored to your product's lifecycle with Vincenzo’s expert insights. Dive into strategies for targeting specific ASINs, managing product variations, and maintaining higher bids for exact-match keywords to ensure visibility. Vincenzo also shares his approach to handling irrelevant search terms and optimizing campaign performance. To wrap up, learn how to connect with Vincenzo and his agency, Ecomcy, for further consultation and support, making this episode an invaluable resource for serious Amazon sellers.

In episode 589 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Carrie and Vincenzo discuss:

• 00:00 - Strategies for Launching With Amazon PPC
• 02:52 - PPC Tips for Successful Launch
• 04:08 - Optimizing Amazon PPC Keywords for Success
• 10:47 - Keyword Research and Profitability Analysis
• 15:07 - PPC Strategy Hierarchy and ACoS Goals
• 19:23 - Optimizing ACoS for Amazon Sales
• 25:20 - Scaling Product With PPC Campaigns
• 26:48 - Optimizing ASIN Targeting for PPC
• 29:33 - Keyword Variation Strategy for Campaigns
• 30:49 - Connecting With Vincenzo and Ecomcy

► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast

► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension

► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup  (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life)

► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft

► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos

Transcript

Carrie Miller:

Today we're talking with Vincenzo Toscano from Ecomcy and he's going to be sharing tips and strategies for launching with PPC. He's also going to give you some tips and tricks on how to best optimize for profitability and he's going to give you ways to find the best keywords for those launch campaigns.

Bradley Sutton:

How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. If you're like me, maybe you were intimidated about learning how to do Amazon PPC, or maybe you think you just don't have the hours and hours that it takes to download and sort through all of those sponsored ads reports that Amazon produces for you. Adtomic for me allowed me to learn PPC for the first time, and now I'm managing over 150 PPC campaigns across all of my accounts in only two hours a week. Find out how Adtomic can help you level up your PPC game. Visit h10.me/adtomic for more information. That's h10.me/adtomic. Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the Serious Sellers podcast by Helium 10. I'm your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is a show that's completely BS-free, unscripted and unrehearsed organic conversation about serious strategies for serious sellers of any level in the e-commerce world, and this episode is our monthly live Tacos Tuesday show, where we talk about anything and everything Amazon and Walmart, PPC and advertising related with different guests, and today's host is going to be Carrie Miller. So, Carrie, take it away.

Carrie Miller:

I'm going to go ahead and bring on our guest, who is a friend of mine and I'm very excited to have him today, and it's Vincenzo Toscano. Hey, Vincenzo.

Vincenzo:

Hello Carrie. Thank you so much for having me and a pleasure to be here. How are you doing?

Carrie Miller:

Yes, I'm doing great. Tell everyone where you're at. You're a world traveler, so.

Vincenzo:

Right now I'm in London, so August for me is been kind of like a slower month. I mean, I still did like two, three trips but it’s lower than usual. And then in September, I retake the traveling around, yeah.

Carrie Miller:

Yeah, you're always somewhere, so it's always fun to hear where you're at. Vincenzo, can you just tell everyone a little bit about yourself and also your agency, Ecomcy?

Vincenzo:

So, essentially, at Ecomcy, we are a full Amazon and Walmart brand management agency. So we specialize on everything in terms of listing optimization, PPC, brand creative, international expansion, everything that has to do in terms of all the tasks that your business needs to successfully get scaled into these two marketplaces. So we've got teams across the world. We've got teams in the US, in Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Asia, so, effectively, we're able to cover the full spectrum where, specifically, Amazon is allocated. And, yeah, our main core offering to brands is essentially your one-stop solution when it comes to scaling your brand into these two marketplaces. So, yeah, we do everything from A to Z for you.

Carrie Miller:

Okay, let's go ahead and get into it. Then I'll ask the first question and I want to just get some some of your best tips for PPC. What are some tips that you usually share with people?

Vincenzo:

Of course. So I would say something that I'm very basically been pushing in terms of content is how PPC evolves over time. Right, I feel I have seen this mistake so many times, unfortunately that when we do audits on a daily basis and we have a look at accounts from people that you know are really struggling, I usually identify that one of the main reasons is because the strategy they basically decided to use for the launch is the same one they've been using effectively for scale and also the same strategy they've been using for reaching profitability. So I would say that's one of the main things sellers have to start understanding that PPC is not something that you sit and forget and in fact, I guess so many times this conversation from people that, let's say, want to work with us and say oh, what if you do the campaign once and then I just leave it there and then they're on their own. It's like it doesn't work like that. Your PPC is going to change constantly, especially in markets such as the US that's so competitive If you're not on top of the game and you're practically, you know, adjusting the type of targeting, the type of keywords, the type of beats, the type of ads that you can do sponsor brand, sponsor a product, sponsor display. It can get very, very, very difficult. Now in terms of tips. So I will say one of the first thing and I'm going to focus now a little bit on the launch side of things, because I know that's where most of the sellers really struggle is you have to understand the setup of campaigns that you do throughout a launch of your product. It's completely different when you're on a profitability mode, right, and that's where I want to really give you as much basically actionable steps so you can then go after this live and implement it throughout your next launch. So, when it comes to launching a product on Amazon the other day, guys, we need to understand that PPC is basically a tool that is there to amplify the success of your product on Amazon, right? Why do I say this like that? Because I feel, if your product is the type of product that you feel is gonna require all its PPC to be a successful product, unfortunately I have the bad news for you that is the wrong product, right? PPC is only there as a tool to, of course, get the momentum going, but where the money really is gonna come is from your organic position. Once you understand that initial fundamental, that's going to completely shift your focus in terms of why you do your PPC from day one. We have heard so many times, even from Bradley, like the honeymoon period is the most important thing of your listing on Amazon. Right, it's really the foundation of how Amazon basically goes from knowing zero about your product to building a very mature understanding about where your product is basically reflected within a category and what connotation has to specific keywords. So one of the tip I always give to people when launching a product try to not get distracted by shiny objects, right? So many times I feel people launching their PPC and they try to do all type of the campaigns from day one. They try to do Excel, phrase, automatic, tons of brands, also display.  And the issue with that is that because your product is not mature at all and it doesn't have a really good indexation in the system yet, at the end of the day you can actually do worse than actually helping. You're confusing the system with so much data from day one. So the tip is usually the first 14 days to 30 days. I only focus on exact match keywords in terms of the way I target them and I also try to only focus on my 10 to 20 keywords max. I try to not spread myself so thin, because the other mistake and this is a tip as well If you start spreading your budget too thin across multiple keywords, you also dilute your efforts In terms of, when I say dilute your efforts, your budget runs out very fast or you don't show very high on that specific keyword. Well, effectively what happens is that you don't even get enough clicks to make a proper optimization. Therefore, from those initial two weeks to four weeks, you really want to build a strong link between the fact that your product has zero information on Amazon eyes to the point that once you start targeting this keyword aggressively with exact match, you create a link and then that's when you start launching your phrase, your product, your other campaigns and so on and you start creating that momentum. I'm going to make a small pause, so I don't know if you're going to ask something next, but that's a little bit of one of the initial tips I want to give you. Like focus on exact match, try to not dilute your budget across many keywords. That means focus on the core keywords that are really going to position yourself for success in the future and, at the end of the day, that's going to allow you to create that initial foundation to them with the rest of the campaigns forward and also create basically a face in front of Amazon eyes of what your pro actually is and what are the keywords you want to get positioned for.

Carrie Miller:

I think that's really good. Those are good tips because people are always asking me how many keywords they should focus on for launching and how many per campaign. So that's really really good info. So, in terms of keywords, what is the best way to find those keywords that they should? And then you know what kinds of keywords should they be looking for?

Vincenzo:

Yeah Well, the answer is let's see Helium 10.

Carrie Miller:

Very nice.

Vincenzo:

So that's the best way of finding the keywords. Like I mean, we use Helium 10 on our daily basis for finding keywords for our clients, one of the things that is definitely going to be your best tool for that is Cerebro. Cerebro is like the best tool out there when it comes to really filtering down and finding those winning keywords that's actually going to give you the ROAS that you want on your investment. Why that's important? Because another day, when you start researching a specific category, it's very easy to fall into a trap that you come across 50, 100, 200 keywords and you start falling into the mindset oh, if I target all these keywords at once, my chances of success is actually big. And that's actually the opposite. By multiple studies and even case studies we have done internally, usually 70 to 80% of your sales are going to come from 10 keywords most of the time, right? So therefore, once you start understanding that most of the time, 10 to 20 keywords are going to be the backbone of your business, if you start diluting yourself on things that effectively which is what we call the 80 to 20 rule you put your efforts on something that's not going to give you the best outcome. That is not going to create the momentum that you want. So we use Helium 10 by analyzing the top 10 competitors on a specific keyword and once we identify the top 10 competitors, then we use a Cerebro to say, okay, find me the keywords where these competitors are on page one. Okay, and this keywords is consistent across this many number of products. Right, because by using the specific initial filtering, then I'm basically removing a ton of keywords that I know. Yes, these competitors are ranking there, but not necessarily they're on page one and on a consistent basis, because if you're on page one, most likely by nature you got there because you got multiple sales organically and therefore that's why also that keyword, by being repeated across other competitors, is giving you a validation that the keyword is essentially one of the main keywords of that specific category. So once you find those keywords, that's then where you have to also have some of your insights in terms of what you know about the market. What do I mean by that? If you come across a specific category I'm going to put you on an example like yoga mats, which, by the way, very competitive pro guys, so don't do yoga mats. Okay, let's say you come across yoga mat and you do an analysis of the top competitors and then on your top 10 to 20 keywords, you start seeing keywords that, yes, they are very high in search volume and relevancy. But then you start identify that some of those keywords have things embedded that your product doesn't have, maybe a specific material, specific shape, specific color. You have to be careful with that, because if you only go blindly by data and then you don't use your analytical mind to then see it's actually that has some kind of relevancy to my product, you can also fall into the trap of targeting the wrong keywords. So that's how we find the keywords. Then, of course, we can start going deeper into the strategy in terms of, okay, what kind of CPC I want to go for, for example, with the healing term. You also get certain averages. So you can say, at the moment I can only afford this keyword or I can afford that keyword, but you can go even an extra layer and focus on title density, so to focus on keywords that are less competitive. So there are many verticals you can take from there. But the basics is that top 10 competitors finding them where a decent page one on a consistent basis, at least 40 or 50% of those products, and those are usually my starting point, to then go deeper and filter down.

Carrie Miller:

This question from Eric kind of goes along with what you're saying. What if the first 15 to 20 keywords for exact match don't get enough traffic? Also, the bid can get very expensive as well.

Vincenzo:

Yeah. So if you come across that, essentially, the search volume is not high enough, first of all, that's a red flag, because this is actually something, guys, that you should do from the very beginning. Like all this process I've been describing in terms of keyword research has to be part of your product research. Like something I do with all the products that we launch, and I launch beef. Even if the product is a super winning Amazon in terms of the data and I also validate with Helium 10, I still need to figure out my profitability at some point. So what do I mean? Answering your cost per click question, if I then have a look at the cost per click average, right, and that cost per click average in correlation to the average of the conversion, which you might ask yourself, how do we get access to this data? You have brand analytics. You can, with brand analytics, have an understanding of what is the average of conversion With that. If you start making the math of this is the cost per click, this is the average conversion, and I pay X amount of dollar for a product. You know sometimes, mathematically, even if your position number one on all the keywords and you put a minimum in your PPC, you're never gonna be profitable. So that's the first thing you have to do before launch any problem making sure that within your margin, even in the ideal a scenario, you have the best compression, your rank and everything the margin allows for the average of CPC. Now, when it comes to search volume, you're gonna find sometimes products that are gonna be surprising in terms of why this product, for example, is doing $20,000-$30,000. But then when I have a look at the keywords, the keywords don't really resemble the level of demand. It's like very small keywords. Usually that happens because you're going to find a term in the Amazon space called outlier keywords, right, keywords that go beyond the scope of the product itself. So I'm going to give an example. There was this specific product we were working with which was like a key to things in the kitchen, right, like doing a specific type of cakes here and there and all of that. But when you go around the actual keywords of the product, the search volume wasn't high enough. And then we started to see but yes, these two or three competitors are doing high revenue. How are they getting all these sales? When we went deeper into the research, we identified that they were ranking for things such as gift for mom, gift for girlfriend, cooking, cooking accessories. Words are very broad and when you go on those broad, we're talking thousands of search volumes. So that's also something you have to be very careful when you do product research because if not, you might feel, oh yes, this product do x amount of revenue with this, very easy to get keywords. But most of the time, I can guarantee you, is because they have some of these outlier keywords that are pushing the level revenue. And to conclude, if the search volume you feel is not high enough to you know, create the momentum themselves. Something I will try to do is try to attack, for example, accessories that go along with your product. When I have limitation on the keyword level, my best friend is acing targeting Because, for example, let's say you're selling again a yoga mat and let's assume the search volume is very low. Then you're struggling, like, okay, all the keywords have to be yoga mats. Like have a low search volume. I'm really struggling to scale this product. What should I do? Then you start using your money and say, okay, but actually people are buying yoga mats, but they buy yoga blocks or they buy yoga water bottles or they buy leggings, you name it. So what you do is you start targeting with AC, targeting those products, and then you try to, essentially, even if you cannot win at the QLA, you can try to create some kind of profitability by targeting accessories that go with your niche. So that's usually a way you can mitigate that. But again, in conclusion, you're going to find that if then the search fund is really to a point that's super, super minimal, the only savior if I'm honest with you, is going for all of your keywords, which that by itself means you're going to require a higher budget that you anticipated, because usually those are like very big keywords you have to attack.

Carrie Miller:

Yeah, those are all really good points. Keyword research is super important and you know when you're doing product research for sure. If I have a well-performing search terms in an auto campaign that I want to start exact campaigns for, should I negate those keywords in the auto campaign or keep them active in the auto campaign?

Vincenzo:

Yeah, I always get this question. So essentially what happens is that as you start running your other campaigns and, as I say, I usually recommend touring your other campaigns at least two weeks or four weeks after launching your product in fact, you can do this exercise. If you try to create a phrase broad other campaigns from day one, it won't excite much campaign. You go to the suggested keyword tab which amazon generic gives for you. You're gonna see that's right and that's effectively the theory and the behavior we have identified. If Amazon doesn't have history about your product, why are you going to give them basically an empty field for them to run like crazy and not really have a direction? What is the real path towards success, right? So once you generate that with exact match, a keyword campaigns when it comes to other campaigns, those are gonna be your best friends. When it comes to keyword that sometimes you're gonna struggle to find, for example, within them, and that's normal, because sometimes other campaign what it's gonna do is it's gonna find like very, very small long tails that have a lower search volume or very specific that sometimes a. The reason why they are so specific is that they come with specific trends throughout the year or they just come and go, so the auto campaign is going to ensure that catch, basically the low hanging fruit. And once you identify these keywords, let's say you start identifying one that start to become very repetitive in sales, like when I say repetitive is at least three to five sales. If it's only one sale, like I, wouldn't necessarily move it to exact much campaign yet because I want to allow it to prove itself right. Once I move it something you want to do and this applies to all your PPC strategy you have to follow always a hierarchy. Exact is the king right, then you have rest, then you have broad, then you have auto campaigns. Why this is important? Because the other mistake I see a lot is let's say you have a bid in your other campaigns of $1, right, and then you move that keyword to an exact match campaign. You put it 50 cents right by nature. The other campaign on Amazon are still gonna have high priority across your whole account and it's gonna hit most of the budget and most likely it's gonna have priority in terms of placement visibility compared to the exact version of that keyword. So that's very important. If you move it, the bids on those new campaigns have to be higher than your other campaigns. Once you move it I usually don't like to negate it. I'm gonna tell you why. You're gonna find that your other campaigns usually you end up in placements that you don't end on manual campaigns. And this is because Amazon essentially when you work with lower bids they have like what we call like lower tier actually placements that they usually are attributed more to auto campaigns. So you're gonna find that for some specific keywords and this happened to us all the time we move the same keyword to a manual campaign and we start getting a higher CPC or conversion drop significantly. Because even if you think you're targeting the same keyword and it goes an extra layer, it's not only about targeting the keywords, it's about how Amazon actually showcased those impressions in different placements. Therefore, for me I don't negate it because if, let's say, I had Yoga Mat at $1, it came at a $1 average CPC on my other campaigns, then I move that to my manual exact. I will start at least at 120. So I have that hierarchy defined. But then I wouldn't fully remove from my other campaigns, at least at the beginning, because I want to see if the behavior of my new campaign is effectively reflecting the reason I moved the queue in the first place. If I see that after a while that behavior start to happen, then usually yes, I like to negate on my other campaigns I move it to exact. But the reason for that is because some of the, when it comes to optimization that we haven't really got deep as of now. One of the things that can get very confusing, especially when you start targeting multiple listings on your account and so on, is the illusion of essentially data that will define clear KPIs. What do I mean by that? Let's say you're targeting Yoga Mart from another campaign and then you're targeting Yoga Mart from an exact match campaign. The same queue is being targeted from two fronts, but then when you're going to do optimization, in Amazon eyes they are seen as two different search terms because they are under different campaigns. So you're not quantifying the real success of the keyword combined, right. You are seeing them separated and if you start doing that across multiple campaigns, what is going to happen is you might fall into the trap of sometimes thinking a keyword is a loser when actually it's a winner where you combine the efforts of all their impressions is having across all the campaigns. So therefore you want to make sure over time if the campaign is performing better for a specific keyword on a specific placement. That's the one you leverage and then over time you start negating the rest until you have a single point of contact for every single keyword.

Carrie Miller:

I'm starting to build campaigns and bid rules in Adtomic. When looking at ACoS and setting goals, should I look at ACoS data from our past campaigns or is there a set percentage for ACoS for certain products?

Vincenzo:

Yeah, so ACoS, at the end of the day it goes a little bit with the tip I was saying in the beginning. It has to be teletraining your strategy in terms of your journey, launching scale, profitability, because it's different, the echoes you're going to target as a brand when essentially the product is completely new compared to when it's very stable, and I'm going to give an example so you can essentially visualize what I'm going to explain next. So let's assume, when you go start selling on Amazon, you had an ACoS of 80% which, again when you launch on Amazon, being over 50% is normal. 50-100% is usually the bandwidth I try to build when launching. Usually, the thing that is most important throughout this phase is actually not even the ACoS, it's conversion right, because when you're launching on Amazon eyes it's not about making money, it's about the new traffic I'm giving to the new kid in the block. How is this person behaving with this new set of traffic? And therefore, in Amazon eyes, if I get as many conversions as possible, which effectively is sales, that is gonna allow me to get a more and more placement organically, indifferently of the ACoS. That's why the initial ACoS of the initial two months I wouldn't use that as a baseline to do what I'm gonna do next, after my scale and profitability because here the focus is not ACoS is making sure I get position organically. Therefore, long-term, I can dilute my efforts for my PPC perspective so I have lower expenses and at the same time, the cells start coming organically, I'm gonna make my order revenue bigger and therefore my TACoS, which is my true ACoS, is gonna get lower and lower and therefore that's what the profitability kicks in. Now, when it comes to setting the goal, something you have to also be mindful is ACoS is highly related as well to your profitability. Okay, why? Because it's not the same delivery aggressiveness I'm going to do with a product that have 50% margin. That product have 10% margin, right, because that defines by itself like how much extra room you can allow to lose money for a specific period of time and you can budget for it. Therefore, the first question you have to ask yourself like do a P&L see what is the basically margin you can allow yourself in terms of, let's say, you identify that your margin is 20%. Once you identify that your margin is 20%, usually a good rule of thumb is that if my margin is 20%, then I should be my ideal ACoS for breaking even, for example, is 20%, but usually what I do as a rule of thumb towards launch, I double it. So whatever is my breaking point, I do 2 to 3 times. So that means I can afford a 40 to 60 percent ACoS and usually that's gonna be like your bandwidth, you need to play in between right and then you, of course, you start diluting, diluting until you get back to 20% and then eventually, with organic sales, they're going to kick in. That's going to make it lower and it's going to make you profitable, yeah.

Carrie Miller:

Next question what search volume of keywords should I target for launching? Some keywords have huge search volume and are hard to rank on page one immediately.

Vincenzo:

Search volume, something that you have to do and this is also another tip, guys when it comes to creating your PPC campaigns. Something that is key is segmentation at the volume level. I have seen this mistake so many times and this is one of the reasons why sometimes your PPC is not working. You should never put on the same campaign a keyword that has a search volume of 10,000 with a keyword that has a search volume of 10,000 with a keyword that has a search volume of 1,000. Why? Because the ratio in terms of difference is so big that, in Amazon eyes, given that this queue has a much higher search volume and therefore relevancy for this specific product, all the budget is going to go to that specific keyword and therefore, if you don't do campaigns that is, for high search volume, medium search volume or low search, low search volume you're going to find the phenomenon which I'm sure a lot of you are going to find if you go right now on your PPC dashboard that only 3 or 4 keywords are getting all the spend and the rest are getting no impressions and clicks. That's the first thing about search volume. Second thing the way you define what search volume you can attack is also highly dependent on what is the budget that you have allocated toward launch, because the higher the search volume is, the higher is going to be the cost per click because, by nature, there's more competition attached to it. That's why this is a question that should actually be asked even before launching the product, throughout the product development phase. But let's say we come across and say, okay, I have an identified that the search volume average is, I'm gonna make you now, basically a bandwidth of what usually you see between 1,000 and 10,000 and usually I have, let's say, 20 keywords in between. Right, usually that's a very similar behavior you're going to find what I usually try to do is most likely if you also go under the 1,000 mark. You're going to find a lot of keywords that have lower search volume, but usually the list is going to go from 20 keywords to maybe 1,500 keywords, because you're going to find a lot of keywords that have a low search volume. Now what is going to happen is usually by norm, I only focus on the top 15 to 20 that define the ratio of the search for us. Therefore, if between 1000 and 10,000 is where I find the top 20 keywords, that's usually the bound where I would stay, from the best keyword to the 15 or 20, right? Because if you start going below that, you're going to dilute the effort. What is going to happen? Your budget is going to spread two things and sometimes, given that you're not competitive enough on the main keywords, most of the budget is also going to go, by nature, on the less competitive keywords. And, yes, maybe you start getting more sales on the less competitive keywords, but, at the end of the day, that's not what is going to set your business for success in the long term. So I rather forget the ones that I know are not going to create the backbone of my business. Focus on those top 10 to 20 keywords, define that as the ratio of search volume and then, from there, start going down as the momentum itself is getting built up.

Carrie Miller:

All right, this next one is a pretty good one that I've been asked this a few times too. How do I scale a product with PPC? I've got good results with the campaign for the past 30 days. ACoS is under control, click-through rate is good. Should I increase the budget or duplicate the campaign? Thank you.

Vincenzo:

So, let's say, your PPC is already performing and your click-through rate is good, which is one of the main metrics I keep mentioning. Some of the things you have to do next is okay, this is a the keywords I'm pretty much getting most of my sales from in terms of my PPC, and you want to start isolating those keywords as much as possible, because what you're going to identify most likely on those campaigns when you start going deeper and deeper most likely the ones that are driving most of the success is like five keywords, right. Therefore, usually, if you follow the strategy of adding multiple keywords on a campaign, you're gonna find that other keywords are diluting the efforts of going tunnel vision on the keywords that giving you the ROAS that you need. Therefore, I will go on all my campaigns making sure the keywords have the good click-through rate and performance I need are kept in the legacy campaigns, which means the ones already have history, and the keywords that haven't performed I move them into new campaigns and therefore rinse and repeat. Usually, winners stay in the campaigns where they're being winners. The losers I remove and, based on how bad they perform, I might retry them on a new campaign or I might remove them altogether and re-engage on a new keyword research perspective. Yeah.

Carrie Miller:

All right, we actually have a question from Bradley Sutton.

Vincenzo:

Oh, there you go.

Carrie Miller:

I don't have too many search terms showing up on my ASIN product targeting campaigns, but I heard others get a lot of irrelevant search terms. Now instead of only ASINs Is the only way to stop this is to put search terms in negative match or at the campaign level.

Vincenzo:

Yes, yeah, thank you for that question, Bradley. Yeah, at the moment it will be at the campaign level. Yeah, so this for those that might not know when you actually target a specific ASIN, for whatever reason, that actually also shows you for search terms right and therefore you know you appear for a specific search term. The issue with that is that it appears as a search term. It doesn't appear as a keyword. Therefore, if you negate it at the R group level, essentially you're not negating it because this is not even a keyword you're targeting in the first place, you're targeting an ASIN. So one way we have found I mean in between to you, Bradley, because sometimes we still see by passing that it will be at the campaign level you negate at the campaign level so that ASIN the search term that it generates, it doesn't basically get repeated.

Carrie Miller:

Lots of my products have several variations. When I create a PPC campaign, should I only select one variation for the campaign to target, or should I select multiple or all of the variations?

Vincenzo:

Good. So some of the things I usually do is, if you have historical I'm going to give you two scenarios, because usually there's two scenarios you have the scenario where you've been selling for a while and you have historical data. Therefore, that's very simple you just go have a look which variation is the one that has the best conversion and you go for that one. Now the second approach is what most people go across, which is you're going to launch this product with multiple color sizes and all of that, and you know which one to go for. Usually, your best friends for this is having a look at and I'm sure by then, if you're launching the project, you already understand the market having a look at reviews of your competitors, which you can do with Helium 10, and then figure out what is the ratio of the color or the variation that sold the most. So you start having some educated guess. That's one way of doing it. Then the second way of doing it is also a brand analytics. You can have a look at the specific ASIN that's been sold the most on the specific a category. You can also use proper to an explorer to get some insights around a specific a variation that sell the most. So there's different, different sources of data. You can combine and make this guess and if you still Somehow not decisive, because maybe all these sources doesn't really give you a clear answer, then the way I will go for it is initially only I will pull them all within the same campaign to see how this performs, because by nature, Amazon is gonna most likely start selecting one over other based on KPI. So who click the mouse and who convert the mouse? And then that's gonna be my winner and my baseline for my rest of the campaigns are gonna create. Forward, now, forward. Now another thing, guys when you start creating campaigns and you define a clear variation, let's say you define the clear winner is color, red, red, yoga mats right, that's going to be the one you're going to use on all your generic keywords. Still, if you have blue, white, black all these are colors you still want to create the same resembles of these keywords, but with the variation embedded in it, right? So, for example, let's say, as I gave you the example, red, blue, black yoga mats. Then you want to have, for example, a campaign for red, red yoga mat, red, exercise mat, red, and you name it and you do that with every single color and then you can also mix the order. And all of that because that's what it's going to allow you to do is, while the main variation takes the pull of the sales from the generic keywords, you still want to have a very strong presence on the long tail and more niche keywords that people are going to try to look for, that specific variation, even if it's lower than that. So you have a full spectrum control of the main market, the main market, the mainstream market, and they have control of the more niche market at the keyword specific level.

Carrie Miller:

Thank you so much, Vincenzo, for joining us on this TACoS Tuesday. It's always great to have you. You have so much knowledge, so much to share. Every time I've seen you speak or just share everyone, there's always some great info that people can take and, do you know, basically put things right to work with their PPC. So thank you for doing that. Thank you for doing that, thank you for sharing, answering all these questions, and hopefully we'll see you again soon. Where can anyone find you? If they want to find you and reach you and maybe ask you questions or connect with your agency.

Vincenzo:

Sure, so you can find me as Vincenzo just counting all the social media channels Like. Luckily, I'm the only one in the industry called Vincenzo, so it's going to be very easy to find me. When it comes to the agency, you can find Ecomcy, also in all the channels, or go to our website, ecomcy.com, where you're more than welcome to book a free consultation with our team and hopefully we can answer some questions and explore future partnerships.

Carrie Miller:

Awesome. Well, thanks again so much and thank you everyone for joining and asking questions and hopefully this was very helpful for you all in the audience and we'll see you again next time. Thank you, guys.

#588 - E-commerce Compliance & Amazon EU Expansion

Ever wondered how to navigate the complex world of tax and compliance as an Amazon seller? Join us as we chat with Bojan Gajic, the former CEO of Helium 10 and now CEO of Avask, who brings a wealth of knowledge and fresh perspectives on scaling your Amazon, Walmart, and e-commerce business. Bojan shares his experience from recent Avask x Helium 10 workshops in Europe, offering valuable insights into the benefits of advanced content and the irreplaceable value of in-person networking.

Balancing work, family, and personal interests while striving for business growth can be a tough juggle. We'll explore the current landscape for Amazon sellers, highlighting the increasing challenges in the saturated U.S. market and the promising opportunities in Europe. Learn practical strategies for maintaining healthy margins and adapting to market shifts, ensuring your business not only survives but thrives.

Expanding into the European market can be a daunting task, fraught with regulatory hurdles and compliance issues. We dive into the intricacies of choosing the right country for importing goods and the critical role of sophisticated compliance providers like Avask. Plus, we discuss the transition of Avalara’s tax support in Europe and offer guidance on selecting new service providers. Tune in for a rich discussion that also touches on the joys and heartbreaks of Serbian basketball and offers tips for your next trip to the UK.

In episode 588 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Bradley and Bojan discuss:

• 00:00 - Amazon Sellers, Avask CEO Discussion
• 03:32 - Upcoming Avask x Helium 10 Workshop Announcement 
• 07:53 - E-Commerce Seller Profitability Trends in Amazon
• 11:02 - Amazon's Marketplace Expansion Strategy in Europe
• 17:24 - Optimizing European Logistics for Amazon Sellers
• 25:27 - Global E-Commerce Compliance and Expansion
• 29:13 - Transitioning E-Commerce Tax Compliance Providers
• 30:40 - Transitioning to Avask for Tax Solutions
• 32:46 - Discussion on Serbian and UK Culture

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Transcript

Bradley Sutton:

Today we've got on the show the former CEO of Helium 10, who's now the CEO of Avask, the leading company in the world for tax and compliance for Amazon sellers. We're going to talk on a wide variety of topics, including new Amazon incentives for some marketplaces, how sellers can help their profitability, and even Serbian basketball. How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. Want to enter in an Amazon keyword and then within seconds get up to thousands of potentially related keywords that you could research? Then you need Magnet by Helium 10. For more information, go to h10.me/magnet. Magnet works in most Amazon marketplaces, including USA, Mexico, Australia, Germany, UK, India and much more. Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the Serious Sellers Podcast by Helium 10. I am your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is the show. That's a completely bs free, unscripted and unrehearsed organic conversation about serious strategies for serious sellers of any level in the e-commerce world. So we have got somebody who is no stranger to the show. He's been on the podcast multiple times, former CTO and CEO of Helium 10, now current CEO of Avask, Bojan. Welcome back.

 

Bojan:

Thank you, Bradley. It's good to be back. It's always great to have a conversation with you and on Serious Seller Podcast, even better.

 

Bradley Sutton:

And especially, you now have this Walter White Heisenberg era. Look to you, you got the goatee and shaved heads. A little bit different look than when you had here at Helium 10. I like it. I like it. You got that Avask gear. I've got some of Avask gear. I got this Real Madrid jersey. For those who are watching this on YouTube a Real Madrid, Avask jersey that I got at our workshop. So let's just talk about that real quick. You know we've been doing these workshops over there together a Avask and Helium 10 in Europe. For the first time we did one in in Germany near the Avask office, and then we did another one in Spain and so, like what's been the feedback as far as these events that we’ve been doing?

 

Bojan:

There's excitement internally and externally. You were there, obviously, and I met people who woke up at 3am and then drove for four hours to meet you. So the level of excitement that you generate around the world is astonishing. I was familiar with that, but always impressed to see the level of excitement, the commitment that people have and are ready to make to exchange experiences with you. So that was great. Feedback was positive all across the board. So sellers that attended, they're saying that this kind of experience, this kind of focused content that is not beginner content but sort of content that allows you to move your business beyond proof of concept, beyond the early stages of something that is missing or was missing. There are opportunities to learn things wherever you are obviously interns, being global, et cetera but interacting in person, interacting, networking with other sellers that are in similar kind of stage that's a value that's really hard to reproduce and Europe sort. So fragmentation in Europe led to a lack of organized events like that. The two events that we ran together were very well received. There's a lot of demand for the next one, so I know we have something planned out. Maybe we don't want to share at the moment, but there will be another one coming soon. So, before the end of the year, be ready to join us again in the United Nations. So we have some activity for you.

 

Bradley Sutton:

So if you're in Europe, I mean, actually you don't have to be in Europe. There was somebody who went to the Germany one who flew from South Africa. I don't know if you met that gentleman, but he flew from South Africa to go to the event. But obviously, if you're in Europe you're like a 40 euro Ryanair flight away from wherever we're going to have our next workshops. Make sure to join. Now, real quick. I'm wearing this soccer jersey. I'm wearing my MLS actually LA Galaxy hat here. So you know, Bojan is a sports fan too. That was a close game between Serbia and the United States in basketball. I thought Serbia was going to take it. There's a lot of maybe disappointed people from your home country.

 

Bojan:

Just for you, sir, I'm wearing a jersey as well.

 

0:04:08 - Bradley Sutton:

You got the Helium 10. I love it. He just did a Superman, you know, like opening up his shirt right there. I love it.

 

Bojan:

So Split Allegiance is an investor. Oh here, I got a Helium 10 in the last cup.

 

Bradley Sutton:

I love it. I love it.

 

Bojan:

So, it's the game. Yesterday Serbia, US. It was a heartbreak, because I'm deep down rooting for Serbia, obviously, and I have no expectations whatsoever. I hope to not be blown out after losing two games within two weeks by 26. So I was like okay, hopefully it's not embarrassment. And then first quarter, second quarter, third quarter, I'm like yeah. I know things will turn around, but when the results were 75-63, I actually allowed myself to start hoping that things might end up the way I would like them to end up. And then you have KD and Booker score two threes within like three seconds and it goes from 11 to five and the game kind of falls apart. It's like man. But that's sort of the beauty of being a fan of small nation or underdog team you lose a lot of times and you sort of learn to find happiness in small successes and then from time to time there'll be a big win and you really enjoy that. 

 

Bradley Sutton:

Makes it that much sweeter. That's why I'm a Clippers fan. I'm still waiting for that big moment, but switching gears, kind of on a personal note, like this too, but I think it's something that's important for entrepreneurs out there. I get this question a lot. I'm not sure if you get it a lot, but you're going to get it today. But people ask me sometimes. They say, hey Bradley you’ve got your family, you know I don’t have small kids anymore but they’re still in Home.  And how do you manage it when you’re travelling so much for business and now you are working in a company based in UK, and I know you're going around and you've got offices all over the world too and you're probably traveling, I would assume, more than you did when you were at Helium 10. What is it, you know? And there's entrepreneurs out there like, hey, I need to, I need to spend a month in my factory in China, or I need to go to these conferences and stuff. How do entrepreneurs? What advice can you give them about juggling family life with travel? How do you make it work?

 

Bojan:

I tried everything I could think of. I tried commingling these two and bringing my family along. Even this summer, I spent three months in Europe visiting different offices and trying to combine that with family time and what I learned over years is that it doesn't really work out. If you're trying to split your attention between work and family and God forbid, you have sort of personal hobbies, you're most likely going to end up frustrating everyone. I would be frustrated by not being present for the family, where I want to be present for the family, and also not being on top of my game professionally. What I would recommend is accepting that there is a difference between your personal time and your professional time and being present for the topic that requires attention at the moment. So, when your family, when you're doing something for you personally, then try to create a big enough box where you can focus and enjoy that time and be there for your family and do that for yourself. When you focus on work, try to focus on work, and it's not trivial. I would assume that through failure rates from marriages that entrepreneurs will have probably second to military families. It's not trivial for sure, but my recommendation would be accept that there are sacrifices that need to be made on both sides and start from there, like make sure that you're maximizing the value of time that you do have and you can spend it without.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Let's talk about some strategies and things that are going on in the e-commerce world. You've got now a new kind of maybe perspective on things Obviously working here at Helium 10, you could see a lot, but now you're a little bit more on the accounting and regulations and things like that side. I think the top of thing on Amazon sellers in the USA right now in mind is like profitability, especially this year. I mean, obviously everybody should be worried about profitability. But when I say that it's like hey, no, they're worried about it's going down because of all these new fees, like what are you seeing? You know, obviously you have customers in Europe. You've got customers in US. Are there any trends? Like, do you see profitability going down amongst American sellers or more worry on that side? Is it the same worries that Europeans sellers are facing? What's the kind of like state of affairs as far as profitability goes amongst Amazon sellers that you have dealings with?

 

Bojan:

So you've been in industry longer than I have. So I don't remember since what? 2016. Since I started operating this space, I don't remember a year where dominant sentiment was, oh, this year is better than the last year. It's always like, hey, it's harder than it was last year and it's fair to assume that next year will be more difficult than this year. So, it depends on who you ask, depends on where you look. So, there are challenges, there are always new challenges, but what I'm seeing in the US is maturing of the market. So, 5 years ago, 10 years ago, amazon was still in sort of explosive growth mode in the US. So Amazon was drawing in terms of GMB some more money being moved to the platform. Amazon was drawing in terms of customer count. Today, when you look at number of clients drivers 180 million in the US they're not making that many more people in the US, so that's already a fairly saturated market. Going back to history, Amazon US you had a handful of categories. 15, 20 years ago, Jeff Bezos was floating about the ability to expand beyond books and being successful in the electronics category. So as Amazon grew over the last 10, 15 years in the US, growth of Amazon drove growth of individual sellers. So, you essentially had to find a niche, find an opportunity and sort of continue to grow with Amazon. What you're seeing now is a slowdown in that kind of growth that you experienced over the last 10, 15 years, and every industry has similar kind of trajectory Google, Google advertising, similar kind of stuff happened there. It's natural that the margins will be compressed. For most, there might be sellers that are finding ways to keep their margins protected based on the IP or unique positionings that they have or just brand investment they're making. But the US is challenging and I don't expect that to change much. Amazon is still drawing in the US and when you look at the share of third-party sales, that's drawing in the US. So someone is making money. It's possible that the growth of seller base, for maybe the first time ever, is outstripping the growth of the market as it is in the US. Amazon, on the other hand, essentially fully saturated the market, so they don't have strong incentives to invest in expanding seller base as they bring on new categories. If they are expanding more into food or fast fashion, or they're expanding into drugs, like. Yes, there will be incentives, but those incentives will be more localized now than ever before you have a maturing of their advertising platform. So, when the new product, the new advertising product comes online, when they, when they start pushing ads through TikTok, there will be an opportunity window of opportunity. But first, world advantage is valid for only so long. So, us, I see, I can feel the squeeze. Your customers, my customers, sellers it's real, it's your margin compression is real and people are trying to figure out how to keep that margin positive. There will be winners, there'll be losers. Winners will be survivors. So, as the picture clears out as successful mid-sized, larger brands or survive the squeeze, there'll be less competition for them. What I'm seeing in Europe is still the sort of 2015, 2016, 2017 Amazon. So Amazon is drawing and bulk of the growth Amazon's corporation is actually happening in Europe and it's drawing in large, established countries. So Amazon still has material growth in countries like Germany, France, UK, where they've been present for more than a decade. But they're also bringing on new wealthy markets to Amazon. Not sure if you heard about that, but Sweden became part of their Pan-EU program now so you can store goods in Sweden, which makes it more affordable. Less expensive to distribute to Nordic countries Norway, Finland, Denmark but Amazon is actually actively investing in bringing sellers to that market. They need selection. So what used to be mantra in the US, that's now happening in Europe, and while in the US fees are going up and new fees are being levied, in Sweden, for example, Amazon is covering the cost of compliance, but there is cost. There's fixed costs for compliance. Amazon is covering cost of compliance for a certain amount of time and they're lowering FBA fees by 50% per year. So it's a sort of limited time promotion. It's not open to everyone, but that's the kind of investment that Amazon is making in Europe. They used to make the same kind of investment or similar kind of investment in the US, but that's no longer the case. As you think about expansion, as you think about growing your business, there are essentially four ways to grow your business. One is product innovation. So whatever your product portfolio looks like today, you have to continue to innovate. So that's a must do. If you stop innovating, if you start bringing new products to market, your growth will turn negative. It applies to Nike, it applies to someone who just started in business. You can grow by spending more money on acquiring customers, which is essentially Amazon advertising in our sense. But marginal value is being squeezed there as well, so that especially in the US, that's pretty saturated. So you can product innovation must do regardless of where you are find more eyeballs through spending on advertising getting more and more expensive, so marginal return diminishing. You can go into new channels, you can expand into new channels in your existing market. So if you're in the US you will go B2C or you'll go Walmart or you'll go to Chewy Home Depot, whatever the category is there. You're sort of betting that Amazon will shrink. So it's more like insurance. If Walmart manages to take some of Amazon's market shares, Amazon will be shrinking, Walmart will be expanding, so you will expand. So you're placing that bet that someone will win and take over Amazon's market share. So, when you go through those three, option number four is geo-expansion. So, it is non-trivial, so you have to be ready to make an investment. There's fixed costs associated with geographic expansion, but tools allow you to automate and offset some of those costs or minimize the cost. Allow you to automate and offset some of those costs or minimize the cost localizing listings. I'm not sure if Helium 10 has the tool, but I believe that there are capabilities that would allow you to programmatically localize your listing to German and Dutch and whatnot, with high degree of quality. It's like by that total you get 80% of value for 20% of effort. So once you satisfy all those essential needs, it becomes really good growth opportunity. But if you want to grow, if you want to take advantage of this marginal opportunity and sort of be agile because that's what small businesses have like ability to adjust in the moment, as opposed to large businesses that have long-term plans like lack of flexibility so leverage your agility to take advantage of new opportunities and geo expansion into a market that has sort of similar purchasing profile as one in US.

 

Bradley Sutton:

There's no great interest, okay well, there's a lot of the stuff you mentioned there that maybe you know can be considered a little bit of the sexy side of things like expanding to new marketplaces and localizing your listings and optimizing this and that. But then out of Avask there's a lot of non-sexy stuff too, because most people don't think accounting and taxes and all that stuff, taxes and all that stuff. I'm just curious, like, is there any like, when you onboard a new client or something, are you anecdotally seeing something where it's like oh, my goodness, you know you've been, you've been reporting this. This way you're wasting a lot of money or what you're not? You know, putting this and making it a business expense. You know, like, or hey, you're double paying this tax. You don't need to pay this, like. Are there things like that that you see that maybe you can tell sellers about that that maybe haven't gone to you yet and there may be losing money because of it.

 

Bojan:

So, I do my own personal taxes still, because I'm too lazy to keep track of all the expenses in a way that allow an accountant to do taxes for me. So, I'm sort of scrambling at the end of the year, at the end of the period, to do taxes, and I know that I leave a lot of money on the table by doing that. Same thing happens in this industry. So there are two ways where you can lose. There are obvious two ways where you can lose money. One is you're just making poor business decisions and moving goods in Europe while it's automated. So, especially if you're selling through Amazon, Amazon will take care of logistics for you the same way it does in the US, so you don't have to think about finding people that will pick it back. So Amazon takes care of all of that. But how do you bring goods into Europe can have a dramatic impact on your cash flow. You could import goods into Amazon's network through France, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Italy, and it's like on the surface everything feels the same. But then there are various tax schemes that will impact not necessarily how much you pay, but it will impact when you pay. So it's a thing having to prepay your taxes based on estimated earnings for a year, versus holding off until you actually sell goods and then you pay taxes based on sales as opposed to based on income. So I would say, don't go through Germany, like get to Germany by going through France or Netherlands. That's the recipe for success. Don't go through Italy and Spain unless you're incorporated in Italy and Spain, because local governments can be not very forthcoming if there's money that they owe you, if there's money that you owe them, they will be very agile, but if they owe you some money, it's like Mañana, come back next year. So that's one way to lose money or overspend money on compliance is by just making poor, uninformed business decisions. Another one is not having a sophisticated enough provider, and that's another thing that you're seeing a lot, because for a lot of businesses, compliance is part of, as you said, not very sexy, not very exciting things, and it's usually handled by professionals that are competent in their lane. Think accountant that handles your corporate taxes and whatnot but they don't necessarily have the experience with international fixations and rules. We very often have things or have instances where, not due to lack of desire but more like lack of skill, our clients have been overpaying or not reclaiming what they were supposed to reclaim.

 

Bradley Sutton:

It's funny because I've had Melanie from Avask and others on before and I have a general understanding of what you do. But then somebody just this week was asking me like hey, I'm trying to, you know, I want to expand to Europe and I'm not sure about the regulations. And I was like, oh yeah, you know, maybe hit up Avask. But then I'm like I'm not. You know, I know they can handle VAT things and help you with some compliance. But as far as like setting up corporations, you know, it was kind of like I worked so much with you guys. I'm like it was kind of embarrassing moment for me. But then so I have you on here now, two days later. What is it exactly? Like who should be thinking about, you know, using Avask? I mean, it's a no brainer to me Like, hey, somebody who's confused about VAT and somebody who needs an accountant service, you know, of course I know that, but like, I'm an Amazon seller in ex -country, at what point? Or like, who is Avask right for in other words?

 

Bojan:

Businesses expanding into Europe, businesses that are trading across Europe, there's marketing side of needs sort of like what Helium 10 supports and not Helium 10 addresses. So, what is sizing the opportunity? And then creating all the collateral that's needed to address the situation. What's the size of this niche in Spain? Should I get into this or not? And if I decide to do it, what does it mean to get into this niche in Spain? Creating listing, thinking about advertising so that's where Helium 10 fits in. Now, how that really happens, how do you make it past the regulatory hurdles that every government will put in front of you? That's where Avast comes in. So, yes, we can help with incorporation and we can help give you an advice. Does it make sense for you to incorporate or not? So there's this advisory component that you're happy to provide. The core focus for the business is around regulatory compliance and you don't want to hear everything that happens there. There's tax compliance and then there's echo compliance. So now, if you sell goods like you live in California, when California, when you buy a bottle of water, you pay a recycling fee, in Europe, that is seller's responsibility. So if you're selling goods in Europe, you as a seller, you're responsible for end-of-life care for that product. So let's say you're selling a battery operated shaver in Germany, you have to think about packaging. So eventually that packaging will have to be disposed of. You have to think about electronic components. Electronic components have to be disposed of. And you have to think about batteries. If you include batteries in your product, then I recommend you do, because that has to be disposed of, and in Germany there are three different bodies that regulate this. So taking care of batteries is separate from taking care of electronic components, is separate from taking care of packaging. Some countries have even more category. When you go to France it's like there's a lot like textile and plastics and this and that. So that has nothing to do with corporate taxes and sales tax. That is essentially sales tax and wrapped in the final cost of product. But you still need to do it, otherwise you will not be able to sell. So what Avask does is take care of that compliance requirement without you having to do more than register. There is like going to the doctor for inoculation, so if you get a jab, there's a little bit of pain and then you're done. So it's a similar thing here we will help you, walk you, guide you through registration process. Once you're done with that process, we take care of that. Environmental customs so just movement of goods. If you make a mistake, if you misdeclare, if you import into wrong port, customs duties could be pretty expensive. Customs fees could be expensive. If you have goods that have limited shelf life, obviously it could go bad and it could be in trouble. So these are three main buckets tax compliance, environmental compliance and then cross-border movement to goods compliance. Not sexy and I don't recommend like it's non-differentiated knowledge. If I'm a seller, I don't benefit from understanding all of it like I learned about it because it's needed in order to support businesses, but as a seller I would not waste my time dealing with it like as a seller, I'm looking at new opportunities, I'm trying to understand the needs of the market, I'm trying to understand sourcing. But so all of this can make me more successful in my business. If I can find goods at 10% lower cost in wherever I'm sourcing, that's great. That's a better margin. If I can improve conversion rate by optimizing my listing, that's a great margin. If I spend hours doing some administrative work and then hopefully I don't get in trouble by forgetting to check the box, like best case scenario, I am where I was. Worst case scenario I'm in a deep hole because I made a mistake. So that's the. It's a long answer, but compliance, so operational compliance in European countries. We have sales tax team in the US as well. For businesses who need reporting criteria in the US. Let's say you're selling D2C or you're selling large enough volume, you also have to report sales tax in the US. We have that capability as well. The bulk of the focus at the moment is in Europe.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Speaking of some North American and European things, there's an announcement we gave on the Weekly Buzz where now there's some new digital service fees that you're going to have to pay if you're like a Spain based seller selling in the US or vice versa. So make sure you guys know about some of those, just in general. You know, you have a lot of sellers you work with. You mentioned Amazon Sweden before, but what other Amazon marketplaces are you seeing people expand to most lately? You know, maybe some of the more off the wall ones you know I'm not talking about. Oh yeah, obviously there's always going to be a lot of people expanding to Amazon Germany or France, but you know, like in my circles I've heard a lot more than before from Amazon Saudi Arabia for one, and then you know people are. I heard Amazon Australia is finally growing a little bit. It was so slow for a while and more people thinking about Japan, but there's plenty of other newer marketplaces. Do you have anything that sticks out, or pretty much all businesses as normal the last year or so?

 

Bojan:

Nothing major if you have any global evidence for various marketplaces like Dutch and Belgium. Apparently there's. There's something happening there where, in certain categories, sellers are finding success, but our core focus is Europe. We are seeing you're seeing anecdotal evidence, but that might not be particularly relevant for your audience. Those might be sort of huge reds that have name recognition that they're leveraging and extracting value as opposed to trying to build new presence. I think Kim Kardashian trying to monetize her name in Australia much easier than if you need to establish your brand. So, nothing, no nuggets sitting there beyond Sweden and that sort. Our Nordic region, where investments are, you have off Amazon. You have this belt in Central Europe like Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, but that also requires expansion beyond Amazon. There are others. You have Allegra that dominates that market, that sliver, which is a sizable market $15 to $20 billion but I would not recommend exploring that until you've mastered European markets in general and if you're an Amazon seller, that's where you would go. You can start with Amazon and ride the growth of Amazon. Huge positive things. Developments happening in terms Amazon and ride the growth of Amazon. Huge positive things. Developing is happening in terms of market growth in Europe for Amazon. I would just piggyback on that.

 

Bradley Sutton:

So you know you and I were talking, you know before something I hadn't heard of, because I don't sell in Europe, I don't deal with too many European sellers here in the States, but I believe that there was like one, a pretty large company that was helping hundreds, if not thousands, of sellers in Europe with some of their taxes and compliance, is trying to step away from the Amazon game. So can you elaborate on that and what those sellers need to know?

 

Bojan:

It's a huge company. It's one of those companies that are not well known to consumers or smaller businesses, but large businesses who recognize the name. Avalara is a company that provides sales tax calculation software in the US. Pretty much any company calculating sales tax in the US will use Avalara in some form on the back end. So you don't see it. But when they say hey, in this zip code it's 775, and that one over there is 7875, that most likely comes from Avalara. It used to be a private company but public, got bought by Pista Capital but potentially they can private again. So possibly due to optimization of their balance sheet, they left or they're leaving, and it's not a secret. They made it public. Both Avalara and Amazon communicated that to a larger audience. Avalara is leaving the market at the end of Q3 and they will stop providing bad support for sellers in Europe at the end of that quarter. So through the end of Q3, you're fine. After that if you're selling in Europe, you will need a different service provider. You can try to do this yourself. I'm not saying it's impossible, just not recommended. And there are a few other providers in the space. Avalara is sort of a big name because they're the first Amazon partner in this space. So, if you started selling in Europe when they were initially pushing Pan-EU and European expansion in 2016, 17, 18, you're most likely using Avalara for that, even if you were not aware of that. If you're interacting with Amazon, but on the back end, Avalara is actually providing services they're getting out. You didn't hear about it. On the other hand, in my world, that seems to be the only thing people talk about. So it's probably somewhere in the middle, like somewhere it's noise, somewhere it's signal. It can be very stressful for businesses, but obviously Avask is one company that provides alternative to that and the transition is pretty seamless. Starting with this can be painful. Getting registrations in place, et cetera, et cetera, used to be pretty challenging and painful. Now it's much easier because we have providers like Avask and also process of transitioning from one provider to another is not as painful as starting from scratch. So if you're a seller selling in Europe, then you have to pay taxes, obviously, and you might be impacted by this, but I don't want that level of stress to be particularly high, especially considering that you're getting into sort of prime day or whatever it's like prime selling. So prime of stress to be particularly high, especially considering that you're getting into Prime Day or whatever it's like Prime Selling. So Prime Day, number two, and then follow this Tax Staff will be taken care of. You just need to make a selection. You need to go to Amazon and select who will be handling your account. So could be me, absolutely, but we are not the only provider there.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Anyways, good segue into what I do at the end of episodes. Anyways, if anybody wants to, you know, get more information from Avask or reach out. You know one way they can do is just go to hub.helium10.com. You type in Avask and you'll be able to contact them right from within the Helium 10 portal. Here, you know, you can go to, to avaskgroup.com. How can people find you? Are you active on LinkedIn or how can they reach you out there?

 

Bojan:

LinkedIn is the best way to get a hold of me. I don't have a Facebook account. I actually spent a few minutes earlier today looking at my Facebook account, specifically some conversation on Helium 10 Elite. Someone remembered that you co-hosted AMA with Matt Benton yeah, I did a little trivia.

 

Bradley Sutton:

I did a little trivia there. Those are the old days and and that correct answer was Matt Benton, of who I used to co-host AMA’s was like six years ago and only one person got it right and that person won a free ticket to Amazon Accelerate.  

 

Bojan:

$600 worth of value there so that that trivia paid off. But yeah, yeah, Avask.com or Helium 10, affordable, but Avask.com easier to remember and for me personally find that LinkedIn always happy to connect.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Do you have any last 30 second strategy or 60 second strategy? For us, it could be about the best Serbian food or best places to eat in the UK, since you've spent a lot of time there Accounting. It could be about Amazon software. You've got a lot of expertise, so go ahead and knock it out, whatever you want to talk about.

 

Bojan:

UK is wonderful June through early September, so if you're going to visit, it's a great country, great place, great area to visit during summer. If you spend more time there September through May, you will understand why they built all those ships and conquered the world. And I thought that was original when I said this, but then I was told that's a meme. So I'm not sure how valuable this is Beautiful country, great people but whether June through August. That's Okay.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Yeah, all right, good to know because I've been putting off my trip over there. I haven't been back since before COVID, so now I know when I can go. Well, Bojan, it's been great to have you back on the shows, great to see you in person at these recent events and everybody else out there, like we said, look forward to, perhaps in another announcement of another event, that that we're going to do. Uh, maybe October, maybe November, not sure when, but be looking out for that announcement and you can hang out with us and we can talk, uh, Serbian sports. Um, don't talk about Serbian soccer. That was a very not great performance this year, that it's a sore point for boy on there. But we'll talk about Serbian basketball, because that's always a positive one to talk about.

Helium 10 Buzz 8/15/24: Prime Exclusive Discounts Now Cost $50 | Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Coming

We’re back with another episode of the Weekly Buzz with Helium 10’s Chief Brand Evangelist, Bradley Sutton. Every week, we cover the latest breaking news in the Amazon, Walmart, and E-commerce space, talk about Helium 10’s newest features, and provide a training tip for the week for serious sellers of any level.

Let’s take a closer look at the anticipated Prime Big Deal Days and speculate on the potential dates for this high-stakes event. And just when you thought Walmart was keeping quiet, they've rolled out Walmart Cross Border, a service designed to challenge Amazon Global Logistics with efficient port-to-door shipping for goods manufactured in China. Tune in to understand how these changes might alter your business strategies in the upcoming shopping seasons.

Walmart opens ocean shipping network to marketplace sellers
https://www.retaildive.com/news/walmart-china-cross-border-shipping-service-marketplace-sellers/724202/

But that's not all—AI is revolutionizing the way we shop and sell online. From helping consumers find the best deals to potentially reducing the advertising burden for sellers, AI-powered search tools are transforming the e-commerce landscape. Whether you see AI as a friend or foe in your selling journey, it's crucial to stay informed. I've got all the insights you need, along with a must-read article linked in the description for a deeper dive.

Recent Google Ruling May Open Door to More AI-Powered eCommerce
https://www.pymnts.com/news/ecommerce/2024/recent-google-ruling-may-open-door-to-more-ai-powered-ecommerce/

Don't miss out on this week's buzzing news roundup that's packed with actionable advice and expert insights.

In this episode of the Weekly Buzz by Helium 10, Bradley covers:

• 00:54 - Prime Exclusive Discounts FREE
• 02:56 - Prime Big Deal Days
• 04:38 - Walmart Cross Border
• 05:48 - Amazon Inbound Fees
• 08:55 - FBA Returnless Resolutions
• 11:45 - AI E-commerce

#587 - How to Scale 6, 7, & 8 Figure Amazon Brands

What if you could replace your corporate salary with millions in e-commerce sales? This inspiring episode brings together Robert Gomez, a former senior finance manager at Microsoft turned successful e-commerce entrepreneur, and Kseniia Reidel, an aspiring Amazon e-commerce star. Robert reveals his transformative journey from the corporate world to achieving over $10 million in sales on Amazon and Walmart brand called Kaffe. Kseniia, on the verge of hitting her first seven-figure mark using Project X methods, shares her innovative strategies and experiences in scaling up an Amazon business.

From facing the challenge of declining sales due to over-dependence on a single product to launching new product lines in Walmart, Robert and Kseniia provide invaluable insights into the world of e-commerce adaptability. They discuss the critical importance of diversifying product offerings and successfully managing logistics during peak seasons. The conversation underscores the significance of strategic retail placement and the rewards of being flexible in the ever-evolving online and retail marketplaces.

We also delve into the game-changing benefits of hiring Virtual Assistants (VAs) for essential tasks like product research. Learn how effective VA onboarding can propel business growth and the impact of diversifying sales channels beyond Amazon, including Walmart, Faire.com, and even TikTok Shop. With strategies for maximizing profit margins and leveraging social media for brand growth, this episode is packed with actionable insights for anyone looking to thrive in the competitive Amazon, Walmart, and e-commerce landscape.

In episode 587 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Bradley, Kseniia, and Robert discuss:

• 01:08 - Amazon Seller Stories - Catching Up with Kseniia Reidel & Robert Gomez
• 10:17 - Dependence on Declining Kitchen Appliance Sales
• 10:24 - Navigating Brand Pivots and Retail Success
• 20:32 - Walmart Retail Expansion Success Story
• 22:52 - Product Expansion and Virtual Assistant Hiring Success
• 26:17 - High Margin Product Strategy Growth
• 29:01 - Product Launch Strategy at Walmart
• 36:55 - Amazon Seller VA Time Management
• 40:01 - Exploring TikTok Shop for their E-commerce Business
• 41:12 - Retail Expansion and Product Development
• 44:04 - Brand Expansion Strategy Discussion

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Transcript

Bradley Sutton:

Today we've got two guests back on the show who've never met each other, but they've both been on here before Robert, who's generated over $10 million of sales with his brand on Amazon and Walmart, and Kseniia, who used Project X strategies to launch her first product, and now this year she's about to hit seven figures for the first time. How cool, is that? Pretty cool I think. Not sure on what main image you should choose from. Or maybe you don't know whether buyers would be interested in your product at a certain price point. Perhaps you want feedback on your new brand or company logo? Get instant and detailed market feedback from actual Amazon Prime members by using Helium 10 Audience. Just enter in your poll or questions and, within a short period of time, 50 to 100 or even more Amazon buyers will give you detailed feedback on what resonates with them the most. For more information, go to h10.me/audience.

 

Bradley Sutton:

forward slash audience. Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the Serious Sellers Podcast by Helium 10. I'm your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is the show that's completely BS-free, unscripted and unrehearsed organic conversation about serious strategies for serious sellers of any level in the e-commerce world. And we've got a couple of serious sellers back on the show Robert for the second time, Kseniia for the third and a half time. We had her on a little Prime Day special here. But welcome back to the show, guys, your first time meeting each other was today. Right, you had no idea who each other was.

 

Robert:

No idea.

 

Bradley Sutton:

I love doing that. I love bringing different sellers who maybe under other circumstances, might never have known each other. So it's really good to see that people from all walks of life have success on Amazon. Now, if you want to get the backstory of Robert, his first episode was on 448. So we're not going to go too much into his backstory here. Maybe we'll touch a little bit on it, but 448 is a good one to see his episode. And then Kseniia has been on. I think her first was episode 320. And then she was back on episode 441. So we're really close to Robert's episode there, talking about how she 10X her sales from that first episode today. I'm not sure what we're gonna completely know about. We're gonna catch up, completely know about. We're gonna catch up with them might be up, might be down, but hey, we keep it real here. We're not here to make it seem like, uh, everybody who comes on is gonna 10x their, their, their sales. That's not why we brought her on the last time. But uh, let's see, let's see what happens. So, first of all, Robert, you know, like, like I, you know, the one thing that maybe people who listen to your episode, uh, that stood out was how you were still working at I don't remember it was like Microsoft or something like that for years and years, even though you were already a successful Amazon seller and that you had just around. That time finally was like, all right, I'm going to quit the day job. So you know, you have a couple of years maybe under your belt not working for the man, as it were. So how has that been?

 

Robert:

How's that transition been from so long being like the corporate world and stuff and now being your own boss, kind of I think last time I was on was around that time that I had just quit or was about to quit or something. But yeah, I was at Microsoft for a few years. My background is in corporate finance and I started Amazon, kind of like a side venture, back in 2017, 2019. I launched the current brand that I have, but I sort of held on as long as I could, had a whole team and everything, before I finally quit. And around that time was when we were going into physical retail and we had got our first sort of big contract. So you know, it was kind of just time. The amount of time it was taking, the amount of efforts it took to execute that program just had to do it.

 

Robert:

And it's now been a little under two years and it's amazing, I mean just the fact. I mean I love I was there for a reason, you know, and corporate served this purpose. You know, I think I'm always able to say that I used to work for Microsoft and that's kind of level setting very easy to tell somebody. But at the same time, obviously it just wasn't for me. From the day I joined Microsoft, I already knew that I wanted to quit. I already had the Amazon business and everything. It was just, you know, really just the golden handcuffs, as they call them. But yeah, haven't thought about going back any single time in this past year plus. So, yeah, thankfully, you know, any day that I get to do this has really been a blessing. It really doesn't feel like work.

 

Bradley Sutton:

What would you say were the effects of it as far as on your Amazon business? Like having more time to focus? Like, did it stress you out more? Was it the opposite? Were you able to take care of things that might have slipped into their cracks? Were you able to scale faster? You think? What were the differences on that part of things?

 

Robert:

It's hard to quantify it in that sense. But basically you know the role I had at Microsoft. I was a senior finance manager. My team was in the west coast at the headquarters, but I I'm based in the east coast, so it wasn't the amount of necessarily time it was taking. Quite frankly, you know, I had a pretty sweet sort of setup where I didn't take a lot of time right, and that's what made it even harder, because the more you get paid and the less you kind of work.

 

Of course that just sounds like a dream, right, if I just, you know, mentioned it to friends or just talk to people about it, like what are you doing? What are you thinking of putting it for? But it was just the mental sort of real estate, the real estate it took in my mind, even if I only had one meeting that day or two meetings that day. It was just kind of thinking of like oh, I have that meeting coming up, or just like I have to do this, or the feeling of like not giving something.

 

Robert:

My all you know I'm kind of like all or nothing type of guy and so like just having to, like almost feel fake in the way that I showed up to work and it's. They still thought I was doing a good job. You know we had reviews and I was kind of doing OK and good on them, but internally I just felt terrible, you know, and then I just felt like if I could focus all the time, you know, on Cafe, it would unlock a lot of other things and it has, you know, like it has allowed me to get the team into more of a rhythm in the way that we run meetings and run cadences for certain product development, for sales, et cetera, whereas before it could have been interrupted at any given moment, right, because basically I had a job so I could always take that backseat.

 

Bradley Sutton:

So yeah, it's been a ride, All right. Interesting. I think that's something that Amazon sellers out there, once they hit a certain level if they were working, you know is like a universal question All right, at what point do I do I, you know, give up the steadiness of income and the reliability and the insurance and things like that and go, you know, you know, focus solely on my, my Amazon business? For the people who already are out of out of the, the people who already are out of the corporate world once they start their Amazon business, well, they're just all in from day one, kind of, so they don't have that option. But I think the answer is it's different strokes for different folks. You're probably waiting the longest, more than anybody I've known, wasn't it like, even after you started your, your amazon business? Like a good three, four years um?

 

Robert:

yeah, it was about ready to get multiple seven figures at that by that time yeah, yeah, um, we had sold a total of uh, maybe like 12 million or so, um, before I quit, and we rolled, I quit, we rolled out 4,000 Walmart stores and then I quit, basically yeah he was still rolling out 4,000 Walmart stores with his product.

 

Bradley Sutton:

He's like you know what. Yeah, I think it's time now, but that just shows you that's not the wrong choice.

 

Robert:

There's other people who wait after one month, and they're ready.

 

Bradley Sutton:

That's not necessarily the wrong choice. It's whatever works for you.

 

Robert:

There was no room for error. If I messed any of that up, not only would I need a job I would be way in that way, so there's one way to look at it but also the focus was there. That was my full time job. You know, I always say Amazon was my full time job, and then I had kind of a side side job in corporate.

 

Bradley Sutton:

All right. So now going back to Kseniia, first of all, I'm not sure you know I don't remember the kind of things we talk about all the time. My memory is so bad. But then you know, Mhel gave me some notes this wasn't on there but before you started on Amazon like I do have in my notes here that you were doing like selling collectibles on eBay from Russia and things like that, but at any point, while you were doing Amazon, did you also have a day job or you were 100% your e-commerce business from day one?

 

Kseniia:

100% e-commerce.

 

Bradley Sutton:

A great contrast I didn't even plan that, but is perfect. It is to have a. To have the contrast here now. I remember one thing that was, you know, kind of like the highlight of your old episodes is is the way that you discovered uh and launched some of those first products that brought you success was like using the project x uh method. So that brand that you started back in you know 2021, 2022, whenever it was uh are you still selling that brand today, the successful one?

 

Kseniia:

Yep, still selling. I've had to change a little bit the product line and expand it but, yeah, the first product since from which one it started still there, still selling. It was exactly three years ago, actually, in August 2021.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Wow, okay, perfect, perfect. Now, the last time we talked back, in 2023, uh, I think some of your closing comments about your goals was hey, you wanted to kind of like focus on, on building the brand a little bit more. I mean building the brand in the figurative sense, not, you know, not just expanding their products, but like actually building a, a brand. And how, what did you do to try to do that and how has that, those efforts, worked out?

 

Kseniia:

Well, the first thing I want to talk about is what happened after last we talked. Is that in 2023, I lost like 40 percent of my sales? Wow, let's keep it real here.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Let's keep it real Well, what was it an attack or just you know the competition? Did you make a huge mistake or what? What happened? Uh, did you make a huge mistake or what? What, what, what happened?

 

Kseniia:

yes, I made a huge mistake, totally my fault, because when I started building this brand, this brand was focused on accessories for a kitchen appliance, and what I didn't think about is that my sales are going to be totally dependent on the sales of that kitchen appliance. Under no, no, no circumstances I can sell more accessories than the appliances sold. And so what happened is, in 2021 and 2022, the appliance sales were growing and they were doing a lot of social media, so my sales were growing, with me not really doing anything, like I didn't do any social media for my brand. But in 2023, from the beginning of 2023, for whatever reason, their sales started dropping like every month, less and less and less, and by the end of the year, I think they also lost like 40 or 50 percent of their sales and your sales were 100 reliant on theirs, yeah, the same. And anything I was trying to do. I tried to do social media, I tried to do Google ads at an agency, but nothing really was just a waste of money, basically because their product wasn't selling, so my products were not selling and my brand was 100% focused on accessories around that kitchen appliance. Wow, okay, so like I had eight products, I think, by the end of 2022. And they all were related to that kitchen appliance.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Interesting, interesting. And so then you're like how do you pivot from something like that? It's like you know, your whole concept of your brand is around this one thing. And here you are trying to build your brand, but then like, wait a minute, this is not the direction I need to keep going, or else I'm going to keep going down yeah, I spent several months on trying to think about what to do about it.

 

Kseniia:

I was like, oh, do I just dump it all and just start it all over? But then, like I had a patent pending for two of the products because they were selling really well and it was really my like design idea that I totally made from scratch, I was like I don't really want to dump it because, who knows, maybe like next year, their sales will go up again, you don't know. So I was thinking about it and I just decided to expand into the products that not a hundred percent related to this kitchen appliance that but can be used by the same people but also can be used by other people as well. So kind of exit the sub niche and get in a little higher niche. So they're still all related, but now I'm not tied to that kitchen appliance.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Now, did it help at all that you were in that niche already to launch these other products? Were you able to market to your existing customers at all, or was it almost like starting from scratch again?

 

Kseniia:

No, the first product that I launched after that was not 100 related to the other brand um was made for I actually got the idea from the customers of that brand, but it was also being bought by all other people. So and sometimes I see that the um, some of the purchases that are made, they're made like two products bought together yeah, the one for the brand and not not for the brand. So the first one kind of easy, and then I started expanding a little bit more outside of the something totally not related to that brand.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Okay all right. All right, we're going to come back to you because I want to uh, double click on a couple of those things you're talking about. But now back to Robert. You know you had mentioned how, in in around the timing of the last episode, you're launching Walmart and there are thousands of stores. Um, I would assume you know we're here in in august that it's been over a full year now of Walmart store sales. So how would you, how would you say that that's gone? Like what kind of gross sales we talking about just in in stores on Walmart, and are we only talking one skew?

 

Robert:

Yeah, so we launched, uh, maybe, yeah, 16 months ago or so, with two skews uh right away. Basically, one of those items was the intro offer. What they call that at walmart is basically the the cheapest option of that product at walmart right, in this case a coffee grinder, and from the time it went live it just started really selling. Just basically, we could see from the data like Nielsen data, which is like official retail data, not counting Amazon and e-commerce we could see that our product was the best-selling grinder in the us, like across all retail points, just because of that walmart placement, right like. So, imagine walmart being, you know, the kind of highest volume retailer and you're the cheapest in uh or the intro uh pricing there, so that that, you know, had what was kind of like a big boom.

 

Robert:

Uh, struggle to kind of just make sure you know, basically keeping up with their projections were a lot lower than we actually did end up selling. Uh, and you know I kind of had already predicted that we would sell, about you know, more than they predicted, just cause that product did well in any other channel that we put it Um, and so, yeah, just kind of stabilizing that right, so making sure that through the holidays.

 

Bradley Sutton:

I would always remember your uh, remember your Instagram post.

 

Robert:

You would be going around to Walmart’s all over the country you're on vacation stuff and go to the shelf where your product is and look it's empty, like we're sold out, like it's a fly, literally flying off the shelves yeah, so that's what was happening, you know, and so because it had one facing, meaning it's on the shelf once, instead of like having two, two of them and it would sell kind of fast enough that basically it wasn't. It wasn't able to maximize what it could do, right, because it wasn't available fully right. So we were missing, you know, maybe 20, 25 percent of sales there until, like, the Walmart kind of system catches up with it, like, uh, their forecasting system, um, but yeah, it's basically uh, it's bigger than an amazon business, uh, it's a high seven figures kind of deal and we're counting wholesale costs, so like not the actual retail, so it kind of would be bigger. And the thing with Walmart there is, you know it's compared to amazon it's huge. You know, like it's guaranteed you're a vendor, there's no middle sort of person there and just you know they place every week orders for 42 distribution centers, so like, basically every week we get 42 orders and it goes to other distribution centers, and then this May, so basically a year later or a little before that, they launched one additional item, so they added one more to the two and now there's three. And I also went to another line review for next May to hopefully add a couple more items. So it's just kind of working on the retail side there, but separately.

 

Robert:

I was actually in Puerto Rico yesterday. I was, as I was telling you, meeting with the Walmart Puerto Rico team because they're rolling out, uh, basically a whole section of like 15 items, um, like they're, they're actually like taking up a whole section, um, and that, you know, even though there's not that many stores in Puerto Rico, it's a, it's a huge kind of way of proving it out, like you know, hey, you know, we did this over there. How about, you know, over here, right, right, two other retailers in the us, and that's kind of where the strategy is. So certainly ups and downs, you know it's not always, uh, rainbows and butterflies, as they say. Uh, that side of the business is great. That's what we've been focusing on for a while. But, uh, there's amazon as well. Not such a pretty picture there, but we're still going at it strong, obviously we're gonna want to uh, you know, uh listen to your story on amazon.

 

Bradley Sutton:

But just going back to the Walmart you might have said this in the last episode but, like I said, I forget things how was it that you even got into Walmart before? Did you start to sell on Walmart.com? Did a buyer at Walmart take notice of you because you were crushing it on Amazon, amazon? You know that's probably the hardest thing for somebody who's interested to get in Walmart brick and mortar is getting on the radar of the buyers and actually getting you know in a media unless you'd, like you know, win a contest or do that uh open call or something like that. But how was it that you were even able to get your foot in the door with Walmart?

 

Robert:

Yeah, so a little combination of a couple of things you mentioned, but essentially we have a broker, okay, and a broker, what a broker does, and it wasn't the first broker we had, by the way, and we have one for Target we have. You know, these brokers kind of charge a single digit percentage of sales if they ever sort of get you in the door. Some charge a monthly retainer. In my opinion I wouldn't go with those. You know, the ones that are like serious in my opinion more are the ones that charge you a percentage only if they ever get you in the door, right, um, and so we had tried one. It didn't work out. I mean, it's the same as us reaching out to the buyers, which we had also done, you know, and they don't really reply. You know, like all these retailers at least the, the biggest retailers they have once a year kind of reviews, right. So if you kind of get invited to the review, then maybe you they'll review your product, but that has to do with whether they're wanting to change whatever they have on the shelves, whether they're open to whatever you have, just like a lot of different things. Like the most common thing to happen is that they don't change anything on the shelf Right If it's kind of working or. You know, their jobs depend on the performance of what's on the shelf Right. There's not unlimited amounts, so they're very picky on what they select in. So that's why it's kind of like an uphill battle to get into the retail shelves, and more nowadays that everyone's pushing for conf right. If anything, they'll tell you oh, go try conf first. That's just kind of like a cop out to say like we don't want you on the shelf at the moment.

 

Robert:

So how it worked with us is basically we had worked with a broker. It didn't kind of work out, just no motion there, and not to their fault. But another broker reached out and said hey, you know I can try to reach out, and he did, and it was regarding our coffee grinders and they basically said you know, you can come to Venville to present it at our line review in June of that year and they had seen the product on Amazon. So yeah, I think we were bestsellers or just doing really well compared to other things they had on the shelf and they invited us for that one product and of course when we went I presented other products Right. So you have like 30 minutes. You set up on a table and it's like go, go, go, and after that just kind of I thought it would be like a lesson learned sort of like. You know, maybe come back next year like a good job. You know, at least I learned how to do this thing. But they came back with, you know, questions that led me to believe that they were really interested, like, hey, you know, would you be able to like fulfill a large number of stores if we allocated you that? And, and you know, I just said yes, you know, I never.

 

Robert:

Even that was our first retailer. You know, usually they try you out with a hundred stores or you maybe get into another independent retailer and then you kind of work your way up. But it was one of a weird case where our first retailer was, you know, every Walmart. So it's kind of like you have to learn how to execute the biggest one first, and so now we feel confident that any other retailer, it's kind of like it'll be okay. You know, capacity, volume, just processing the orders. It was a beast at first but yeah, that's how it worked out. Okay, cool, a long sales cycle.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Yeah, Interesting, interesting. Now, switching back to Kseniia, you know, like in the old you know I remember some of your other products the way you would kind of find and or launch was, you know, like through Facebook groups and things like that. Like, are you still using that method to like? You know now that you kind of are going a different path, like, is this Facebook play a role, or how are you finding where the needs are to launch these new products? And then, how are you getting the initial eyeballs on your product once you do launch?

 

Kseniia:

Yeah, the first one that I launched after switching of being the accessories for other brand that was also from a Facebook group. That also was from the same people. But then after that I realized that I need to find a VA finally, because it was only me before that and it got kind of hard when I got to like almost close to seven figures.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Remind everybody what you did uh, you know to do that so they can kind of have a for those who didn't hear the last episode, so they can have a picture of your strategy here so before, uh, I was finding product ideas, I was on the Facebook groups for that kitchen appliance and I would just see what customers say.

 

Kseniia:

Sometimes, a lot of times, because it was a new brand and it was like, basically no accessories for this kitchen appliance they would just say, oh, have anybody, anybody seen this product or this product that we can't find anything like this on amazon? We really want it and I would go like Esty or eBay, I don't know. I check Pinterest and I would see people try to make it themselves from, like I don't know, pieces of wood or something like that. So I realized, okay, well, it's great, then you check the search terms and people actually searching for this product, but there is no options available on Amazon. So that's how all the other products before were and then.

 

Bradley Sutton:

So what did you hire the VA to do? Just start, you know, just be in all these Facebook groups and Reddits and stuff like that trying to get information, or what are they doing?

 

Kseniia:

no, the first thing that I did when I hired her, I told her she needs to learn the Project X.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Nice.

 

Kseniia:

I gave her the Project X because I told her that's exactly how I learned how to search for products. So the first thing we did is that she watched the whole Project X Love it. Because I wanted her to learn how to find products, the way how the Project X was done. Not starting from the product itself, but let's say starting from the product itself. But I'll say started from the keyword. Yes, so searching for the opportunities and not searching for something that already exists, and you'll be surprised. I think it's in two months I don't remember how many she actually found, but the one that we're actually going with in two months it's like 10 or 15 products, something like that that's already passed, like we're getting the samples.

 

Robert:

Oh, wow.

 

Kseniia:

So that's just not the product ideas. That's actually what we will be launching.

 

Bradley Sutton:

That's awesome.

 

Kseniia:

So yeah, she's really great Okay.

 

Bradley Sutton:

How did you find her? I think that's another thing that people wonder about is hey, how do I find good VAs who are actually going to produce, Like, did you go to a service? Did you just put a notice up, or?

 

Kseniia:

I just went on a website. I forgot how it's called like jobsph or something like that. And yeah, I just did a post that I'm looking for a VA with like a specific requirements and I actually did like a an attention test, let's say so. I put it a note and in the middle of the resume and tell them that's how they should name the email when they reach out to me. And you'll be surprised, out of maybe a hundred people or more that reached out to me, maybe like five only actually read yeah the joke post and they put it the and that was like the first test and then they did a task trying to find a product.

 

Bradley Sutton:

So hey, there you go, Robert. There's a tip for your, your next hiring thing. Like uh, dude, that's a good test to weed out half of the applications right there. I like it. I like it, okay, cool. So now you know, now that You've launched some products that kind of are not reliant on that one appliance, what do you project? Is your sales going to be by the end of this year on the trajectory you're going now?

 

Kseniia:

Yeah, I think we will definitely hit the seven figures this year, so it should be better than so. So far, the best year was in 2022, when we got very close. I think it ended with like nine80,000 or something like that, and I think we should be more. Yeah, it should be more this year.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Awesome, awesome, awesome Congrats.

 

Robert:

You got to buy $20,000 worth of goods at that point. Yeah, just at the end of the year just like buy your own product.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Come on, I mean you got to hit that number, but hey, that's good, you're going to do it without having to game the system like that this year. Awesome, Robert. Amazon. Let me look at my notes here. In your first year I saw you did $2 million on Amazon. You had grown it to like $4 million, which was pretty much Amazon.

 

Robert:

Only If we were just to take the Amazon, not the Walmart. Are you up down? We're probably slightly down. I would say maybe 15% or so, 10 to 20. Part of that was our own doing. We had to prioritize. If we ran out of stock, it's not going to be at Walmart stores, it's going to be at Amazon, and it's happened a couple of times and know, and that's kind of affected. We had a really kind of high margin sort of products that we've launched and one of them did extremely well and we just haven't been able to keep it in stock because it is a new item to our supplier. But, like as an example, we launched it basically like month one, with no reviews, you know, just like our branding and running ads. We did almost like a quarter million dollars of sales and it was profitable, which is crazy. You know, usually we're used to losing money, you know, even after a while sometimes, uh, but you know that kind of like margin. There's certain like we're basically focused more on things that make margin, you know, or things that will basically help us push sales through our website, through other products, or things like that, like our hero, where we include an insert card and they're able to buy other accessories from us. But yeah, certainly, strategy slightly changed.

 

Robert:

Within Amazon, advertising basically just kills a lot of the margins, but we see it as a brand awareness exercise as well. We have a lot of products on the roadmap that are higher margin and just kind of like uh, you know, complementary products and stuff that you know I think it's a survival of the fittest on amazon. You know, thankfully, we have always tried to open new channels. You know it wasn't just Walmart stores, you know, for a while we've done all the dot coms, you know, even as vendors like Target dot com, Walmart.com, Macy’s Home Depot, fair dot com If anyone out there listening, maybe I'll save it for the 60 second tip. But Fair dot com, yeah, just, you know, all the channels start adding up, you know, and those are higher margin than and where you don't have to run ads and stuff.

 

Bradley Sutton:

So how are you dealing with the year of the fees? It seems you know Amazon, you know 2024 new inbound fees and low inventory fees, which it sounds like you probably hit because you keep running out of stock, you know, on some items and refund fees and stuff like that. Like how have you been able to maintain your profitability? Or have you been able to maintain your profitability, you know? Have you had to raise prices or what's going?

 

 

Robert:

On no, we just, we have not maintained the profitability, it's just straight. But not on amazon wise. You know, thankfully, the retail side for us just, you know, pays the bills and more. You know thankfully. But uh, we see amazon, as hey it's, it's tough for everybody. You know, thankfully we have another side of the business that it's actually our priority and you know we're still focused on Amazon. But we didn't keep the profitability. Necessarily we can't always just raise prices because we are basically selling on a lot of other channels, so it disrupts a buy box potentially and it's just one of those things where we just have to optimize on the ad side and just straight up, not focus on some SKUs that are, you know, kind of loss leaders or could be loss leaders.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Now I'm looking, I'm just looking with Helium 10 here on your store page with X-Ray, and I see actually you know there's a number of products here that you've launched in the last year. Like I see it, says March of 2024. I see another one here, June of 2024, this coffee scale with a timer. Why, somebody, that's gotta be a serious person. You're weighing your coffee and you got a timer on it, but whatever. So there's all these unique products.

 

Kseniia:

It's at Walmart.

 

Robert:

So that product is at 3,000 Walmart stores. Wow so wait, hold on stores. Wow so wait, hold on, hold on.

 

Bradley Sutton:

It just says you launch this in June. So does that mean that you actually launched a product on Walmart before Amazon? I love that. You see, I keep trying to tell people that exists. Some people say, oh no, Walmart is the opposite. You can expect less sales unless you get into the stores. But there are definitely people out there who launch on Walmart first. But anyways, my point was I see at least four or five products here that were launches here. So obviously you're actively, you know um, trying to expand the brand, you know. I asked Kseniia the same question how are you finding these, these new opportunities, like? What are you doing to, like, do your market research to say you know what? This is the next product we're going to try.

 

Robert:

Yeah, so a lot to do with I mean doubling down on what works, for example, the categories that are working. We introduce either variations or new models if we see fit, and then we get a lot of feedback from retailers and pitches that we do to retailers. So we're in line reviews all the time with different retailers and they tell us we like this product, we don't like this product, or potentially, I think we launched maybe like 20 or 15 or 20 espresso sort of accessories, the scale being one of them this year, and that was from, basically, feedback from a Walmart buyer saying, hey, you know, it'd be nice in the future if we have some espresso tools you know that's kind of a trending category, or whatever. And we sort of said tools, you know that's kind of a trending category, whatever. And we sort of said you know, yeah, we have those kind of coming anyway. Yeah, you know. And then we went and looked for those. So we you know I have a lot of products that I've already tested and stuff, you know, every, basically everything. We're a coffee brand, so anything around the coffee categories, you know, are sort of constantly keeping my eye out and our factories also like innovating with us. Um, but yeah, it's, it's.

 

Robert:

It's a lot of prototyping for retailers, rather than launching on amazon and seeing if it works and then sort of uh, then going to pitch to the retailer. So it's a lot more capital efficient, just sort of prototyping things or final sampling and then uh, sort of having them available on your catalog and then if a retailer wants it, then of course you go to mass production, you go kind of bigger on that and double down on amazon um, but yeah, on the amazon side for us, you know one thing that you probably wouldn't see on the numbers there, but we're we've been working with a 1p partner where we basically have a lot of margin on but we don't necessarily account for the sales through our account, you know. So, like our item wouldn't necessarily show that but it says sold by amazon. So there's some. We just started that as of like a month and a half ago or so, uh, and it's been kind of working really well, um, certainly making a lot of profit, and they're selling uh as dot com, as amazoncom. So that is sort of how we're mitigating the risk, just sort of looking for ways where we're able to keep profitability, because you know categories that need our products. You know our brand fits in well.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Now one thing. The last question for you, before I go back to Xenia, is I don't know the specifics, but I used to supply Walmart to other companies I've worked at. But it's not like they pay you a month in advance or even they pay you up front. There's different terms that Walmart needs and then when they're ordering what? 50 units for 4,000 stores or 20 units for 4,000 stores everybody can do the math out there. We're talking a sizable chunk of change. How do you manage cash flow when you're almost having to front Walmart and some of these other things like and have such a big business with so much turnover? How do you have the capital to sustain, to keep it, to keep it going?

 

Robert:

yeah, that's the part that hasn't been easy for sure. You know, financing environment altogether has gotten, you know, tougher for everyone. You know, obviously, the higher interest rates and stuff. I just bootstrapped this so of course even harder right, and I'm in a sort of categories that are, you know, some would say commoditized, unless you have like strong brand but you definitely are competing against legacy brands that are sold by amazon. So basically a lot of competition in that way. Um, so, to scale it, it's not like I had extra sort of profit margins to just dump around and make mistakes and sort of, you know, go everywhere. So it definitely took some, you know, strategic there, partnering with the.

 

Robert:

I would say the biggest lever is our supply chain terms. You know our supplier terms are almost unheard of when I tell even you know bigger, much bigger sellers. Obviously I've taken on debt, you know, um, and that's been helpful, you know. You know decent amount of debt, but the largest chunk that allowed to scale at that point has been the supplier term. So think of uh, you know, usually you pay your suppliers maybe like 30 deposit and then the 70 maybe when the goods goods arrive at the US. You know if you're lucky, you know if not when it left China. We pay 15% deposit and then we don't pay the 85%, sometimes until 90 days after the goods arrive in the US. So basically, we sell it to Walmart.

 

Robert:

Walmart pays us in 55 days and then we go and pay our supplier essentially. So at any given time we owe our supplier so much money that it also makes a relationship so that we basically don't have to. We do, uh, at least once for all we don't have to do inspections on containers because they're not going to mess it up. You know, if they mess it up, we owe them so much money that it's in their best interest to not. You know, uh, so it keeps that relationship always kind of lopsided in in this way and, quite frankly, is the cheapest financing.

 

Robert:

You know that that one can get right. It's just basically your supplier taking on the brunt of it. So at some point earlier this year, yeah, like because of the terms with Walmart, basically Walmart owed us like maybe a million and a half dollars or something, which is crazy. You're like, okay, in the next 55 days every they're going to be paying some amount. But then we also owe the supplier like hundreds and hundreds of thousands, and then over there, this and then you have to order another container because you know Walmart's going to reorder and they're not telling you that, but if it's on the shelves they're going to start reordering as soon as it starts trickling in. So it's just a huge risk really. But when it's Walmart stores, I mean you just have to take it. You know I always said I'm either going to make this thing, you know work kind of do it big or leave a huge hole in the ground of where it was once. But it's business. You know, I try to remove the outcome from me. You know me, or my sort of self-worth, I guess

 

Bradley Sutton:

Now, Kseniia, a similar question to you is you, as a smaller up-and-coming seller, how have you been able to deal with all the new fees? Have you changed your strategy about how you send stuff to Amazon at all, or anything else like about how you send stuff to Amazon at all or anything else, or are you just kind of like you know, just taking the new fees and raising prices, or how are you dealing with it?

 

Kseniia:

Well, generally when I did the product research before and now we look only for the products that look at like 40% profit and obviously that was the profits that I had in 2022. And after all the fees, it just dropped to like 23, probably percent, 23, 25%. I'm very careful with PPC right now. I'm not trying to overspend on it Plus on the storage, so I'm basically storing for free the products in China after they're being manufactured, so I'm saving money on that.

 

Bradley Sutton:

I think this is interesting. A lot of sellers are kind of like maybe in your shoes right now, maybe just by themselves, or maybe they have one or two VAs. Tell me, how many hours a week are you putting to your Amazon business? How many hours a week is your VA doing? And then what are you guys doing? How does your week look? How do you break apart the responsibilities?

 

Kseniia:

So actually I hired the first VA in April, I think and I liked so much that I hired a second one, like a month ago. But she's only responsible for like social media because we started doing TikTok, uh and a lot of like UGC content, um. So the first VA she does a full time, so 40 hours um a week, and the second one is a part-time for now because I don't know how it's gonna go, because I don't think all the products are fit for like TikTok are you doing TikTok shop or just like promoting?

 

Bradley Sutton:

yeah, TikTok shop. Okay, how's that.

 

Robert:

How's that working out for you?

 

Bradley Sutton:

I'll go back to the employees or the time management one, but how's TikTok?

 

Kseniia:

Well nothing really. Yeah, we just we just started like three weeks ago, I think four weeks ago ago. So she's reaching out to a lot of influencers and through the affiliate program, through TikTok, so I don't know how many she probably reached out to like 200 a day or something like that. So some reply, some don't. So we've just been sending out some sample. I think we only got like one video or something like that yet posted, so not much yet.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Okay, one employee is specifically doing social media for you, including TikTok shop, and the other one is she just doing the product research, like you mentioned before, she has other tasks for you as well.

 

Kseniia:

Yeah, so the first one. She initially was hired specifically for product research, but then we got to the point where we got so many products that we found but there is not too much money, even though I've taken out the loan, but still there is not enough Like. But there is not too much money even though I've taken out the loan, but still there is not enough like. I don't feel confident yet to get like a huge loan. So we still have to launch like one or two products at a time. I can't do like go and launch all 15 at the same time, because the problem I ran into maybe six months ago is a launch product and it became. It started selling a lot better than I expected to.

 

Bradley Sutton:

So cash flow. Same thing we're talking about with uh, with Robert there, yeah yeah, of course.

 

Kseniia:

Well, at the moment where I started losing sales, obviously I didn't have any profits. So that's the moment when I had to decide what I'm gonna do if I'm just closing it all down or am I taking a loan. So I decided to get a loan and start launching new products, and then it got better. But also I use a lot of credit cards just because I get points. I figured out the right credit cards to use because I travel a lot. Then I honestly don't remember last time I paid for a ticket. It's all always done through points.

 

 Bradley Sutton:

So how do you, how are you paying your suppliers with a credit card? Cause not all, not everybody, knows how to do, how to do that.

 

Kseniia:

Uh, so I just do it through Alibaba, but I negotiated a terms with them where they covered Alibaba fee, so I'm not worried about that. Okay, cool, but that way I get a bunch of points every month.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Yeah, because I know you and your husband like to travel a lot too. So you're saying all those are. Are you business class on everything too? Most of the times, but not for the short flights.

 

Kseniia:

Okay cool, cool for the longer ones.

 

Bradley Sutton:

So, Robert, as I'm talking to Kseniia, she was talking about TikTok shop. Here I'm looking and I see you're on TikTok shop too. So how, how long have you been on there and how's that been working for you?

 

Robert:

yeah, I think we maybe, uh, earlier this year or something like that. Um, again, we have, uh, there's certain products that we know work a lot better for TikTok shop and we see it. You know, there's a concentration on a few products basically that work very well there. You have one of them pulled up. We just had inventory issues on those products. Basically, those products are really hot, kind of everywhere we put them and we really haven't been able to push as hard as we can on TikTok shop, but certainly everywhere we put them and we really haven't been able to push as hard as we can on tiktok shop but certainly are gathering a lot of affiliate content.

 

Robert:

Um, and sales are starting to come in. You know, uh, we see it as a big kind of big potential there. Um, certainly so. We're. We're reloading on inventory on those and, and for those that didn't know, uh, fulfilled by tick tock, I think basically, and for those that didn't know, fulfilled by TikTok, I think, basically they're subsidizing shipping. So you essentially make more margin on certain products as long as you get them above a certain threshold. So, yeah, it's one of the channels that we're focusing on. That's newer, okay.

 

Bradley Sutton:

You know we talked before about your goals. So, like what are your goals now for the future of your brand, now that you have like a different direction than the last time we were talking? Like what are you trying to accomplish at the end of this year other than hitting seven figures? What's next year look like for you?

 

Kseniia:

We're just going to try to launch as many products as we can. Our goal is probably two to three products every couple of months, so like a product a month. So that why we try to develop um. At the same time we're developing like five products, because you never know how it's gonna go um and, of course, do more social media, do more content, just to, you know, to get the, the brand name out there. Uh, we just started doing Shopify, like a month ago or no, a week ago, I think. I just started working on a website um.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Are you launching any other platforms? Obviously you're on amazon. You're on TikTok shop. You just said you're on Shopify. Are you on Walmart?

 

Kseniia:

or other places. Not yet, not yet.

 

Bradley Sutton:

But yeah, I'm thinking about going there too, as well, now you've got an inside connection at walmart if one of your product takes off somebody who can help you out here, Excellent. What is your favorite? Helium 10 tool, Kseniia or function of a tool.

 

Kseniia:

Probably the audience. That's the one that I use all the time. Is it called audience?

 

Bradley Sutton:

Yeah, the split where you ask the questions to the people and say, how are you using that Like for your images, or just for product ideas, or what are you using that?

 

Kseniia:

honestly for everything, for both for the product ideas, for the images, because I just think it's so easy. You know, when you're thinking about like the product we find, then I usually do um, like the drawing and uh, 3d you know the 3d image of the product that doesn't exist yet. Then usually all my products are like, really designed differently. That's what's on the market right now and I just upload the image there and I see what people say and ask them would you buy this product? And if you wouldn't buy this product, why not? Or what would you change in this product? And sometimes I see the things that I didn't even you know, I didn't even think about that.

 

Bradley Sutton:

So you're launching just the 3D rendering and just asking a question on that image, or you're launching it like, or you're launching it, you're putting it in a poll next to like existing products and asking them, or which one are you doing?

 

Kseniia:

I'm doing both. Actually, the first I just do the rendering and ask them would you buy this product? And if you would not buy this product, would you change like, how would you make it better for you? And then sometimes I also compare it to the other products that on the market and ask them which one would they buy? Interesting and a lot of times I do the changes on the product based on what the people say.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Yeah, yeah, I think it's important. I mean helium 10 audience, which is, you know, uh basically pick fu inside of Helium 10. I think is slept on by a lot of people. But that's, that's uh glad to see somebody's similar questions. To close out, uh, before we get to our final 30 second tips to Robert, like what's, what's your goals for the brand this year, next year and beyond?

 

Robert:

Yeah, so we're. We're really just doubling down on retail. We have a line reviews with different retailers. We're attending different trade shows, not like Amazon trade shows but like actually exhibiting. We did our first one in Chicago this year that had brought a lot of leads to basically regional retailers and all these new doors where we can just increase our distribution Within Amazon. Just continue to execute our roadmap. You know, basically double down on the products that are working and like higher margin products, but basically just doubling down on what's working. The brand, the angle of like being a go-to coffee brand versus legacy brands, that kind of just focus all over home, all over kitchen yeah, it's really, you know, seems to be really hitting a nerve with retail buyers. So that's kind of where we're going.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Nice, nice and your favorite Helium 10 tool for you or your team.

 

Robert:

Keyword Tracker. I use the Keyword Tracker a lot, market Tracker the original one. So those are my top two and that's because I have a lot of customization there. And I would say, to answer your other question on what could have maybe some improvement, although I like the interface a lot, is the profits. I think I talked to the team already but maybe there was some delay there with the advertising numbers being posted and so, like you know, profit being a tool that you want to look at almost like real time, you know, as opposed to like a few days back. But overall, you know, I love Helium 10. We use a lot of the tools the follow up tool, the you know I hadn't heard of the audience one we use PickFu from time to time, same thing.

 

Bradley Sutton:

It literally is PickFu just inside of Helium 10.

 

Robert:

Yeah, I didn't know that you guys had integrated like that. But, yeah, a lot of tools that help us keep an eye on the business, a lot of the notification stuff, the daily like keyword tracker emails that we get. You know, we really do use all those things Awesome.

 

Bradley Sutton:

All right. So now you know. Robert and Kseniia have been on this podcast for a while, so they know what's coming up next. What is your 30 or 60 second tip? Let's start with Robert.

 

Robert:

So my tip revolves around retail or going into retail. But first I want to talk about a channel called Faire like fair with an E at the end, dot com. To those who haven't heard it, especially if you're selling on Amazon or already on e-com, it's essentially a marketplace for independent stores all throughout the US, Europe, whatever, just sort of mom and pops, coffee shops, just any sort of stores that wants to source goods for their store, and it does really well for us. We've sold six figures through there, high margins, and we get pictures all the time from random friends and things like hey, how is your product that's in a random coffee shop in the middle of random city? Or just like in this little store, I saw your products. So you get actual feedback on what your products look like on the shelves and which products actually sell, Because those products, even though it's going to be a little store, it's going to be on the shelf, so you're going to see which products turn and why they do or do not turn, and that will kind of build up your first book of customers that are actual physical retails. Right, there's a lot of reorders on there and it's just a great way to get your feet wet into going to retail go ahead, you know, into going to retail.

 

Bradley Sutton:

So that's my tip there. Okay, cool, all right now. Now over to uh Kseniia. What is your uh 30 or 60 seconds? Uh tip or strategy for the sellers out there?

 

Kseniia:

I want to talk about the product development. I want to say that never stop product development. Uh, always have multiple products and a development at the same time. Um, even if your budget allowing launching only one at a time, because there is always going to be something that's going to go wrong, like the samples might not be made according to the drawings, suppliers might take a lot longer time to make the sample, or your packaging can get lost in the mail. So, and if something goes wrong with one of the products that you're developing, you always will have another options what to launch.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Cassini in the past. I know she kind of flies under the radar here, and that's why I love having people on the show. They don't come here with agendas, they're not trying to. You know like I'll have professionals, no problem. You know people who have agencies, people who do want to make a name for themselves no problem with that at all. I get good stories. But I also like having people on here who, who, hey, they're not on here for promotion, they're just trying to help other sellers out here. So, Kseniia, I know I don't even have to ask that that that she doesn't even have a you know any website or LinkedIn for people to reach out to. But, Robert, I think you do so like, if people want to, you know somehow find you on the interwebs out there. How can, how can they locate you?

 

Robert:

Gladly, we'll connect. I love just talking to sellers and helping in any way I can. I always learn as much as I give away at least. So gladly please reach out. LinkedIn would be fine, Robert Gomez, just search for me and glad to chat.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Awesome, awesome. Well, Robert and Kseniia, thank you so much for coming on and sharing what you guys have been up to, and we definitely want to reach out maybe in 2025 and maybe not together, because I like introducing people to new ones, but maybe we'll connect you with other sellers out there. But thank you so much for coming on and wish you the most of success in your e-commerce journeys.

#586 - AI tools & Remote Management Strategies for Amazon Sellers

Join us as we welcome back Steve Simonson, a renowned expert on sourcing and leveraging AI technology for Amazon sellers. This episode is packed with insights on a wide range of topics, from managing remote teams to the innovative use of voice AI in customer service. Steve shares his experiences over the past year, highlighting the rapid advancements in AI technology and how his team has been integrating these updates into their processes. We also discuss effective strategies for managing remote teams, emphasizing the importance of building management skills, fostering online collaboration, and maintaining team morale through regular communication and celebrations.

Listen in as we explore the evolving role of AI in enhancing workflows and customer interactions, particularly for Amazon sellers. Steve sheds light on how major companies like Google, Amazon, and Meta are advancing AI technologies, with mentions of Meta's open-source Lama model and Amazon's AI applications like Rufus. Despite ongoing concerns about AI accuracy, Steve assures us that issues like hallucinations are gradually diminishing. We discuss the successful deployment of AI chatbots in customer service and the growing importance of AI in managing brand websites and internal company processes, with specific resources within the Helium 10 software highlighted for deeper insights.

We also address the challenges facing Amazon sellers, including new fees, profitability issues, and competition. Steve offers reassurance by drawing parallels to past economic cycles and emphasizing persistence, sharing insights from Jeff Bezos' relentless approach. Additionally, we tackle the complexities of modern supply chain disruptions, offering practical tips for short-term problem-solving and long-term strategies such as resourcing and nearshoring. Finally, we highlight the significant opportunities that AI presents for small brands, encouraging businesses to embrace AI tools and look forward to upcoming events like Amazon Accelerate in Seattle.

In episode 586 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Bradley and Steve discuss:

• 00:00 - Managing Remote Teams and Leveraging AI For Amazon Sellers
• 03:53 - International Team Leadership Reflection
• 10:27 - Emerging AI Tools for Ecommerce Sellers
• 16:05 - Accessing Freedom Ticket for Amazon Sellers
• 19:09 - AI Video Creation for Beginners
• 20:46 - Leveraging AI for Listing Generation
• 22:56 - Navigating Challenges in E-Commerce Business
• 28:24 - Talking About Retirement
• 31:29 - Navigating Supply Chain Disruptions
• 34:09 - Enterprise Software and AI Integration Advice
• 35:32 - Small Brands Embracing AI Opportunities

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► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension

► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup  (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life)

► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft

► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos

Transcript

Bradley Sutton:

Today we've got Steve Simonson back on the show, one of the most knowledgeable people in the world when it comes to leveraging AI for Amazon sellers. He's going to talk about a wide variety of topics, such as running remote teams, to sourcing, to voice AI that can actually be your customer service rep. How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. Are you afraid of running out of inventory before your next shipment comes in? Or maybe you're on the other side and you worry about having too much inventory, which could cap you out at the Amazon warehouses or even cost you storage fees? Stay on top of your inventory by using our robust inventory management tool. You can take advantage of our advanced forecasting algorithms, manage your 3PL inventory, create POs for your suppliers, create replenishment shipments and more all from inside Inventory Management by Helium 10. For more information, go to h10.me. Forward slash inventory management. Forward slash inventory management. And don't forget, you can sign up for a free Helium 10 account from there, or you can get 10% off for life by using our special podcast code SSP10.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the Serious Sellers Podcast by Helium 10. I am your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is the show. That's a completely BS-free, unscripted and unrehearsed organic conversation about serious strategies for serious sellers of any level in the e-commerce world. You know, here at Helium 10, I don't know how this happened but we have a lot of S things. You know, we've got the Serious Sellers podcast, we did the Sell and Scale Summit. Now we've got Steve Simonson here and so I did have a hat with an S. This is actually a unique minor league baseball Sacramento hat here, but we're trying to keep the S theme together here. Steve, how's it going?

 

Steve:

Boy, I'm well, I love it. The alliteration does not stop. That is really impressive. If you look closely at my forehead, you'll see a giant S carved into the forehead. So everybody, get out your inspection equipment. But it's there, you can rest assured.

 

Bradley Sutton:

I love it. I love it All right, guys. Well, this is not the first rodeo of Steve here. He's been on the podcast before, so if you want to get back into a little bit more of his backstory and different things, some of the episodes he's been on is episode 38, episode 459. And we're going to talk a lot about AI today because I think that's what Steve is known for and that's what his module on Freedom Ticket is also about. But before I even, I just wanted to just see what you've been up to like the last year. It's been a year or so since you've been on the podcast. How's the back end of 2023 and 2024 been for you?

 

Steve:

Yeah, it's been good. I tell you it's a very fast-paced world we live in, and particularly as I focus on AI and how we integrate that into some of our enterprise-level software, it is just an endless train of upgrades, like every week somebody's got a new model and some new AI breakthrough has happened, and so we've been really quite busy at trying to figure out how to support these future frameworks within the same context of how can you build it once but allow it to be upgradable. So it's been exciting, it's been fun, but, no, no short of challenges as well.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Sure, sure, absolutely, absolutely. Now, one place in the last year or so that we caught up was in Bali. We went and spoke at this event and that was an amazing event. So anybody who has a chance to attend an event that Regina organizes, you should definitely, you should definitely try. We even had mud wrestling and everything. And I remember one thing you were talking about there. It's funny. I don't remember what I did yesterday, but then I'll just remember the strangest things or the most random things. I remember you had a big team across different countries and you were talking a little bit about that and it just, you know, across. You know across different countries, and you were talking a little bit about that. And it just got me thinking too. You know, as entrepreneurs most of us we don't have like an office and we've got, you know, in-office employees. You know we might start out hiring a VA here or there, and then you know the team scale. So you know somebody like yourself with experience, you know managing scores of employees at the same time. What are some tips you can give Amazon sellers out there or just entrepreneurs who have remote teams Like how do you, first of all, just what are some tips on managing a remote team where you're not there in person?

 

Steve:

Well, the first thing is it is. It's a skill that you have to learn right. So a lot of us think that somehow management is just built into all of us. I don't believe it is, and I think entrepreneurs are some of the worst at it, myself included, maybe first and foremost terrible manager, but I think you've got to build the skills, and so one of the things that we try to do is find ways of collaborating online that would be similar to an office environment. So, you know, our HR folks will have, you know, birthday celebrations or, you know, have monthly meetings to celebrate everybody's birthday or those types of things. We also have other things systemically that try to help, you know, remind everybody. Hey, celebrate your Wednesday weekly win. Everybody has at least one win every week, so let's share those amongst the company, because there's a lot of people in the company who may not know each other different locations, different parts of the world but I do want to just remind people that the basics really matter, like how you talk to people, you know understanding, you know where they're coming from, do they have the essentials that they need to, you know, perform the job.

 

Steve:

And the biggest I don't know revelation, especially dealing in the Amazon world is everybody expects a VA to be a unicorn. It's like you can do everything as the entrepreneur, so you just think you're going to delegate everything over to this unicorn. That's not going to happen. It's unfair, it's unrealistic and it shows that you're not yet a competent manager. And so my advice is you know, start slow, give very specific, task oriented things that have a beginning and an end, and then you know kind of work up from there and, as the internet says, educate yourself right. There's lots of books. One of my favorites is it's. It's the book name is called it's the manager. People don't quit jobs, they quit managers, and the faster we, as entrepreneurs, learn that, the better off we'll be.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Yeah for sure. Now, speaking of managers, you know, once you get more than a few employees in a foreign location, you know you might make some kind of managerial structure. So for the subordinates, hey, you know performance management, things like that, you know it's probably handled by the manager. But how do you, kind of like you know performance, evaluate the managers themselves? You know, because you don't have really a middleman, they're directly reporting to you. How do you know who's your stars? And then how do you know when you need to take, perhaps corrective action?

 

Steve:

Well, the number one thing that leads our decision making and I recommend this for anybody is data right. Let's start with what are the responsibilities this particular section manager, right? Are they in charge of marketing? All right, how are the leads going? What are the KPIs related to this? And people have a lot of trouble coming up. They ask all the time what are the KPIs? What are the KPIs? And you know we talk about AI a lot. Go ask ChatGPT. Here's the position. Give me a you know, general position description and give me good KPIs and then massage it right. It can't read your mind, but it can, you know, kind of move and groove with the suggestions you give it. So KPIs are absolutely doable. Now, sometimes getting the data is a little harder than you want it to be, but once you overcome that hurdle or at least come up with an alternative, then data should drive those conversations. And the question is like hey, you're doing really well this week. What's going right? Why is this going so well? We want to be able to understand and replicate it. Or hey, you're behind your numbers. What are the challenges you're facing? Maybe they got a bunch of people on vacation or maybe the Google credit card stopped charging. There's all kinds of things that happen in business, but numbers drive decisions and we like to say what's broken in the system, not what's broken in the people. The people want to do a good job In general. If you manage them and you're fair with them, then you're going to find that they want to perform well. They want to do a good job.

 

Bradley Sutton:

I'm sure we talked about more things. We had a good time there at the Balinese massage. That was my first one. I don't like those rough, those really rough ones. The Thai massages Guys, don't get Thai massages unless you like pain, oh my goodness. But I think they put you and Leo like in a couple's massage.

 

Steve:

Yeah, Leo, and I decided that you have the romantic couple's massage. Yeah, it was lovely.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Yeah, yeah like I had my room all to myself and then you're like oh, okay, well, I guess we're going to be here in this room.

 

Steve:

How did he get the room? Although we all had the room with no walls, which is like you know bugs and everything else but yeah, it was pretty neat. I think all of the you know for an hour it was nine bucks or something and it was a joy.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Yeah, you can't beat that.

 

Steve:

Yeah, it was a delight.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Can't beat that. Great food and everything else. All right. Now switching back to you know, one thing you talked about there and you've been known for the last couple of years is at the forefront of how Amazon sellers and e-commerce entrepreneurs should be leveraging AI, and so that's something that's changing on a weekly, monthly basis. The last year, what are some of the most notable advancements or differences in the world of AI as it relates to Amazon sellers?

 

Steve:

Well, first of all, you know, last year it was kind of the year of ChatGPT, right, everybody heard ChatGPT and this became a synonymous term with AI. But they're just one company. ChatGPT is led by OpenAI, which is ironically not open now. It's closed source, and over that they kind of led the tip of the spear into this new world of AI. There are plenty of others trying to get things done. Google has tried and has had a couple flubs. Amazon itself is now deploying AI for the customer-facing side, as I'm sure many sellers are recognizing. And then there's so many others, including Meta, which has allowed their stuff to go actually open source. The Lama model, which is a large language model built on, like you know, 400 billion or 40 billion, I can't even remember. The numbers get so insane. I think it's 400 billion data points in the Lama 3.1, which is as good as any closed source or paid service, and that is exciting. Groq is exciting. So there's a lot of these engines coming out. For sellers, what they, in my opinion, should be focused on is like how do I make my workflow today better, right, whether it's my own personal workflow which I use AI all the time, or the work, you know process of my colleagues. And it's really important to tell your team this is not to replace you, this is to enhance you. The AI will not replace you, but somebody who uses AI will replace you if you don't get your act together. Like this is really, really an important message. And so you know, the first step is just how do you improve those workflows, and then there are many other exciting steps coming up down the line. You know almost immediately.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Maybe it's because I'm an old fogey, as it were, as far as adopting new things sometimes, but a problem with AI I've had in the past is a similar one, which I remember you kind of talked about in some of your presentations. How you asked AI last year like who is Steve Simonson? And it had your birth date wrong and it said you had done this when you were some author or something like that and this and that. And so you know like, hey, you know, I guess we call those hallucinations. But then, like, you know somebody even you know we're a year later and I'm still seeing similar things like for example you mentioned the Amazon AI you know there's Rufus and then there's ones that summarize reviews and stuff like that, and some of it's just absolutely useless. You know like, no, yeah, customers love how large this seems and they also love how small it seems. I'm like, come on, like this doesn't even help me. So like, is that an accurate assessment or am I being biased? Like, say, hey, why is it taking so long to fix a lot of these hallucinations, or are you seeing a macro? Uh an improvement on those kinds of things?

 

Steve:

Yeah, no question it is improving. So if you start comparing you know ChatGPT three and a half to ChatGPT four to you know 4.0 and some of these other evolving models the hallucinations are shrinking. They won't go away until there's a large enough data set that is just more robust, honestly. So we should understand that it's still lying to you 20% to 25% of the time, just making stuff up out of thin air, and so that should be a real staunch warning to everybody. When you see the thing, tell you something. In my case it had the several book titles that I had written, that I had not written, and no one's written right. So, like I was very impressed with what it wrote, but it was unfortunately it was not me. So expect that hallucinations will continue, but they will continue to reduce over time as well. So don't use that as your obstacle. That ain't going to work. There's so much positive, good stuff. Now some of it has to do with how you structure the prompt or how you use the ins and outs of the data, and it's certainly not flawless. But you know, every day it's getting better, and I've seen like the voice stuff is incredibly good now and I suspect within, let's say, 12 months, all the early adopters will have on their their brand website. They'll have a brand, you know, a message bot that is completely trained on their stuff, right? So all your PDFs, all your products, all your company policies, return policies, shipping, whatever and it will be able to perform chats better than a human on average, right? And, by the way, this has already been proven.

 

Steve:

This year, a company sent 2 million live customers to their new AI chatbot and it had more first touch resolutions, it had higher customer satisfaction and obviously, the cost was less and it was the equivalent of 700 full-time people. So what we want is we want better customer experience and if you can do that with AI, people will come to expect that to be available. So, early adopters within 12 months, you know, and then other people over time, for sure. Message bot chat, you know, 24, seven live, educated bots about your stuff. We're doing this now. It's very powerful. By the way, the larger your company is, sometimes you need this internally, right? Hey, what's the HR policy? What's the vacation and where it can actually interact and go? Oh well, can I get this vacation off? And it will allow it to schedule and do other things. So very powerful stuff that's coming real quick.

 

Bradley Sutton:

We're not going to go into everything he talked about in our module, but just for those who have access to Freedom Ticket, which is pretty much any Helium 10 member let me just show you, guys, where you can go to see his information. Go into Freedom Ticket 4.0 under the module Product Research and Sourcing. Click on the Power of AI for Amazon. We got you in a very flattering screenshot right there.

 

Steve:

That's actually how I talk. My eyes are closed.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Love it, but, hey guys, he goes in-depth there on how it can help Amazon sellers. But let's just stay on this subject and talk about some specific use cases. I think one of the things that was terrible maybe a year and a half ago or a year ago that has gotten a lot better, in my opinion is images. You know, um, and obviously Helium 10 has integrated some things Amazon has integrated into their advertising. They actually require, um, you know, sellers to have a custom images now for, like, sponsored brand ads and things like that. So if you're not, if you don't have this humongous repertoire of, or a repository, I should say, of, all these images, well, AI is kind of like the only way to go. So what kind of different AI tools should Amazon sellers be using now as far as imagery? And then, what are the use cases that you see most useful?

 

Steve:

Well, the first is the idea of simply being able to scale up your images. Right? You can upscale images with very high fidelity that you could not do in the old days, right? I remember watching shows, you know, maybe as far back as the 80s, you know, and the cop shows like, zoom in and enhance, and it's like anybody's ever worked with photos or videos. It's like you could zoom in all you want. You're going to see giant pixels. There's no enhance available, right? But today you actually can upscale those images. So anybody who doesn't have giant zoomable images, I think that's a lost opportunity and within that module, I put in a couple options that will do that upscaling for you. The other thing is coming very fast down the line is, you know, beautiful room scenes or lifestyle shots. They might be called with your product in the shot itself, and so that gives you just unending abilities to position your product in natural life. You know style images. There's any number of other ways you can do it. You know we use, uh, AI images to make themes, right, so you may say well, gosh, I want to have my I don't know my little travel bag and I want to show it with a, a Washington state theme or a, you know, a California theme, and AI will make beautiful, beautiful background imagery. And there's your social media right. You can just do that for every single day or multiple per day. Really incredible. The ideation that this AI brings to the table, I think, is worthwhile, and the quality, as you said, Bradley, incredibly advanced compared to how it was, you know, even a year ago, especially two years ago. So really, really, you know, images should be a high priority for everybody.

 

Bradley Sutton:

I forgot it was a webinar. I was watching Kevin King. He showed some kind of like I'm not sure if it was released yet, but some previews of different AIs for video and it looked real. I was like, how is this not real? So what is available out there that you're not having to pay thousands, you know? Uh, obviously you can get super advanced stuff and you can make movies and everything you know with it, but something that's accessible to like Joe Amazon seller, um, who could you know, perhaps you know, make make a product video with just uploading an image or a short video and then and then make that into a nice video ad or something.

 

Steve:

Yeah, so one of my favorites for this type of purpose is called Invideo.io, and I believe I highlight it in the Helium 10 presentation. But basically you can either just give it a text prompt, right, and it'll make an entire video for you. You say how long do you want it? What's your? You know, are you going on a vertical short format or a horizontal long video format? Right, so you know, one might be more appropriate for TikTok and the other one for LinkedIn or YouTube. And then you can even upload images of your product or videos that you may already have, and it can incorporate those and it will do the music, it'll do the voiceover, it'll do the pulling in a bunch of videos around it, and it can be very, very effective. And so you'll. You know, we use that every single day to make videos that are mostly good quality. There's a couple little pieces. It's like I basically told my marketing folks. It's like it's more important to have the video and get it out there and show some content and then have the final little you know accent or the little you know relic that's on the screen solved, but in video is very, very powerful, and that's just one example. There are many like it.

 

Bradley Sutton:

What else. As far as you know, I think the number one thing for me that even I'm using AI and like even six months ago I probably still hadn't really used AI, but now I use it for almost every single one of my listings is like listing generation. You know, obviously, since Helium 10 has it, I get access to it for free. But hey, you know people, you know you can get free versions of ChatGPT. But that one is really powerful to me because I'm not just for you know, I'm, I'm obviously a native English speaker. I don't need help writing an English listing. But then sometimes I have writer's block and I'm like, hey, let me go ahead and say, hey, make a listing here's, here's my keywords, and I want it like in a funny tone. And then it's not the listing I end up with. But then I'm like, oh, this is a great direction. Let me just, you know, tweak a couple of things. But for me the power is like, hey, I'm going to make a listing in in UK and hey, I need to make one with British. You know English. Hey, I need to make a listing in Spanish. I can kind of speak Spanish, but I'm not a native speaker. So, uh, I can write all my prompts in English and then it'll go ahead and, and you know, make a listing in Spanish what. What are some things that you maybe think that sellers might be leaving money on the table as far as leveraging AI when it comes to their actual copy that they're doing, whether it's listings, whether it's, you know, blogs, et cetera.

 

Steve:

Well, the first thing is I believe that because AI is so new as a tool and a lot of people, myself included, we had negative experiences right. I would generate an image on mid-journey and the guy would have nine fingers right and I'm like so the clear thing that a lot of us said is this stuff is crap, it'll never work, I'm out right. And if you had hallucinations or you had kind of weird images and you haven't revisited it, you're making a mistake. So when you get in there, the next most common mistake is single dimension thinking. Right, you say I need a listing for Amazon for this product and it writes out something that's, you know, relatively generic because you gave it one single dimension listing Amazon, this product. But if you say you know I'm, I want to add a language, like you talked about Bradley, or I want to write this like Dan Kennedy, You know one of the you know very, very best copywriters, or maybe you don't know the name of great copywriters. You go who are the top five copywriters, right, that are direct response copywriters, or who's the best you know, fantasy writers, whatever and then write it in whatever style that you're looking for. So, having a writing style, having an audience that you're trying to reach, is just adding extra dimensions to that. You know, first, single dimension concept right, I just need a listing. No, you need a listing written in a style for a platform to an audience, in a tone, right. And the more of these dimensions you add and there are far more that you could go the more personality comes out of that and that's really what you're looking for. You want the AI to help bring forward your own personality and I highly recommend people add additional dimensional layers and they will have better results.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Switching gears a little bit and, who knows, maybe this conversation will, or the answer might be some version of AI. But you are in, you know you network a lot, you go to events, you talk to a lot of Amazon sellers and I'm sure you have felt the sentiment this year. It's probably, I would say, the most negative it's been in a while as far as new fees and profitability and competition. And hey, now there might be almost like Teemu-ish thing going on where Chinese sellers can sell directly and ship directly and stuff. And so what is your advice to those people who maybe have a little bit negative connotation compared to before as far as selling on Amazon, not sure how they're going to proceed?

 

Steve:

Well, the first is, if they can get on the screen, I'll just pat them on the head. Hey, little buddy, it's going to be okay. So you guys can line yourself up if you're feeling down, and go in for the pat. Listen, I've been around a long time, right? Dinosaur is you know? They're the young upstarts compared to me. So I've seen these patterns happen for multiple generations of e-com. Right, believe me, back in 99, 2000,. It was the glory days. Then 2001, 9-11 happened and it was a nightmare and everyone hated everything. And the dot-com crash happened. And then it got really good again in the mid-2000s and everybody's flying high. And then the housing crisis and financial crisis globally happened and everybody hates everything again. Right and so and again, these continue to happen. And so my, my mission for true entrepreneurs is if you're going to be persistent, if you're going to be in the game, expect ups and downs. Do not play that just straight up line. There is no line that looks like that, even those crazy hockey sticks that you see. That you know from companies there were little iterations of up and down all the way, and I just want people to know that. You know, persistence is really part of the game and you know if you go to relentless.com. Do you know where that goes, Bradley? I do not. It goes to Amazon. And the reason why is because Jeff Bezos said if you're going to be an entrepreneur, you better be relentless so you can check it out right now, relentless.com for anybody out there. That's what you got to be. And so listen, it's okay to. I always say take one lap and go. This sucks, I wish this didn't exist. These fees, this competition, this problem, this whatever. And then get to work and try to solve it or come up with a strategy to get over the obstacle. That's your choice deal with it or get out of the business, and I think serious people have to get serious about business, so they should listen to a podcast for serious sellers. I don't know. There you go.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Double clicking on your little dinosaur comment. You know, if I'm not mistaken, you even at one point kind of retired and got out of the game and then you got back in. How does somebody know when it's time to? You know, I'm not talking about the, you know long sail into the sunset or anything, but hey, it's time to just relax and enjoy life, or no, you know what? I still need something that drives me. You know, because it's not an age thing. You know like, I know people in their late 20s who retire because they've had enough success and they've accomplished what they want to. I know people in their 80s who are still working strong. So how does the entrepreneur get to a point where it's like you know what I'm ready to, kind of like, relax a little bit.

 

Steve:

Well, the first thing is, you know, everybody's got their own context of where they came from and where they want to go. So don't let me project my stuff onto you guys. But I can tell you retirement 1.0 sucked right. It was awful, and it's not a question of you know. Could I do anything I want? Yes, I could, but my friends couldn't come out and play right, and my family got tired of being on vacation. My kids were tired of being on vacation. Now people can go oh, crying me a river. What kind of first world problem is that? But it's still a real problem, right? Because I did not enjoy it. And then I felt guilty, because I'm living a life that anybody would kill for and that doesn't make you feel good. So my brain is not wired to kind of check out. And so retirement 2.0, which I've recently begun testing we're in beta is basically just trying to say well, listen, I don't want to work 80 hours and I don't want to work any hours on things that I don't like. So over time you'll find things that you like or don't like and start positioning even your role within your current company on the things that you like to do. By the way, somebody loves to do the thing that you hate the most. Right, and I had this realization. One of my finest team members she's been with me gosh, it's probably coming up on, you know, 25 or 30 years she loves the thing that I hate the most. So I kept doing the details and very complex Excel sheets and forecasts and inventory and things that I hated doing far too long. When I was able to turn it over to her kind of an exasperation because I'm a terrible manager and I don't know anything. She's like, oh, thank God, I've been dreaming about this and I just couldn't imagine in my own small brain that, like somebody else, would love to do this thing. So remember that there's so many different people. Somebody wants to do the things that you hate to do. So please, the faster you can excuse yourself from the things you hate, get the people who love to do those things and then you'll start to chart. You know, chart your course, whether it is a financial course or a lifestyle course or whatever it is, towards, you know that, that bright future. Me, I, I have to do stuff. My brain will not allow it to stop and you know, that's why I try to spend so much time helping entrepreneurs. I want them to come on vacation with me and let's go play.

 

Bradley Sutton:

That's good advice. You know I asked myself this question. You know, sometime of wondering, hey, well, when is it time to? You know, to hang it up, as it were. But I wouldn't be doing what I do if I wasn't feeling, you know, fulfillment and motivation from it. So as long as I still can, I'm still going to keep on trucking. Now, speaking of pre-retirement 1.0, one of your previous lives you were heavy into sourcing and things like that. I'm sure you keep your pulse on that industry as well. What should Amazon sellers these days be thinking about when it comes to, hey, I'm competing sometimes with Chinese factories. Now, hey, there's tariffs, you know, should I be considering India and Pakistan and Vietnam? Hey, you know, shipping prices are fluctuating like ridiculousness, you know, like as if it were still COVID. You know what's some just general advice you can give sellers who are, you know, thinking about those kinds of issues.

 

Steve:

General advice get in the bunker and prepare for war. It is yeah, it's we still the companies I sold, we still have me and my team still have some supply chain responsibilities. So we're interacting frequently in this space and I just got off the call with some sourcing folks I have in Pakistan just before our conversation, and all of the things you just brought up are annoyances. They're just part of the thing. I did not predict shipping getting spicy again, but I did predict some of what I call kinetic action over the last couple of years. We've said the people who follow geopolitics. We've said there's going to be more kinetic action, which is a nice way of saying people are shooting stuff at each other, which is terrible. What that means is these supply chain disruptions are unexpected. The fact that the Red Sea is kind of closed for business is insane. Nobody had that on the bingo card, right. So everybody's going around the South African. I just saw two ships going around the Arctic on their way to Holland. So from China around the Arctic to Holland, and at some point they'll need icebreakers there. So there are unique things and unique challenges that we face, but it's kind of like take a beat, look at the immediate picture. Right, you have your short term. I got a ship product. Now deal with that, overcome whatever the obstacles, pay what you have to, and then think about all right now, in six months, what does it look like? And is there a way I can avoid this, whether it's resourcing elsewhere, nearshoring or onshoring.

 

Steve:

But I can tell you like right now we have a very complex project and I've got people in Pakistan and India and it is very difficult to solve this problem. But that's why there's a moat right, and everybody who's complaining about how difficult or hard or whatever all of those are moats right. This is your advantage. We're, ultimately, most Amazon sellers are not manufacturing the product ourselves. We have somebody else do that. So what value do we add? We add all the value of solving the problems throughout that supply chain and then into the marketing side, like all of that is our value add, and we either add value and deserve what we make or we don't. And we deserve what we make right, and this is a very important point Our value that we're adding is overcoming all of these problems. So guess what? That's why they you know you get paid. You got to deal with the trouble.

 

Bradley Sutton:

All right, before we get into your final strategies of the day. How can people find you reach out to you on the interwebs out there?

 

Steve:

The awesomeers.com podcast still records videos from time to time and I have a whole founder series directed at folks. Just, it's almost like a little mini course for you. It's free, it doesn't, you know, doesn't take anything to do it. You can find me at parsimony.com just steve at parsimony.com. I spend most of my time on software and AI, trying to smash those things together in an enterprise way, right? So anybody who's doing you know 5 million, 10 million. If you're doing 10 million or more and you don't know what ERP is, you are unnecessarily driving yourself insane. But I recommend not going insane. Systems are better.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Usually better not to. Yeah, yeah, you know.

 

Steve:

I'm not a doctor, I'm just thinking.

 

Bradley Sutton:

There you go, all right. Now, you know, can you give us a couple of 30 or 60 second tips? Could be about traveling, could be about AI, could be about sourcing, anything you want.

 

Steve:

Well, one thing, I mentioned earlier that chat bots are going to be a big thing for early adopters in the next 12 months. But I want to call out one of my favorites, bland.AI is a voice customer service tool. And that company is an example of it. I'm saying this concept is coming to a voice line near you, and especially for brands who have the capacity to pay nine cents a minute to interact with customers. You train it on your own data and then this bot can be a sales person for you, a customer service person, and it's really really good. Bland.ai, amazing types of technology. I'm not suggesting this is the only company. There are many and many more.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Is that the one that at Billion Dollar Seller Summit we were waiting for the helicopter, and then you're like here I'm going to call this, Okay, yeah, yeah, I remember that. I remember that it was kind of it kind of blew me away, yeah.

 

Steve:

It's still the great example of what if you could just call a number and talk to a AI like a human, which is the ironic twist, and stop yelling representative a thousand times right, which is the ultimate nightmare. So all the big companies are moving this direction. I think small brands have this opportunity to, in the same way that AI can supercharge you know, a non-English speaker into beautiful English language listings, which should be a warning to everybody. Small guys can do what big guys do, right, whether it's video, voice messaging, AI levels of playing field. That is the most important point. So if you feel scared, if you feel nervous, talk to your friends, figure out those easy use cases, but don't be afraid of it. Embrace the fear and get to it.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Thank you so much for joining us. We're definitely going to have you back. You know, unless you're on retirement 3.0 and full launch mode, we'd love to have you back next year to see what you've been up to, and I'm sure I'll be seeing you at an event. Are you going to Amazon Accelerate?

 

Steve:

Yeah, yeah that one. I actually live in Seattle, so a good chance

 

Bradley Sutton:

I know, I was like about to say just maybe walk there, ride a bike or something.

 

Steve:

Yeah.

 

Bradley Sutton:

All right, well, I'll be seeing you at Amazon Accelerate along with everybody else and thanks a lot for joining us again.

Helium 10 Buzz 8/8/24: Shop Amazon From TikTok?! | Amazon Holiday Fee Increase | Temu/Shein Increasing

We’re back with another episode of the Weekly Buzz with Helium 10’s Chief Brand Evangelist, Bradley Sutton. Every week, we cover the latest breaking news in the Amazon, Walmart, and E-commerce space, talk about Helium 10’s newest features, and provide a training tip for the week for serious sellers of any level.

Amazon to let TikTok users shop select products without leaving the video app
https://seekingalpha.com/news/4137470-amazon-to-let-tiktok-users-shop-select-products-without-leaving-the-video-app-report 

UK TikTok Shop fees rise to 9% from September
https://channelx.world/2024/08/uk-tiktok-shop-fees-rise-to-9-from-september/

Temu, Shein and Aliexpress are attracting US customers in their millions
https://www.techradar.com/pro/temu-shein-and-aliexpress-are-attracting-us-customers-in-their-millions-poll-shows-and-thats-despite-the-fact-that-the-vast-majority-do-not-trust-these-online-chinese-retailers-in-the-first-place

Plan your agenda for Amazon Accelerate 2024
https://sell.amazon.com/blog/accelerate-agenda-builder

Lastly, get ready for Amazon Accelerate 2024 with tips on making the most out of this event by planning your agenda for the conference. Also don’t forget to join us for the Elite Workshop in Seattle. Don't miss out on these game-changing insights on the latest episode of the Weekly Buzz by Helium 10!

In this episode of the Weekly Buzz by Helium 10, Bradley covers:

• 00:58 - Shop Amazon ON TikTok!
• 03:21 - Amazon Holiday Fee Increase
• 05:26 - TikTok Fee Increase
• 06:06 - Temu / Shein Growing
• 07:45 - FBA Grade and Resell
• 08:29 - Kia Soul Delivery
• 09:58 - Amazon Accelerate Agenda
• 11:06 - Q3 Elite Workshop
• 12:01 - Pro Training Tip: Revamped Keyword Sales Estimation

► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast

► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension

► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup  (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life)

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Transcript

 

Bradley Sutton:

You're going to be able to run Amazon ads on TikTok and users are going to be able to purchase from Amazon directly from TikTok. Amazon has increased its fees for fulfillment in Q4. These stories and more, on this week's Weekly Buzz. How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. Hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Serious Sellers podcast by Helium 10. I'm your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is the show that is our Helium 10 Weekly Buzz, where we give you a rundown of all the goings-ons and news stories that are going on the Amazon, TikTok shop and e-commerce world and we give you training tips of the week, as well as let you know what new Helium 10 features will give you serious strategies for serious sellers of any level in the e-commerce world. Let's see what's buzzing.

 

Bradley Sutton:

All right, let's go ahead and hop into the news. We don't have as much quantity wise as stories as last week. We had a record 14, but we've got some bangers here today, so let's get into the first article. It's actually from seekingalpha.com. I don't think I've ever quoted that news website, but look at this. This is a doozy, guys. If it is what this article says, it is, but it says Amazon is going to let TikTok users shop select products without leaving the video app, all right. So what does that mean? Sounds like it's just what it says. It says Amazon is teaming up with TikTok to enable e-commerce shopping on the short content video app. All right, so this is actually citing an Amazon spokesperson. So it's supposedly now TikTok users can buy items from Amazon ads that are going to be run inside of TikTok. So they're scrolling TikTok not necessarily TikTok shop, but just regular TikTok and then somehow there's an ad on there and they're going to be able to purchase without even leaving TikTok. Now this, to me, is kind of a little bit mind boggling, because, you know, I would think that TikTok wants to prioritize TikTok shop.

 

Bradley Sutton:

But this is interesting. It recognizes, hey, amazon has got a lot of products that maybe people want to buy from there, and so now it says here this Amazon spokesperson says in app shopping with Amazon, is it going to be available for select products advertised on TikTok and sold by Amazon or independent sellers. So basically, what's going to happen, like Instagram and TikTok and others, is, with these new ads, users of those platforms can link their social media accounts to their Amazon profiles and check out within the social media apps using the payment and shipping information they've stored with Amazon. And I guess this the information which is the original source of this news article says that the social media ads are going to show more details that a shopper would find on Amazon's website prices, estimated shipping times, even prime eligibility. So that is a how cool? Is that? Pretty cool, I think. Like if, if you can now run targeted ads like that would be the key to me. Like is it only going to show up, you know, if I'm doing some kind of sponsored display ad or DSP or something like that, and then and Amazon randomly shows me. Or can I target TikTok directly? Can I target hashtags? You know would be interesting. What effect is this going to have on TikTok shop itself? What will be interesting to like? Already, TikTok users are getting kind of upset with how many you know products come to their feed right From TikTok shop. They're still buying it, but you know, like is this going to flood even more e-commerce and might give people some TikTok fatigue? I guess who knows what's going on, but this was interesting breaking news today.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Next article that we have going on is actually from Seller Central itself, and it's another week. Another news article about raising fees. But this shouldn't be, you know, like earth shattering or something. This is what happens every year. It doesn't matter who you use to ship, you know fulfillment fees increase. Shipping prices increase a lot of times across the board during Q4. So it's saying that, hey, starting October 15th through January 14th, there is going to be peak fulfillment prices. All right, it's going to apply to all products and it's going to be the same within a specific size band. It says and this is going to apply for, you know, remote fulfillment, multi-channel fulfillment, buy with Prime and more. And it says the fulfillment fee is going to be the same as it was last year, except for products priced under $10, because that is going to have a new fee or a new fee in 2024. Because remember the what is it? Small and light no longer has it and they have something that's for $10 and below.

 

Bradley Sutton:

So I would recommend guys going into seller central and checking out the new like size tiers, like just just as an example. You know, don't think this is something that is going to increase your cost 50% or something crazy like that. For example, let's just say you've got a large standard item I think my coffin shelf is one of those, and it's one point or two to 2.25 pounds I think that's my coffin shelf, I'm not sure, uh. Or if it's two, 25 to 2.5, it's $6 and 5 cents. Let's say I'm paying $6 and 5 cents, now that is going to go up to a $6 and 44 cents. So I mean, that's not nothing, right? You know it's 40 cents per unit on my coffin shelf, all right. So just keep that in mind. That's. That's something that's going to happen.

 

Bradley Sutton:

You know, some, some sellers raise their prices during Q4 because they know the conversion might be higher, especially during peak shopping times. But just know that if you don't raise your prices, your profit is going to go down due to these fee changes. So again, check your Seller Central dashboard for the links to the articles that will talk about what size tier you're on and what your price was and what it would be, etc. Speaking of fee increases, TikTok shop has fee increases. It's going to nine percent starting in September, but this is for TikTok UK, all right. So I don't have any new information on am. On USA, remember, I think I believe TikTok UK was actually started before USA, unless I'm mistaken. So that could mean that in us. You know some of these fee increases might come behind, but they were at five percent for UK sellers and it is going to 9% for UK sellers, all right, so take a look at. If you're selling on TikTok UK, uh, make sure to check out this article. If you're selling a TikTok Shop US, don't even. You can just skip over that. It doesn't apply to you yet, but just a heads up for you. Uh, selling on Tik TOK in UK. Moving to other platforms, talking about Amazon, talking about TikTok, we're going all over the place.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Today, let's talk about Temu Sheen and AliExpress. Per an article on TechRadar, it says Temu Sheen and AliExpress are attracting US customers in the millions and this is the funny part and that's despite the fact that the vast majority do not trust these online retailers in the first place. All right, so what's some of the numbers? They polled 4,000 people in the US UK polled 4,000 people in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, and they said that 60% of respondents had shopped on one of these three websites in the last year, with 50% of them shopping at more than one. I am not one of them. I'm not on there yet. 72% of people knew about Temu 55% knew about Sheen. 48% of online shoppers, it says, bought items from Temu, 42% from Sheen and 28% from AliExpress. That's mind boggling to me, like I don't know any American people who know about AliExpress. You know outside of you know us Amazon sellers, right? Some of the popular items is adult clothing for Sheen 57%. Household items on Temu 35%. Now this is the funny part here Even though all of these sales, all these people 50% shopping on Temu right, 94% of these respondents said they don't trust Temu, but they're still shopping on there. That's kind of ridiculous to me. If you don't trust them, why are you shopping on there? So that's kind of interesting to me. Is growing in popularity. Like I told you a few weeks ago, I'm investigating starting selling some of my products on Temu to see how that goes, shipping from US and having a higher price, obviously, than the Chinese sellers. Let's see how that goes. I'll have my results on that in a few weeks. I'm also trying to get Project X up on Temu as well.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Our next article is going back to Seller Central and it is entitled Give Returns a Second Life with FBA Grade and Resell. I don't enroll in this, or I haven't enrolled in this. I'm wondering if has anybody out there enrolled in this FBA Grade and Resell? Because what it does is it says it grades and relists your return products, allowing you to recover value and give them a second life. It's a set it and forget it system and it's a fee-based so. So take a look at more details. If this is right for you, you know, if you're getting a lot of returns and you don't want to have it come back to you or you want to have Amazon take a closer look before putting it back in inventory, maybe this uh service you know could be for you. FBA Grade and Resell. Do a search on that and your seller central dashboard and you will get information on it.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Next news article is just almost like a throwaway news article. I just thought it was funny because I probably have owned um more Kia souls than most people Like. I think I have owned eight different Kia souls over the last 10 years. I've got two Kia souls right now. Like for my family, uh, my daughter has had three different Kia souls. All right, so we have. We were a Kia soul family. But this article is entitled I think this is from Bloomberg Amazon is testing speedy delivery featuring Kia Souls, all right. So this is kind of like to counterbalance how much they rely on the flex drivers of souls. I'm doing it, but I don't think it's a matter of, oh, if you drive a Kia soul, maybe you can get hired as an Amazon delivery driver. It's actually the opposite, I believe. It looks like maybe Amazon is going to buy their own Kia souls or something and instead of having a like sometimes flex drivers, you know, like have you ever had your Amazon products delivered by door dash drivers or Uber drivers? Or like random strangers, like pulling up to your life, who's this pulling up to my house? Oh, shoot, it's just an Amazon delivery. All right, those are flex drivers. They're not necessarily Amazon employees, but I guess instead of having to rely on that, they want to have like take it in house a little bit and maybe they're going to be buying a fleet of of Kia souls. Interesting. I used to have a blue electric Kia soul. I don't have it anymore, but look, look kind of like the Amazon blue. I wonder what color these Amazon delivery Kia Soles will have. But now you see a Kia Sole pulling up in your neighborhood. It's probably either me or my family or an Amazon delivery driver.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Last article of the day is an announcement by Amazon saying hey, you can now plan your agenda for Amazon Accelerate 2024. This is the event of the year that you should go to. It's September 17 and 19 in Seattle. You guys have known about that. If you want to sign up, go to h10.me forward slash accelerate. But this announcement is about oh, by the way you know, it talks about seller cafe super important. If you have any issue with your Amazon account at all, seller cafe, set an appointment. You can get it fixed. Most likely, if you're on the right, these guys know what they're doing. If seller central hasn't been able to fix something, I almost guarantee I can't guarantee completely I don't work for Amazon, but I almost want to guarantee that that those seller cafe people can fix it for you. But anyways, the thing that's new is you can now do your agenda. So if you've signed up or are planning to sign up, you want to see what kind of agenda is like. You know when is Martha Stewart speaking, which, which she is and what are the other executives and when is Amazon going to release that? Go to the agenda builder. Mine's not on there yet, but I'm a speaker at Amazon Accelerate myself. So make sure those of you going, you guys put me on your agenda, my speech that I'm going to be doing. We're doing a 15 at Amazon Accelerate and along those same lines for those going to Amazon Accelerate or maybe you just live in Seattle or you want to fly to Seattle, not go to Accelerate just hang out with us.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Any listener of the podcast you can attend our elite workshop for free on the 16th. Space is limited, so this is not unlimited. It's going to sell out. We're capping at like about 100, 125 people, but we're going to have Kevin King speaking there. We're going to have Destiny I 25 people, but we're going to have Kevin King speaking there. We're going to have destiny I'm going to be there. Jeff Cohen from Amazon advertising Uh, we'll, we'll be there. We'll have some food and beverages. It's going to be from one to 6 PM on September 16th. So go to h10.me forward slash Seattle to get tickets. H10.me forward slash Seattle and it's free for now. All right, um, you know, usually you have to pay like 300 bucks to get into these high level workshops. We have rubbed shoulders with Kevin and Destiny and others, but this one for podcast listeners is going to be free, but while tickets remain, all right, it's going to sell out and then I can't guarantee your entry. I'll see you in Seattle, all right?

 

Bradley Sutton:

Next up, let's go ahead and combine our training tip of the week with a Helium 10 feature update. It's not really a feature update, but we revamped and made our keyword sales estimations even more accurate, all right. So this is why is keyword sales estimations an important metric? Search volume, obviously, is great. It's a great way to kind of prioritize your keywords. Why? Because you know, maybe you have 10 relevant keywords. You want to know which one to put in your title. Well, if they're all equally relevant, you're probably going to pick them over the most search form. But in addition, what is the reason you're doing that? Well, the reason you're doing that is because you're assuming that the ones with the most search volume can lead to the most sales. Right, and that would normally and in most situations absolutely be a hundred percent accurate statement. All right, but I said most situations, because sometimes you'll have a keyword that has less buyer intent. What does that mean? That means you know a hundred thousand people are searching it, but maybe only 1000 people are actually buying something after it where you could have a keyword with 20,000 searches and 2000 people purchasing a product because it was so specific that it has a lot of buyer intent. So you can see that looking just at search volume sometimes is not the best way to look at things. Well, Helium 10 has keyword sales estimates and they revamped the algorithm and it's pretty cool because I was just doing some testing on my top two keywords Everybody, everybody right now.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Who's seeing Project X and the coffin shelf. What is our top two keywords? You probably know coffin shelf and gothic decor. So take a look here at where this metric is and let me just show you something super cool. All right, so I'm here right now in Magnet, Helium, Magnet, I put my top two keywords, coffin shelf and Gothic decor and, as you can see here, this is interesting. Coffin shelf has 3,900 searches a month estimated and Gothic decor has 15,000, but you would think that maybe is it three times as many sales that Gothic decor has in coffin shelf. No, um, look at this. This is actually kind of crazy. Coffin shelf has 18 keyword sales, but Gothic decor has 147. So actually, Gothic decor has a lot of buyer intent, even more than coffin shelf. The conversion rate from sales to search volume is a lot higher on Gothic decor.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Now don't get it twisted. That doesn't mean that Gothic decor is a better keyword. It's not, you know, like Gothic decor. If you look at the people who buy things on Gothic decor, they're buying all kinds of products. They're not really buying coffin shelves, you know per se. Okay, so take a look at this. Um, let me just show you, uh, how accurate this is. Like you can't do this always, but I just. These were the first two keywords I tested, because this is what's near and dear to my heart. Right, I love how Amazon shows data, because when Amazon shows more data, sometimes people say, oh, amazon showing search query performance and brand analytics and this and that, and why do I need Helium 10 anymore? That's like incompetent. I'm like no, it's great, because the more data that Amazon shows, the more you could actually kind of prove that Helium 10's data is correct. So watch this. I went inside brand analytics, top search terms, and I looked first at coffin shelf, right, and this is not something you can do a hundred percent of the time. And, and Helium 10 is not going to be like a hundred percent. Uh, exactly, you know aligned with this, but it's just one of these things that just shows you how accurate Helium 10 is most of the time.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Take a look at this coffin shelf. It's telling you that there were pro, there were three products that had. One of them had 5.56% conversion, one of them had 33.33% and one of them had 5.56%. And then you can add those three numbers up, subtract it from 100% and then get like the remaining amount of conversions right Now. Here's the thing. That's on an actual number, right? So if you put in some random number like 153, and then you took 550 or 5.56%, it might come out to some number that that has like this decimal place, and then you know that, well, it's probably the wrong estimate because it's not exactly like that should be a whole number. So watch this. So I put those percentages here in a Google spreadsheet 5.56% twice 33.3% and the remainder is 55.55% Anyway.

 

Bradley Sutton:

So what did Helium 10 say? Was the sales again 18. So if I put 18 right here and I have this calculation, that goes it. Look, it works out to a perfect whole number here. All right, so the first product, and now I can actually see how many sales did that product have the top three. They had one sale, all right. This one had six sales, this one had one sale. So pretty cool, right? Uh, it came out perfect. Now what about Gothic decor? Let's take a look. Gothic decor we said 147, uh, sales, and then, if you look at brand analytics, uh, we have percentages of 1.36%, 1.36%, and then another couple of numbers here. I put it here Actually they're all 1.36% and that means 95.92% is the other orders. So let's put the Helium 10 number of 147 in here and survey says look at that, it comes out to a perfect number here of two sales, two sales, two sales and the rest of the product 141 sales.

 

Bradley Sutton:

Now, like I said this, you can't just do this cross-check. It's not always going to line up perfectly, especially when we're talking about, you know, ones where it says zero sales or 50% or something. But you know Helium 10 has other algorithms. That's why we're able to keep so, so accurate here. But now, guys, you know, take a look at that data about keyword sales. I think it's going to be very beneficial for you to look at that number so you can prioritize keywords based on which ones have the most buyer intent. So if you have a Platinum Plan at Helium 10, you're going to see the keyword sales estimate in Magnet and Cerebro. Make sure you're taking a look at that. All right, guys. Thank you so much for joining us this week. Don't forget to tune in next week to see what's buzzing.

#585 - From Mortician to 7-Figure Adult Product Seller!

Erica Greenhalgh's transition from the funeral home industry to becoming a top Amazon seller is nothing short of remarkable. In this episode, we uncover the unique twists and turns of her career, beginning with her early days aspiring to be a dental hygienist, her unexpected entry into the funeral business, and ultimately, her leap into e-commerce. Erica opens up about the struggles she faced, the countless hours she invested, and the pivotal moments that shaped her path to success. With six associate degrees under her belt, her story is a testament to perseverance and the power of pursuing unconventional opportunities.

We also talk about the nitty-gritty details of Erica's journey from a failed business to grossing $200,000 in her first year on Amazon. She shares her strategies for securing wholesale deals, managing a home warehouse, and the art of transforming poorly listed products on Amazon into top sellers. Erica's expertise in navigating the complexities of the adult product category on Amazon offers a unique perspective on the challenges and rewards of this niche market. Her ability to build strong relationships with small brands and address issues like minimum advertised pricing has been key to her success.

Our conversation also explores the broader landscape of e-commerce, from compliance with Amazon's advertising policies to the potential of expanding to platforms like Walmart and TikTok. Erica's passion for her work and her humorous reflections on her unconventional career path make this episode a must-listen. We wrap up with a look ahead, eager to reconnect with Erica next year to see how her journey evolves and the new heights she aims to reach with her innovative strategies and tools like Helium 10. Join us for this engaging and insightful episode that promises to inspire and entertain.

In episode 585 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Bradley and Erica discuss:

• 00:00 - From Funeral Homes to Amazon Success
• 00:39 - Unique Amazon Seller Stories With Erica
• 06:36 - Transitioning to Amazon Sales Through Books
• 07:24 - From Funeral Home to Adult Products
• 09:47 - Wholesale Account Setup Success
• 15:01 - Growing Brands in Adult E-Commerce
• 16:43 - Sales Goals and Profit Margins
• 21:22 - Product Placement and Advertising Strategies
• 24:21 - Strange Incidents While Selling on Amazon
• 27:47 - Amazon's Advertising Guidelines Explained
• 28:30 - Amazon Strategies and TikTok Opportunities
• 33:34 - From Funeral Homes to Novelty Products

► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast

► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension

► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup  (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life)

► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft

► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos

Transcript

Bradley Sutton:

Today we've got one of the most unique sellers we've had on. She started off her professional career running funeral homes, then transitioned to selling books online and doing retail arbitrage and now she grosses over $2 million a year selling adult products. How cool, is that? Pretty cool, I think. What was your gross sales yesterday, last week, last year? More importantly, what are your profits after all your cost of selling on Amazon? Did you pay any storage charges to Amazon? How much did you spend on PPC? Find out these key metrics and more by using the Helium 10 tool Profits. For more information, go to h10.me/profits. Hello everybody and welcome to another episode of the Serious Seller’s podcast by Helium 10. I am your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is the show that's completely BS free, unscripted and unrehearsed organic conversation about serious strategies for serious sellers of any level in the e-commerce world. And we've got somebody who's a first time on the show and I actually just met her on a one-on-one call a couple of weeks ago here at you know, if you guys don't know this, you know Helium 10 Elite Program. One of the many benefits other than just you know being able to get training with Kevin King and weekly round tables and stuff? Is you get to book one-on-one calls with myself and Carrie and roundtables and stuff? Is you get to book one-on-one calls with myself and Carrie? And I started hearing about her business and a little bit of her story. I was like you know what? Say no more, because I would love to learn more about this from the podcast. I love just bringing in people who I meet at conferences and other ways who have unique Amazon stories and this definitely, I think, is a unique Amazon story. So, Erica, welcome to the show.

Erica:

Awesome. Thanks so much for having me. I appreciate it.

Bradley Sutton:

Awesome, awesome. Now, where are you at right now in the US of A.

Erica:

Currently I am in just a Mesa, Arizona, a little suburb of Phoenix. So, we are fortunate enough to have a little cabin up north that we could escape the heat from.

Bradley Sutton:

But isn't all of Arizona pretty hot?

Erica:

No, we're up in the mountains, so we are, we get lots of snow and pine trees and get to enjoy all of that, okay.

Bradley Sutton:

I didn't even realize there was places like that around there. Okay, not bad. Now is that where you were born and raised in Arizona, or you come from somewhere else?

Erica:

For the most part. So, I was born in Tucson, I spent all my teen years in Salt Lake City and came back as a young adult and have been here ever since.

Bradley Sutton:

Cool. Where did you go to university?

Erica:

You know I have six associates degrees because I couldn't decide what I wanted to be when I grew up. So, I'm a professional college student.

Bradley Sutton:

Nice. hey, before I actually do have a bachelor's degree, but I got it like, oh my God, like 15 years after I graduated high school, just because one of my companies I was working for at the time paid me to go do it. I was like sure I'll do it. But yeah, I have, like from local junior college, I've got like six different degrees. It was. I loved it, it was fun, you actually learn stuff, instead of having to take a whole bunch of just like general ed and stuff like that.

Erica:

So yeah, it was. It was awesome for me. I have dyslexia, I always really struggled in school and so, for whatever reason, learning finally clicked for me in college, and so it kind of became like look, I'm not dumb, see what I can do.

Bradley Sutton:

Nice. Now what? Did you have a theme of what you were taking, though? Like, did you have some kind of goal in mind, like hey, I would like to work in this? Or you just like, hey, I want to learn.

­Erica:

Yeah, from a young age I wanted to be a dental assistant, dental hygienist, so, ongoing to dental hygiene school, I moved out at 17, because you know everything at 17. And I found myself completely broke and not having a clue what to do. I remembered a girlfriend of mine. We took a health science occupations class in high school and part of the class was to get up and job shadow somebody in a medically related field, and she had done a funeral director and in the back of my mind I was like, well, that's cool. But I knew what I was going to do. And I then had an opportunity. I walked into a funeral home that was next to the college, wondering how I'm going to pay my rent, and the gentleman spent about three hours with me. I put my name in a local newsletter and, lo and behold, a few months later I was offered a job at a funeral home as an intern, and also.

Bradley Sutton:

So, then, what you had chosen as your shadow, whatever day was the funeral home.

Erica:

No well, I had chosen other medically related careers. A girlfriend of mine did funeral to done, had job shadowed a funeral director and I always thought that was cool.

Bradley Sutton:

So, this is it almost sounded like you, just randomly. It was kind of getting kind of morbid there for a second. I was like, yeah, I didn't know what I was going to do with my life, so I went into a funeral home.

Erica:

I was like wait, wait, wait, where's?

Bradley Sutton:

this story going here.

Erica:

That is exactly what happened.

Bradley Sutton:

I had no idea what I was going to do.

Erica:

So, I just walked into the funeral home going, well maybe there's an opportunity for a job here, like, let's explore this adventure in life. Okay, so there is a little morbidity to it. There's no family history. There's none of that. So, I fell in love with the industry. I love serving families. I love every aspect of it. It's my true passion. But unfortunately, that job is a very high demand and very high stress, so there's no margin for errors within that.

Bradley Sutton:

So, you started working full time there when you were still in the junior college.

Erica:

I did, yeah. So, I completely did a 180 and started going a different direction in life and worked in the funeral world, had some kids, stayed home for a while and went back into the funeral world. And the funeral home I was working for at the time was a fantastic family run funeral home here in Arizona and unfortunately, the gentleman who had started it began to age out, needed to take care of his wife who was also aging, and the people he left in charge were just cutting corners to make a dime and I really felt that they were going against everything the business was built on. And so, I left there and a former friend business partner of mine was like hey, I'm selling books and shoes on Amazon and making like a thousand dollars a week doing it. And I was like that sounds fantastic. I can sell books and shoes and figure this out.

Bradley Sutton:

What year are we talking about? About more or less?

Erica:

This was back in 2015, 2016.

Bradley Sutton:

Okay, so almost 10 years ago. Now, I think I asked you this before, but the funeral home did they have a Ghostbusters like a Hurst that you could drive?

Erica:

We did. In fact, my business partner that I started the e-commerce business with we had a custom coach made that was old timey looking. It was pretty sweet. It was Rosewood is the company Rosewood Coach and got to pick out custom colors and all the details and it was pretty awesome.

Bradley Sutton:

All right. So, working at the funeral home, you're like, hey, this is not what it used to be, and so I'm open to other ideas. And then you hear about Amazon, and then so your first entry into it was it books, was it arbitrage? How did you just kind of get into Amazon?

Erica:

It was a little of both. So it was kind of getting our feet wet going out and I would buy lots of books off of Craigslist and I had a Ford Explorer at the time and I would load up every ounce of Squarespace in that Explorer with lots of books that I could buy and figuring that out and it was just learning the pieces and putting it together of you know how to find what's what will sell on Amazon, how to find what won't, where your margins are going to be. It was a really fantastic place for us to start to get a full understanding of the Amazon game without a ton of investment required.

Bradley Sutton:

Were you still working at the funeral home and started this, or did you already leave and then now this is your only income, or what was that transition like?

Erica:

You know what? I had left the funeral home, I had about six months of income, and so it was one of those decisions that I either had to make this work and or it didn't, and I had to move on. So, I was just coming off of another failed business. I guess I'm an entrepreneur at heart and always looking for the next. I knew that I was capable of doing more, and so I was a little down. To be honest, I wasn't feeling great about things in life. I had left the funeral home, just had a failed business, and so this was kind of a I have nothing left to lose and all or nothing, and so I made the best of it over six months and was able to more than replace my income at the funeral home and decide to run with it and see how far I could take it and where we could go.

Bradley Sutton:

So, in that first year of selling on Amazon, or first of all, was it only Amazon, or were you also selling other websites? Or we're just talking about Amazon here?

Erica:

I was exclusively Amazon.

Bradley Sutton:

How much did you gross in the first year and then profit off of that?

Erica:

I want to say, in our first year and I apologize, I don't have numbers in front of me we did about $200,000 our first year.

Bradley Sutton:

So how much like were you spending eight-hour days, kind of like, or more or less, or.

Erica:

Yeah, I would say about six to eight hours a day and more. A lot of that was figuring out. What's your strategy going to be? Are you going to do online arbitrage? Are you going to do in stores? I would go and spend hours just scanning every possible thing in any store that I could, just to get an idea of what are some restricted products, what are categories that needed gating. And as I began to do that, the first year or so I realized it was a hustle to go out and find that deal, like sometimes you struggled and sometimes it was a complete mess and you would spend days with nothing. It was a complete mess and you would spend days with nothing. And so, we began to look at different wholesale accounts of I'd like to prefer to pick up a phone and just replenish my inventory rather than going out and hustle to find it. And we set up random wholesale accounts with probably 20 different companies, seeing what worked and what didn't?

Bradley Sutton:

What was your line? Like you'd cold call them and then just say how would you get them on board.

Erica:

Well, to be honest, I think that I purchased a course of how to set up wholesale accounts I want to say it was like $1,000 or $1,500. And in turn they're like here's this list, and I think I bought a list off of them and they're like but be prepared to be told no 90% of the time. And I was like, yeah, no problem, I'm willing to make all these phone calls and see where it goes. And so, as I began to make these phone calls, every single person said yes to setting up a wholesale account. Now, I think times are a little bit different today than it was back in 2016 when I did this, but all they wanted was our reseller certificate and bam, we had a wholesale account. And so, then I was overwhelmed by these massive catalogs and I want to say we were selling everything from baby pacifiers to nun chucks and nail polish and everything in between. There was no rhyme or reason between what we sold. Using FBA, so everything was FBA.

Bradley Sutton:

So then, did you have your own warehouse, would you need to get all this stuff in and label it, or you would have these companies send it to Amazon for you.

Erica:

No, I had a card table set up in my bedroom with my computer and my label printer and it was absolutely ridiculous. You know, I'd fill my entire living room with boxes and it was one at a time opening them up, and I couldn't even afford the $8 pickup for UPS to come get it. Then I would load my car and carry all of it in. And it was. You know it was a hustle.

It was an adventure bootstrapping it, figuring it out, you know.

Bradley Sutton:

less labor-intensive kind of than the retail arbitrage where you're actually having to go out so much, you know, at least you could do it from your house and things like that right and no scotty peeler injuries so saved okay and then how? Did that progress? Did you just kind of like transition to only wholesale and cut out the books and arbitrage?

Erica:

We did so we transitioned into wholesale exclusively, and at that time we began to see a lot of these manufacturers had map pricing in place. So minimum advertised pricing. Minimum advertised pricing. So, if your item is supposed to sell for $49.99, I couldn't wrap my head around the fact that it's selling for $26. And by the time I was doing the math, I'm like these people are making pennies and I just couldn't understand this. And so, then I began to speak with our wholesaler more, and they began to tell us how frustrated these manufacturers are that nobody is taking care of Amazon and how upset their brick-and-mortar stores are, that people could go online and find it for less, and how they're losing out on money. And I would also find incorrect information and incorrect images. And so, I began to really pivot our business, seeing a huge hole in the industry between manufacturers and the e-commerce space. And so, I approached these manufacturers and I said, hey, what if you were to give me exclusivity on your product in exchange for me managing it on Amazon? And it's a win-win for everybody. I will do it for free. If you don't like me, you can fire me. I won't make you sign a contract or anything else.

Bradley Sutton:

When you say manufacturers, are these the same people that you were buying stuff from wholesale? And you're just like hey, can I have exclusive? Or were you buying from distributors? And you're like let me find who's the real manufacturer.

Erica:

So, I actually worked as a team with my distributor. I think that there's enough money to be made by everybody. Could I make more money going direct to the manufacturer? Absolutely, but he really opened those doors for me to the manufacturers direct, and so my agreement was you know, I'm going to continue buying it where I get it from in exchange for you know, everybody wins in this situation. So, the manufacturer wins, the distributor wins, and I felt like I came away a winner in that, and so we began to grow that way. we, I only do. I'm to the point now that I only work with brands that have brand registry done so that we could maximize and take advantage of all of the benefits that brand registry offers and it's grown.

Bradley Sutton:

At what point did you get into the adult products? Cause, that's pretty much all you do now, right? It's exclusively all you do, and how in the world did that transition happen?

Erica:

So, we found, as we began to look for local wholesalers because we're limited on funds and we had to keep our money moving we found one of our wholesale accounts was a rubber duck company and my former business partner was like, hey, I think they make a vibrator rubber duck. And so, we then discovered that there was a distributor here in Phoenix and reached out to them and that cut down a huge amount of our lead time because we could go and directly pick it up and we didn't have that extra delay in products coming in, because we were so new that tires were not something I knew to ask for or could get, especially as a new customer. And so, we started working exclusively with a distributor here and they're the ones who were fortunate enough to open up those doors for us directly working with the manufacturers.

Bradley Sutton:

Okay, and then so did you like slowly just move everything in that direction because there was more profit, or how did that happen?

Erica:

You know, it became a passion to see these brands grow and I loved seeing these terrible listings with terrible images grow into something amazing watching sales increase. Their sales as a whole increase because brick and mortar stores were willing to pick them up more, without having that competition online and the low price, they said okay, well, as long as online is the same price as us, we're happy to carry it, and so it really builds the brand's overall health really.

Bradley Sutton:

And so, how long has it been now? how many years? Where are your kind of like, exclusively uh in the adult space?

Erica:

We started short in in 2016, so I'm in nine years, so it was right after.

Bradley Sutton:

So, it's been a while now.

Yeah, okay, which year was your peak, would you say. Was it during covid is? Is it every year you're growing, or did you have a peak a couple years ago?

Erica:

I've been extremely fortunate to grow every year, but definitely COVID was a massive peak, so during that time we owned two funeral homes and the e-commerce business. So those who are bored during that time.

Bradley Sutton:

So, you got back into the funeral home business then, after you had left that, yes, oh, hold on I skipped this part of the story.

Erica:

Okay, my former business partner had owned a funeral home in Sun City and we had partnered on the e-commerce business together. But I was the one who'd built the e-commerce business and we decided to open a second funeral home and said well if we're going to do that, let's partner on everything. And so, we did. Unfortunately, about two and a half years ago, we just went our own directions in life and I continued the e-commerce business and he went on his own direction.

Bradley Sutton:

Interesting. What do you think you're going to end this year sales wise? If you know we're over halfway through the year, what do you you'll end up gross?

Erica:

I think we'll be a little over two million this year in gross sales.

Bradley Sutton:

Wholesales obviously different kinds of profit margins and stuff. What's your target? Profit margins, after all your expenses, of what you're trying to clear so that you know whether you can take on this product or this account. What do you target?

Erica:

Well, if Amazon would quit upping their fees, it would be a lot better. Our goal is around 30%.

Bradley Sutton:

Good Lord, that's a lot. That's more than private label even sometimes, yeah, interesting.

Erica:

yeah it's a niche that really, I think that anybody can go into. I don't know about anybody, but well, it's definitely an avenue that others can pursue. There’re so many small companies out there that really their attention needs to be focused on building their brands and marketing and expansion and growth that if you're able to reach out and add some value and take on this piece to them. A lot of the companies I work with are small mom and pop companies and they've really become family, and that's the part that I think that I love the most is the relationships that I have in the industry, so truly everyone has become family.

Bradley Sutton:

Now, are you still going out there and looking for more accounts, or is all your growth just from growing the accounts that you do have? What can you contribute your growth to?

Erica:

For the most part, my growth, I think, has contributed towards just doing the right thing. I don't pursue any new accounts. I do have people who approach me often and I'm very selective on who I work with at this point.

Bradley Sutton:

Are you at the point now where you know you had said before you only talk to people that already have brand registry. But are you the one who's like making the list, like, like, let's say that you know you've been working with somebody for a year and they're like, hey, I've got this you know, pocket rocket 3.0 that's coming out brand new launch. Now are you the one who's making the listings and organizing the photography and the launch strategy, that stuff, or you just work with okay and the launch strategy that stuff, or you just work with Okay. So, it's almost as if you're running it like a private label ,even though it's not your private label but it's like you're not just buying product and reselling it. You're doing the steps that a private label seller would do, okay.

Erica:

Yeah, so I'm doing all of those steps. These are their babies, so they've poured their blood, sweat and tears into building, grow them the way that they want to see it done. So, I don't do anything that they're not okay with. I work closely with everybody and provide them annual reports. Here's where they're at somewhat quarterly reports. Want to see growth. Here's where we're struggling. Here's a higher level of returns on this product. Let's try to figure out why, and so we really work together in growing this, and so I feel like it's a huge honor and a huge privilege to be given this level of trust.

Bradley Sutton:

Tell the audience about, like, some of the differences of selling in this category compared to, you know, the average category where you know you can pretty much you know, do anything you want. What are some of the restrictions as far as that goes in the adult category?

Erica:

Our biggest challenge is the lack of ability to advertise, so there is no advertising allowed. They are extremely restrictive on images. That's been probably my biggest challenge lately is that I'll have some images published on one variation and they block my images on another variation. Why, who knows? It's Amazon. We don't know why they do what they do most of the time and you know, language is extremely important. There's a lot of words that unfortunately, we can't use in writing copy.

Bradley Sutton:

You know like, obviously there's words that you know adult, words that a non-adult category wouldn't want to use, because then you get classified as in the adult. But you're saying, even if you are in the adult category, there's still limitations on the verbiage you can use.

Erica:

Correct, correct. And we're even behind a virtual black curtain, in that you can go into Amazon and there are listings that pop up who are not listed in the adult category and eventually you get caught. So, I really don't recommend it if you're looking for longevity on Amazon, but in order to even find sexual wellness products, you have to go under health and household and then you can begin to search for them, and a lot of times then even you have to hit sexual wellness to locate items.

Bradley Sutton:

Advertising, obviously, is what brings eyeballs to products, and especially when you launch, you might not be on top of page one right away. So, you use advertising to get to the top of page one and then hopefully, your organic rank increases. But then now, without advertising, when you have newer products like, how are you getting placed on? How are you getting to page one for your main keywords? Are you sending outside traffic? is it just a slow roll that that you know? You cross promote your different products, what's your strategy there?

Erica:

It's a mix between all of the brands. So, some brands um, I have one in particular that they've completely built their entire branding off of social media. So, he has a social media background and it's where he came from and he decided to do a product launch to see, thought it would be fun and see where he would take it, and had a ton of success with that. I have other brands that have been around for decades and so people are very aware of the brand name and pursue it that way, and we'll highlight items within the storefronts. We do some online advertising with different brands, so it's really different between what these manufacturers are looking for across the brand, so it's different with everybody.

Bradley Sutton:

The rest, though, of the whole Amazon journey is it pretty much similar as any other Helium 10 user like you're running Cerebro on maybe your competitors’ listings or tracking your keywords and things like that.

Erica:

Yes, so I'm back, new to Helium 10. It's been a few years and I'm realizing how much my business needed it. So there's a lot of tools and a lot of words and a lot of content, a lot of features that really I needed to get me to the next level, because I've been doing it for so long that you think you know what you know until you get to the point that you realize that a lot of the information that you used to use and used to know is dated and out of date, and so I'm missing the boat and, I'm kind of kicking myself a little bit now, realizing that I'm a little late to the game.

Bradley Sutton:

Maybe you left some money on the table the last couple of years.

Erica:

Yeah, a little late, but then never right.

Bradley Sutton:

Is it now to the point? Obviously, you know $2 million of the products you're not labeling and stuff in your bedroom anymore. So, do you have a warehouse or do you just tell them, hey, put this sticker on your products and then send it to Amazon? How does that work?

Erica:

Yeah, that's exactly what I do. So, I have a couple of warehouses that I work with and they take care of all the fulfillment for me. So, I did seller FBA for a while. I was not a big fan, especially with Amazon's page view requirements and next day shipping requirements. It just got to the point that it was not profitable.

Bradley Sutton:

Yeah, seller, fulfilled prime where, where you, you have to deliver it to the customer in like a day or two. Uh, and hit those deadlines, yeah.

Erica:

Yeah, I did that for a while and then it just got out of control and unrealistic, so I went back to FBA and it's it. It's worked out well.

Bradley Sutton:

Any horror stories over the last five years you know other than you know. All of a sudden, they shut down one of your listings because of one of the images they don't like, but anything really like where the whole account has gotten shut down, or lawsuits over somebody saying, hey, I use this lotion and it made me amputate my leg, I don't know. Whatever the heck. Anything weird has come up since you've been selling on Amazon.

Erica:

Well, I mean, you always get crazy returns

Bradley Sutton:

how do you even take returns in this category?

Erica:

You're not supposed to. It violates. But somehow, they allow it. But I did have a very sweet lady write me a handwritten letter about how her brother bought her a vibrator and how she. Yeah, about how she appreciates the kindness and thoughtfulness behind it, but it's not really for her and it is not used and she would really appreciate if we would give her brother her money back.

Bradley Sutton:

yeah, that family might have some issues that that should not be the kind of thing you give to a sibling. Okay, interesting,

Erica:

She was in her 70’s and wrote this beautiful.

Bradley Sutton:

now it's even more interesting, oh my goodness gracious!

Erica:

So weird. So, I was like okay.

Bradley Sutton:

Well, what about on the opposite side, any other funny story? Hey, because of these products you saved my marriage or something, messages like that, or just like something really cool that's happened, like amazing prime day, or you had a product go viral, or anything like that.

Erica:

Yeah, I've had some messages that they're lubed into riven time and so, unfortunately, they suffered severe chafing and they would appreciate if I could deliver on time. This was fulfilled by amazon, not me, but I was like well okay, I don't know what to tell you. I'm sorry that you experienced this. Other than that, you know I've been shut down a few times. Unfortunately, some customers claimed they received inauthentic product or used product, which can never be the case based on how we operate and how Amazon operates. And so, you know, you're down for a day or two, you submit invoices, you're back up. So, as frustrating and as annoying as that is, you know it is fixable.

Bradley Sutton:

I haven't said anything that can happen to any um Amazon seller. Okay, what are you know, other than certain words that Amazon doesn't approve, and I'm assuming that Amazon doesn't necessarily give you the exact list. It's just kind of like a you'll know when you know, but what? What give you the exact list is just kind of like a you'll know when you know, but what? What if anybody else is getting interested in getting into this niche? how do you know what words not to use, like what images for sure you can't use Like what? What are some of the guidelines that people need to know?

Erica:

There are some guidelines within the back end. I think that they're extremely vague, um, but they do not like product images in hands, um, even textbook terms like nipples and footrests and things like that you're not able to use in your texts. The only trick that I've found into finding out what is okay and not okay is when you submit a plus content. So, a plus content then gives you the red flag. Red flag you need to remove this word. But as far as Seller Central goes and writing your copy and it not being published, you just have no idea and you open up cases and you get a very generic response back. Nobody tells you specifics and so really, it's been a trial and an error of what they'll allow and what they won't allow.

Bradley Sutton:

So, you mentioned A-plus content, so obviously, obviously that's allowed in your niche. Other, what about like things like virtual bundles or other things? Is it just that strict advertising, like there's no sponsored product, no sponsored brand ads, no videos? Yeah, video could never work in this niche.

Bradley Sutton:

But videos, but not advertise. Oh, so you have videos like for your listing.

Erica:

I do so. Not every product has a video, but there are quite a few videos that I'm able to post on the listings.

Bradley Sutton:

Oh well, that's kind of mind boggling to me, Like I would think that definitely that would be kind of hard to be able to have a compliant one, but okay.

Erica:

Yeah, welcome to Amazon, but you just can't yeah.

Bradley Sutton:

How about like amazon post. Are you allowed to do those?

Erica:

No, no posts. Um, I'm able to do brand stories, a plus content, videos, and then storefronts and storefronts, are you know? Again, you have to be careful with images and words that you use. It's like anything. Sometimes you submit it to Amazon and they'll say something is wrong with page one, and then you submit it again and page one is just fine and page three has an issue, and so you just go through and kind of whack them all until you get it to where it's okay.

Bradley Sutton:

Are you selling on other platforms as well, or just Amazon?

Erica:

We do a little bit of Walmart as well, and I just got my TikTok storefront approved, so I'm working on pursuing that as well.

Bradley Sutton:

Excellent. So, do you know what's the? Is that a lot is that kind of products allowed on TikTok shop?

Erica:

They are. So, one of my manufacturers that I work with that's really how he's built his business. You just have to. There's a lot of guidelines and rules, so I'm fortunate to have a mentor in this area that's going to be able to guide me on that, because this is something new and outside of anything I've ever done.

Bradley Sutton:

Yeah, let me just warn you, you, you could potentially get real busy real fast, like, I know people who, within a couple months of starting on Amazon or a TikTok shop, already surpassed their Amazon sales, and I can imagine if that's I was curious, if it was allowed that this would be the perfect product for TikTok shop, because you know influencers, which is what it's driven by like your stuff could definitely go viral. So, okay, you might have to expand out your three-employee team there soon.

Erica:

So, that's, yeah, it's. It's totally new realm to me. So, I we'll see how it goes. What's the worst thing that can happen, right.

Bradley Sutton:

Yeah, right. So, you referenced that, hey, you're happier back using helium 10 now and that you've noticed already some things that you could have been doing before. What are some of those things I like? What have you know, even though you came in as like an experienced seller and then, not having used helium 10 for years, it's almost like as if you're a new Helium 10 user. So, what were some of the things that have already, kind of like changed up your SOPs on how you how you do things?

Erica:

So, I love your keyword tracking and I love competitor tracking. Those have been huge because I could never figure out what they were doing and I wasn't. That's been my biggest thing. And I also love my ranking on my product page of where am I scoring? You know, some of my listings. I'm like wow, I didn't realize how short I was falling here or copy wasn't displaying, and so I'm going through and re-digging through everything as I go and finding it's allowing me to completely clean up my product catalog and to maximize clean up my product catalog and to maximize every single word, every single image, every single phrase that I'm using to at least optimize where I'm ranking in keywords. If I realize I'm missing out on opportunities of advertising, but let's maximize what I can do.

Bradley Sutton:

What are strategies you think just here, in brief, like that you can say to anybody, regardless of what category they're in? That's really helped you, because it takes a special little something to be able to have a three-person team and manage the number of SKUs you have and scale it to this amount and at that kind of profitability. That's not something that just anybody off the street can do. So, what are a couple of things that you think are working in your favor here?

Erica:

I'm a big believer in always doing the right thing and never chasing money. So, I think when you do the right thing, the money follows, and so, unfortunately, I've seen on Amazon over the years that people try to make a quick dime and you do. You can make a quick dime on Amazon, but it's never works in your favor on the longevity of doing things. So that's my number one thing is to do the right thing even when people aren't watching it. You know, if you don't have manufacturers watching, if you know, no matter who's looking over your shoulder, to never do it to make a quick buck. And the second thing is I think that, no matter what the industry is, go and start having conversations. Whether you go to a coffee expo, find out local expos that are coming to town, and start having conversations with manufacturers and look for opportunities.

Bradley Sutton:

Are you planning to go to Amazon Accelerate in Seattle?

Erica:

No, I'm not going this year, unfortunately, I know.

Bradley Sutton:

Anybody else out there who wants to go. You can't get tickets from Helium 10, but just go to h10.me/accelerate, I think, is the link to go. But yeah, I was about to say it would have been cool to be able to meet you in person over there. If anybody is interested, we're going to have a special event that's normally only for Elite members, but we're going to open it up to a few others. So, if anybody's interested in registering, only register, guys. If you're going to go, use h10.me forward slash Seattle. We're doing an event on the 16th of September, the day before Amazon Accelerate. We'll have Kevin King there, Destaney Jeff from Amazon, Melanie from Avasa. We have a lot of cool speakers and some networking and partying to do. If you were there, you would have been the toast of the town, I think, everybody wanting to pick your brain on your interesting story there. But we'll have to meet up at another event another time. Well, thank you so much, Erica, for joining us and telling us your very unique story. There are some people that you can probably say I'm sure somebody else has done something pretty similar. There's probably nobody who has gone from funeral homes to selling books and adult products. I think it was really nice.

Erica:

I get you coming and going.

Bradley Sutton:

Oh, okay. I wonder how many people throughout this had a that's what she said like in the back of their minds, or some puns like we could have had a field day with today's content, but that one was. That's a perfect way to end the episode there, I guess.

So, anyways, Erica, I definitely want to reach out to you next year, have after another year under your belt of selling, to see what new things you've learned or what new Helium 10 tools you're using and maybe did you hit 3 million or not, so look forward to bringing you back on the show sometime next year.

Erica:

Awesome, sounds great, thank you.

#584 - Amazon Search Query Performance & Product Opportunity Explorer Breakdown

Join us in this episode of the Serious Sellers Podcast with the inspiring journey with Mansour Norouzi, a former civil engineer who has successfully transitioned to becoming an e-commerce advertising expert in Canada. In this episode, Mansour shares his story of moving from managing residential construction projects to launching his own Amazon brand in late 2018. Listen in as he discusses his discovery of Amazon advertising, starting by managing campaigns for others and eventually partnering with Incrementum Digital. Mansour's experience in launching a supplement brand and more in Canada offers valuable insights into leveraging Amazon data points and successfully transitioning careers.

We also explore the utility and limitations of Amazon's Search Query Performance report. This often misunderstood data can be a goldmine for sellers when used correctly. Discover how Search Query Performance and the Product Opportunity Explorer can aid in ad testing, monitoring keyword trends, and understanding click-through and conversion rates compared to competitors. Learn about the challenges of scaling data analysis across multiple ASINs and the potential benefits of API integration. For a holistic brand view, focusing on top-performing products and key keywords is recommended, and the need for more streamlined solutions from Amazon is highlighted.

The episode also covers optimizing advertising strategies on different platforms, including the nuanced differences between Walmart and Amazon. Mansour discusses the effectiveness of auto campaigns on Walmart and the importance of advanced placement controls for desktop and mobile optimization. Additionally, integrating Amazon data with Amazon seller tools like Helium 10 and conducting market share analysis using Market360 are emphasized for better insights. Finally, we dive into evolving strategies for cost-effective customer acquisition, sharing practical tips and real-world examples that have helped brands improve performance metrics over the past several months. Tune in for an episode packed with actionable strategies and inspiring success stories!

In episode 584 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Bradley and Mansour discuss:

• 00:00 - Leveraging Amazon Data Points for Success
• 04:57 - Transition From Engineering to Entrepreneurship
• 07:40 - Optimizing Performance With Amazon Search Data
• 11:43 - Challenges of Scaling Search Query Performance
• 18:26 - Analyzing Market Trends for Sales Success
• 19:56 - Understanding Brand Metrics for Amazon Success
• 26:49 - Amazon's Free Visibility Advantage
• 28:04 - Optimizing Advertising Strategies for E-Commerce
• 29:23 - Differentiating Amazon Data vs Helium 10
• 32:30 - Forecasting Strategy for Amazon Sellers
• 35:09 - Driving Cost-Effective Acquisition Strategy

► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast

► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension

► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup  (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life)

► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft

► Watch The Podcasts On Youtube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos

Helium 10 Buzz 8/2/24: Amazon Bullet Point Change | Labor Day Sale Upcoming | (More) New Amazon Fees

We’re back with another episode of the Weekly Buzz with Helium 10’s Chief Brand Evangelist, Bradley Sutton. Every week, we cover the latest breaking news in the Amazon, Walmart, and E-commerce space, talk about Helium 10’s newest features, and provide a training tip for the week for serious sellers of any level.

Amazon is responsible for dangerous products sold on its site, federal agency rules
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/amazon-responsible-dangerous-products-sold-site-federal-agency-rules-rcna164309

Etsy Is Getting Loyalty Program for Its Most Dedicated Shoppers
https://gizmodo.com/etsy-is-getting-loyalty-program-for-its-most-dedicated-shoppers-2000481536

AWS Outage Hits Amazon Services, Ring, Whole Foods, Alexa
https://www.crn.com/news/cloud/2024/aws-outage-hits-amazon-services-ring-whole-foods-alex

Amazon looks to reduce costs to compete more aggressively on price as consumer habits shift
https://www.geekwire.com/2024/amazon-looks-to-reduce-costs-to-compete-more-aggressively-on-price/

Dozens of angry Chinese suppliers swarmed Temu's office, saying they're tired of giving Westerners refunds without returns
https://www.businessinsider.com/temus-office-besieged-chinese-suppliers-protesting-refund-policy-2024-7

New landing page in Sponsored Brands Grow brand impression share goal
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/grow-brand-impression-share-with-new-landing-page/

Scale your message with priority delivery using Prime Video programmatic guaranteed deals
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/scale-your-message-using-prime-video-programmatic-guaranteed-deals/

Harvest high performing targets with Target Promotion, now available for Sponsored Products advertisers in UCM ads console
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/target-promotion-for-sponsored-products/

This episode is jam-packed with news and insights to help you stay ahead in the competitive world of selling on Amazon, Walmart, and ecommerce!

In this episode of the Weekly Buzz by Helium 10, Bradley covers:

• 00:50 - Amazon Recall Change
• 02:40 - New Bullet Point Rules
• 06:23 - Etsy Prime?
• 07:01 - Amazon Outage
• 07:43 - New Amazon Fees
• 09:50 - Amazon Cost Cutting
• 11:30 - Product Images Update
• 13:22 - On Time Delivery Policy
• 15:42 - Temu Sellers Gone Wild
• 17:38 - Labor Day Sale
• 18:16 - FBA Capacity Fees
• 19:51 - New Sponsored Brand Page
• 21:24 - Prime Video Ads
• 22:03 - Keyword Harvesting
• 24:04 - Sellerfest Online Event

► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast

► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension

► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup  (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life)

► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft

► Watch The Podcasts On Youtube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos

Transcript

Bradley Sutton:

Amazon is changing its bullet point requirements. There is yet another new fee that Amazon sellers are going to have to pay. Temu sellers in China storm the Temu offices in protest. This and more on today's Weekly Buzz. How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. Hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Series Sellers Podcast by Helium 10. I'm your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is the show. That is our Helium 10 Weekly Buzz, where we give you a rundown of all the news stories that are going on in the Amazon, Walmart and e-commerce world. Let's see what's buzzing. Today might be a first. There's so much news today. I think there might be a total of 14 or possibly more news articles that affect e-commerce sellers out there. So a very abnormal week. Let's go ahead and hop right into it.

Bradley Sutton:

The first news story that we're going to talk about today is from NBC News and it is entitled Amazon is responsible for dangerous products sold in its site. Federal agency rules, all right. So the Consumer Product Safety Commission is classifying Amazon, it says, as a distributor of the product and therefore bears legal responsibility for a recall. You know, in the past Amazon kind of like had this stance where they're like hey, we're not the sellers. It's third party sellers. You know like we'll do what we can to keep customers safe, but we're not the ones who are responsible for it. But now this ruling says that Amazon has to notify customers about and remove products deemed dangerous that it sells through its website. Federal regulators ruled on Tuesday, all right. So basically it's saying that, hey, amazon bears legal responsibility for product recalls, even if they are sold by us. You know, third party sellers. I guess there was a few years ago, three years ago, there was about 400,000 products sold that had faulty carbon monoxide alarms and and flammable children's pajamas, that's. I shouldn't laugh at that. But that's like who? Who is selling flammable children's pajamas? Like what kind of quality control are you guys doing? And flammable hairdryer, and they're subject to this order. But you know Amazon says it's already removed and notified customers about it. But anyways, you know like this might seem like, hey, we're not selling flammable pajamas, what does this have to do with me? But you know if this requires a lot more procedures or things that Amazon is going to have to do, well, you know there's costs that come with that and we might see some of the cost of that. Now, on the flip side. You know, let's say, there are sellers from other countries, like factories that are are selling, you know, not high quality things that are dangerous. Now it looks like maybe Amazon might take a more proactive approach and so you know, hey, this could help Amazon sellers long term.

Bradley Sutton:

Next article is going to Seller Central. Spend a little bit of time on this one because this is interesting. I think a lot of sellers are going to find this important and it's entitled Review Updated Bullet Point Requirements to Optimize your Listing. All right, so effective in a couple of weeks, on August 15, 2024,. It says Amazon is updating its bullet point requirements. All right, so we announced this a long time ago, actually, where it was for hardline. Now it says here that the main points is restriction of special characters, emojis and some phrases such as refund related guarantees. Now, supposedly, you know like Amazon a while back said no more emojis, but we haven't seen that policed too much. So now that it's kind of like coming out with it a little bit in a more official capacity, perhaps like could this mean that you know, listings might start getting suppressed, or things like that. Well, let's read on here. Other thing is it says is that one change is you're going to have guidance to help you create high quality bullet points that are clear and concise.

Bradley Sutton:

All right, now here's the thing. They're going to use AI to help optimize listing quality. They're going to remove non-compliant content and use AI to generate compliant, high quality bullet points. Supposedly they're going to share these with you for review before published. But again, this is kind of like something like before. We talked about how Amazon has image requirements, we're going to talk about that later and then, if you're not meeting the requirements, amazon could go in there and change your images. They can go in there and change your title, and then you're kind of stuck with that. So, buyer beware now, hey us. Or seller beware. I guess I should say, if you're a seller, who's kind of like towing the line and then using emojis or using things that you shouldn't. Potentially this kind of like policy might state that, hey, you're giving Amazon the right to go in there and put some AI thing or put what it thinks is valid, and in the past, when Amazon does that, you know, be it with images or be it with titles, once that happens, it's like you can't change it back, right. So it's kind of a serious thing Now that article that was in your seller central dashboard.

Bradley Sutton:

It says hey, don't put a sense, don't put N a or not applicable or not eligible or TBD or copy pending. Don't do any of that. It says don't use phrases such as eco-friendly, environmentally friendly, ecologically friendly antibacterial made from bamboo I didn't realize. Made from bamboozle. I have a bamboo brand. I didn't realize. Made from bamboo. I have a bamboo brand. I didn't realize that that's not allowed. Made from soy or contained soy. You can't say hey, if not satisfied, send it back. Full refund, unconditional guarantee with no limit, not allowed to say those things. Obviously no company information there, no repetition.

Bradley Sutton:

It says and then you have to include at least three bullet points as far as character limits, as hey, uh, use more than 10 characters but less than 255, uh characters. So something to think about. Like, uh, you might want to do an audit on your listings. Make sure that you're compliant instead of like just taking the chance that you know Amazon might just slap you on the wrist and you can just remove your emojis or something later on. So curious, what do you the wrist and you can just remove your emojis or something later on. So I'm curious, are you guys going to just take this seriously, or maybe think that's kind of like their image requirements where Amazon doesn't enforce it too much, or hey, they've been saying bullet points, no emojis for years and I've been able to get away with it. What are you going to do? Are you going to keep going or are you going to actually change it this time? Let me know in the comments below.

Bradley Sutton:

Next article is from Gizmodo and it's entitled Etsy is getting a loyalty program for its most dedicated shopper. So this is going to be an invite only closed beta. It's going to cost $5 a month and kind of like. Makes me think of Walmart plus. You know Amazon prime target three, 60, where it's a membership buyer called Etsy insider. So it's not called Etsy Prime, but it's called Etsy Insider and it's going to offer exclusive benefits to buyers. So something very similar perhaps to what you guys know about Amazon Prime is now coming to Etsy. So is that going to increase sales, increase loyalty on the Etsy platform? Will be interesting to find out.

Bradley Sutton:

Next article is from CRN.com and it's entitled AWS outage has Amazon services, ring, whole foods and Alexa. Um, you know a lot of stuff in this article. Maybe doesn't, you think doesn't apply. But this is maybe what happened. Like how many of you guys out there, I saw a lot of message boards and groups where, talking about a few days ago, the seller central dashboard was glitching like crazy, you couldn't even get into your Amazon advertising, et cetera. So it probably is related to this. So I saw some people saying, hey, is it just me or you're not able to get your data? Well, it's no, it wasn't just you. There was this big outage that even affected whole foods, uh, supermarkets from Amazon. So don't worry, it looks like everything's back to normal. Uh, but you weren't the only one affected, if that was affecting you.

Bradley Sutton:

Next article, back to Seller Central Dashboard, and it's entitled Digital Service Fees Effective October 1st. So guess what, guys? We have got yet another set of fees, but it's not anything huge and it's because of some kind of regulation. So it says the Canadian government recently implemented a DST Digital Services Tax similar to those of the UK, France, Italy and Spain, and so on October 1st, we're going to start introducing a digital services fee to account for DST. Now, who does this apply to? All right, well, this DST rate is 2% in the UK, 3% in Canada, France, Italy and Spain. But it depends on the location of the buyer, the location of your business, et cetera.

Bradley Sutton:

So if you are a USA seller and you only sell in US, all right, so you're a US-based company and you're selling Amazon USA, you're not going to have to worry about any of this. All right, it's not going to apply. But if you sell in Amazon USA but your business is established in a country in which DST has been introduced UK, France, Spain, Canada now the sales in your Amazon USA store is going to apply to this DST fee. All right, so it is a 3% fee in the US store. Now you might be thinking 3%, good grief. Now that's crazy. If I'm already paying 15%, what? It's 18%? No, it's 3% of your Amazon seller fees. So if your seller fee is $2.25, like it is on a $15 item, you're paying only 7 cents more because it's 3% of that 225, as opposed to 3% of the 15. All right. And another example they gave here is if your product is in the UK, uh, that's going to be a 2% fee based on the Amazon fee, all right. So, so make sure to check your dashboard If you're not sure. Hey, is this going to apply to you? Um, you know, if you're outside of Canada and these other places, check the fee schedule in your dashboard for more information. But hey, it's not going to be a surprise if something is coming months from now and Amazon is giving everybody a heads up on it.

Bradley Sutton:

The next article here is from CRN.com and it's entitled Amazon looks to reduce costs to compete more aggressively on price as consumer habits shift. All right, so a lot of this was on their Q2 report. You know they actually had some. The shares of Amazon went down. But whenever you have these reports there's always some interesting tidbits that Amazon kind of like not leaks but mentions, and it kind of can give you insights into what their plan is in the future. And then one thing that Andy Jassy was saying is they're trying to make cost improvements, all right. And the thing that I thought affected sellers is. It says here Jassy said that the company will expand its use of automation and robots, continue to build out its same day delivery network Okay, great so far further regionalize its inbound network and strive for better inventory placement. He says it's going to enable faster speeds, more orders per box, and then here we go Fewer inventory transfers once items hit fulfillment centers. So that's the part that I liked. The other stuff, whether Amazon's using robots or not I don't know how that's going to affect me, but how many times have you had some inventory and all of a sudden it goes into transfer status or reserve status and then a lot of times that's because Amazon's having to move it around to different warehouses. Well, I think this is definitely going to help because the less you know, the more it kind of like you know distributes your inventory in a correct way and doesn't have to redistribute. Well, that's going to. That's going to help. You know your, your buyability, in my opinion, and how much you know units you have available to sellers or to buyers, and then you then it's going to help the shipping times as well. So let's see how this works out, if sellers are going to have an advantage because of these changes.

Bradley Sutton:

Our next article is going back to the Seller Central dashboard and it's entitled Update to how Product Detail Page Images Are Selected. So back in January on the Weekly Buzz, we had talked about how product details pages for hard lines product types are going to start displaying, potentially, images from multiple sellers. All right, now, in the coming months, this article says it's going to now include both soft lines and consumable products types. All right, and supposedly this is going to help increase sales. Um, but you know the they made a couple of tweaks to it since January. All right, they're going to prioritize brand owner images, thank goodness. All right. So if you're a brand registered owner, it's not like you're just going to automatically get your images removed. Um, and they're only going to use Amazon or brand registered sellers content If the required images are missing in the product detail page or to upgrade low quality content.

Bradley Sutton:

So this is what I talked about a little bit earlier, about what's going on, where sometimes, if Amazon says, hey, if you're not hitting our requirements on images, on title, on bullet points, we're going to step in and make necessary changes that we see fit. Now, again, this is the thing that I brought up like seven months ago, back in January. That I thought was super noteworthy, and they're reiterating it here. It says, as a reminder, each product detail page must have at least three required images one with the product on white background main image. One with a product in an environment that's what we call lifestyle images and one with product information such as dimensions or nutritional facts. This is an infographic. January was the first time I ever saw this where Amazon is basically saying you need a white background image, you need an infographic. January was the first time I ever saw this where Amazon is basically saying you need a white background image, you need an infographic and a lifestyle image. So they're reiterating that requirement. Now, you know, like three years ago you never, you only saw the white background image and the rest of the images could be whatever you wanted it. So, so make sure your images, guys, are in compliance.

Bradley Sutton:

All right, the next article back to the seller central dashboard. I mean, it seems like they they just seems like they just spit all these things out back to back to back 're going to have to maintain a 90% OTDR on time delivery rate. All right, I don't know what it was before. I mean, 90% seems pretty reasonable, like I thought it was a hundred percent that you pretty much had to do, but it's recommending that you actually do 95% according to this article. And obviously this does not apply at all to FBA, you know, because sellers aren't responsible for on-time delivery promises. Okay, now another thing is transit time settings. Now, before this September 25th date, on August 25th, the transit time requirements are going to be updated to match delivery capabilities of shipping services. So if you're shipping within the continental US you know that means that's not including Puerto Rico and Hawaii and Alaska you have to have a maximum transit time of only five days for standard and eight days for free economy shipping. Now this is interesting to me because I know some sellers who are doing FBM. You know, including myself.

Bradley Sutton:

You know maybe your initial reaction is like oh, this is going to be a pain in the neck. But remember what was announced in the Weekly Buzz a few weeks ago by Carrie about how Amazon might have like a Teemu-ish kind of like setup where Chinese sellers can ship directly within like eight to 10 days. Well, if that happens, who knows, maybe this is kind of like a protection for those of you shipping for full but fulfilled by merchant domestically, where you're going to have a guaranteed advantage over those Chinese direct shipping where you know the buyer is going to see five days delivery time, all right. So this five day delivery time, it's because Amazon's going to be displaying this as the as the shipping time for the product. And then if the Temu ish ones have like eight to 10 days, well, you, the Temu-ish ones have like eight to 10 days. Well, you know, this might help you know the buyability of your products. There's a lot more information here in this detailed article on your Seller Central dashboard, so make sure to check it out when you can. If you are an FBM seller, if you do 100% FBA, you can just go ahead and forget about that article, as it doesn't apply to you.

Bradley Sutton:

Now, speaking of Temu, this next article is kind of funny. Like sometimes, I think, amazon sellers, you know, like, especially when I read message boards, they get on the same page. They want to complain about the same thing of Amazon. Have you guys ever fantasized about or like thought about, let's all get together and let's like storm Amazon's headquarters not storm it, but, like you know, let's go there and let Bezos or let Jassy know how we feel and see if we can get up a meeting. Well, that might seem comical and like not realistic, but that is like literally what happened in Temu last week. All right, so this is an article for Business Insider and it says dozens of angry Chinese suppliers swarmed Temu's office saying they're tired of giving Westerners refunds without returns. Now, 80 people got in the building. There's like 300 people this article says was protesting and then 80 of them actually were able to storm the building here and they're disgruntled. So I know we're kind of jealous of what's going on with Temu sellers. Man, how could we ever match the prices? But not all is rosy over there. So these Temu suppliers are upset that Temu is trying to recruit US-based sellers and they're also upset about the refund policy.

Bradley Sutton:

So if they ship something from China to the customer and the customer says you know what, I don't like this product, it looks like I didn't realize this. I've never bought one thing from Temu myself, but Temu just returns the money and they don't even have to return the product to the, the product to the customer. So, like the sellers are up in arms about this. One merchant said told this Chinese newspaper that he lost almost all of his profits when he was fined $400,000 for customer refunds and complaints. First of all, holy crap, if he profited $400,000, how much did he actually sell in the last you know a few months? But anyways, this is what's going on in Temu. Don't get any ideas, guys. I don't think if 300 of you tried to storm Amazon Seattle offices that 80 are going to get through. Pretty sure Amazon has got some pretty tight security over here.

Bradley Sutton:

All right. Next article, again going back to Seller Central. It's not necessarily a prime day, but there is going to be a special Labor Day sale that Amazon is going to have. All right, it's actually entitled Labor Day sale and this is going to begin August 26th and runs through September 3rd. All right, so right. There's going to be deals that you can offer and these are time bound promotional offers and go to advertising, go to deals hit, create new deals and then select the week of the 26th and then that's going to go ahead and see if you're eligible to be able to have a special Labor Day sale deal. All right, the next article is for the last time, I believe again going back to Seller Central Dashboard, and this is an article about peak readiness and timelines for FBA capacity limits.

Bradley Sutton:

Now a couple important things. Number one a date that you have to keep in mind. It says if you want to guarantee you're going to have the prime badge for black Friday we're looking way ahead you have to have your inventory in the fulfillment centers by October 19th. So set a reminder for yourself. However you ship your inventory to Amazon, you've got to have it in the fulfillment centers by October 19th. Now that's kind of crazy if you think about it. When is Black Friday? Isn't that like November? You got to get your stuff. Don't think that you're going to send it in the beginning of November. You got to get your stuff in there pretty early. And one more thing here about fees and actual elimination of a fee. You know for once. Isn't that nice. It says additionally, to help you simplify operations and manage inventory more efficiency during peak, we have eliminated this overage fee for storage effective July 1st 2024. So if your on-hand inventory exceeds your capacity limit, you are not going to get this overage fee. All right. So that's, how often is it that there's a reduction or elimination of fees? Usually the announcements we we give her are about new fees that Amazon is charging. So that's a nice little welcome surprise from Amazon this week. If you want more information on that, make sure to check that news article in your dashboard.

Bradley Sutton:

All right, now we've got a few Amazon ads announcements, all right. So for those of you who are doing PPC, we have got some advanced ones, some beginners ones. Let's go ahead and hop into that. The first one from Amazon advertising. They announced new landing page in sponsored brand grow brand impression share goal Right. So what is this? That launch says the sponsored brand grow brand impression share campaign now allows advertisers to utilize a new landing page option in the product collection ad format. So you can select three products to advertise and then that's going to lead shoppers from a top of search ad to a new brand landing page containing these products.

Bradley Sutton:

All right. So one of the differences is now this is a new type of landing page that Amazon creates that buyers can land on. So sellers who even don't have a formally prerequisite Amazon store brand store which hopefully you guys have, but that used to be a requirement to be able to advertise some of your top of search ads Well, now you don't need that prerequisite stores to say you can just start this campaign super quick and ensure the brand product discovery experience. So where this is is under your goals when you set up a new sponsored brand campaign, one of the goals is grow brand impression share and now you can choose, once you, if you select that one, the product collection ad format, and then there's a brand new section right here that says new landing page and says pick products to advertise and we'll create a landing page for you here. For those of you watching on YouTube, I'm showing an example of the shoe brand. Who's got one of these set up right now and where this is now available. It's across the board North America, south America, Europe, middle East and Asia Pacific East and Asia Pacific. Next news article from Amazon advertising.

Bradley Sutton:

It says scale your message with priority delivery using Prime Video programmatic guaranteed deals. I'm not going to go too much into details because probably not that many of you are using Prime Video ads, but basically they launch programmatic guaranteed deals for Prime Video so you can have run of service deals, contextual deals that can go on, like you know top best of TV shows, page best of movies, best of Prime Video originals, et cetera, and then audience based deals. Check the link in the comments below or the description below If you want, if you're somebody who uses Prime Video ads and you can get a little bit more information on this. Last article of the day is an announcement from Amazon Advertising says on this last article of the day is an announcement from amazon advertising says harvest high performing targets with target promotion now available for sponsored products advertisers. So this is kind of like funny. It's like like very similar to what like atomic and another you know PPC software does where you can supposedly harvest keywords from like auto campaigns and move it to a manual. Now I tried to test this in my account and it wasn't working. So like just got a bunch of error messages. But for those of you who aren't using software, you know this is a potential option for you. Um, I'm not sure I can suggest using it yet because I got to see first how the suggestions work. You know, like if Amazon's algorithms was perfect in advertising, they wouldn't we wouldn't even have to negative match keywords because once we get like 30, 40 clicks they would start negative matching itself. But no, if we don't do anything, amazon's still going to keep charging us. So you know that in mind, like I'm not sure if we can, you know, quote unquote just trust this Amazon suggestion thing to move keywords in the right way. But who knows, maybe it's going to be pretty cool thing to move keywords in the right way. But who knows, maybe it's going to be pretty cool.

Bradley Sutton:

But for me it doesn't affect me much because I've been doing keyword harvesting for four years using Helium 10 Atomic. I set my rules and I say, hey, if one of my auto or broad campaign gets two orders at this ACoS or less, I want you to go ahead and move it to this campaign and I could exactly set up the flow. So there's nothing that is coming out here that is going to really affect the way I do things, but maybe for those of you who are just trying to eyeball your Amazon advertising and not even using the search term reports and not making pivot tables and not using software or whatever, maybe this might be a feature that can help you a little bit. So check out your advertising console, go to one of your auto campaigns, go to the ad group, go to the search terms page and take a look there. Does it show you something that? Uh? Does it give you suggestions on what you can move? Uh, it did it on mine because it was broken, but maybe it's working on yours. Let me know what you think and I'll leave a message in the comments below. All right, that's finally it for the news this week.

Bradley Sutton:

One last thing I wanted to give you a heads up. I'm going to be giving some cool strategies at the Seller Fest online next week. So if you want to get free tickets. I think it's free. I'm not sure if it's free or not but for more information, go to h10.me/sellerfest. Even if you have to pay, it'll be worth it. There's going to be tons of great speakers uh, other than myself as well, so I'm sure you're going to get a lot of value. h10.me/sellerfest for more information. All right, guys who that literally made a record? We've been doing Weekly Buzz for four years and this was the most articles, the most news stories in one week that we have ever had. So thank you, guys. For those of you who stuck to the end, let's see what's going to happen next week. Make sure to tune in next Thursday or Friday to see what's buzzing.