Ecommerce Braintrust
· with Ross Walker, Armin Alispahic, Gavin Farnan, Michael Childers, Spencer Selden, Carlos Sastre
· October 13, 2025
· 25 min
Summary
This episode breaks down the key data and trends from Prime Big Deal Days 2025, offering e-commerce operators crucial insights into Amazon's evolving strategy, consumer behavior shifts, and actionable tactics for maximizing profitability and visibility during major sales events. It emphasizes the importance of data-driven decisions and strategic planning beyond the sale period.
Key takeaways
Amazon's shift to a shorter, more focused 2-day Prime event in 2025 signals a need for brands to adapt with disciplined, profitability-focused strategies, prioritizing fewer SKUs with deep deals.
Outperform during Amazon events by combining strong deal depth on hero products with off-Amazon traffic generation and unbranded ad campaigns to combat rising CPCs and build sustained awareness.
Leverage Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) for advanced audience building, smarter targeting, lookalike modeling, and cross-sell opportunities to unlock greater potential during lead-in, event, and lead-out phases.
Implement a robust post-event strategy including retargeting, brand-tailored promotions, and consistent off-Amazon visibility to bridge the gap into Q4 and convert event-driven interest into long-term customer relationships.
Prioritize profitability by using data to guide selective discounting and merchandising. Focus on hero products and understand new deal cost structures rather than broad, low-margin promotions.
Themes
amazon strategye-commerce sales eventsprofitability & merchandisingretail media & advertising
🎙️Prime Big Deal Days Data Breakdown With the Acadia Team DESCRIPTION Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast! In this episode, Director of Retail Media at Acadia, Ross Walker, is joined by cohost and retail roundup resident expert, Armin Alispahic, stepping in for the show's regular hosts, Julie Spear and Jordan Ripley. Today's discussion dives into all the trends, data, and hot takes from this week's Prime Big Deal Days event. Recorded midday on Friday, October 10th, just 48 hours after Prime Day wrapped, the episode captures early insights and fresh perspectives on what really happened. Joining Ross and Armin are four Acadia team members: From the Account Management team, Gavin Farnan and Michael Childers cover the operations and organic performance side of the event, while Spencer Selden and Carlos Sastre bring their expertise from the media side. The data may still be settling, but that's never stopped this team from sharing their verdict on Prime Day's success. Let's jump into the conversation. Quote: "This is a year when widespread use of AMC, not just for analysis, but for audience building, would allow for a lot of unlocks during the lead-in, during the day of, and for lead-out strategies." Ross Walker KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, the team discusses: Event Overview: Amazon's October Prime Big Deal Days 2025 was shorter, sharper, and strategically focused, reflecting a more disciplined retail environment. Two-Day Format: Amazon scaled back from four days to two, addressing buyer fati
Frequently asked about this episode
What does this episode say about amazon strategy?
Amazon's shift to a shorter, more focused 2-day Prime event in 2025 signals a need for brands to adapt with disciplined, profitability-focused strategies, prioritizing fewer SKUs with deep deals.
What does this episode say about e-commerce sales events?
Outperform during Amazon events by combining strong deal depth on hero products with off-Amazon traffic generation and unbranded ad campaigns to combat rising CPCs and build sustained awareness.
What does this episode say about profitability & merchandising?
Leverage Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) for advanced audience building, smarter targeting, lookalike modeling, and cross-sell opportunities to unlock greater potential during lead-in, event, and lead-out phases.
What does this episode say about retail media & advertising?
Implement a robust post-event strategy including retargeting, brand-tailored promotions, and consistent off-Amazon visibility to bridge the gap into Q4 and convert event-driven interest into long-term customer relationships.
What does this episode say about amazon strategy?
Prioritize profitability by using data to guide selective discounting and merchandising. Focus on hero products and understand new deal cost structures rather than broad, low-margin promotions.
