<div class="gn-article"><div class="gn-hero gn-reveal"> <div class="gn-hero__image"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/687a235da6861294eec73166/69089aa1779e18dbb8326b14_66015fd042195c1b654b4579_Event%2520Headers%2520%2520(2)%2520(1).png" alt=""></div> <div class="gn-hero__head"> <span class="gn-kicker"><span class="dot"></span>Event · Expression</span> <h1 class="gn-title">Amazon Uncovered: Live Q&amp;A with our Panel of Amazon Experts</h1> <div class="gn-meta"> <strong>The GO Network</strong> <span class="pip"></span> <span>18 April 2024</span> <span class="pip"></span> <span>1 min read</span> </div> </div> </div> <div class="gn-event-meta gn-reveal"><div class="gn-event-meta__block"> <span class="gn-event-meta__label">When</span> <span class="gn-event-meta__value gn-date">Thu, 18 Apr 2024 · 10:00</span> </div><div class="gn-event-meta__block"> <span class="gn-event-meta__label">Where</span> <span class="gn-event-meta__value">Online</span> </div><div class="gn-event-meta__block"> <span class="gn-event-meta__label">Status</span> <span class="gn-event-status gn-event-status--recording">Past · Recording</span> </div></div> <div class="gn-body"> <p>Amazon represents one of the most complex and fast-moving channels an agency can manage on behalf of a client. The platform's dual-track structure, its advertising ecosystem, and its logistics requirements each demand specialist knowledge. Getting any one of them wrong can cost clients revenue, margin, or both. The <strong>Amazon Uncovered: Live Q&A with our Panel of Amazon Experts</strong>, hosted through The GO Network by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/andy-banks-amazon/" target="_blank"><strong>Andrew Banks</strong></a>, CEO of <a href="https://ventureforge.co.uk/" target="_blank"><strong>Venture Forge</strong></a>, brought agency-side practitioners together to interrogate the decisions that matter most when building or scaling an Amazon operation.</p> <p>Venture Forge works with more than 25 Amazon brands across the UK, Europe, and North America, giving Banks a sharp operational perspective on where agencies and their clients most commonly run into difficulty. The session was structured around live and pre-submitted questions, which means the content reflects what agency operators are actually wrestling with right now, not a theoretical overview of the platform.</p> <h2>Vendor vs Seller: The Decision That Shapes Everything Else</h2> <p>The Vendor vs Seller question sits at the root of most Amazon strategy conversations, and for good reason. The choice between the two models determines pricing control, margin structure, fulfilment responsibility, and the levers available for advertising. Agencies that inherit a client already trading under one model often assume the setup is fixed. It rarely is, and reviewing it is frequently one of the highest-value conversations an agency can have.</p> <p>Under Vendor Central, Amazon buys stock directly from the brand and retails it. The brand loses control over retail pricing, which can create tension with other channels and undermine brand positioning. Under Seller Central, the brand retails directly to consumers, retaining pricing authority and access to richer performance data. For agencies managing multi-channel strategy, that data access matters enormously.</p> <p>The practical takeaway is straightforward: before optimising anything else on Amazon, validate that the client is operating under the right model for their category, margin profile, and growth stage. A client in a high-velocity, low-margin category will often find Vendor agreements erode profitability faster than the incremental volume justifies.</p> <h2>Advertising on Amazon: Where Agency Value Is Won or Lost</h2> <p>Amazon advertising has matured significantly. Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display, and DSP each serve different roles in the funnel, and agencies that treat them as interchangeable are leaving performance on the table. The most common gap is a failure to connect upper-funnel activity to conversion-stage optimisation, which means spend is generating impressions without building measurable commercial return.</p> <p>A few principles hold across most client situations:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Campaign structure drives everything.</strong> Sloppy keyword segmentation and mixed match types in a single campaign make it almost impossible to read performance accurately or optimise with confidence.</li> <li><strong>Search term harvesting is a recurring discipline, not a set-up task.</strong> Pulling converting search terms into exact-match campaigns and excluding wasted spend from broad campaigns needs to happen on a regular cycle.</li> <li><strong>ACoS is not the only metric that matters.</strong> For clients in growth mode, total advertising cost of sale tells an incomplete story. TACoS (total advertising cost relative to total revenue, including organic) gives a clearer picture of whether paid activity is building the organic rank that justifies the spend.</li> <li><strong>Product detail page quality gates performance.</strong> No amount of media budget rescues a listing with weak imagery, thin copy, or poor reviews. Agencies need to treat listing optimisation as a prerequisite to scaling ad spend, not an afterthought.</li> </ul> <h2>Logistics and Fulfilment: The Operational Layer Agencies Cannot Ignore</h2> <p>Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) is the default recommendation for most agency clients, and in most cases it is the right one. Amazon's logistics infrastructure, Prime eligibility, and the trust it carries with shoppers typically outweigh the fee structure for brands with sufficient volume and appropriate product dimensions. However, FBA introduces inventory planning requirements that agencies are often not close enough to.</p> <p>Stranded inventory, suppressed listings due to compliance failures, and IPI (Inventory Performance Index) penalties are operational problems that directly damage advertising performance and organic rank. If an agency is running paid campaigns while the client's inventory health is poor, the spend is working against a headwind that could be removed.</p> <p>Fulfilment by Merchant (FBM) has a legitimate role as a fallback or for large, heavy, or slow-moving products where FBA fees become prohibitive. Some agencies also use FBM strategically to maintain listing continuity during FBA stock replenishment gaps. The point is that fulfilment decisions require active management, not a one-time configuration.</p> <h2>How Agencies Should Approach Amazon as a Specialism</h2> <p>The broader point that sessions like this one surface is that Amazon cannot be treated as an extension of paid search or a bolt-on to an e-commerce retainer. It operates on its own logic, with its own data environment, its own compliance requirements, and its own relationship between organic and paid performance. Agencies that build genuine platform depth, rather than generalist capability, consistently outperform those that do not.</p> <p>For agency leaders, the immediate question is where that depth sits in the team. Is there a named owner for Amazon strategy internally? Is that person connected to the wider Amazon practitioner community, where platform changes, policy updates, and emerging tactics circulate fastest? If the answer to either question is uncertain, that gap is worth closing.</p> <p>The GO Network's Amazon Uncovered session, hosted by Andrew Banks of Venture Forge, is one route into that community. Agencies looking to sharpen their Amazon capability can <a href="https://app.livestorm.co/venture-forge/amazon-uncovered-live-q-and-a-with-our-panel-of-amazon-experts?utm_source=Livestorm+company+page" target="_blank"><strong>register for the session here</strong></a> to access the expert Q&A directly.</p> </div></div> <aside class="gn-related gn-reveal" data-auto="related-reading"> <div class="gn-related__label">Related reading</div> <ul class="gn-related__list"> <li class="gn-related__item"> <a href="/articles/amazon-vendor-mastery-winning-strategies-for-marketplace-success" class="gn-related__link"> <span class="gn-related__category">Expression</span> <span class="gn-related__title">Amazon Vendor Mastery: Winning Strategies for Marketplace Success 🗝️</span> <span class="gn-related__excerpt">Free recording: Andrew Banks, CEO of Venture Forge, shares expert tactics to sharpen your Amazon marketplace approach, whether you&#39;re starti</span> </a> </li> <li class="gn-related__item"> <a href="/articles/how-can-you-revolutionise-your-brand-with-ux-web-development" class="gn-related__link"> <span class="gn-related__category">Expression</span> <span class="gn-related__title">Revolutionise Your Brand with UX &amp; Web Development</span> <span class="gn-related__excerpt">Watch the recording: agency experts break down UX basics, web innovation, case studies, and how to measure ROI from your digital presence.</span> </a> </li> <li class="gn-related__item"> <a href="/articles/investing-in-ux-to-supercharge-your-digital-marketing-performance" class="gn-related__link"> <span class="gn-related__category">Expression</span> <span class="gn-related__title">Investing in UX to Supercharge your Digital Marketing Performance</span> <span class="gn-related__excerpt">Prove UX investment to stakeholders, benchmark your site or app performance, and get practical optimisation steps from agency experts at The</span> </a> </li> <li class="gn-related__item"> <a href="/articles/playback-tiktok-emerging-social-platforms-how-your-brand-can-get-involved" class="gn-related__link"> <span class="gn-related__category">Expression</span> <span class="gn-related__title">Playback: TikTok &amp; Emerging Social Platforms: How Your Brand Can Get Involved</span> <span class="gn-related__excerpt">Agency experts break down how to build audiences and drive conversions on TikTok, BeReal, and beyond. 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