THE CHALLENGE:
A Costly Lesson in Amazon FBA: When Wiley Wallaby first ventured into selling on Amazon five years ago...
THE STRATEGY:
Reclaiming Control & Enhancing Customer Experience: Neato became an extension of Wiley Wallaby’s sales and marketing team, working closely with them to develop and execute strategies that would drive growth and profitability...
THE OUTCOME:
Market Leadership and Sustainable Growth: Since partnering with Neato, Wiley Wallaby has experienced a remarkable turnaround in its Amazon performance...
Introduction: Meet Tropiclean
Tropiclean is a renowned pet care company known for its high-quality grooming, dental care, and wellness solutions.
With a commitment to innovation, safety, and consumer trust, Tropiclean has built a strong reputation, trusted by both pet owners and veterinarians alike. The company’s natural, eco-friendly products have made them a leader in pet grooming and dental care (Nielsen, 2023).
Despite their success in brick-and-mortar retail, Tropiclean needed to enhance their digital shelf presence to match their physical success. To address this, they partnered with Neato to leverage their strengths in product innovation and brand reputation while harnessing Neato’s expertise in navigating Amazon's complexities. The primary goal was to reclaim market control and achieve sustainable growth.
The Challenge: Eroding Margins and Declining Market Share
Tropiclean faced several significant challenges during their five-year tenure as a first-party vendor to Amazon:
Margin erosion: Amazon’s bulk purchasing strategy demanded discounts of 15-30%, leading to significant margin compression.
Unpredictable demand: Erratic purchasing patterns forced Tropiclean to scale production up and down, straining manufacturing processes.
Resource strain: Maintaining operations with Amazon required extra full-time and part-time staff, as well as agency partners to manage gaps.
Limited data insights: Amazon’s Vendor Central platform provided minimal data, leaving Tropiclean with inadequate analytics to drive informed decisions.
Unauthorized sellers: These sellers infiltrated Tropiclean's listings, reducing prices and causing a loss of control over their top-selling products.
Declining market share: Market share began to slip as a result of the pricing pressures and unauthorized sellers.
The Strategy: Reclaiming Control and Enhancing Customer Experience
To address these challenges, Neato implemented a tailored roadmap focusing on several key areas:
Pricing control: Enforced a Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) policy to eliminate unauthorized sellers and stabilize pricing.
Product assortment: Revamped Tropiclean’s variation strategy by developing tailored product sizes and custom bundles that aligned with consumer demand.
PDP overhaul: Refreshed outdated Product Detail Pages (PDPs) with new image stacks, video content, brand stories, premium A+ content, and a fully revamped storefront.
Customer experience: Focused on enhancing the overall marketplace presence to attract and retain customers.
Advertising optimization: Deployed an advanced PPC and DSP strategy to drive traffic and improve conversion rates.
The Outcome: A Resurgent Market Presence and Thriving Business
Through Neato’s interventions, Tropiclean achieved the following results:
Buy Box Control: Neato gained control of 95% of the Buy Box, eliminating unauthorized sellers, regaining control of their pricing and product listings.
Enhanced customer experience: Tropiclean saw total conversion increase by 5%, reaching a conversion rate of 23.8%. Additionally, traffic to their listings surged by 28%, driving higher engagement and sales.
Optimized advertising: Trendlines from Tropiclean’s ad metrics show the success of the team's advertising strategy. Conversion from ads improved by 9%, resulting in an 18% increase in ad sales. Additionally, revenue per click and cost per order continue to improve for the brand.
Sustainable sales growth: Tropiclean experienced significant growth with a 26.5% year-over-year increase in top-line revenue and an impressive 39.3% quarter-over-quarter growth from the prior year. These results have positioned Tropiclean for long-term success and continued competitive advantage in the pet care market.
Market share growth: Tropiclean climbed to the top of the water additive category with a 27.4% market share and maintained growth in the grooming category with a 7.6% market share, holding strong against their direct competitors.
The Outcome: A Resurgent Market Presence and Thriving Business
Through Neato’s interventions, Tropiclean achieved the following results:
Buy Box Control: Neato gained control of 95% of the Buy Box, eliminating unauthorized sellers, regaining control of their pricing and product listings.
Enhanced customer experience: Tropiclean saw total conversion increase by 5%, reaching a conversion rate of 23.8%. Additionally, traffic to their listings surged by 28%, driving higher engagement and sales.
Optimized advertising: Trendlines from Tropiclean’s ad metrics show the success of the team's advertising strategy. Conversion from ads improved by 9%, resulting in an 18% increase in ad sales. Additionally, revenue per click and cost per order continue to improve for the brand.
Sustainable sales growth: Tropiclean experienced significant growth with a 26.5% year-over-year increase in top-line revenue and an impressive 39.3% quarter-over-quarter growth from the prior year. These results have positioned Tropiclean for long-term success and continued competitive advantage in the pet care market.
Market share growth: Tropiclean climbed to the top of the water additive category with a 27.4% market share and maintained growth in the grooming category with a 7.6% market share, holding strong against their direct competitors.
Conclusion: The Power of Strategic Partnerships
Tropiclean’s case study demonstrates the power of strategic partnerships in overcoming business challenges. Through collaboration with Neato, Tropiclean not only reclaimed market control but also set the stage for sustained growth and success. For businesses facing similar challenges, partnering with an expert like Neato can unlock new opportunities and drive significant improvements in performance.
