After Launching With a Reseller, a B2B/B2C Brand Regains Control With Marknology

  

Brands that want to sell on Amazon have several options. Those options include self-management, often leading to first-time mistakes and a low initial ROI. Brands can also work with a reseller, but that requires a brand to give up control over strategy, data, and inventory.

The shortcomings of the self-management and reseller options are why so many brands choose to work with an Amazon agency like Marknology. Quality agencies empower brands new to Amazon to avoid first-time mistakes, drive the desired ROI, and maintain control over their Amazon presence. 

At Marknology, we work with a specific B2B and B2C brand that sells candles, fragrances, diffusers, and bathroom and cleaning products. After launching on Amazon with a reseller, this brand wanted to find an agency that would help them be more hands-on and take greater control over its Amazon presence. 

That search led the brand to Marknology. Here’s the story of why this brand chose Marknology — and what the partnership with an experienced agency helped the brand accomplish on one of the world’s largest e-commerce marketplaces.

The Challenge: Moving Away From a Reseller

This brand first launched on Amazon with a reseller-modeled agency. The reseller would purchase the brand’s inventory and then sell it via the agency’s own Seller Central account.

The specific challenges when working with resellers include a lack of control over the following:

• SKU velocity
• PPC strategy
• Listing optimization tactics

It can be frustrating for brands that launch on Amazon to feel like their sales are not reaching peak potential. It can be even more frustrating to feel helpless when working with a reseller who fully controls the brand’s presence on Amazon.

Wanting to reach its peak potential on Amazon and feeling that lack of control, the brand decided to make a change. It started the search for an agency partner that:

• Aligned with the brand’s aggressive growth goals.
• Offered the in-house expertise needed to drive ROAS.
• Knew how to help brands maximize profitability.

More specifically, the brand was searching for an agency partner to quickly optimize listings, launch new SKUs, expand the brand’s audience, and provide detailed control over PPC budgets. The brand sought an agency that could holistically optimize its Amazon presence and take seamless control of listings while maintaining the brand’s velocity.

The Solution: Hitting the Ground Running With Listings & Campaigns

The brand didn’t have time to waste in transitioning to an agency. It wanted to get started quickly — no errors, no damage to brand reputation, and no negative customer experiences.

Marknonolgy and its team of in-house experts was the obvious choice as an agency that could help the brand reach its full potential on Amazon without delay. In addition to Marknology’s experience, the agency’s strong communication, coordination, and execution skills stood out to the brand.

Once the brand officially selected Marknology as its agency partner, the two organizations held a kickoff meeting to meet each other and align on the path ahead. The Marknology team learned how to connect with the brand’s tech stack, received access to the brand’s project management platform, and developed a roadmap for the coming weeks and months.

With a plan in place, Marknology started creating listings and campaign strategies. Once the reseller began running out of inventory, Marknology launched its listings and campaigns on behalf of the brand, SKU by SKU.

The Results: Huge YOY Gains in Sales

The brand re-launched with Marknology in March 2022. By the end of the year, the brand had regained complete control over all of its SKUs. After reaching total sales of $1.04 million in the first half of 2022, the brand reached $7.9 million in less than 6 months to start 2023.

With Marknology building out advertising campaigns, creating listings, optimizing for search, creating content, and launching products, the brand reached a daily average of $68,783 in sales. Profitability reached an average of 37.53% in 2023, and ad contribution to sales reached 54%. The brand’s new total advertising cost of sales (TACOS) is an outstanding 7.01%.

Inventory had traditionally been the brand’s biggest constraint to growth on Amazon. Marknology implemented a strategy of shifting focus from out-of-stock items to those with sufficient inventory. This approach helped the brand stretch its budget while improving its IPI score for restock capability. This new approach significantly contributed to the brand’s strong 2023 results.

These solid early results in 2023 have the brand planning to add to its current line of products and expand into international markets on Amazon.

Step-By-Step: How to Transition From a Reseller

Typically, sales grow slowly when you transition away from a reseller. Marknology helped the brand overcome that challenge by leaning heavily on ads and targeting ASINs that were optimized for search and offered plenty of inventory. This meant traffic to any given listing had the highest possible chance of converting.

The brand was already well-known on Amazon, so Marknology started by focusing on branded terms in both Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands. This created a brand halo effect that allowed sales to grow, inspiring the brand’s leaders to expand the budget.

After focusing on branded terms, Marknology entered into targeted categories, where it was possible to target competitors with a top-of-funnel approach. 

Next, Marknology added keyword targeting, which empowered the brand to gain sales volume and boost its Best Seller Rating (BSR). This is never a priority for resellers, who avoid keyword ranking to focus instead on capturing customers already looking for the brand.

Finally, after building a solid foundation and gaining momentum with Amazon’s algorithm, Marknology moved to Sponsored Display Ads, which can be used to remarket buyers back to the brand’s listings.

Only an experienced team can create and implement a plan to accelerate sales while moving away from a reseller.

Optimize Your Transition From a Reseller

The Marknology team considers a project successful only when our clients are successful. As we did for the brand described in this case study, we are experts at getting to know our clients’ goals and helping them accelerate. 

Whether you’re currently working with a reseller delivering disappointing results or self-managing an underperforming Amazon presence, we can quickly get you on the path toward success with a blend of experience, knowledge, and strategy customized to your brand’s unique needs.

To make the most of your presence on Amazon, get in touch with the Marknology team now.