EP252 - Amazon FBA Roll-ups w Chris Bell CEO of Perch
[NOTE: The audio quality of this episode is not up to our usual standards due to some internet challenges. But we felt the content was valuable enough to publish the episode anyway.]
A number of firms are acquiring, or some would say rolling up, brands that primarily distribute their products on Amazon using Fulfillment by Amazon. By some accounts, these firms have cumulatively raised over $1B in capitol, and are rapidly acquiring brands.
This week we explore this trend, with the founder of one of these firms, Chris Bell, CEO of Perch. Chris sees Perch as a next generation CPG conglomerate leveraging the Amazon marketplace. While traditional CPGs may review their pricing quarterly, and set marketing strategies annual, Perch adjusts pricing strategy hourly, and advertising strategies daily.
“Amazon marketplace is 2x any CPG and growing faster.”
CHRIS BELL, CEO OF PERCH
In this interview we cover:
- Overall trend, and how Chris sees the marketplace
- Perch criteria for acquisitions
- Synergies for brands in the roll-up model
- Off Amazon strategy
- Potential risks of this model, including from Amazon
- What the potential future of this market looks like
If you’re interested in selling your FBA business to Perch, you can reach them at info@perchhq.com.
Episode 252 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded live on Wednesday, January 27th, 2021.
Join your hosts Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis, and Scot Wingo, CEO of GetSpiffy and Co-Founder of ChannelAdvisor as they discuss the latest news and trends in the world of e-commerce and digital shopper marketing.
EP251 - 2021 Annual Predictions
2020 Recap – Predictions made on episode 204
2020 Predictions Recap
Scot
- Shopify wilts a bit – new competition comes out with different angles (marketcap stays static) – No
- Fedex does something drastic – buy eBay? Merge with Alibaba? No (but shoprunner for 0.5)
- The year of returns – “happy returns” – a startup raises $100M+ in space. No (but 0.5 for year of returns)
- Mallageddon continues At least another 8k stores Yes 8721 stores +1
- Google gets aggressive in ecommerce Yes +1 (Bill Ready, etc…)
Score 3/5
Jason
- Walmart – growth slows due to completion of grocery build out. Marc Lore leaves Walmart. No on growth, yes on Marc Lore (0.5)
- Amazon – Opens affordable grocery concept. Digital grocery wars heat up. Yes
- Owned brands continue to grow. 5% of retail in 2019, could be 8-10% in 2020 (as measured by IRI, for CPG private label). Yes
- Installment Payments heat up – At least one company is acquired (Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna, QuadPay, Sizzle) Yes (IPO’s)
- Digital in-store heats up, QR codes make a comeback Yes
Score 4.5/5
2021 Predictions
Jason:
- Made to Order apparel business > 9 figures
- Retailer offers viable health alt insurance option to consumers
- Grocery E-Com > 10% someone deploys(not pilots) MFC
- Amazon Shopify Competitor (shipping solution)
- Retail Media > $20B
Bonus – More store closures in 2021 than 2020.
Scot:
- Amazon move to same day prime by opening a huge wave of neighborhood DCs (near DSPs)
- Shipping (Shopify) – launch own DSP
- Shopify marketplace
- ‘zero friction addiction’ sticks – I’ve seen 30-40% repeated a lot, I think it’s 60-80%. commerce penetration says at 16% or better in 2021.
- spac/ipo? Dnvb wave
Bonus: post-covid anti-consumerism/materialism wave
Don’t forget to like our facebook page, and if you enjoyed this episode please write us a review on itunes.
Episode 251 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Thursday, January 21st, 2021.
Join your hosts Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis, and Scot Wingo, CEO of GetSpiffy and Co-Founder of ChannelAdvisor as they discuss the latest news and trends in the world of e-commerce and digital shopper marketing.
EP250- Holiday 2020 Recap
This week we recap the commerce results for Holiday 2020 (including the data sources you can use to get a read for yourself), give an update on #shipageddon, and cover some industry news.
| 2019 | 2020 | YoY %Ch | |
| Stores | $864.69 | $822.79 | -4.8% |
| Online | $140.28 | $190.47 | 35.8% |
| Total | $1004.97 | $1013.26 | 0.8% |
Nov-Dec Sales estimates from e-marketer $B
- November Retail Sales Aren’t As Ominous As You Think Jason's article in Forbes, recaping the results we've seen through November.
- Consumer Trends 2021 report - Dan Frommer's recap of 2020 consumer trends (highly recommended).
- MasterCard Spending Pulse
Shipageddon Recap:
Episode 250 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded live on Thursday, January 7th, 2021.
Join your hosts Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis, and Scot Wingo, CEO of GetSpiffy and Co-Founder of ChannelAdvisor as they discuss the latest news and trends in the world of e-commerce and digital shopper marketing.