Is your E-Com team struggling with maintaining MAP pricing or cleaning up 3p resellers online?  

If you are like many of our clients it can feel next to impossible because:
A) You don't have a great way to accurately track pricing and resellers online (especially big catalogs)
B) No one person owns the initiative or if they do it's an add on responsibility
C) You don't have a clear process to tackle the problems that gets results  

We have helped E-commerce teams for some of most respected brands regain pricing and distribution control online (Amazon, Walmart, and the across the internet).
 
We help them implement a 5 part LASER Framework:

• Legal Foundation for Enforcement (Reseller Policies / MAP Policies)
• Automated Monitoring via our Brand Guarde tracking software
• Seller Investigation and Identification
• Enforcement Module or Team (Physical letters, Email, Phone Calls) 
• Reporting key insights through your dashboard, email notices, and regular meetings

To learn more visit: www.brandguarde.com

Specialties: 
MAP Monitoring and Enforcement
Unauthorized Seller Removal
Brand Protection on Amazon and Walmart
Unauthorized Seller Investigations 
Distribution Strategy Consulting
Reseller Policy Creation
Amazon Brand Registry,
E-commerce strategy consulting

Learn more at www.brandguarde.com

Joe Kovacs

Want higher profit margins for your 1P Amazon business? Then we should talk!

Hi, I'm Martin Heubel...

I help multinational 1P Amazon Vendors improve their:

» Digital Commerce Strategy
» Annual Vendor Negotiations (AVNs)
» Portfolio and Price-Pack Architecture
» Hybrid (1P/3P) Selling Strategies
» Performance Analytics
» Organisational Transformation


My clients typically hire me because they need:

» Strategic support to prepare, navigate, and optimise their Amazon AVNs
» Help align Amazon with their broader sales channel strategy
» A proven roadmap to grow profitability with Amazon


Unlike other consultants, I bring years of experience, successfully advising 200+ global CPG and Household brands on how to safeguard margins and future-proof their Amazon business.

So if you are looking for a solution-oriented expert who can help you maximise your profits while growing your Amazon business, look no further. 

Get in touch today!


PS: You can also get my insights directly to your inbox:

📨 https://consulterce.com/newsletter/

Martin Heubel

🚨 Breaking: Amazon announces $50bn investment in OpenAI 👇

The freshly published press release reads technical, but it signals the beginning of a new AI era across #Amazon’s customer-facing divisions.

It also admits the inconvenient:
👉 #OpenAI currently has the upper hand in the AI race.

According to the press release:
“𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗔𝗜 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗔𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗼𝗻’𝘀 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗿-𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀.”

This means Amazon is no longer exclusively relying on its partnership with Anthropic, in which the company has invested over $8bn in recent years.

Why is this relevant?
Amazon is on a mission to automate its business and spearhead the shift from traditional to agentic commerce.

Customer support, product search through Rufus, ad management, and supplier relationships are all on the verge of change.

And this partnership unlocks the next stage of that shift.

Read the full press release here: https://lnkd.in/eb2J6MvR

♻️ Repost to share the news, or
💭 Comment your thoughts below.

#amazonnews #openai #amazonstratregy

Commercial Advisor to 1P Amazon Vendors // Advanced Profitability & Negotiation Strategies

I'm often asked about the anatomy of high-performing #Amazon accounts. 

Spoiler alert: It’s not creating excellent PDP content. It’s also not using the latest “sales hack” your team saw on LinkedIn.

The #1 success factor is the foundation on which your sales and marketing teams build their tactical work.

In order of importance:

1- Organisational Setup and Resources
2- Portfolio & Availability
3- Content Excellence
4- Promo & Pricing
5- Paid Visibility

Most business leaders focus on content, promotions, and advertising. 
It’s sexy to talk about.

But without clearly defining the functions that directly and indirectly support your Amazon business, your best content will underperform, and your best promotional strategy will fail at execution. Your availability will suffer because operational resources were never built to prioritise Amazon.

Coming to terms with the fact that you’ve built your Amazon business from the upper end of the success pyramid is the real reason your margins are on the decline.

2026 will be dominated by AI headlines. 
But the work that actually needs doing sits well below the hype.

♻️ Repost if you agree, or
💭 Comment your thoughts below.

#amazonvendor #amazonstrategy

So your Vendor Manager told you that 10% Co-op or MDF is "standard" in your category. What do you do?

☑️ Accept Amazon's request for more investment
☑️ Frantically ask ChatGPT whether 10% is normal
☑️ Get emotional and walk out of the room

Spoiler alert:
❌ Don't do any of the above.

Instead:
✅ Ignore Amazon's so-called category benchmarks.

They ignore your front-to-back investment ratio.

Yes, 10% Co-op may well be standard in your category.
That does not mean it should apply to your account.

Your front margin (PPM) with Amazon may already be materially stronger than that of your peers.

So treat these statements for what they are:
Negotiation tactics designed to push you into higher investments.

Co-op and MDF agreements are known to provide no/low ROI. 
They're simply the equivalent of a listing fee of other retailers.

Accept them as a cost of doing business if you must.
But anchor every discussion in your front-margin reality with Amazon.

♻️ Repost if you agree, or
💭 Comment your thoughts below.

#amazonvendor #amazonstrategy

I still see too many brands make this mistake:
❌ They don't regulate Amazon's inventory.

Instead, they raise born-to-run orders and ask AVS to place manual orders ahead of Tier 1 events.

When sell-out falls short of expectations, they suddenly treat the overstock as Amazon’s problem.

Here's what happens next:

Amazon starts marking down your products.
Or worse, liquidates that overstock.

The consequence? 
👉 Amazon asks for a higher Damage Allowance in AVNs.
👉 Vendor Managers push for mid-year cost support.

Both are entirely avoidable.
But only if you take ownership.

That means:

✅ Stop forcing buys through B2R
✅ Reject bulk order requests
✅ Down-confirm POs that exceed forecasted demand
✅ Run deals to clear unhealthy inventory
✅ Temporarily reallocate advertising budgets

Vendors running a profitable 1P business take matters into their own hands. They don't pray that Vendor Manager won't notice the margin erosion from overstock liquidations.

♻️ Repost if you agree, or
💭 Comment your thoughts below.

#amazonvendor #amazonstrategy

✋🛑 Listing your full assortment with Amazon is the #1 reason your Vendor Manager chases you for cost support and guaranteed margin agreements.

For years, brands were told that broader assortment meant better visibility, stronger partnerships, and long-term growth.

In 2026, this strategy no longer works.

Behind the scenes, many 1P brands are doing the opposite.
They are deliberately reducing their Amazon portfolio.

That means fewer SKUs.
And yes, less consumer choice.

🤫 Nobody likes to say this out loud.

But in an environment where Amazon is relentlessly focused on profitability, protecting your own margins requires hard trade-offs.

Here’s why leading brands are cutting back their assortment on Amazon this year:

✅ It restores negotiation leverage.
✅ Portfolio management becomes simpler and cheaper.
✅ Demand is concentrated on mutually profitable SKUs.
✅ Unprofitable long-tail SKUs stop dragging down contribution margin.
✅ Supply chain efficiency improves through higher utilisation across VFlex, Direct Fulfilment and Direct Import.

---
Are you still listing your full assortment with Amazon? Why or why not?

Let me know in the comments!

#amazonvendor #amazonstrategy

"We cannot afford any business interruptions with Amazon" is costing you $$$ millions 💸👇

It doesn't matter whether you're negotiating annual terms, cost prices or margin support with your Vendor Manager:

If you're not willing to accept short-term friction, you can be the best negotiator and still lose margin to Amazon.

Vendor Managers won't agree to CPIs they don't believe in.
And they won't accept a reduction in trade terms without a fight.

This includes:
🚩 Paused PO placements
🚩 Temporary CRAP actions
🚩 Buy Box suppressions

According to my vendor study, 1 in 2 vendors faces punitive measures in AVNs with Amazon alone.

So if your leadership team tells you to avoid any business interruption, make sure they understand that margin concessions are the price they have to pay.

♻️ Repost if you agree, or
💭 Comment your thoughts below.

#amazonvendor #amazonstrategy

🚨 Breaking: Supreme Court strikes down US tariffs 👇

In a landmark decision that will reshape global trade and retail pricing, the US Supreme Court has struck down the sweeping tariffs imposed by the US administration last April.

The law that undergirds those import duties "does not authorise the President to impose tariffs," the majority ruled six to three.

It's unclear at this point whether already paid tariffs will have to be refunded. Brands trading with retailers like #Amazon and #Walmart should prepare to renegotiate their cost prices and trade terms as of next week.

♻️ Repost to share this news, or
💭 Comment your thoughts below.

#amazonnews

10 common mistakes 1P vendors make when trying to differentiate their assortment on #Amazon:
 
1- Confusing minor product tweaks with real differentiation
 
2- Relying on different UPCs to signal exclusivity
 
3- Prioritising Amazon exclusivity over online exclusivity
 
4- Treating packaging as an afterthought, not a cost-saving lever
 
5- Adding SKU complexity without margin upside
 
6- Assuming Vendor Managers can protect price exclusivity
 
7- Granting Amazon above-average Net PPM on exclusives
 
8- Thinking Amazon will co-fund price promos from Net PPM
 
9- Launching exclusives without testing consumer price acceptance
 
10- Forgetting to test the perceived USP before the launch date
 
---
What else have I forgotten?
Let me know in the comments!

#amazonvendor #amazonstrategy

✋ Should you increase your Damage Allowance with #Amazon? Here's a data-driven approach to finding the answer: 

Damage Allowances are a highly controversial trade term, as Vendor Managers seek compensation for customer returns and damaged goods received from suppliers. 

But Amazon refuses to share the underlying data, leaving brands with no way to assess the legitimacy of the proposed fee.

So what should you do?

𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵.

Here's how:

✅ Go to Vendor Central » Retail Analytics

✅ Find the number of customer returns (Sales Report)

✅ Find the unsellable on-hand inventory (Inventory Report)

✅ Download both reports at the ASIN level

✅ Calculate the DA% entitlement (Volume x Cost Price / Net Receipts)

The resulting percentage is the actual value you should limit your investment for damage compensation. 

If Amazon wants you to invest more, demand precise data points from their side. 

Otherwise, reject the claim, saying that you cannot be held liable for Amazon's operational performance that is outside your control.

🕵️‍♂️ 𝗣𝗿𝗼 𝗧𝗶𝗽: Invest in Amazon's Warranty Repair Services if high return rates keep you up at night. It can help drive good CX and significantly reduce customer returns to your warehouses.

--- 
How do you manage DA% requests from Amazon?
Let me know in the comments!

#amazonvendor #amazonstrategy

taplio

The Battle

Joe Kovacs

Martin Heubel

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreMartin Heubel's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Joe Kovacs

Martin Heubel

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Martin Heubel's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreMartin Heubel's LinkedIn Performance