With one foot in e-commerce and the other in capital markets, Amazon brand aggregators are raising billions of dollars with the goal of creating new household names and products, while adding increased value to shoppers.
But with multiple brands, business models, and supply chain ecosystems to juggle — the complexities can be costly.
And no matter how large, well-funded or experienced, Amazon aggregators are not immune to today’s many supply chain challenges.
Let’s take a closer look at how each aspect of the supply chain can play a big role in helping brand aggregators overcome market challenges and use a streamlined supply chain to gain a competitive edge.
As an Amazon aggregator, you’re constantly acquiring multiple businesses at various stages of growth and maturity — and you’re doing it at scale.
While the increased purchasing power can help you secure better terms with suppliers and logistical partners, you also have greater complexity in the supply chain — starting with inventory forecasting.
More than perhaps any other type of business, Amazon aggregators are especially prone to expensive inventory problems, including:
Inaccurate forecasting in just one area of the portfolio, can bring down its entire value.
Rather than take a reactive approach, where you rely on past data to predict future inventory performance, brand aggregators can gain major efficiencies by taking the following steps in inventory forecasting:
If you’re accustomed to using a static 30-day moving average to forecast your inventory, this more hands-on approach might initially seem like a lot of work — especially if you’re operating across multiple marketplaces and sales channels.
But our research has found that the results can be well worth the effort invested, generating forecasts with an average 80.1% accuracy rate — nearly double the precision rate of typical forecasting methods.
Flieber helps some of the largest Amazon brand aggregators maintain optimal inventory levels across multiple brands and sales channels for increased cash flow and profitability at every level. See how it works.
Approximately 57% of Amazon sellers exclusively use FBA for order fulfillment. But for aggregators with a mix of FBA-exclusive, FBA-first, and other marketplace brands under their umbrella, it can be difficult to synchronize Amazon’s default fulfillment system with other third-party and systems.
But gaps and bottlenecks in the supply chain can lead to missed shipping deadlines, costly delays, and a decline in brand reputation.
On the flip side, the brand aggregators that deliver the maximum value to the market will be those that leverage the supply chain as a key growth lever — one that can help them deepen customer loyalty and elevate each and every brand within their portfolio.
Here are some of the benefits a streamlined supply chain can deliver:
Disruption is going to happen and while greater forecast accuracy can absolutely make a difference in keeping your brands stockout-free, it’s the ability to act on that data in real-time that can really drive increased efficiency across the portfolio.
If you’re struggling to stay on top of the supply chain, look for a system that provides real-time data on your current inventory position, automatically updates days of stock and offers a 360-degree view of your supply chain.
When you acquire a new brand, you get what’s handed to you.
In many cases, that includes bloated manufacturing costs, shipping items to the wrong ports, and zero to no differentiation in the supply chain, leaving the brand open to copy-cat competitors and products.
Once you’ve improved your inventory forecasting and established some level of supply chain continuity, you’ll be in a better position to unify brand orders and take repetitive reordering processes off your plate.
After analyzing your latest sales and inventory data, your supply chain optimization system should be able to make highly accurate recommendations for:
Flieber automatically updates your replenishing dates so that you know exactly when to place orders, and in which quantities, to make sure you’re never out of stock or overstocked. See how it works in real-time.
Few things undermine success faster than supply chain issues.
In e-commerce, the aggregators that deliver maximum value to the market are those that flip the script on the supply chain conversation and begin adding value at every step.
At Flieber, our inventory optimization platform uses AI to create forecasts that are 40% more accurate than the ones your competitors are using.
As soon as you sync your brands’ supplier information and warehouse locations, Flieber updates you in real-time on any changes in the supply chain via notifications and automations that help you take the next best action.
If you’re ready for greater efficiency across the brand portfolio, reach out to our team and find out how much more simple a streamlined supply chain can be.