Today we are talking with Chris McCabe about what is new and trending in black hat tactics and different ways that inventive sellers use to take each other down. Because there is a lot of money to be made in ecommerce, it attracts the best and worst operators. There are many types of nefarious tactics that are used and this is something that affects all levels of sellers and brands.  Make sure you tune in to find out more! Chris worked for Amazon evaluating seller account performance and enforcing Amazon’s policies. Now he runs ecommerceChris.com where he teaches sellers how to think like Amazon, protect their accounts and appeal listing restrictions and suspensions. He provides expert advice that helps to inform and clarify important decisions around Amazon investments by the sellers and any interested parties.

Ecommerce Brain Trust

Protecting Your Brand on Amazon: What Happens When Black Hats Attack? - Episode 210

In today’s podcast, Kiri gives her take on Jungle Scout’s 2021 State of Amazon Seller report along with her insights into the workings of the small, scrappy brands, and the lessons that can be learned from them. The scrappy challenger brands are generally at the forefront of the tactics and ideas. Those are worth looking into especially if they are used competitively, if they could be legitimate growth opportunities for larger brands and if they can give some insight into what the future might look like.   Make sure to tune in to find out more!

Lessons from Scrappy Challenger Brands - Episode 209

“7 Critical Challenges for Omnichannel Brands” will be held on October 19, 2021. During the session, Kiri will give an overview of the economic headwinds, supply-chain trends and trends regarding likely issues in 2022. To sign up go to bobsledmarketing.com/webinars Make sure to tune in to find out more!

7 Critical Challenges for Omnichannel Brands in 2022 - Webinar

In today’s podcast, our guest is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of BWG Connect, Aaron Conant. We talked about the macroeconomic and supply-chain headwinds in terms of the US economy and retail spending, as well as new marketplaces and retail media platforms. Make sure to tune in to find out more! Aaron is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of BWG Connect, a networking and knowledge-sharing group of thousands of brands who collectively grow their digital knowledge base and collaborate on partner selection. Aaron talks to 1,200 brands a year and hosts 250 in-person and virtual events with industry professionals. Prior to this Aaron was Head of eCommerce Sales at Perrigo, where he helped launch their Amazon business as well as D2C and B2B websites. Aaron began his career doing synthetic organic chemistry at Pfizer. 

Macroeconomic Headwinds Affecting Ecommerce - Episode 208

In today’s podcast, our guest is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of BWG Connect, Aaron Conant. We talked about the ways of connecting in-person and online, as well as the value of conferences and smaller-scale gatherings especially in lieu of Covid restrictions.  Make sure to tune in to find out more! Aaron is a Co-Founder and Managing Director of BWG Connect, a networking and knowledge-sharing group of thousands of brands who collectively grow their digital knowledge base and collaborate on partner selection. Aaron talks to 1,200 brands a year and hosts 250 in-person and virtual events with industry professionals. Prior to this Aaron was Head of eCommerce Sales at Perrigo, where he helped launch their Amazon business as well as D2C and B2B websites. Aaron began his career doing synthetic organic chemistry at Pfizer.  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Connect with Kiri Masters Learn more about Bobsled Marketing Connect with Aaron Conant Learn more about BWG Connect on LinkedIn

The State of Retail Conferences & Staying Current in Ecommerce - Episode 207

In today’s podcast, our guest is CPG retail marketing expert Steven Cleere and our theme is the CPG retail industry. We talked about Walmart, the opportunity of growing there, advantages and differences between Walmart and Amazon.  Make sure to tune in to find out more! Steven is a host of Nexxt Level Brand’s Podcasts and he is Co-founder and Managing Partner (Emeritus) of the TMI Group (TradeMarketing Inc.). Steven has worked in the advertising and marketing agency industry for over 30 years.  While enjoying a successful career as a guidance owner, he began working with small businesses, as a volunteer, at the agency Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center in San Rafael, Calif. in their Food Business Incubator. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Connect with Kiri Masters Learn more about Bobsled Marketing Connect with Steven Cleere Learn more about NexxtLevel Brands Podcast & Community Check Nexxt Level Brands Podcast Check  NexxtLevel Brands Community

The Walmart Marketplace for CPG Brands- Episode 206

“Shippageddon” first entered the retail industry lexicon in late 2020, describing a conflation of global supply chain issues that led many brands and retailers to be under-stocked or otherwise unable to fulfill customer demand for purchases last year. A year later, many of those issues have not been resolved, and there are new hazards to deal with. Retail brands are preparing for round two of Shippageddon.  The term Shippageddon was first coined in late 2020 on an episode of the retail podcast The Jason And Scot Show: ”We were talking about the likely e-commerce peak we expected from the holiday, on top of the e-commerce peak we were already seeing due to Covid-19, and we felt like retailers were likely to run into shipping capacity issues,” said the hosts of the show. And the alarm that retail experts sounded did in fact bear out. Shoppers were indeed met with stock-outs, longer delivery timelines from all carriers, and less overall discounting ahead of the holidays. But the outlook doesn’t look much better for 2021.  Make sure to tune in to find out more! MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Connect with Kiri Masters Learn more about Bobsled Marketing Check Mike Beckham’s post on Twitter The Jason And Scot Show Read New Data from Q2 Shopping Index Check a map of Amazon’s air fleet network across the US UPS 2021 Postage Price Changes Read Forbes article Amazon Hobbles Merchants’ Prime Day Preparations With Inventory Restrictions Read rate hikes from the USPS

Retail Brands Bracing For Second 'Shippageddon'- Episode 205

This week we are joined by Think Organic company founders, Jerry Tenenberg and Jeff Helfand. Their successful and amazing organic story is something you should definitely hear about and we are proud to say that Think Organic is Bobsled's client. Organic agriculture is a systems approach to production that is working towards environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable production.  Make sure you tune in to find out more! Jerry Tenenberg is the founder of Think Organic, a brand that sells organic herbs and spices. He is a real pioneer in organic space, having created one of the first natural food supermarkets in the U.S. in 1977 and having traveled the world to locate and organize organic farming production. Today, Think Organic is a supplier to major food companies, big-box retailers, and having its own brand of Think Organic herbs and spices that are sold on Amazon and elsewhere. Jeff Helfand is also joining us today. Prior to starting up Think Organic with Jerry, Jeff has been in the eCommerce industry since the late 90s. Today, Jeff is the General Manager and Vice President of e-commerce at Think Organic. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Connect with Kiri Masters Learn more about Bobsled Marketing Connect with Jeff Helfand Connect with Jerry Tenenberg Learn more about Think Organic Check Think Organic on Amazon

Doing Well by Doing Good’ on Amazon With the Founders of Think Organic - Episode 204

Today we are joined by special guest Dean McElwee, Director of International Ecommerce Strategy, Global Tools and Storage at Stanley Black & Decker Inc. With 18+ years of experience as a commercial leader, Dean has a remarkable track record of designing and implementing innovative growth strategies that not only drive performance, but also higher engagement, and profit. In this episode, we are approaching The Future of Retail Media Platforms - a topic that Dean is very passionate about. Tune in today to hear his unique perspective!

The Future of Retail Media Platforms With Dean McElwee - Episode 203

Today we have the pleasure to chat with Caroline Adams, one of the Project Managers here at Bobsled Marketing. Caroline recently contributed to one of Bobsled's most popular white papers - Amazon Vendor Chargebacks, A Guide to Avoiding Unnecessary Charges & Increasing Profit on Amazon, and today she’s sharing with us the most important takeaways from this resource. Make sure you tune in to find out more! This resource was compiled over the course of the past few years, working with more than one hundred Vendor Central clients.

Vendor Chargebacks Deep Dive - Episode 202

In today’s episode, we will talk about different skill sets required in eCommerce and the death of the third-party cookie, and what that means for brands. We will discuss how you can acquire your own first-party data so that you're not reliant on cookies in the future, and attitudinal marketing. Make sure you tune in to find out more! Vinny O'Brien is a multi-channel eCommerce consultant with multi-category experience. Based in Ireland, he is Director of eCommerce in a DTC outdoors brand Crua Outdoors and runs a conference in the South West of Ireland called the eCommerce Summit. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Connect with Kiri Masters Learn more about Bobsled Marketing Connect with Vinny O’Brien Find more about Vinny & Co Consulting Follow Vinny & Co on Twitter

Attitudinal Marketing and 1st Party Customer Data With Vinny O’Brien - Episode 201

In today's episode we are talking about growth accountability. Total Growth Accountability is research that Molly and Chris have conducted with the valuable input and feedback from the Digital Shelf Institute’s Executive Forum members. It lays out the barriers that stand in the way of maximum growth for brands and then posits the four shifts that are needed to maximize market share across all channels. Total growth accountability is a set of new practices that allows brands to achieve success in digital commerce.    Make sure you tune in to find out more!   Molly has been a pioneer in connecting technology to business growth including the first-ever mobile email solution (NOKIAOne), and one of first 30m + fan Facebook pages in the CPG industry. She has also built the first cross-functional (sales + marketing), cross-segment (confections, pet, food) global demand technology roadmap @ Mars, tripling central funding for these initiatives in just over 3 years. She now leads Salsify's customer, executive and industry communities.  Chris Perry is on a mission to help empower first movers - both people and brands - to win in a disruptive marketplace. He is also the Chief Learning Officer at firstmovr, eCommerce empowerment fueled by Community of Practice.  As a CPG eCommerce practitioner, executive educator and advisor, he has led eCommerce at Reckitt Benckiser, WellPet and Kellogg’s and was most recently VP of Executive Education at Edge by Ascential. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Connect with Kiri Masters Learn more about Bobsled Marketing Connect with Molly Schonthal  Connect with Chris Perry Learn more about Salsify Learn more about firstmovr Download the report Shift to Total Growth Accountability

Total Growth Accountability in Ecommerce With Molly Schonthal and Chris Perry- Episode 200

Beauty & Personal Care is among six top retail categories on Amazon and that is why today we’re joined by Maya Crothers, who is Founder & CEO of Circcell Skincare. Her previous professional experience includes working in energy generation and strategy consulting with Bain & Company. She and her husband are personally interested in the work of the Aspen Institute in the area of criminal justice reform. Through her company, Maya has worked with the Nest Foundation to fight the human trafficking of children in the US. Maya recently moved to Aspen from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and she enjoys all the mountains have to offer with her husband and two teenage children.  Make sure you tune in to find out more!   MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Connect with Kiri Masters Learn more about Bobsled Marketing Connect with Maya Crothers Learn more about Circcell Skincare Follow Circcell on Facebook Follow Circcell on Instagram Read Amazon Explodes Beauty Sales With Exclusive 'Gating' For Brands Request A Consultation With Our Amazon Experts

Protecting your brand from resellers on Amazon- Episode 199

This week on the eCommerce Braintrust podcast, we’re sharing with you key points from the report of profitability in eCommerce. Digital has gone from a relatively small percentage of a brand's sales to a larger percentage. While profitability might not have been an issue when the eCommerce channel was small, it most certainly is now back under the microscope as that percentage of sales has increased. Kiri Masters interviewed 10 members of the Digital Shelf Executive Forum for this report. These executive-level digital and eCommerce leaders come from large, multinational brands with annual revenues over $250 million. This report will help you define your profitability metrics, gain internal alignment, scale your program, and separate your sales channels.  Make sure you tune in to find out more! MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Connect with Kiri Masters Learn more about Bobsled Marketing Find more about Digital Shelf Institute Read Forbes article The Dirty Little Secrets Of Profitability In eCommerce  Request A Consultation With Our Amazon Experts Download report  Executive Insights: the Primary Drivers of Ecommerce Profitability Across the Digital Shelf Find more about Payoneer

The Dirty Little Secret of Profitability in eCommerce - Episode 198

This week we’re back with Mindy Fashaw of Pacvue to discuss more topics around digital retail media. We are digging deeper into retail media channels and how to measure performance according to actual business objectives, and not just the legible metrics.   Make sure you tune in to find out more!   MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Connect with Kiri Masters Connect with Mindy Fashaw Learn more about Bobsled Marketing Learn more about Pacvue Register for Q2 2021 CPC Report: Amazon PLUS Walmart Performance Data Webinar on 7/21 Listen to episode 195: Retail Media Assessment Criteria With Mindy Fashaw Keep on track with Pacvue webinars Find more about Payoneer Request A Consultation With Our Amazon Experts

Digital Retail Media Is a Brand New Industry With Mindy Fashaw, COO Of Pacvue

Get access to the world's best brains when it comes to building momentum online for established consumer brands. Join our hosts and their expert guests for conversations about ecommerce strategies, trends, and innovations. Access our brain trust and boost your brand's ecommerce potential.

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Ecommerce Brain Trust

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