Welcome to Yeoman!
We’re a unique, client-first firm that specializes in helping brands optimize online and offline sales. Digital Sales (Direct, Amazon, etc) don’t exist in a vaccum. They have a direct impact on your core business. We get that and we know how to strike the right balance. We’re hands-on experts who know B2B and B2C sales channels and know how digital can drive more revenue across every channel.
Last August, Amazon announced some major changes to their Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) program. SFP is a great option that let's large brands offer 'Prime' shipping to Amazon customers and ship directly from their own warehouses. The program was very well received by many brands, especially brands that had large, perishible, or high value goods. Brands could set their Prime area by region; helping to avoid 'lost sales' for cross country shipments.
The program has been around for 2+ years and has always had very strict rules; 99% on time shipment, 99% on time delivery and less than a 0.5% cancellation rate. Amazon raised the bar in August, requiring the following as of February 1st:
Walmart's recent online growth has gotten brands of all size rethinking their marketplace strategy on Amazon. In general Walmart marketplace sales are 2-4% of what comparable item sales are on Amazon (based upons Yeoman's exclusive cross platform brand analysis over the last 5 years.
However, the pandemic has brought a surge in volume on Walmart, especially in groceries and consumables.
So is Walmart worth it? Commissions and fees are comparable to Amazon (10-15% range) but there are several differences brands should be aware of. The first is shipping and perfomance.
Remember, Walmart really doesn't have a mature, active program like FBA. They do have a program through their partner Delivrr, but this is fairly new and not a large % of their shipments yet.
If you're doing the fulfillment, Walmart’s standard metrics are…
Update: The long-standing quesiton about whether or not Amazon will be happy collecting taxes on behalf of 3rd party sellers is officially over. On January 1st, Amazon started collecting in 4 more states (HI, IL, MI, and WI). Last October they added 9 (AZ, CA, CO, ME, MD, MA, NV, ND, TX, UT) Georgia and Alaska were added as of April 1st. Mississippi , Tennessee, and Louisiana were added in Q4 of 2020.
That brings the total to 44 states (including DC) that Amazon collects and remits taxes for 3rd party sellers (plus there are 4 states that don't charge sales tax). That leaves only Florida, Kansas, and Missouri. The bulk of the other Marketplaces like Walmart and eBay have also complied with most of the rules, but not as fast as Amazon. For Amazon, the logic is easy.
We all saw it coming. A surge in online demand, Covid workplace restrictions, and an unwillingness for the USPS to ramp up capacity during the pandemic. Fedex and UPS were all over customers confirming schedules, max deliveries, and raising rates for the holidays. USPS did raise rates, but is clearly overwhelmed at this point and its getting uglier by the day.
This does not just impact USPS shipments. The Post Office is the “last mile” for some packages for every major carrier including UPS (Surepost), Fedex (Smartpost), and many Amazon orders.
How bad is it? Yeoman estimates that 20-30% of USPS packages that were shipped from businesses last week are not even scanned into USPS system. Worse, it appears that USPS is not scanning items as they move…
What if, as a manufacturer, publisher or IT company, you could predict the future? You’d probably start off by predicting how much inventory you need to carry, followed closely by predicting the next products your customers are going to want to buy, so you can have them ready and waiting the next time they hit “search.”
Magic? Not really. Impossible? No. Mining the data you already have access to about your customers and web visitors can give you amazing insight into their future behavior and preferences – but only if you capture it and use it.
Case in point: Netflix cashes in on their own crystal ball
When Netflix went looking to produce its own TV show to compete with cable, they – like any other business – wanted to be as sure as possible it would be a big hit. But unlike a lot of other businesses,…
Tired of hearing that the 2020 holiday season is “unprecedented,” “uncharted” and “uncertain”? We are too. The new reality of selling is here — and many businesses are playing catchup. We know there’s a shift to customer engagement through digital channels, but few have had bandwidth to improve their performance in that area. Rather, the majority of B2B and B2C businesses are just happy to see any growth at all.
That’s a mistake: There are at least five initiatives that, undertaken now, will put you in a strong position to wrap up the year. These are short-fuse, get-it-done today tasks that can make or break Q4. B2B or B2C, in doesn’t matter. Chances are, you’re leaving money on the table.
Join NetSuite and Mike Healey, president of Yeoman Technology Group, for practical advice on optimizing your digital sales strategies in Q4 — and what…
