I recently ran into Zack Edgmon, Enterprise Account Manager at Smart Scout, at an event and was eager to interview him, especially because I recently acquired a brand, Truth Nutrition, that already has a presence on Amazon.
SmartScout is an analytics tool specially designed to give marketers a birds-eye view of the inner workings of Amazon’s Marketplace — obviously, the more one knows about the inner workings of Amazon’s Marketplace before engaging with it, the higher one’s chances of success.
Zack and I discuss how SmartScout works, why it’s useful for brands selling on Amazon, and then we take a deep dive into related issues relevant to effective selling on Amazon. As Zack notes, Amazon appears to be shifting its focus away from Vendor Central and towards Seller Central, with brands moving away from Vendor Central.
We discuss how SmartScout can be used for product research, for competitive conquest, and to better understand consumer behavior. We chat about marketers’ love-hate relationship with Amazon and the challenges of managing brand reputation on Amazon, including the impact of unauthorized sellers and the importance of controlling brand image.
Our discussion then turns to what Zack is excited about for 2023 and beyond. As he notes, “‘it’s exciting but also it can be a little scary to see what Amazon decides to do a year from now. They are really starting to put a big emphasis and push on Amazon Freight; Amazon Full Service… they’re kind of taking over different segments that people would have to outsource previously, or at least pushing it a little bit heavier. ”
