James Thomson is an entrepreneur, eCommerce expert, and he is the founder of Buy Box Experts, a digital agency that provides executive-level advisory services and full-service management for brands selling online. They help businesses establish their brand and become unbeatable on Amazon.
James was the former Business Head of Selling on Amazon and he developed the initial Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), a nudge program that helped Amazon sellers generate an extra billion dollars in annual sales.
Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:
- James Thomson gives his forecast on when brands will start shifting more to e-commerce
- How businesses are managing their cash flow and circumventing the closing down of their business
- How consumer behavior has changed as an effect of the pandemic
- Why Amazon is the best place right now to move products from sellers to consumers
- The current set of challenges of Amazon sellers
- Why business owners should consider the programs offered by the US Small Business Administration (SBA) and other loan options for business owners
- James talks about contingency plans for Amazon sellers and opportunities they can take advantage of
- James talks about the consolidations of Amazon brands once the pandemic is over
- What Buy Box Experts can do for businesses who want to enter the Amazon Marketplace
In this episode…
With social distancing becoming the new normal, more and more people are preferring to have their needs delivered to their doorsteps. Amazon’s foothold in the retail industry is growing as brands are starting to realize just how vital the platform can be in bringing sellers and consumers together. The caveat is that Amazon is going through some changes that will affect sellers, both old and new.
Join Dr. Jeremy Weisz as he talks with certified Amazon experts and one of co-founders of Buy Box Experts, James Thomson, in this episode of INspiredINsider. They’ll be discussing the changes Amazon is rolling out, how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting retailers on and off Amazon, the changes in consumer behavior, and how businesses can stay afloat despite the tumultuous condition of the economy today. Stay tuned.
Resources Mentioned on this episode
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Episode Transcript
Jeremy Weisz 0:22
Dr. Jeremy Weisz here founder of INspiredINside.com where I talk with inspirational entrepreneurs and leaders. Like the founders you’ve heard something you’ve never heard of. You’ve heard me say before, Atari founder Nolan Bushnell talked about how in steve steve jobs his mentor Steve offered him 33% of Apple for $50,000 why he said no, Baby Einstein founder Julie Clark fighting cancer and beating it p90x founder, Tony Horton talking about how he made money. You know, James, I like that the tough stories that challenge stories were in a really challenging time right now. And you know how he made money as a street mime. That’s how you made food and rent money before so Hundreds of millions of dollars, probably almost a billion dollars at this point of p90x DVDs. And so we’re all we’ve all been there. And right now in these crazy times, which we’ll talk about with James Thomson, who’s uniquely qualified to talk about the stuff going on on Amazon. Before we get to that, this episode is brought to you buy rise 25, which I co founded with my business partner, john Corcoran, and we help b2b businesses connect their dream 100 clients referral partners and help you run your podcasts or an easy button but to make sure it generates ROI, because that’s what makes it sustainable. Okay. And so that’s what we do for businesses and it was inspired and James, I don’t know if you know the story, you may, I was inspired by pot to start podcasting but my grandfather who was a Holocaust survivor, and him and his brother were in concentration camps in Nazi Germany were the only people who survived and his legacy lives on because the whole cosmos nation didn’t interview with him and the interview On my about page and I watch it multiple times a year and it’s an inspiration to me. And so yes, podcasting is the best thing I’ve done for my business, but it also helps me leave a legacy for my guests and myself as well. So it’s a much, much deeper meaning to me. So if you have a business period, you should have a podcast. You can email support at Rise25Media calm, or you know, or go to Rise25.com and find out more.
So, today’s guest I am excited. He’s been a guest before James Thomson. He sees an entrepreneur ecommerce expert. You know, we were just chatting before we hit record is in the past few weeks 25 journalists or more have reached out to him he was on CNBC talking about the stuff that’s going on in Amazon. He was former business head of selling on Amazon he developed the initial Fulfillment by Amazon FBA nudge program that helped Amazon sellers generate an extra billion dollars in annual sales. In 2013. He founded by box experts with digital agency, which provides the executive level advisory services and full service management. Basically, they help brands be unbeatable on Amazon. That’s what they do. And he, you know, started with Joe Hanson, his business partner, who’s an amazing individual also. So that’s what they do on Amazon. So if you are a brand, which if you’re not an Amazon, you’re probably learning right now you need to be on some kind, you need to be on Amazon because everyone’s going shopping on Amazon right now. So you can go to buy box experts calm and learn more, they have an amazing Podcast, where they feature their thought leadership and others in the e commerce space. So, James, thanks for joining me, and I figured we’d, you know, they only gave you I thought, a limited time on CES, CNBC. And you could have been the whole feature because of your knowledge. So that’s what we’re going to do. And so talk about You know, we’ll talk about changes on Amazon. Um, and what are some of the things you’re seeing right now that brands? Well, first of all, they need it. We know the conversation starts, they need to be on Amazon the first place if they’re not, what are some of the conversations that are coming to you? They’re not on Amazon. And now they’re like scrambling to get on Amazon. What’s happening in those conversations?
James Thomson 4:22
right now. Jeremy, first, thank you for that amazing introduction. I don’t I don’t usually get an opportunity to to be celebrated that way. So thank thank you so much for the introduction. much deserved your humble guy. What is happening on Amazon right now. So what is curious is that we’re not hearing from a lot of brands right now who are saying, Oh, my gosh, the sky is falling. I don’t have an Amazon channel strategy. What do I do? Give it another two weeks or so that is going to start happening? Because the foot traffic across this country will disappear as everybody is told to stay home and when that happens, The hardcore reality is for brands that have either shunned ecommerce or shunned Amazon, they’re going to realize that the only place that consumers are buying anything right now is online. And typically, I’m one of the big marketplaces. Amazon’s the biggest one here in the us some stuffs happening on walmart.com. But basically, we’re hearing about Amazon day in day out, just because of the massive scale the massive selection of what they bring to consumers today. So the story story hasn’t ended yet. brands that aren’t on Amazon are going to realize they need to have some sort of an online strategy. What is curious about this whole situation right now with the health health situation we’re in is many brands like to think that they will make the decision as to when they’re ready to go ecommerce. And yet, consumers have already said, we’re going to buy stuff online. So if you’re not online, you know, the brands are not part of the consideration anymore. I see a couple things happening over the next two to three weeks, as more and more people are finding themselves housebound consumers are going to be spending their money on figuring out how do I set up my home so I can work at home? How do I deal with being here with my kids seven days a week. There are certain types of purchase decisions, we’re all going to need to make a lot of elective purchase decisions are going to be put off. I don’t need a new pair of jeans. I don’t need a new stereo. I don’t need a big screen TV. Those things are not critical right now. Right now I need milk. I need a lot of toilet paper but not the level you’re seeing being sold. And I need coloring books for my kids. If we’re still doing this come summertime, people are going to transition the way they spend their money. We’re going to see people saying you know what, I still have some disposable income. I need to buy stuff to make me happy. And I’m going to buy that designer pair of jeans. I’m going to buy a new barbecue or lawn patio furniture for my home because you know what i can barbecue seven nights a week. So these types of elective decisions that people are putting off right now, you know, in the coming months for those of us who are fortunate enough to still have regular income coming in, we’re going to start buying stuff, as I say, to make us happy. Yeah, for for the brands right now for the types of products that aren’t part of that essential use Amazon’s language, they’re not essential products right now. That is to say they’re things we can put off for the time being for living at home full time. Those types of companies, they’re really hurting, because they may already be on online. But consumers aren’t spending parts of their wallets on these types of products. So, unfortunately, those are the types of companies that have to ask themselves the hard questions around Do we have enough cash flow to keep going? Or are we going to be in a situation where four more weeks of 90% drops in sales, we can’t make payroll. We can’t pay our suppliers. We can’t pay for our work. rent and all this kind of stuff. And there’s unfortunately that cascading effect of, if I can’t pay the next guy, the next guy can’t pay the next guy, and so on and so forth. Even if I get a massive federal bailout, and I get my SBA loan, at some point, I’m gonna have to cut. If I cut too much major limbs fall off the body. And when too many major limbs fall off the body, what am I doing as an entrepreneur. So the companies that have cash flow today that have had enough discipline to be able to plan for a rainy day, and in this case, a very rainy day. These are the companies that are going to be in a position to have impressive opportunities that come to them. When you know when the war is over, and we all have to figure out what the future looks like what the new normal looks like, you know, companies with cash are going to be positioned to take advantage of those opportunities. Yeah, rainy day versus rainy month. It’s a much different scenario. Yep. Right. Yep.
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