Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Operations.

Today kicks off a special two-part series designed to get you fully prepared for Prime Day. In this first episode, we’re diving deep into the operational, promotional, and organic strategies you should focus on as the big shopping days approach.

We’re excited to be joined by Joanna Otto, an Account Manager on Acadia’s Retail team. With more than a decade of experience spanning brand-side roles, agencies, and Amazon itself, Joanna brings a seasoned perspective on how Prime Day has evolved.

We’re also welcoming Predrag Vetnic, one of our lead strategists for tentpole events. He’ll be sharing key data insights and best practices for building an effective merchandising strategy, drawn from our work across a wide range of client partners.

Tune in to find out more!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In this episode, Julie, Jordan, Joanna, and Predrag discuss:

• Start Preparing Early: Begin your preparations by April, as deadlines and operational tasks need to be handled well before Prime Day.

• Important Dates & Deadlines: AWD inventory by May 15, Deal scheduling closes May 23, FBA inventory deadlines: June 9 (minimal shipment splits), June 18 (Amazon-optimized splits).

• Sales Velocity & Reviews: Focus on increasing sales and reviews using programs like Vine and Product Win to boost organic ranking.

• Organic Prep: Invest in keyword optimization, competitive scraping, and high-quality content, including images and infographics.

• Prime Day Duration: The event has expanded to four days, so expect consistent sales throughout.

• Merchandise Fees: PED fees have doubled to $100; the new coupon fee structure starts June 2.

• AI Search: Amazon’s AI assistant, Rufus, influences up to 35% of search traffic. Optimize your listings for this.

• Competitive Monitoring: Be ready to monitor competitors and pivot quickly if issues arise.

• Expect the Unexpected: Prepare for unexpected challenges, like account health flags and listing suspensions.

• Economic Pressure: Pricing strategies are more complex due to tariffs and market volatility, so be cautious with price hikes.

• Invest Strategically: Focus on targeted organic and paid efforts, including influencer and UGC campaigns, to drive relevance.

Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Operations.

Today, we’re thrilled to welcome two fantastic guests: Lauren Livak Gilbert, Executive Director of the Digital Shelf Institute, and Jon Harding, SVP and Global CIO at Conair.

They’re here to share insights from a recent report they released in partnership with MikMak—a practical guide to managing technology change across the business, specifically how to leverage IT teams to accomplish transformational growth.

Tune in to find out more!

📙 RESOURCES

Download the Bridging Gaps and Breaking Silos report from the Digital Shelf Institute.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In this episode, Julie, Jordan, Lauren, and Jon discuss:

• The Evolving Role of IT: How IT has become the “nervous system” of modern consumer brands, with technology playing a bigger role in driving business outcomes, particularly as sales and marketing become increasingly tech-reliant.

• Increasing Complexity and Collaboration: The rise in technology tools (especially in digital commerce), the necessity of integrating multiple systems, and how IT and commercial teams can work together more effectively.

• Successful Cross-Functional Partnerships: Strategies for engaging IT early in business initiatives, overcoming past tensions between IT and marketing, and why collaboration leads to faster and more successful project outcomes.

• Agile and Nimble Planning: Why annual planning is no longer enough—Quarterly or even monthly reviews help teams stay agile and responsive in a fast-changing industry.

• Showcasing IT Wins: Insights on the importance of IT teams communicating their successes and impact to the wider business, including tactics like internal newsletters.

• Prioritizing Technology Initiatives: How to make sure business cases for new technology are clear, prioritized, and tied to measurable business value—especially when competing with critical back-office projects.

• Organizational Models for IT-Business Alignment: A look at different structures (shared services, embedded partners, PMO) and the critical need for shared goals and metrics between IT and other teams.

• The Future with AI: Predictions around the next wave of AI adoption—both top-down from enterprise platforms and bottom-up from grassroots productivity tools—and the transformative potential for digital commerce and omnichannel organizations.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

Connect with Lauren Livak, Executive Director of the Digital Shelf Institute.

Connect with Jon Harding, SVP and Global CIO at Conair.

Download the Bridging Gaps and Breaking Silos report.

Connect with our host, Julie Spear.

Connect with our host, Jordan Ripley.

Learn more about Acadia.

Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Operations.

Today we’re bringing back our very own Director of Retail Marketplace Strategy, Pat Petriello, to discuss how the savviest brands are balancing the needs of brand vs. performance marketing, how to avoid a life sentence in ROAS Jail, and the all-important 95/5 rule.

Tune in to find out more!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In this episode, Julie, Jordan, and Pat discuss:

• Introduction to ROAS Jail: Pat Patriello explains the concept of "ROAS jail," where marketers focus solely on Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS), leading to inefficiencies and short-term growth strategies.

• The 95-5 Rule: Only 5% of consumers are in the market for any given product at any time. The focus should be on brand building for the 95% who are not currently shopping.

• 60-40 Rule: Introduced by Pat as a guideline, suggesting a budget allocation of 60% towards brand-building and 40% towards performance marketing. This ratio helps balance short-term sales goals with long-term brand equity.

• Brand vs. Performance Marketing: Discussion on how these strategies differ and the importance of emotional connection through branding to attract long-term customers.

• Amazon's Role: Insight into how Amazon is transitioning to accommodate brand building alongside its historical strength in direct sales and conversion.

• Practical Recommendations: Tips for business leaders on how to integrate brand marketing into existing performance-focused strategies without necessarily increasing overall spending.

• Examples of Effective Brand Building: Brands like Patagonia are highlighted as successfully creating emotional connections that lead consumers directly to their products, bypassing competitive marketplace auctions.