A GUIDE FOR BRAND LEADERS
Choose an Amazon operating model by deciding which responsibilities your brand will retain and which a partner will take on. An agency, a reseller, an internal team and a fractional executive solve different problems. The arrangement needs to match your economics, capabilities and expectations for the channel.
Separate selling the product from running the work
There are two decisions here. Who sells the inventory to the shopper? And who manages the channel? Your brand can sell through its own account while using an agency for agreed work. A reseller may buy inventory from you and sell it through its account. Those are different commercial relationships.
A Store page or the seller name on a product listing does not reveal the whole arrangement. Start with the actual agreement, account access and reporting.
What each model can do
An internal team
Your employees run the channel and coordinate with finance, operations, sales and marketing. The business retains knowledge and day-to-day decision-making. Budget for the range of skills needed: one hire does not automatically cover advertising, catalog work, creative, inventory and commercial leadership.
An agency supporting the brand
An agency provides the strategy and execution included in its scope. The brand still needs an internal decision-maker for pricing, product, distribution and inventory commitments. Agree who makes recommendations, who approves them and who carries them out.
A reseller or distribution partner
The partner buys or otherwise supplies inventory under the commercial agreement and sells through its account. That can reduce some of the work your team performs. Compare the margin you retain, the commitments you make and the visibility you receive with the costs of operating the channel yourself.
Ask how assortment, content, promotions, inventory and reporting are handled. Put the answers in the agreement rather than assuming that a branded storefront means the brand controls every decision.
Fractional leadership
A fractional executive provides senior direction for a defined scope or part of the working week. The role can connect the channel plan to the company’s financial and commercial priorities and help internal teams and partners work toward the same outcomes. Execution capacity still needs to be assigned.
Compare the full cost
Comparing an agency fee with one employee’s salary leaves out much of the decision. Compare the complete model: people, specialist support, tools, creative, management time, inventory funding and the margin the brand retains.
For a reseller arrangement, use the brand’s proceeds and costs under that agreement. For a brand-operated account, use the brand’s net sales and channel costs. Comparing a reseller’s retail revenue with your wholesale revenue will not tell you which model is better for your business.
Ask these questions before signing
- Decisions: who approves pricing, promotions, advertising budgets and assortment?
- Access: which accounts does the brand control, and what access does each party need?
- Reporting: which sales, advertising, inventory and customer metrics will the brand receive, and how often?
- Economics: who pays each cost, and how will contribution be reviewed?
- Operations: who handles catalog problems, replenishment and urgent account issues?
- Continuity: what happens to stock, content, reporting and unfinished work if the relationship ends?
Review Brand Registry alongside these questions. It is a separate program for eligible brands, including those that do not sell directly in the Amazon store.
Keep someone accountable inside the business
Even when a partner does most of the work, someone at the brand needs to connect Amazon to retail, DTC, finance and operations. That person needs enough authority to resolve a pricing conflict or an inventory shortage, not just forward the weekly report.
Define the decisions, the meeting cadence and the information needed. A useful review ends with agreed actions and owners.
Where I fit
I have built in-house ecommerce teams and now work with consumer brands primarily through OMG Commerce. I also take on select independent advisory projects through Brand Coach.
The starting point is the decision your business needs to make: launching the channel, improving its economics or changing how the work is led. Explore working with me or use the Amazon launch decision guide to prepare for that discussion.