I started consulting for brands wanting to grow their Amazon business in 2015, and back then, I felt more like a salesperson for Amazon than a consultant. I'd hear things like:

"Isn't Amazon a place to buy books?"

"We don't want our premium brand to be in the same cart as toilet paper."

Over the subsequent years I noticed that brands typically go through four distinct stages in their Amazon journey. I created this graphic a few years ago, but it still holds true.

Stage 1: Ignorance. This first stage is actually the most dangerous. When I started Bobsled in 2015, I often had to make the business case for established brands to even consider Amazon. Meanwhile, resellers were filling the gap, and Amazon-first brands like Anker were emerging.

Stage 2: Put the Intern on It. Eventually, executives start shopping on Amazon themselves and realize their brand might benefit from being there. But Amazon is still treated as experimental – a low-stakes project.

Stage 3: Panic. Reality sets in: Amazon is not just another retailer. It's complex, featuring unique flywheels, language, and procedures. Many brands suddenly realize that resellers have been selling their products on Amazon for years – creating missed revenue opportunities and potential brand damage.

Stage 4: Engagement and Integration. Brands that evolve past panic finally integrate Amazon properly into their retail strategy. The channel gets appropriate resources and becomes a meaningful line item on the P&L.

Amazon is core today, but other ecommerce advancements face the same resistance

Fast forward to today, and while Amazon is part of pretty much all brands' business plans, there are new digital battlegrounds emerging. Consider the challenges of adopting AI throughout the media buying cycle, expanding to new retail media networks, or planning for a world where AI agents will be transacting on our behalf.

I just read an excellent report, How to Educate Senior Leaders on eCommerce, from the research firm Stratably on how e-commerce leaders can advocate for digital within larger organizations. Despite retail media becoming a $60 billion opportunity, many companies remain unconvinced about these investments – just as they once were about Amazon itself.

Stratably identifies a number of reasons why organizations resist advances in ecommerce, including:

• Traditional Mindset: Many established consumer brands have a legacy of
  success in physical retail channels.
• Fear of Change: Resistance to change is a common human trait, and this applies to organizations as well.
• Short-Term Focus: Quarterly financial targets and short-term performance often take precedence over long-term investments into digital capabilities. It’s easier to put a promotion into the market to hit a sales number than it is to invest time and money into clean rooms that can illuminate shopper behavior and drive more efficient marketing spend over time.
• Risk Aversion: Senior leaders inside mature consumer brands have often spent their whole career gaining experience inside the firm in order to arrive at their position.
  

How to Accelerate Your Brand's Ecomm Evolution

Stratably's report is helpful in that it provides a roadmap for accelerating this evolution, regardless of what digital channel you're advocating for. While most brands have figured out Amazon by now, many face the exact same evolution with newer challenges like non-Amazon retail media networks or navigating the AI landscape.

Some practical tips from the report and my experience:

1. Use relatable metaphors: As everyone's retail industry bestie Chris Perry says, "You cannot take an algorithm out to dinner." This helped traditional salespeople grasp that success on Amazon isn't about relationships but about data and algorithms.
2. Start with a compelling digital vision: Don't just say "e-commerce is important." Create a specific vision that addresses your company's unique situation with concrete examples and outcomes. Stratably's report has a great framework for this.
3. Identify knowledge gaps: Instead of asking "what do you want to learn?", come to leaders with specific topics and gauge their interest and knowledge level. Stratably's report points out how to approach these conversations and setup an internal education system.
4. Bring your finance team to industry events: Ash McMullen, head of ecommerce at Advantice Health, told me that she invites her finance team to e-commerce conferences. Experiencing the ecosystem firsthand helps finance teams understand why investment is needed, and be part of the evolution.

The full Stratably report goes much deeper, outlining how to build comprehensive education programs including live sessions, newsletters, and external research. It's worth checking out if you're facing resistance to digital investments.

What stage is your organization in? And what channel represents your next frontier – retail media beyond Amazon, AI shopping agents, or something else? The evolution continues.