Selling on Amazon isn't optional in the retail world today. But navigating Amazon can be tricky. Is a 1P relationship or a 3P relationship better in the long run? Let's break down some of the differences and pros/cons of each.

How to Win on Amazon

amazon marketplace management | Pattern

- Amazon 1P Vendor / Amazon 3P Vendor
- Invitation only / Open to anyone
- Sell inventory directly to Amazon / Sell directly to Amazon customers
- Amazon controls retail pricing / Seller controls retail pricing
- Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Products, Product Display Ads / Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Products
- Sold by Amazon / Fulfilled by Amazon

The Differences Between Vendor Central and Seller Central

1P vs. 3P

amazon 1P and 3P experts | Pattern

Download: A Deeper Dive into Amazon Vendor Central & Seller Central 

__Pros__
- *Sold by Amazon*
- *Access to Product Display Ads*
- *ARAP Data Insights*

__Cons__
- *Dependent on Amazon Buying Inventory* 
- *No Pricing Control*
- *Squeezed Margins*
- *Logistic Complications and Chargebacks*

Why Vendor Central?

amazon distribution partner | Pattern

Why Vendor Central

__Pros__
- *Increased Brand Control*
- *Amazon's Brand Registry program* 
- *Free Analytics*

__Cons__
- *Higher Fulfillment Costs*
- *Logistics Complications for FBA*
- *Tax Nexus Creation*

Why Seller Central?

amazon seller help | Pattern

What Can You Do 1P that You Can’t Do 3P?

Why Seller Central

Thorne

Launched on 7 New Marketplaces

Thorne was able to grow their ecommerce business by partnering with Pattern. Learn more from their case study!

Thorne | Pattern Case Study

Thorne is a supplements and wellness brand dedicated to quality ingredient sourcing, clinical research, lab testing, and sustainable business practices.

Thorne case study with Pattern's ecommerce solutions

Thorne grew their ecommerce business with Pattern's global ecommerce expertise

Thorne needed more bandwidth to expand their ecommerce presence. They wanted to grow to new marketplaces, but needed a partner to get there. Not only that, but MAP compliance issues from various online sellers were creating problems for their pricing and profitability. Finally, a lack of a uniform customer experience across marketplaces brought them to Pattern.

- Lacking bandwidth to expand ecommerce presence to new markets.
- Wanted to go international and to new marketplaces but needed help.

- MAP compliance issues from online sellers.
- Prices and profitability decreased.

- No uniform customer brand experience on all marketplaces.
- Wanted to create a seamless customer journey.

- Thorne's content on listings was not the same across different marketplaces.

Key Challenges

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From the beginning, we partnered Thorne with a personal Brand Manager to maintain a close relationship with Thorne's production and operations team. Then we attacked all of their problems head on together: Our creative team revamped their A+ content and made full 360 product renders, we gave Thorne compliance tools through our Predict software, and Pattern's digital advertising and marketing experts grew sales. Lastly, our international marketplace experts took Thorne to China and beyond.

Our Approach

Through their Pattern partnership, Thorne was able to expand to 7 new marketplaces and countries including Walmart.com, Tmall, MercadoLibre, Jet, and Amazon China, CA, and EU. Their brand control has never been better, and all their listings are optimized for sales growth.

- Sales growth of 50% over one year.
- Increased Subscribe and Save customers by 50% YoY.

- Enhanced SEO for titles, headlines, back-end search terms, etc., as well as A+ Content implementation.
- New image stacks, 360 bottle renders, and videos from the Pattern creative team.

- MAP compliance has averaged 99% over the last 6 months.
- Listings are uniform.


- Thorne has expanded to Walmart.com, Tmall, MercadoLibre, Jet, and Amazon China, CA, and EU.

Results

Pure Encapsulations, Pattern

400% Revenue Growth

Pure Encapsulations grew their ecommerce business over 400% with Pattern's ecommerce business solutions. Read their case study!

Pure Encapsulations | Pattern Case Study

Pure Encapsulations manufactures hypoallergenic, research-based dietary supplements that are designed to deliver predictable and desired results. Pure is committed to sourcing pure, premium ingredients and working with experienced healthcare professionals to create safe and effective dietary supplements to help consumers achieve optimal health.

Pure Encapsulations ecommerce success case study, Pattern

Pure Encapsulations ecommerce growth and control, Pattern

Pure Encapsulations

“In 2012-2013, grey-market distribution and product diversion (especially on Amazon) was damaging brand integrity and relationships with our most valued health practitioner customers. Our brands were inaccurately represented, growing out of control, at ever increasing discount prices, and distributed by grey-market unauthorized resellers posing as HCPs, violating MAP policy.” — Adam Branfman, E-Business Director, Professional Brands at Atrium Innovations (Pure)

- Threatened brand integrity, as well as online discounting.
- Threatened relationships with trusted healthcare practitioner customers.

- Inaccurate product information spread from unauthorized sellers.
- Practitioner/consumer trust was compromised.

 - Unauthorized sellers were posing as healthcare practitioners.
 - Grey-market unauthorized sellers were disrupting prices.

 - Content, descriptions, and claims were incorrect.
 - Consumer safety, transparency, and accuracy were paramount in their industry.

Pure needed better insights and data into their ecommerce business, connections to help them gain control of their online channel, and a holistic ecommerce strategy to clean up, protect, and grow their brand online. By partnering with Pattern, Pure gained access to comprehensive ecommerce reporting through our Predict software. Then we connected them to counsel who created a legal framework to enforce against MAP violations, grey-market sales and unauthorized distribution.

Not only was Pattern able to help Pure gain back control of their online channel, but our Predict software and ecommerce best practices helped Pure grow revenue by 4x since 2016. Today, Pure's online channel is no longer a threat to their brand's continued growth and adoption by healthcare practitioners.

- Amazon revenue increased by 400% (4X) since January 2016.
- Product conversion increased 48% over 1 year.

- Units sold increased by 325.7% after one month of using our images and EBC.
- Pattern created new product images and optimized product listings.

- MAP compliance increased to 98%.
- Removal of 215 unauthorized sellers over 2 years.

- Our Predict software offers real-time insights on Pricing & Compliance, Ratings & Reviews, Advertising, and more. 

Spectra Baby

1,250% Sales Rank Increase

Spectra Baby USA grew their ecommerce business with Pattern's ecommerce business solutions. Read the case study!

Spectra Baby | Pattern Case Study

Spectra Baby’s team of registered nurses, lactation consultants, and mothers offer breastfeeding products made for moms, by moms.

Spectra Baby USA ecommerce growth case study with pattern

Spectra Baby USA ecommerce growth case study with Pattern

Spectra Baby grew their ecommerce business on Amazon and other markets with Pattern

“We were selling directly to Amazon, which was a big mistake because then our pricing strategy went nowhere. Anyone who could fog a mirror was selling Spectra’s products too and from a wholesaler standpoint. We really needed the reporting, we needed the data, we needed a partner that understood the marketplace.” — Chris Mayhew, Spectra Baby USA Sales Executive

- Unauthorized sellers breaking MAP.
- Varied pricing on Amazon.

- Inconsistent product content listings.
- Inaccurate information spreading across sellers.


- Limited control and data on performance.
- No way to track unauthorized sellers.

- Amazon didn't care as much about Spectra Baby's problems as they did.

Our ecommerce growth experts will walk you through what a Pattern partnership looks like for you in Greater China.

Let's Talk About Partnership

Spectra Baby USA needed to clean up their Amazon channel. Their Brand Manager became their go-to Amazon expert, helping them use our data-backed, rules-based advertising and SEO campaigns to optimize content on all SKUs. Then we connected them with legal counsel for MAP policy creation and legal enforcement assistance. Finally, Pattern helped Spectra with real-time MAP compliance and growth data from our Predict software.

Through Pattern's Amazon experts, we helped Spectra Baby create winning strategies to streamline revenue growth, increase Buy Box ownership to 91%, optimize all listings, and gain back brand control. When we partnered with Spectra we went all-in to get great—not just good—results.

- 2X increase in revenue.
- Averaged a 73% revenue increase each month during their first year with us (between 2017 and 2018).

- Pattern currently controls 91% of the Buy Box for Spectra Baby products
- Buy Box ownership increased by 62%.

- 1,250% increase in sales rank.
- Spectra Baby is the #1 organic search result for “Breast Pump” on Amazon.

- MAP compliance increased to 90% in the first year, an increase of 30% from the previous year.
- Achieved 98.9% MAP compliance across all sellers.

Yogi Tea, Pattern

Top 10 Amazon Search Results

Yogi Tea grew their ecommerce business with Pattern's global ecommerce expertise. Read their case study here!

Yogi Tea | Pattern Case Study

Yogi blends over 140 spices and botanicals to make 40+ Herbal, Green, and Black wellness teas, each created with delicious flavor and healthy benefits in mind.

Yogi Tea ecommerce success story, Pattern

Yogi Tea's ecommerce growth case study with Pattern

Yogi Tea

Unauthorized seller activity online was resulting in poor customer experience, and Yogi wasn't able to consistently enforce quality controls and brand standards. Yogi needed the ability to control Amazon product listings to ensure accuracy. "We were challenged to meet the ever-changing and increasing demands of ecommerce retailers and shoppers while maintaining quality and brand equity." — Robin Gabel, National Account Manager, Yogi Tea

- Created a poor customer experience.
- Inability to consistently enforce quality controls and brand standards.

- Yogi needed the ability to more readily control Amazon product listings to ensure accuracy, supporting customers when shopping online.


First, Pattern's compliance monitoring software Predict identified unauthorized sellers and employed rules-based advertising tools. Then we connected Yogi to legal counsel for  assistance removing unauthorized sellers. Finally, a personal Brand Manager became an extension of Yogi's team, helping them enhance the customer experience, increase sales volume, and simplify supply chain, allowing Yogi to move strategic company employees to other key business objectives.

Through our Predict compliance software, over 90% of Yogi Tea sold on Amazon is now coming from Pattern, supporting the customer experience and upholding product quality standards. In addition, Pattern's SEO and Amazon strategies have upped Yogi sales and Yogi's ranking to the top 10 search results.


- Over 90% of Yogi Tea sold on Amazon is now coming from Pattern.
- Unauthorized sellers are down and listings are uniform.

- Pattern created 6-pack bundles of Yogi teas to introduce customers to different product lines and to provide a better introductory size.

- Within two months of launch, Yogi Tea bundles ranked in the Top 10 search results when searching the broad terms Tea, Herbal Tea, and Tea Variety Pack.
- Yogi controls the majority of the listings for the keyword “Yogi Tea.”

- Quick sales growth lead to bundles being featured on Amazon’s “Hot New Releases” page in the top 10 new releases.
- Variety Pack sales lead to incremental top line revenue growth, accounting for 14% of revenue in December 2019.

Pattern Partners

We’re experts at helping brands to create a profitable growth strategy on Amazon in Asia while maintaining brand control. Pattern is one of the top 5 third-party sellers on Amazon based on revenue, and the #1 seller in Health & Personal Care.

Our Amazon experts in Greater China and Asia will grow your Amazon business by optimising content, minimising counterfeit products, and using our algorithmic advertising software.

Discover Your Growth Opportunity on Amazon

If you're an established brand in Asia, we can grow your sales on Amazon in Japan. See our Amazon marketplace management solutions for ecommerce.

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