Wyze Labs: A Success Story - Episode 148

INTERVIEW WITH AMIE HSU, DIRECTOR OF ECOMMERCE AT WYZE LABS

 

DESCRIPTION

In this week’s episode, we are talking with Amie Hsu about the incredible journey of Wyze Labs, reliance on Amazon as a sales channel, their eCommerce team, and best practices when handling multiple marketplaces. 

Tune in to find out more!

Amie Hsu is the Director of eCommerce at Wyze Labs, a Seattle-based startup that is trying to make smart home technology accessible and available to all. At Wyze, Amie is responsible for growing Wyze’s direct-to-consumer business. Previously, she consulted manufacturers on launching their private-label brands on Amazon. She started her career at Amazon, where she worked on multiple teams spanning operations, marketing, and product management.

“Amazon doesn’t share a lot of customer data with you, so you have to figure out a way to drive customers to wanna give information to you directly.”
— Amie Hsu

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  • Amie gives a brief career history & how she got into eCommerce.

  • They have driven down Wyze's reliance on Amazon as a sales channel from 80% to around 50%, which is something many brands are trying to do. 

  • Steps Wyze Labs took to drive down reliance on Amazon:

    • Brick & Mortar presence, e.g. Micro Center, Home Depot. 

    • App usage: app sales make 30% of eCommerce orders - mostly accessories (impulse purchases).

    • Only launch new products on DTC - pre-order through the site, not other channels (early access program).

    • Different assortment across different channels - treat as a discover/awareness channel, core products sold on Amazon & Home Depot. 

    • DTC - treat as a retention channel, for upselling and cross-selling.

    • Other ways to drive customers to your DTC site: post-purchase drip campaign, packaging/inserts, loyalty.

  • Walmart is the only marketplace that has a bigger physical presence than Amazon - looking to launch on Walmart this year.

  • What does Amazon team look like at Wyze; best practices for resourcing Amazon channel:

    • Director of retail sales - oversees Amazon strategy w amazon, owns the relationship.

    • Stakeholders on Marketing & Supply chain teams (3-4 ppl)

    • The same team that supports Amazon, supports other channels - Home Depot, Chewy.

    • Aligned on metrics/goals, set at the CEO level - doing forecast based on channels, trying to make it up in other channels.

  • Pros & cons of building a team that can handle Amazon, DTC, and other channels internally, versus outsourcing to service providers (agencies, consultants):

    • PRO - ownership, thinking long term, the whole team sits close together, tight feedback loop.

    • CONS - hard to find multi-channel expertise.

MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

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