Charlie Cole

Retail Media is passive income. When you hire us to do it. :) Kidding, been in all seriousness. It is probably the most MEASURABLE velocity tool. It is probably the most FLEXIBLE velocity tool. Here’s your go-to retail media platform list: -Kroger: 8451 -Ulta: UB Media -Target: Roundel -Costco: Costco Media -Best Buy: Best Buy Ads -Most Grocery: Instacart -Convenience: DoorDash -CVS: CVS Media Xchange -Walmart: Walmart Connect -Macy’s: Macy’s Media Network -Dollar Tree: Chesapeake Media -Sam’s Club: Sam’s Member Access -Home Depot: Home Depot Ad Center -Ahold (Food Lion, etal): AD Retail Media -Albertsons: Albertsons Media Collective -Walgreens: Walgreens Advertising Group -Chew.com: Chewy Retail Media (dotcom bonus) Citrus and Criteo can give you access to almost any other major retailers. There you have it. There’s your cheat sheet. Now, if you want it to be passive income… Or you want it to be passive velocity… Hit me up. :) ——— 🔹 We grow brands on Amazon. 🔹 We grow brands in Whole Foods, Walmart, Target, CVS, Macy’s, Instacart, etc. #ecommerce #retailmedia #retailmedianetworks #cpg #cpgbrands #retailstrategy #founderlife #instacart #ShopperMarketing #walmart #wholefoods

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Headless is dead ☠️ At least for 99.9999% of merchants. I know this topic has been beat to death, but it’s still relevant. Especially now since we’re seeing the byproduct of many brands adopting a headless architecture over the past few years. - 60% of our pipeline are large/enterprise brands who are moving from a custom headless environment to Shopify native. - 80%+ of recent launches and current projects are large merchants who are coming from a headless custom stack. We used to put a GMV indicator to judge if headless was the right approach. But the large merchants are the ones moving towards Shopify native…. Why? - TCO and tech stack costs are dramatically lower on Shopify. - Easier content updates without needing a dev or waiting 2 hours for build time to preview. - Faster feature deployment - Leverge the app ecosystem without the need for custom integrations. - System integrations operate the same way. - Take advantage of Shopify’s product enhancements. Headless doesn’t solve complex back office needs. Yet many merchants still seem to think they do. It’s a Frontend solution for very complex content needs. Unless you’re Nike, you probably don’t need to push content to 50 different places. #ecommerce #headless #shopify

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Instacart not having negative keywords as an option is the best example of what "machine learning" actually costs brands to support. The best solution I've found? Take their auto applied keywords and make their bid the lowest possible (30 cents). I built a really solid ads structure supporting each of our Target sku's and woke up to us bidding on "Ben and Jerry's" as a "optimized auto applied suggesition" for our Vanilla Ice Cream Whey. Gee, I wonder what sophisticated dev team decided "auto bid on product title". Yeah, in the world of CPG there could neeevvverrr be issues with that. Who leads this team and how much do you make. (Hint: too much). Happy Friday to everyone except overpaid leadership that don't actually understand what they're building and get paid boat loads of money for it.

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4 Comments

❓🤔 Why consider a full service agency vs. just retail media support?❓🤔 Choosing between a full-service Amazon agency and a traditional retail advertising agency involves understanding the specific advantages each offers in navigating the complexities of online retail and Amazon's ecosystem. A full-service Amazon agency specializes in every aspect of selling on Amazon, from initial setup to ongoing optimization and growth strategies. One of its key benefits lies in its deep understanding of Amazon's algorithms, policies, fees, profitability challenges and marketplace dynamics. This expertise translates into tailored strategies for product listings, pricing, inventory management, and advertising campaigns that are finely tuned to maximize visibility, sales, and profitability on Amazon. Unlike a traditional retail advertising agency, which may focus on broader advertising channels and lack specific Amazon-centric strategies, a full-service Amazon agency provides comprehensive solutions designed exclusively for the Amazon platform. This includes leveraging tools like Amazon Advertising (formerly known as AMS), Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Amazon DSP (Demand-Side Platform) to drive targeted traffic and improve conversion rates. All while prioritizing the right items in your catalog to maximize (profitable) growth. Moreover, a full-service Amazon agency offers expertise in navigating Amazon's constantly evolving landscape, including changes in algorithms, policies, creative capabilities and competitor strategies. They often have direct access to Amazon's support and beta programs, which can provide a competitive edge in testing new features and optimizing campaigns. In summary, while a retail advertising agency may excel in traditional marketing channels, a full-service Amazon agency offers specialized knowledge and dedicated resources focused solely on maximizing success within Amazon's unique marketplace. This specialization can lead to more effective campaigns, higher sales, improved brand visibility, and ultimately, greater long-term success for brands looking to thrive on Amazon. 🚀 🎉 If you're in need of help (or interested in learning more) The Topo Agency is here for you! Reach out directly or check out our website at www.thetopoagency.com

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We hear you! For as low as $99/month - you can have Amazon advertising software that: ✅ Removes pricey agency fees ✅ Optimizes your product listings with a click of a button for higher visibility and conversions ✅ 24/7 keyword ad targeting improvements for increased returns ✅ Automates systems that give you your time back DM us “AMAZON” to learn more or click the link in our bio for a FREE trial of Otrera Amazon advertising software!

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Running ads on Amazon in 2024 is like a fire. Is yours in a nice fireplace or in a dumpster fire? I sat down with Destaney Wishon, CEO of btr media, to chat about the landscape of advertising within Amazon in 2024. Some hot takes: → The power of DSP; when you need it. → Good products = good results. → Transparency with clients is critical. → Advertising creatives NEED to resonate to perform. → Using PickFu to validate creatives. How are YOU currently using ads effectively? ↳ Day parting? ↳ Software or humans? Tell me in the comments! Checkout the full 📽️ 🔗 in the 👇

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Super interesting thread with lots of insightful responses! Thanks Timothy! Here’s my 2 cents. Theme store themes are packaged and distributed for a merchant audience, not agency/developer audience. It’s compiled code. We don’t develop our themes that way, why should you? I build themes with well scoped theme components, Figma files, docs, CI, and workflows. All of these help us ship faster and at a higher quality. Why should you need to do these things yourself when they’ve already been solved or can be iterated from something that already exists? Themes are GIANT projects. Building a world class buying experience that checks all the boxes of quality and functionality from scratch just doesn’t make sense. If there was a design and development environment that gave you everything you needed, without limiting the final product you’re trying to deliver, why would you chose to not use it? If any of this resonates with you, you’re going to want to follow what we’re doing at Archetype Themes 👇 https://lnkd.in/ekQesRAD

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MTA is Dead, in case you weren’t aware. There is a better way to measure media performance and its impact on revenue by channel. If you use MTA or nothing at all, which is the same thing, you are likely making the working optimizations to your media. Please DM me if you want to learn more. Prescient is our partner for good reason and I am happy to tell you why and then help you navigate this noisy and confusing space… Tom Barbaro Cogent Collective The MarTech Matrix Podcast #performancemarketing #Shopify #ecommercemarketing

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What's causing the explosion of incentivized/rewarded UA channels recently? I'm tracking a new company launch every week at this point. Especially giftcard reward apps. Is it because IDFA deprecation killed other channels? Or because advertisers are seeing great results from these channels? Or something else? I've added my main hypothesis in the comments

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The Profitable Growth Index of NRR:PP is a powerful tool to monitor the growth and profitability of your retail business. In this newsletter, I am reviewing PGI and the components of Net Revenue Retention and Payback Period and why it's critical to brands who are struggling today. https://lnkd.in/e24KBkpk

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⚠️ Real post warning ⚠️ Aisle is updating our pricing model *gasp* Over the next 30 days, we'll be transitioning from per signup ➡️ per redemption. Our mission, vision and values are centered around making sure every brand, pre-seed to public, win in retail. This pricing change allows to ✨ live our values ✨ 1️⃣ It aligns our pricing <> company values <> creation of brand value (we only get that bag when you get that bag) 2️⃣ We are in the early aisles of this in-store engagement space. We need our brand partners to innovate for us - testing new channels, new flows, etc. Now brands won't be penalized / charged for innovating. 3️⃣ It'll actually make your aisle flows even more cost efficient allowing a brand budget to go even further (heck - we are giving cash back to both brands and users now huh?!?!) Current brand? Your brand strategist will be reaching out over the next week to let you know! Not a brand yet? Let's chat! https://gotoaisle.com/ xoxo tiffin

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With Outdoor Retailer's conference almost a week away, I wanted to share a great case study of how 121eCommerce helps outdoor brands grow their #eCommerce websites. One of our clients needed us to upgrade them from #Magento 2.3 to 2.4, and also wanted a redesign refresh as well. They expressed some frustration with some of their current integrations, so we helped them find better versions to suit their business' needs! Rather than just "doing a version upgrade," we helped them implement: 📦 A drop shipping and order management software that automatically upload products, sync inventory & route orders with dropship suppliers to virtually any online store, marketplace or ecommerce platform. 📊 A cloud-based inventory management system to help them track inventory operations at a single warehouse or multiple warehouses. 🛒 A shipping platform that allows you to manage all your small parcel and LTL shipping needs in one place. ☑️ A one-step checkout module to improve the user experience on their site. All of these solutions have really helped their internal team (and processes) be more efficient, and have improved the usability of their website! If you're ready to enhance your online presence, make sure to visit us at booth 28019 at the event! #OutdoorRetailer #Magento #Shopify #BigCommerce #SuccessStory

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So… if a link in an “organic” result is actually an affiliate link, crediting a paid partner with a click, a site visit or a sale… That would mean search engines are monetizing search listings, including allegedly organic Map results for #retail locations. Here’s what we’ve uncovered: https://lnkd.in/dQr_DqiU #SEM #affiliatemarketing #marketingROI #searchengines #ftc

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Cheers is early in its brick & mortar journey, but we already have some interesting data to share about how marketing drives brick & mortar shelf performance. Our initial math shows that $1000/spend/week on Meta ads is currently driving $.01/retail sales/week per POD. (I shared this a few months ago, but given how many new CPG/retailer followers I received recently, it's worth re-sharing for new people to see!) Generally speaking, for the Cheers brand, December is our best month and January is our worst month. By the time we get to February, things are more stable from a general, organic demand perspective until the summer. This means February serves as a decent data set to understand how mid-month changes in marketing affect performance. So far we have found that for every additional $10,000 we spend on Meta ads per week, on-shelf performance increases by ~$100 per sku, per 1000 stores, per week in the drug channel. In other words, we recoup about $.01/week in retail sales per point of distribution (POD) for every $1000/week spent on Meta. At first glance… this seems terrible! And there is likely a few reasons for that, such as our brand being on the corner of the bottom shelf and being hard to find, not enough stock so best performing stores can’t fully capitalize on demand generation, etc. These are all things we’re collaboratively improving with our partners. But, even if the math holds true and doesn’t get better with time, the math starts to make more sense as you add in more points of distribution (PODS)—which are defined as: (total number of skus in a store) * (number of stores). E.g., If you have 2 skus in 1,000 drug stores that’s 2,000 points of distribution. At low levels of distribution, you’re wasting your money on marketing. If you have only 1000 PODS, then $100,000/week in spend only becomes an extra $1000/week in retail sales. Ouch! There just isn’t enough distribution surface area to capture the demand generated by your marketing efforts… so the marketing investment all slips through your fingers. But, if you can get to 100,000 PODS, then $100,000/week in spend becomes an extra $100,000 in weekly retail sales. Now you’re at least getting an extra $1 in incremental retail sales for every $1 spent. Of course, this still doesn’t seem great, because no one has 100% margins… not to mention, the retailer/broker/distributor are all taking their cut on top as well. So how do you recoup the marketing investment? What we’re finding is that marketing spend recoups itself across all of your different channels, and then improves even further over time as first time customers become repeat purchasers who then also spread the news with their friends, growing the amount of both recurring customers and organic new customers that keep coming even when you turn marketing off. (Continued in comments...)

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So we recently started getting inundated with spam on the Upgrow contact form. I was tempted to enable a Captcha test, but I know that increases annoyance by 100%. How do I reduce spam and not reduce the conversion rate? I decided to try something different and added a final form question, "What's your favorite movie?". After a week, the CVR on the form has actually increased by 10% despite adding one more question, and the spam has decreased. As another positive, we now have a discovery call icebreaker. #happyaccident

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So now that school’s out: Beside observing and commenting on Amazon and advertising and business (and sometimes all three at once), I manage Amazon PPC and ads for quite a few brands. Two huge parts of running my agency well are constant learning and effective networking. ASGTG is one of only a few events that manages to check off both boxes really well…and in a few weeks ASGTG is going to be adding an AI-Focused event to the calendar. On July 31st, ASGTG-AI will be happening in Brooklyn, and if you’re in town or close, it will absolutely be the best place you can be that day. Ephraim Rosenberg always puts on great events with great lineups, but for me there’s three elements that take make this day noteworthy: - Perry Belcher - There’s a few people that I consider super smart in the world of business, and when it comes to both Marketing and AI, Perry is amazing. I’ve heard him multiple times, every time his content has been new and different, and he’s DRIVEN when it comes to innovating. Every peek in his head is worth it. - Ritu Java - Ritu is one of the best minds in the Amazon space, and when it comes to applying AI in FOCUSED ways, she’s amazing. So many AI bozos simply say “oh look you can make an AI Bot that will do everything for you” and then go on to say vague mumbo-jumbo that’s entirely forgettable. Ritu is the exact opposite - her AI thoughts are exact real-world applications for sellers and advertisers. Definitely worth hearing her whenever you can.  - Foooooood - Ed’s events have the reputation of the best event catering for as long as he’s been running ASGTG. Amazingly, even though plenty of people will mention the food as a reason to experience ASGTG, no other event has managed to come close. I could write a whole post about the food alone, but a quick search should show you plenty, including pictures. As a rule I don’t love writing too much at once because the average person doesn’t read anything, so I’ll wrap this up by recommending you attend ASGTG on July 31st. Link is below, and there’s actually a couple of stacking promos to take advantage off: - 20% off - 2 for 1  Both are automatically in the link, and the deal is so good that a nice dinner for two in NYC would cost you more than this and feed you far less. See you there! https://lnkd.in/eC5baESB (Ed's co-host Izabella and the rest of the lineup are just as amazing!) Izabella Ritz Paul Baron Max F Hofmann Victor Rosenman Jamie Davidson

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6 Comments

It's that time of year when many merchants selling on Target+ feel frustrated. I just received the Target+ partner email detailing the new attribute requirements. I pasted the text below as 👇 📩 "These new requirements must be added in your next merchandise type attribute submission by August 9, 2024. If you update other merchandise type attributes for an item and the item is missing a newly required attribute, the item will be systematically rejected but not removed from Target.com." #omnichannel #marketplace #ecommerce #brands #consultant #expert #EDI #retail

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