Proper inventory management for Amazon is more important than ever this Q4. With multiple sale events so close together, and the potential for further pandemic-related impacts to fulfillment, a miscalculation now will cost you dearly during this all-important time of year.
Teikametrics CEO Alasdair McLean-Foreman and Principal Product Manager Praveen Kommu held a deep discussion with industry-leading sellers on critical metrics to track, how they are getting their inventory operations ready for Q4, and tips on aligning your inventory strategy with other aspects of your Amazon presence.
Use the timestamps below to skip to the topics that matter most for your business, or scroll to the bottom to watch the complete webinar replay.
The speakers:
Alasdair McLean-Foreman
CEO, Teikametrics
Praveen Kommu
Principal PM, Teikametrics
Ryan Garrett
Sr. Manager, Global Marketplaces at Nixon
Julie Atkins
Dir. Brand Development at AgentRetail
Some background on our guest speakers for this event:
Julie Atkins is Director of Brand Development at AgentRetail, a multi-million dollar Amazon investment portfolio operating over 100+ world-class brands in the outdoor, apparel, and household categories. Julie started operating brands on Amazon in 2012 and has sold more than $100 million via Amazon.
Ryan Garrett is Senior Manager of Global Marketplaces at Nixon. He founded and operated a full-service logistics company for Amazon sellers, assisting thousands of companies with supply chain and inventory management. Ryan works with brands to establish and train internal cross-functional teams to operate on global marketplaces
Topics we cover:
- Common inventory inefficiencies brands face in uncertain times
- Risks and opportunities associated with an unusual Q4, and choices that will impact Q1
- Amazon’s Inventory Performance Index and brand perspectives on using that metric effectively
- How to calculate Inventory Turn Ratio and how brands understand its impact on the bottom line
Timestamps:
Use the timestamp links to skip to the topics that are most relevant to your business.
[1:17]
Meet the stellar lineup of panelists
[3:23]
Our CEO Alasdair McLean-Foreman tells the story of Teikametrics, Flywheel, and now Flywheel 2.0
[6:28]
The agenda for this webinar: inventory optimization, expectations for Q4, Amazon IPI, and the inventory and profitability correlation
[8:09]
Alasdair explains the need to use powerful technology to run a tight ship
[10:18]
Andrew Waber, Director of Insights at Teikametrics, lays out uncertainties and opportunities for Q4 2020
[13:32]
Julie Atkins explains how not having months to plan for a known Prime Day date affects inventory management and pricing
[18:56]
Ryan Garrett describes crafting Prime Day sales based on what products happened to be in stock and adjusting plans to maintain inventory when Amazon sets limits on receiving products
[24:32 ]
Praveen Kommu, Principal Product Manager at Teikametrics, breaks down Amazon’s Inventory Performance Index (IPI) — a scorecard of Amazon’s perception of your inventory management — as well as the consequences of a low IPI score
[30:24]
Julie says, when managing IPI look at listing optimization, competitive pricing, and disposal or outlet sales to get rid of just a couple of remaining items in stock
[34:18]
Ryan says, Nixon watches IPI closely to plan inventory operations and they’ve been testing out Amazon’s virtual bundles to get rid of excess inventory
[38:14]
Alasdair and Praveen tag-team on what Jeff Bezos doesn’t want you to understand about your true profitability, but how calculating Inventory Turns can get you there
[44:28]
Amazon’s Inventory Management screen spreads the data across multiple places and doesn’t include COGS — Flywheel 2.0 will put all the inventory optimization data you need in one screen
[55:18]
Inventory optimization is just one portion of Flywheel 2.0, which is open for requests for early access
[57:00]
Q&A with the questions other sellers are asking about inventory optimization
Watch the replay:
Join the Flywheel 2.0 waitlist to request early access
and be sure to hear about all the webinars in the Customer Growth series.
