6 Signs You Need an Amazon Consultant

Despite many of the economic changes and shifts we’ve seen over the past five years, Amazon is still one of the fastest growing companies in the world. Retail sales—both B2B and B2C combined—have grown roughly 44 percent over the past five years.

Many companies across a wide variety of industry sectors have taken notice of this channel and have started selling on the platform. We’ve seen this growth first hand, having helped a number of clients grow their Amazon channels to $30+ million in annual sales.

What’s more, Amazon is a highly complex marketplace that is constantly evolving and increasingly competitive. According to market research at Capital One, there are approximately 1.8 million sellers on Amazon, and at Enceiba, we’ve seen a massive influx of both legitimate sellers and opportunistic resellers over the past few years.

Plenty of companies have tried their hand at the channel and failed. Too often, they don’t think through all the ramifications of selling on Amazon, and they make mistakes that jeopardize not only their sales but their entire Amazon selling account. They often underestimate the level of resources that selling on Amazon requires, as well as the level of expertise needed to manage the channel successfully and profitably.

The good news is that high-quality professional help is out there. Enceiba has formulated its services specifically to help B2B businesses approach Amazon strategically. The question, though, is how do you know you need our help?

Here are 6 signs you might need an Amazon consultant.

1. Slow Sales: It should be a red flag if your Amazon sales have stalled. It's a pattern we see constantly: a brand grows explosively for its first 3-4 years on the platform, then suddenly falls off a cliff. Sometimes it's Amazon pulling back on 1P purchasing; sometimes the brand has simply hit a wall it can't push past on its own.

Meanwhile, Amazon keeps growing. In addition to the figures cited above, Amazon Business recently announced it crossed $60 billion in annualized gross B2B sales, nearly doubling in a little over three years. Enceiba-managed sellers are generally meeting or exceeding that pace of growth , but it could be a sign of a real problem if you’re not matching it. 

2. Unauthorized Resellers: If you're seeing unfamiliar sellers on your listings, or worse, products listed under your brand name that look counterfeit, misrepresented, or otherwise sketchy, you’ve probably lost visibility into who's actually selling your brand. Unauthorized resellers can undercut pricing, damage your brand reputation, and even put customers at risk with fraudulent goods. 

There is an entire set of best practices around reseller management, from MAP enforcement to test buys to Amazon Brand Registry tools, but getting it right takes specialized expertise. If you don't have a handle on who's selling your products, it's time to bring someone in who does. 

3. Lack of Amazon Business Presence: If you sell to business buyers, Amazon Business shouldn't be an afterthought; not having any or many B2B sales is usually a sign you’re not set up to capture that demand. Generally speaking, B2B brands should not be seeing less than 20 percent of their Amazon sales coming through Amazon Business. Many Enceiba clients exceed 40-50 percent of their total Amazon revenue coming from Amazon Business. 

Given how fast Amazon Business is growing, leaving that channel underdeveloped means leaving real revenue on the table. 

4. Limited Assortment: Amazon is the everything store, with an “endless” assortment available for both B2B and B2C buyers. In spite of this, too many companies only put a fraction of their catalog on the platform. Often it's because they assume certain products won't sell well on the marketplace, without ever testing that assumption. Other times, they don't know how or what to list, or they just don't have the bandwidth to manage their entire catalog on Amazon. 

Either way, a limited assortment means limited opportunity. If you're only listing a portion of what you sell elsewhere, you could be leaving significant revenue on the table. 

5. Profitability: Amazon should be a strong performer on your P&L. Some Enceiba clients report that Amazon is their MOST profitable channel across their business. If your margins on Amazon lag behind your other sales channels, that's usually a sign something is missing in your strategy (or that you don’t have one), not that Amazon is inherently less profitable. 

There are multiple ways to sell on Amazon (1P, 3P, hybrid models), each with different cost structures, and choosing the right approach requires real expertise. Without it, you can end up overpaying in fees, mispricing, or fighting inefficiencies that erode margin. 

6. Amazon Undervalued (or Misunderstood) by Your C-suite: If your leadership still sees Amazon as a necessary evil rather than a strategic channel, that's a problem, especially in B2B, where Amazon Business is quickly becoming the new reality. Too often, C-suites approach Amazon with fear instead of strategy: worried about brand control, channel conflict, or race-to-the-bottom pricing, without a real understanding of the channel or a plan to manage these risks. This mindset holds companies back from investing properly in the channel. 

If Amazon isn't getting the strategic attention—and more importantly, buy-in—it deserves in your organization, you might need outside expertise to reposition it internally and build a program that's managed intentionally and with a clear strategy, not out of fear. 

And if you’re having this issue, be sure to check out our whitepaper: Making the Business Case for Amazon Business.

If any of these signs sound familiar, your Amazon program has room to grow, and Enceiba's team of expert Amazon consultants can help you get there. Reach out today to see how we can turn these warning signs into wins.