What DTC Brands Get Wrong When Launching on Amazon

Short Answer

DTC brands fail on Amazon because they apply their entire Shopify playbook to a platform that works in a different way.

One of their biggest mistakes is pushing the entire catalog and running ads on every product, instead of focusing on best-sellers and scaling them one by one, which is far better than running ads on the entire catalog.

Most brands underestimate how competitive the Amazon marketplace is. Entering a category without having a strong offer in a pool of competitors which already have thousands of reviews rarely leads to any sales.

Product page optimization is another area where brands fall short. Everything on the page has to be maximized including (A/B testing hero pictures, product titles, pricing, bullet points and A+ Content), and the overall offer needs to be competitive.

On top of that, advertising works differently through Sponsored Products, where the hero image and the title are the actual creative.

Olifant Digital is a full-service Amazon and DTC agency which helps brands to launch and scale on Amazon the right way since day one without making these mistakes.

Why DTC Success Doesn't Transfer to Amazon Automatically

Before we get into the specific mistakes, it helps to understand why so many DTC brands struggle on Amazon in the first place.

The short version: Amazon is a fundamentally different platform from everything a DTC brand knows. The playbook that built you a seven-figure Shopify store will actively hurt you on Amazon if you apply it without making any adjustments.

Amazon Is a Search Engine, Not a Brand Destination

On your DTC site, a customer lands because they are already familiar with your brand. They clicked a Meta ad, opened an email or typed your URL directly.

Amazon is the exact opposite of that. On the platform, the customer searches with a specific term, such as "organic protein powder" or "minimalist wallet" into the search bar, and then the Amazon A9 algorithm decides which products to show. Your product will either appear on the page, or it will not exist.

This completely changes everything. Your listing title needs to contain the exact keywords that customers search for. Your backend search terms need to be filled out and indexed, and your bullet points need to include relevant search phrases that occur naturally.

The emotional brand story which drives your Shopify homepage doesn’t rank on Amazon. Keywords rank, search relevance ranks, your brand name alone also doesn’t carry a lot of weight here.

Your DTC Conversion Levers Don't Exist Here

On your website, you have a toolkit that helps you convert customers. This includes retargeting ads, email sequences, abandoned cart flows, and you might even touch a customer five or six times before they buy, because that's how DTC works.

All of these techniques are irrelevant on Amazon, and there you have to work with 5 things. This includes: main image, product title, bullet points, A+ Content and your price. There are no additional features such as retargeting, or email flows, so a customer decides to buy or leave in seconds.

Most DTC brands underestimate how hard it is to work with only these five elements, and that writing an Amazon listing that converts is a completely different skill from writing website copy or a Facebook ad.

The Algorithm Rewards Amazon Behaviour, Not Brand Behaviour

Amazon's ranking algorithm doesn't care how many Instagram followers you have or your brand equity. What the algorithm cares for are three things: sales velocity, keyword relevance and reviews.

A brand-new Amazon seller that has strong keyword targeting, competitive pricing and 50 reviews during the first month will always outrank a $10M DTC brand with a beautiful product, but only four reviews.

The algorithm measures Amazon-specific behavior which includes how fast you sell, search terms, how many reviews you accumulate and how recently they were posted. Brand story is irrelevant to the algorithm, while execution on Amazon’s terms is everything.

The 7 Biggest Mistakes DTC Brands Make When Launching on Amazon

There are not only generic Amazon mistakes, instead, they are specific errors that DTC brands make because of the assumptions they bring from their own channels. Every one of these can be avoided with the right strategy, and the right operator running the channel.

Mistake 1 — Treating Amazon Like a Secondary Channel With Secondary Attention

DTC brands build their revenue on channels they control and understand, such as: Shopify, Meta, email, Google Shopping. Amazon feels unfamiliar and risky, so it doesn’t get the same attention. It gets handed to a junior team member, added to an existing agency’s workload or it’s put on the back burner until “we have time to figure it out”.

The problem is Amazon’s algorithm doesn’t make any pauses while you are trying to get up to speed. From the moment you list a product, Amazon is watching how fast it sells, whether customers click on it, and whether they buy.

The algorithm uses this data to decide whether your product ranks in search results. If the answer is “not great” your product gets pushed down and it becomes harder to find.

This matters the most during the first 30 - 60 day window period, which is when Amazon treats this launch window as a test. Strong early sales tell the algorithm that your product belongs on page one, whereas weak early sales tell it the opposite.

Once the algorithm decides you’re not worth ranking, it can take many months of extra ad spend to claw your way back in.

Mistake 2 — Reusing DTC Creative and Copy for Amazon Listings

This is one of the most common DTC brand Amazon mistakes, and it is easy to see why it happens. DTC brands already have great product photos, polished copy and clear brand guidelines.

Using these assets on Amazon feels like an obvious move, instead of starting from scratch. But this is a mistake, as these were designed to do a different job. Amazon creative has to show up in search results, answer a shopper’s question within seconds and convince someone who has never heard of your brand to click “Add to Cart.”

Here is what it looks like in practice. Your lifestyle hero image from Shopify probably will not work as your Amazon main image. Amazon shoppers expect to see the product clearly on a white background. Your product title can’t just be your brand name and a clever tagline, but it has to include the keywords people are actually searching for.

In your bullet points, you need to lead with specific benefits that your product provides, and the specifications of it, instead of a brand voice. Your A+ Content, on the other hand, needs to follow Amazon's layout and conversion patterns, not to mirror your website's design. Basically, every element has to be specifically built for how Amazon works.

Mistake 3 — Ignoring Pricing Integrity and Channel Conflict

This is a problem that only DTC brands deal with. A seller that only operates on Amazon doesn’t have a separate website with different pricing, but DTC brands do, and this creates a conflict which has to be addressed before the launch.

If you price your product lower on Amazon than on your own site, customers will figure out that quickly, and they will buy on Amazon instead. This will mean that you will push buyers from your highest-margin channel.

On the other hand, if you price higher on Amazon, you will look expensive next to competitors, and you will be at risk of losing the Buy Box, which is the default “Add to Cart” button that Amazon awards to the most competitive offer.

While there is no perfect answer here, there are smart approaches. The most effective strategy is to keep the pricing consistent across channels and protect your margin in other ways.

This could mean creating Amazon-specific bundles, offering multipacks or listing exclusive product variations that are not directly comparable to what’s on your website. The brands that skip this step, end up in losing position either way, giving up margin on Amazon or losing customers from their own store.

Mistake 4 — Running PPC Before the Listing Is Ready to Convert

DTC brands are comfortable with paid acquisition. Most of them grew using Meta ads, Google ads, influencer spend, so when they launch on Amazon, the instinct is to turn on PPC (Pay-Per-Click advertising) immediately and drive traffic.

However, on Amazon sending traffic to a weak listing is like pouring water into a bucket with a hole in it. You will spend money to get clicks, but your listings will not convert because the main image is unclear, the title is not keyword-optimised and the bullets don’t address customer objections, and there is no A+ Content to build trust.

Listing CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation) has to come first. The main image, keyword-optimised copy, A+ Content and pricing should be locked in before a single dollar is spent on ads.

This is exactly how at Olifant Digital we approached Ekster’s Amazon launch. Their listings were fully built and conversion-optimised before any ads ran. The result was $688,406 in annual profitability.

Mistake 5 — Optimising for ACoS Instead of TACoS

If you have ever run Meta or Google ads, then you are familiar with ROAS (Return on Ad Spend). This metric tells you how much revenue you have earned for every dollar that you have spent on ads.

ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sales) is Amazon's version of that metric. It measures your ad spend as a percentage of the revenue that comes directly from those ads. So, most brands start tracking ACoS because it feels familiar. But, this is a problem, because it only tells you one part of the story.

During launch, you’re spending a lot of money on ads to build visibility and to push your product up in the search rankings. What ACoS doesn’t show you is that those ads are also driving organic sales, meaning people who find your product through regular search results without clicking on an ad. That revenue is real, however, ACoS ignores it completely. And that’s where TACoS (Total Advertising Cost of Sales) comes in.

TACoS measures your ad spend as a percentage of all your revenue (which is both paid and organic), so a launch strategy that looks like it’s burning money at 40% ACoS, might actually be running at healthy 15% TACoS because the ads are building organic ranking and it generates sales that you are not paying for.

The switch in reporting from ACoS to TACoS we did for Onsen Secret changed the entire strategy, which resulted in tripled profit. The ad spend didn’t change, what changed was having a clear picture of what was actually working.

Mistake 6 — Underestimating the Review Velocity Window

The first 30 days after a product gets launched on Amazon are what matter more than any other period for collecting reviews.

Amazon’s algorithm pays close attention to how many reviews a new product gets, and how quickly they come in. Those products that build up reviews fast in the early period, get rewarded with better placement in the search results. Products that don’t build reviews are pushed down.

This is an area where DTC brands have a built-in advantage, but most of them never use. They already have loyal customers that love the product.

They even have email lists, strong customer satisfaction scores, and a community of people who would happily leave a review if someone asked them to do so. But most DTC brands never connect that existing audience to their Amazon listing.

There are several ways to build reviews that are ethical and that fully comply with Amazon’s rules. One such program is Amazon Vine which sends your product to trusted reviewers who provide honest and early feedback.

You can also use Amazon’s Buyer-Seller messaging to follow up with customers and encourage them to share their experience. There are product inserts that comply with Amazon’s terms of service which can point happy customers to leave a review.  A DTC brand that has 10,000 loyal customers, but only 4 reviews on Amazon is leaving a major ranking advantage untouched.

Mistake 7 — Handing Amazon to Someone Who Manages It Alongside Everything Else

Usually, DTC brands have a person that not only manages Meta ads, but also manages the website, coordinates with the 3PL and handles customer service. When Amazon is added to the mix, it lands on someone’s desk as “just another channel”.

But, Amazon is nothing like it. Instead, it requires daily optimization during the launch window. It has its own technical vocabulary that requires category-level competitive intelligence.

Every day that passes with campaigns running on autopilot, keyword targeting becomes static, and listing performance goes unreviewed is a day of lost momentum.

The cost of underqualified Amazon management is invisible until it compounds. A generalist will not know if a keyword fell out of index. They will not catch a competitor undercutting on a key search item.

They will not adjust the bids which are based on day-of-week performance. The launch window will close, in the meantime organic rankings will stall, and the recovery will require more budget than doing it right the first time.

What DTC Brands That Win on Amazon Do Differently

DTC brands that succeed on Amazon do so because they approach the channel with a different mindset from day one. Here is what separates brands who win from those that waste their launch window.

They Treat the Launch Window as the Highest-Leverage Moment

The first 30 to 60 days on Amazon determine your organic ranking trajectory for months. Brands who win understand this and allocate more resources, more attention and more daily optimization to this period than any other stage.

An example is Elite Jumps. After trying dozens of agencies with mediocre results, they partnered with Olifant Digital.

Our strategy focused on refined keyword targeting, rebuilt listings through A/B testing and improved SEO from day one. The final result was 124% revenue growth in 3 months. The growth is built on a launch foundation that was right from the start.

They Build Amazon Listings From Scratch — Not From DTC Assets

The listings on Amazon are what create conversion. This is why every element needs to be specifically built for this platform.

This entails having the titles structured for search relevance, the bullet points have to be written so they can convert even the most skeptical shoppers. The main image should be designed for Amazon's grid, and the A+ Content should follow the specific layouts which are proven to convert.

This is the approach we took with Ekster. When they started working with us at Olifant Digital, we first built their listings from zero. We aligned their brand's voice and RFID messaging with Amazon search intent. For every listing, we did conversion-optimization before we did any ads, and the final result was $688,406 in annual Amazon profitability.

They Use TACoS as the North Star Metric From Day One

TACoS is the metric that allows you to see the true situation on your Amazon channel, which includes finding out if your channel is growing, or you are just spending. A launch that might look expensive on ACoS can look healthy on TACoS because it's building organic ranking which doesn't show up in the ad-attributed numbers.

One such example is Onsen Secret. After we switched their reporting from ACoS to TACoS as the primary metric, the whole strategy changed. This resulted in tripled profit. Their ad spend didn't increase, but the way it was measured and allocated changed everything.

They Have a Senior Amazon Operator — Not a Generalist — Running the Channel

The transition from DTC to Amazon requires a specific skill set. It needs someone that has an understanding of the both worlds: the brand-building logic of DTC and the ranking logic of Amazon.

Brands that get this right, have a senior operator which is managing their Amazon channel. Someone who has done this before, at scale, with category-specific knowledge.

This is why at Olifant Digital, we require a minimum of 7+ years of experience. Every specialist that manages a DTC brand's Amazon account has spent years in the trenches, and not reading Amazon courses.

How Olifant Digital Helps DTC Brands Launch on Amazon Without the Costly Mistakes

Olifant Digital exists because we kept seeing the same things happening: strong DTC brands burning their Amazon launch window on recycled strategies, junior account managers and advice that was never tested with real money.

We run a 7-figure ecommerce brand of our own. Every strategy that we bring to a client has already been proven on our own account first. This is not an agency-textbook approach, but an operator-level approach which is built on real revenue and real risk.

Our team is senior only. Every specialist that manages a DTC brand’s Amazon account brings a minimum of 7 years of hands-on experience. There is no junior staff learning on your budget. The person that is in charge of your account has done this dozens of times, and knows what works before the data confirms it.

We know DTC brands because we have worked with them. Coat Defense, Cocosolis, MatchaBar, Ekster and others making this exact transition. We have seen the mistakes covered in this article play out in real time, so we know how to stop them before they cost you money.

Daily optimization is our standard. Not weekly check-ins, not reactive fixes after something breaks. We do daily management, especially during the launch window when every decision compounds on the last.

We stand behind our work, and offer a 60-day money-back guarantee and a 98% client retention rate. We put our own revenue on the line because we are confident in what we deliver.

Planning your Amazon launch? We will audit your current position, identify the risks, and show you exactly what to fix before you spend a dollar. Get your free marketing plan today.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a DTC Brand Succeed on Amazon Without Losing Brand Control?

A DTC brand can succeed on Amazon, only with a deliberate strategy. Amazon's Brand Registry program gives you total control over your product listings, and protects you against counterfeit sellers.

The A+ Content allows you to create a branded experience all because of the custom images and layouts. The pricing integrity across both channels ensures that Amazon doesn't cannibalize your DTC site.

If it's managed correctly, Amazon will reinforce your brand by putting it in front of millions of high-intent shoppers. The brands that actually lose control, are those that launch without any specific plan.

How Long Does It Take for a DTC Brand to Get Traction on Amazon?

There is a critical period between 30 and 60 days. That’s when the Amazon algorithm is evaluating your product’s sales velocity, relevance of your keywords and determines your organic ranking.

‍

A correctly executed launch with optimised listings, strategic PPC and review velocity efforts can show meaningful traction within 60 to 90 days. A poorly executed launch can take more than 6 months to recover from, and some brands might even not make it.

Should DTC Brands Use the Same Pricing on Amazon as on Their Own Site?

Having lower prices on Amazon will train your customers to buy from there, instead of your high-margin DTC site, and if you price higher on Amazon, this feature will make you look more expensive against competitors.

The smartest move here is to maintain price parity across the channels, and protect the margin through Amazon-specific bundling, multipacks or exclusive SKUs that are completely different from your DTC offerings.

What's the Difference Between ACoS and TACoS, and Why Does It Matter for DTC Brands?

DTC brands default to ACoS because it’s more familiar and it more closely resembles ROAS from Meta and Google. The problem is ACoS only measures the ad spend against ad-attributed revenue, and it ignores the organic sales that good PPC generates, which ultimately leads to bad decisions.

This is why it’s important to check TACoS. This matters even more during the launch window, as early PPC spend is not only just buying conversions. It is also buying ranking, velocity and organic visibility. Optimizing only for ACoS alone during that period can mean pulling back on the exact activity that builds long-term profitability.

Do DTC Brands Need an Amazon-Specific Agency or Can Their Existing Agency Handle It?

Amazon requires specific specialist expertise which most DTC agencies don’t have. Amazon has its own algorithm, its own advertising platform, its own SEO rules and its own conversion best practices. A DTC agency that is learning Amazon on your budget is one of the most expensive mistakes that a brand can make.

‍

Planning your Amazon launch? We will audit your current position, identify the risks, and show you exactly what to fix before you spend a dollar. Get your free marketing plan today.

‍

‍

‍