George's Blog

Mar 15, 2023 12:00AM

Amazon tests vertical alignment for product images on Amazon India. Provides a streamlined look & improves user experience. Thanks, Yogesh.

Yogesh Kumar

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Feature Update

Amazon is currently testing a new feature that vertically aligns product images. This feature has only been observed in the Clothing Category of Amazon India.

The vertical alignment of product images is a new approach that provides a more streamlined and consistent look to the images of various products. This new format may improve the user experience by providing an easier way to view and compare the products.

It is worth noting that Amazon frequently tests new features and updates to improve the platform's user experience. The company regularly monitors user feedback and data to make informed decisions about implementing new features.

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Mar 14, 2023 12:00AM

Use AI to reinstate your account. There’s endless AI tools being spat out atm. But, as with any tool, it’s how you use it. Thanks, Joe.

Joe Nilsen

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𝗛𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗚𝗣𝗧? 🙄

Just kidding. The whole world has. Amazon sellers and LinkedIn users can’t seem to get enough of it. For multiple reasons, I haven’t jumped into the mix of conversations about it to join the fun.

We have been 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝘆. I’m talking about 15-hour days, 7 days a week busy. What we have been in the lab working on is, at minimum, ten times more robust than any other software solution we have brought to this industry.

Considering the TLC our existing models regularly require, catching more than a few hours of sleep each night has been an accomplishment.

Another factor is something you’ve seen me write about in the past if you read my posts – 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩. The industry is filled with many bright individuals who went to town on ChatGPT. Why would I write to add more noise to an already flooded space?

The smoke has cleared, and we’ve all enjoyed reading the same 7-10 plagiarized methods 50+ times that a few people initially discovered.

• GPT-4 is being released on Monday
• We have moved on to the testing and fine-tuning phases of what we've built
• The ChatGPT frenzy has calmed to a certain extent

𝗜'𝗺 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗮. 💯 🔥

You will not ever read anything “typical” that I’ve written. I “share” to contribute to the space, not to campaign for likes and gold stars.

I know an influx of Large Language Model experts emerged when OpenAI released ChatGPT. I do my best to carry myself with humility. However, it must be stated: The vast majority of what I have seen people do with the technology is child’s play.

Before deeming me arrogant, I urge you to remember that this is the type of shit we have been working on and with for years. If we didn’t have a high-level understanding of prompt engineering and communicating with AI models, we would have a severe problem.

I’m just getting back into the swing of things, but I’ll be coming heavy in the coming days and weeks. Somebody asked me to write them a prompt that they could use to provide them with a thorough Plan of Action for suspended accounts yesterday.

ChatGPT will reinstate more sellers in 2023 than all these companies who rob everybody writing POAs combined. 🤖

Get the full prompt 👉 https://lnkd.in/enRP7ZRS

Stay tuned for MUCH more to come. 💯

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Mar 09, 2023 12:00AM

Amazon shifts to automation and regionalization for brands in 2023. Brands must follow a 3-step approach: review set-up, realign resources, and automate workflows. Thanks, Martin.

Martin Heubel

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The reality of working with #Amazon has changed dramatically for brands in 2023. The online retailer focuses on:

💵 Optimising margin structures
💵 Reducing headcount resources
💵 Automating repetitive processes

The list goes on.

🚩 Yet, most suppliers continue with business as usual.

They keep deploying the same investment principles as in offline channels. And they keep their teams locally organised, ignoring Amazon's regional (pan-EU) expansion focus.

This creates a gap between the reality of brands and Amazon, where brands increasingly invest in staffing while Amazon dramatically reduces its headcount.

So how can brands ensure they align their organisation with the new reality Amazon is creating in 2023 and beyond?

✅ By following a simple 3-step approach:

𝟭. 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗽
Amazon's retail workforce is in decline. In fact, more than 15% of Vendor Managers will lose their role in 2023.

As a result, Amazon has begun to focus its buyer resources at a regional EU level. Instead of 9 Vendor Managers covering each European marketplace, one Vendor Manager will manage the EU9 trade relationship going forward.

This requires brands to adjust their organisational structure to navigate the online retailer effectively. Brands that maintain a localised approach risk losing access to a dedicated Vendor Manager in 2023/24.

𝟮. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀
Aligning teams at a regional level can help brands achieve significant economies of scale. Centralising resources can help avoid duplication of work when it comes to negotiation or reporting processes, while the virtual shelf and shopper activation management can be maintained at a local level.

Brands that successfully shape their business relationship with Amazon in 2023 will excel in realigning existing workflows at a regional level while meeting and considering the demands of local markets.

𝟯. 𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝗲
With Amazon increasing its efforts to offshore and automate tasks in its retail business, brands have to shoulder more tasks that Vendor Managers and Brand Specialists previously owned.

This means that offshoring and automation must become a top priority for 1P suppliers themselves if they want to avoid a significant increase in their cost to serve.

It's good practice for brands to start capturing repetitive workflows currently done manually and either outsource them to cost-efficient service providers or automate them completely. After all, the size and complexity of Amazon's business will only increase in the years to come.

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Mar 03, 2023 12:00AM

Three Multipliers that helped take Karmaloop from bankruptcy to profit. Also turning AutoAnything's $7M annual loss into profitability within a year. Increase your company's top line by 220% in just 100 days by focusing on three components: average order value, frequency of purchases, and the total number of customers. Thanks, Drew.

Drew Sanocki

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I helped take Karmaloop from bankruptcy to profit in 10 months. I also took AutoAnything from losing $7M annually to profitability in a year.

In each case, I used a simple framework.

The framework was so effective that Shopify had me teach a course on it.

I’ll summarize that course here.

I call my approach the Three Multipliers:

1️⃣ Context:

Karmaloop was losing hundreds of thousands of $$ every month as it entered bankruptcy.

AutoAnything was losing millions when AutoZone decided to divest of the asset.

In each case, I worked with PE funds to acquire these companies. And as is the case with most PE deals, the funds wanted an immediate return on their investment.

The task? Get profitable in a short period of time. Juice revenue, ASAP. Ideally, in less than 100 days.

2️⃣ Strategy:

When tasked with growing revenue quickly like this, I break revenue down into its three components.

You see there are three, and only three, ways for a company to impact revenue:

- the average order value (AOV) x
- the frequency of purchases or no. of purchases per customer (F) x
- the total number of customers (C)

Sure there are lots of other ways to cut the onion, but I find these Three Multipliers the easiest to operationalize.

You see, when faced with rapid growth, you don’t need to kill it in any one of these Multipliers.

You just need to increase each by 30%

Why 30%, you ask?

Because the results multiply.

If you increase AOV by 30%,
If you increase frequency of purchase by 30%,
If you increase the total number of customers by 30%.

… you've just doubled the top line:
1.3 * 1.3 * 1.3 = 220%

3️⃣ Tactics:

So you now think of revenue in terms of Three Multipliers. And you know that if you improve each, the results multiply.

What do you bite off first?

Here I build out a Google Sheet Backlog.

Focused on the Three Multipliers, I work with the team to brainstorm a list of tactics and ideas within each Multiplier.

We put each in a Google Sheet and rank by two things: 1) expected impact and 2) ease of implementation.

(Because even the best ideas aren’t worth much if they take years to see the light of day.)

We sort by the overall score, and then we focus on the most promising tactics within each Multiplier.

That’s it. It sounds simple. Indeed, I’ve rarely over 20 years experienced a true doubling of the top line within 100 days.

But in most cases this approach unlocks more growth than you thought possible. Certainly more than the company has been able to achieve in the past.

The key is simplicity and focus.

Any questions?

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Mar 03, 2023 12:00AM

Most people struggle with using VAs. Treat them like a team member, invest time to understand them, and start slow. Use best delegation practices and allow them to grow. Clear processes and guidelines save time. Thanks, Adriane.

Adriane Schwager

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Most people suck at using VAs.

Here is what to do instead:

First, some context:

As CEO of GrowthAssistant, I have 8 US and 30+ PH employees. I have also helped 100+ top brands and agencies build global teams.

When it works, it's magic. When it doesn't, both the VA and the teams are unhappy.

Here are the 5 best ways to create magic:

1️⃣ They are human
Don't treat them like a robot that's here to solve your problem in a cost-effective way.

Get to know them. Understand their background. Their unique strengths & passions.

Invest 2x the time you normally would to get to know them. It's so worth it!

My EA has 18+ cats. A bunch of tattoos (we sometimes brainstorm tattoo ideas for fun). What seems to be an amazing boyfriend. LOVES coffee!

She is great as EA. But she is foremost a great, cool human - not a scheduling machine.

▶ For some reason many forget this part when working with VAs

2️⃣ Treat them like a "real" team member
Onboard them the same way you would onboard anyone: have them meet the team, company email address, Slack access, etc.

It's harder to instill company culture in a remote world. Include them in social activities like virtual happy hours

Life in the Philippines is so different.

Many hours during our social Zoom syncs were filled with learning more about their culture and way of life. It is incredibly interesting!

We still talk about "balut" (google it!) at nearly every meeting...

❗I can't overstate this:
Treating your VAs the right way is very often all it takes!

But there is more:

3️⃣ 3) Take it slow
Often your VA or Growth Assistant will have relevant experience. But that does NOT mean that you should just throw tasks at them and then check-in around the due date.

Start small and ease them into the role.

The best way to do this is to...

4️⃣ Follow the best practices of delegation

I still plan to write a whole guide about this topic.

But in a nutshell:
> Don't abdicate and don't micromanage
> Make sure you understand the task and can do it yourself
> Clear SOPs (Loom videos are great here)
> Check-in often and early initially
> Have clear agreements (due date, is "good" okay or does it need to be "perfect", etc.)

As a rule of thumb - investing more time into clear processes and guidelines saves a LOT of time later on.

▶ Little hack:
We still have all Growth Assistants send their "top tasks of the day" and "end of day overview" in Slack.

Easy way to make sure the right things get prioritized.

5️⃣ Allow them to grow
Very often they can do WAY more than you think. Use their strengths!

Here's the feedback we got from one of our Growth Assistants working for a D2C brand:
"I am very happy with the company I work for. I love the team.
I was not put into a box and held to just a small set of tasks.

They allowed me to grow and work on the things I am good at"

✏ What's your experience with VAs? What are your tips?
Let me know in the comments

And follow me for more content like this!

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