Episode Details

Phillip and Brian sit down with Kiri Masters to talk about how the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic is affecting the world of DTC.

Main Takeaways:

• Kiri Masters, the Founder of Bobsled Marketing and author of Amazon for CMOs, joins Briand and Phillp in this week's episode.

• How is eCommerce being affected by Amazon restrictions on nonessential products?

• The world has entered an unprecedented period of social distancing, and brands are dealing with this in different ways.

• Brands are stepping up in comforting and creative ways to protect their customers and boost morale during these trying times.

Growth Amongst the Chaos: The Steadfast Power of Amazon:

• Phillip has some fascinating insights by watching booming categories amongst the brands that he manages through Something Digital.

• Seemingly every day, there are new records for brands in the Health & Wellness space.

• Kiri sees significant performance in Health & Personal Care, CPG and Grocery, Beauty, and specific areas of apparel.

• Aside from a decrease in non-critical purchases, Amazon is not going anywhere anytime soon, even amidst a pandemic.

Guaranteeing the Essentials: Dealing with Emergency Prioritization:

• There's an interesting dichotomy between the increase in online shopping and a wariness to spend money due to wavering job security.

• There is a restriction on items in nonessential categories that is stopping companies centered in these categories from shipping their goods into Amazon.

• Essential categories include Pet, Baby, Food, Industrial & Scientific, and Health & Personal care.

• Some brands cannot get their product shipments out to carriers and are being blocked by the Amazon restrictions.

• To keep up with demand, Amazon is reportedly adding 100,000 jobs to deal with a surge in online shopping.

The Illusion of Choice: What's Actually There?:

• Brian has noticed that there has never been a period with fewer options on Amazon than right now.

• Amazon pain points traditionally felt by larger brands are proving themselves to be precisely what keeps the system working and full of inventory in times like this.

• Would an Amazon version of Uber surge-pricing have prevented some of the hoarding that has happened around the world?

• As the supply chain has been massively impacted as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, brands have had to choose between maintaining prices and selling out of product or raising prices to ensure supply over the next three months,

The Truth of Price Gouging: Not All is Black or White:

• When it's in the consumer's favor, everyone is on board with price discounts to move excess product, but should the opposite also be true?

• We need to hold brands and Amazon accountable if there is legitimate price gouging happening; still, we can't forget that businesses need to make adjustments to stay in business and keep employing their staff.

• In the not so distant future when price elasticity becomes widely available due to technology advances in brick and mortar locations, we will be able to meet the demand for products in times of emergency.

• While price elasticity is present in some things (like gas)