Welcome to another episode of The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast hosted by Acadia’s Head of Retail Marketplaces Services Julie Spear. In this episode, we’re joined by Acadia’s Retail Account Manager, Molly Thomas, and Retail Media Manager, Juan Munoz to discuss the rising importance of profitability in the e-commerce landscape. We’re diving into the key trends, strategies, and metrics brands should focus on to optimize their profitability, particularly on Amazon and other retail marketplaces. Make sure you tune in to find out more!   KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, Julie, Molly, and Juan discuss:  Rising Amazon Fees & Competitive Marketplace: Impacting smaller sellers, prompting a focus on profitability and efficient budget allocation. Consumer Buying Behavior & Marketplace Saturation: Changing consumer expectations and the competitive challenges new brands face on platforms like Amazon. The focus on profitability varies by brand maturity and category competition Tools like Merchant Spring help track profitability despite Amazon not making it easy, and the importance of various KPIs such as storage fees, conversion rates, and content optimization. Advertising Strategies for Profitability: A granular approach to advertising, including single ASIN campaigns and focusing on high search volume keywords to increase organic rank and profitability. Holistic Account Management: Aligned strategies between organic and paid efforts, inventory management, and competitive analysis. Long-term Planning vs. Short-term Profitability: Focusing too heavily on monthly profitability could hinder long-term growth and overall brand strategy. Integration Across Teams: Effective collaboration between catalog specialists and advertising teams is highlighted as vital for success. Over-reliance on branded keywords and not sufficiently targeting new customers are pinpointed as potential downfalls for brands overly fixated on short-term profitability.