Amazon is an essential sales channel for just about every major consumer brand today. It offers unrivaled access to an audience of several hundred million shoppers. At the same time, the Amazon juggernaut threatens to overwhelm sellers who don’t understand the unique dynamics of the Amazon Marketplace. That’s the contention of James Thompson, founder and chief executive officer of Buy Box Experts, a consultancy specializing in Amazon account management and branding strategy. Thompson is himself a former Amazon executive, as well as co-author with Joseph Hansen of The Amazon Marketplace Dilemma: A Brand Executive’s Challenge Growing Sales and Maintaining Control. On this episode, he lays out the problem that companies face in selling on Amazon while protecting their brand identities. He tells how they can drive traffic to their listings while retaining control of both their brands and product distribution. As Thompson stresses: “Every brand must have a branding strategy for Amazon.” Hosted by Bob Bowman, managing editor of SupplyChainBrain.

Look for a new episode of the podcast, which can be downloaded or streamed, every Friday on the SupplyChainBrain website and iTunes.

Show notes:

Thompson’s book, The Amazon Marketplace Dilemma.