Amazon is a Chessboard, not a Ladder
💪 The winners control space, not just rank, Platforms pull commerce and content into the feed, and more!
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In this newsletter, you’ll find:
♟️Amazon Is A Chessboard, Not A Ladder
📱 Platforms Pull Commerce and Content Into the Feed
🏆 Ad of the Day
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Together with Shipfusion
When Fulfillment Decisions Undo a Perfect Checkout
Most brands optimize checkout, then assume fulfillment will take care of itself. That assumption is where loyalty quietly breaks.
Shipfusion audited five clear protein brands by placing identical orders within the same hour. Same purchase moment. Completely different post-checkout experiences.
The product wasn’t the variable. Fulfillment decisions were.
This audit made the gaps obvious:
👉 Only 1 brand shared a specific delivery timeline, leaving most customers guessing
👉 Five identical orders arrived on wildly different schedules, driven by warehouse and carrier choices
👉 One shipment traveled 2,092 miles, 57% farther than average, adding days and cost that never needed to exist
Whether you’re confident in your customer experience or want a reality check, this report shows how your brand compares. Discover where your brand might be losing momentum and how to turn first-time buyers into lifelong fans.
While rooted in clear protein, these insights apply across supplements, wellness, CPG, and every DTC category.
Download the DTC Delivery Files and audit your post-checkout reality today!
♟️Amazon Is A Chessboard, Not A Ladder
If you walk down the soda aisle in a grocery store, you notice something immediately.
Coke doesn’t just have one bottle on the shelf. They have Diet, Zero, Cherry, Vanilla, Mini-cans, and 2-liters.
They aren't doing this because customers desperately need Vanilla Coke. They are doing it to physically crowd out the competition. Every inch of shelf space Coke occupies is an inch Pepsi cannot have.
This is exactly how elite brands win on Amazon.
Most sellers are obsessed with "Ranking." They want their one hero product to be #1.
But being #1 is fragile. If you lose that spot, you lose the business.
Real staying power comes from Density Stacking.
Instead of fighting for one slot, you manufacture a lineup designed to hog the digital shelf.
- The Hero: The main profit driver.
- The Flanker: A slightly cheaper version to capture price-sensitive shoppers.
- The Bundle: A high-AOV pack to dominate the "Frequently Bought Together" widget.
- The Decoy: An expensive option that makes the Hero look like a great deal.
The Goal: Break the Comparison Loop
When a shopper clicks your product, Amazon immediately shows them alternatives.
- "Customers also viewed..."
- "Compare with similar items..."
If those slots are filled with competitors, revenue leaks out.
If those slots are filled with your other ASINs, the "comparison" phase ends. The shopper is no longer choosing between Brand A vs. Brand B. They are choosing between Brand A (Option 1) vs. Brand A (Option 2).
You win either way.
The Traffic Requirement
This strategy only works if the traffic fueling it is high-quality. If junk traffic hits five different ASINs, it ruins the conversion rate for all of them.
This is where Levanta becomes critical. It allows brands to orchestrate affiliate and creator partnerships across Amazon, Walmart, and DTC as a single channel, ensuring the "Flanker" gets the budget shopper and the "Hero" gets the premium shopper.
If you are ready to see how that infrastructure works, book a free Demo with Levanta. It is currently offering qualified sellers a $75 Uber Eats or DoorDash gift card just for taking the meeting.
The Bottom Line
You don’t win Amazon by having the best product. You win by being the only product the customer sees.
Turn Amazon from a ladder you climb into a chessboard you control. Most sellers are still just trying to get to the next rung.
📱 Platforms Pull Commerce and Content Into the Feed
Disney and Microsoft are both reshaping how users discover and act on content. Disney is adding short-form video to Disney+, while Microsoft is embedding checkout and brand agents directly into AI chat. Both moves focus on capturing intent earlier and more often.
The Breakdown:
1. Microsoft collapses shopping into conversation - Copilot Checkout lets users search, compare, and buy without leaving AI chat. Payments run through PayPal, Shopify, and Stripe, with merchants keeping control.
Brand Agents answer product questions, guide decisions, and speak in a brand’s voice. Microsoft says agent-assisted sessions deliver stronger engagement and conversion.
2. Disney+ is adopting short-form mechanics - Disney confirmed vertical video will roll out later this year to drive frequent check-ins. The experience will support multiple content types and personalised discovery inside Disney+.
Discovery and checkout are converging into feeds and AI chats. A new report revealed that over 60% of Gen Z now uses AI to discover products, raising the cost of not showing up clearly inside these emerging surfaces.
🎥 Ad of the Day
What Works:
Awareness Level: Bottom funnel. The buyer already knows ButcherBox and just needs a strong reason to act now instead of “later.”
Psychological Hook: Loss aversion plus disbelief. “Last chance” creates urgency, and “free ribeyes for a year” feels almost too good to ignore.
Strategic Role: Conversion push. This ad isn’t explaining the brand; it’s collapsing decision time and turning fence-sitters into buyers fast.
When you’re closing, lead with value shock. Make the upside obvious, time-bound, and emotionally tempting so that delay feels expensive.
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