It is a time of explosive growth and transformation in the realm of eCommerce. Almost overnight, eCommerce penetration has grown from 20% to 30%. And services like “Click and Collect” have ballooned in adoption. Zachary Weinberg, Director of Amazon Advisory at Gartner, is right in the thick of it. An expert at the forefront of e-marketing and e-tailing, he shares his take on “eCommerce trends” in this week’s episode of Happy Marketer Connection.
Zachary helps marketers understand the rapidly changing eCommerce landscape, and how to achieve success on Amazon, drawing on his diverse background in digital marketing and eCommerce. Hear how eCommerce has changed in recent years, how to dominate your category on Amazon, what the top brands are learning from challenger and DTC brands and what new e-tailing trends he believes are here to stay.
Marketers at the beginning of their career will also benefit from Zachary’s advice on how to develop their path, what you can learn from failure, and the importance of being comfortable with ambiguity.
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To listen on Spotify click here.
Episode Highlights
- Intro
- [0:15] Sue Frech, Happy Marketer Connection, Vesta
- [0:43] Zachary Weinberg, Director of Amazon Advisory at Gartner
- Sue Frech interviewing Zachary Weinberg on ECOMMERCE TRENDS
- [2:16] Podcasts
- [2:18] What does Zachary’s title of Director, Amazon Advisory mean?
- [2:48] Distribution, e-Tailing
- [3:01] Brick-and-Click, Pure Play, eCommerce
- [3:21] How did Zachary end up with this role and a career in marketing?
- [3:42] Small Business, Advertising, Online Banner Ads, Online Advertising, Digital Marketing
- [4:03] Affiliate Marketing, Customer Acquisition, Consumer
- [4:27] Quidsi, Mark Lore, com, Soap.com
- [5:02] Business Management, Product Cycles, P&L (Profit and Loss Statement)
- [5:20] NYU Stern School of Business, Reckitt Benckiser (RB)
- [5:42] Direct-to-Consumer (DTC), Digital Strategy, Mucinex
- [6:52] What is the difference between the brand side and service side?
- [8:12] Operations
- [8:42] Entrepreneurial, Startup
- [8:56] How has e-Tailing changed in the past several years?
- [9:21] Paid Search, Paid Advertising
- [9:41] Index Brands, Lysol, Finish, AirWick
- [10:20] Inventory, Data
- [10:55] What are the biggest eCommerce trends today?
- [11:04] Pandemic
- [11:24] Click and Collect
- [11:53] Shopper
- [12:27] Sampling
- [12:34] Retailers
- [12:48] How has Zachary’s work changed during the pandemic?
- [14:09] Mucinex Mucus Fighters Community
- [14:41] Why was Click and Collect slow to adopt in the US?
- [15:02] Target, Walmart, Best Buy
- [16:12] What are the biggest challenges brands have marketing on Amazon?
- [17:19] Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG), Sleeper Brands
- [17:35] How does your company type impact your Amazon strategy?
- [17:58] Content
- [18:39] Brand Strategy
- [19:02] Brand Integrity
- [19:21] Legal and Regulatory, Pharma (Pharmaceuticals), Founder
- [19:40] What brands have surprised and impressed Zachary on Amazon?
- [19:53] Levi’s, Signature by Levi’s
- [20:32] Category Leader
- [20:38] Costco
- [20:45] What is the most innovate technology (tech) to bring products to market?
- [21:30] Dropshipping
- [22:02] Click-to-Cart
- [22:38] What opportunities are there in e-Tailing today?
- [22:57] Organizational Structure
- [23:12] Performance Marketing
- [23:37] Segmentation, Purchase Funnel
- [23:51] Conversion Rate
- [23:58] Checkout
- [24:44] Community Powered Marketing delivers a new world of sales growth. Learn more at Vesta-Go.com
- [25:02] Question from the Smiley360 community: What advice do you have for someone interested in a career in marketing?
- [25:53] User-Generated Content (UGC)
- [26:12] Marketing Technology (MarTech), CRM (Customer Relationship Management), Marketing Agencies
- [27:02] Manufacturer, Brand
- [27:41] Is it important for recent college graduate marketers to start at a big company or startup?
- [28:32] Executive Leadership Team (ELT)
- [29:34] What positive story does Zachary have to share?
- [29:52] Incubator
- [30:05] Product Development, Revenue, Profitability
- [30:56] Fulfillment, Customer Service, Packaging, Surveys, SurveyMonkey
- [31:44] What are Zachary’s final thoughts?
- [32:03] COVID-19, Consumer Behavior, Gartner Consumer Behavior Tool
- Outro
- [32:37] Connect with Zachary on LinkedIn
- [34:43] Thank you for listening! Subscribe to Happy Marketing Connection on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and more
- [34:51] Connect with Sue on LinkedIn or Twitter at @SueFrech, and Vesta-Go.com
- Theme Song: Hello (Extended Version) – Paul Werner – provided by Jamendo
About the Happy Marketer Connection Podcast
Zachary Weinberg, Director of Amazon Advisory, Gartner
Zachary is a highly analytical and quantitatively focused digital commerce expert with 12+ years of experience across Amazon & DTC. As a hands-on and detail-oriented professional, Zachary helps marketers understand the rapidly changing eCommerce landscape and has a track record in delivering end-to-end business results from strategy to execution.
Host: Sue Frech, Founder and CEO, Vesta
Sue has spent her career redefining digital marketing in brand and retail marketing, Martech, and advertising, at brands such as Kraft and Glaxo-SmithKline. She is committed to creating fellow Happy Marketers through Vesta’s all-in-one online community building software, transforming the relationships between brands and consumers with Community Powered Marketing.