In this episode of the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast, host Josh Hadley interviews Jamin, co-founder of AI Commerce, about the importance of multi-channel distribution strategies for e-commerce brands. Drawing from over 20 years of experience, Jamin explains why relying solely on Amazon poses significant risks and how diversifying across multiple channels drives growth and increases brand valuation. The conversation covers practical steps for expanding distribution, including evaluating new marketplaces, starting with best-selling products, and partnering with experts. Jamin also recommends Traction and Scaling Up as essential business frameworks and highlights AI tools as key productivity drivers.
Timestamps:
00:00:00 Introduction to the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast
Host Josh Hadley introduces the podcast, his consulting services, and a special offer for a free business strategy audit.
00:01:38 Introducing Jamin from AI Commerce
Josh Hadley introduces the guest, Jamin, co-founder of AI Commerce, and highlights his extensive 20-year experience in e-commerce.
00:03:14 Jamin’s E-commerce Journey
Jamin explains how he started in e-commerce over 20 years ago, leading to the creation of his multi-channel service companies.
00:05:20 The Importance of a Multi-Channel Strategy
Jamin discusses why a multi-channel strategy is crucial for growth, as individual channels become more saturated and expensive over time.
00:07:26 The Future of Amazon-Only Brands
Jamin explains the risks for brands focusing solely on Amazon, including knockoffs, and why diversification is key for long-term success.
00:09:55 Three Actionable Takeaways
Josh summarizes three key actions: list and prioritize new channels, start with best-selling products, and partner with experienced experts.
00:12:45 Jamin’s Offer and Contact Information
Jamin offers a free audit for listeners and explains how his team’s expertise and relationships can help brands grow.
00:14:11 Most Influential Book
Jamin recommends “Traction” and “Scaling Up” for their effective business operating systems that help manage and grow a company.
00:15:09 Favorite Productivity Tool
Jamin discusses using AI tools like ChatGPT and integrating them into other platforms like Gmail to improve productivity and workflow.
00:15:50 Most Admired Person in E-commerce
Jamin names Carlos Cashman, co-founder of Thrasio, as a leader he admires for his expertise in channel distribution and scaling businesses.
Links and Mentions:
Tools and Websites
“Ecomm Breakthrough Consulting“: “00:00:58”
“AI Commerce”: “00:02:09”
“Buy with Prime“: “00:02:09”
“Thrasio“: “00:04:11”
Books
“The E-Myth by Michael E. Gerber“: “00:00:00”
“Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business (Entrepreneurial Operating System) by Gino Wickman“: “00:14:11”
“Scaling Up: How a Few Companies Make It… and Why the Rest Don’t by Verne Harnish“: “00:14:11”
Productivity Tools
“ChatGPT“: “00:15:09”
Influential Figures
“Carlos Cashman (Co-founder of Thrasio)”: “00:15:58”
Action Items
“Create a list of marketplaces/channels”: “00:09:55”
“Start with best-selling products”: “00:11:27”
“Partner with experts/mentors”: “00:12:30”
Transcript:
Josh Hadley 00:00:00 Welcome to the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast. I’m your host, Josh Hadley, where I interview the top business leaders in e-commerce. Past guests include Kevin King, Michael E Gerber, the author of the Emeth, and Roland Frazier. Today, I’m speaking with Jamin. Jamin is the co-founder of AI Commerce, a multi-channel digital agency offering a full spectrum of e-commerce services. And we’re going to be talking a lot about the growth lever of expanding your distribution channels. This episode is brought to you by Ecom Breakthrough Consulting, where I help seven figure companies grow to eight figures and beyond. Listen, Jamin, I started my business back in 2015 and I grew it to an eight figure brand in seven years, but I made a lot of mistakes along the way. That made the path of getting to eight figures take a lot longer than it needed to. There were a lot of obstacles that I ran into that could easily have been avoided had I had a mentor or a guide along the way to help me oversee and overcome a lot of those obstacles.
Josh Hadley 00:00:58 So to our listeners, those of you who are running into obstacles or hitting plateaus and want to know the next steps to take your business to the next level, then go to Ecom Breakthrough. That’s ecom with two M’s to learn more. And as a special bonus to my podcast listeners, this month I’m giving. I’m giving away one $10,000 comprehensive business strategy audit session at no cost. All you need to do is email me at Josh at Ecom breakthrough. Com and in your subject line say strategy audit and tell me why I should choose you and your business to work with for this month. And if you don’t get selected this month, don’t worry, you’ll be entered to win for future months to come. Today I’m super excited to introduce you all to Jamin. Jamin is a co-founder of AI Commerce, a multi-channel digital agency offering a full spectrum of e-commerce services, including launching strategies, ad management and fulfillment. And he is also a partner with buy with Prime. Jamin is also a co-founder of brands, which helps e-commerce businesses sell into brick and mortar channels, and AIC brands, which invests in and owns multi-channel brands.
Josh Hadley 00:02:09 He has been a thought leader in e-commerce for over 2020 years, and an early investor and advisor for e-commerce companies including Thrasio. So with that introduction, welcome to the show, Damon.
Jamin Arvig 00:02:22 Thanks, Josh.
Josh Hadley 00:02:23 Damon. We originally met at Camp Ecom, Brandon Young’s event. You were speaking. I spoke, and, you know, I was impressed with the amount of knowledge that you shared there, and it really got my mind going in regards to what we could do with our own brand to expand not only into retail, but just across multi-channel distribution, to really capitalize and help take the brand to the next level. We’ve subsequently had follow up meetings and we’ve really dove in, and it has been super valuable to me and it has shifted my mindset and the strategy that we have in order to take our brand really to the next level. And really, now that we’ve crossed eight figures, go to that nine figure mark. And I really believe that that channel distribution strategy and going multichannel is going to be a big part of that.
Josh Hadley 00:03:14 So Damian, I’m just curious, you know, how did you initially come, you know, become a co-founder in AI commerce and in brands? I mean, you, you are involved in so many like really influential agencies that are helping take brands to the next level. How did that all come to pass?
Jamin Arvig 00:03:33 Sure. Well, we’ve been in e-commerce for over 20 years, and originally we’re selling other people’s products and then building our own brands. And then we started buying brands and growing those brands and creating more value. And then through that got it was asked to help with with Thrasio, which had a vision of doing that same thing. And then also, because we started so early in e-commerce, there was an infrastructure that had been built already. So there wasn’t fulfillment. There wasn’t. There weren’t some of these agency expertise areas that were out there and available for people. So we had no choice but to develop those. And once we had those developed, other people saw what we were doing. So the results and wanted to have a piece of that for their business.
Jamin Arvig 00:04:11 So we we did. We spun off those service companies. So we so we could help them. And so AI commerce came from that as an example of multichannel digital agency, as you mentioned. And, and you know, the reason multichannel has been such a focus for, for, for commerce clients is and for I guess many, many people out there today is is because of the value that can be created. And for us, when we we started so early in e-commerce, we started with Google search engine optimization originally, and then started adding different traffic sources and the expertise areas that were needed for them. And then as, as marketplaces were introduced in different ways to plan the marketplaces were introduced. We you start adding those and then as other channels were added, we added those. And as we as we wanted to round out our, our our channels for our own brands and for other people’s brands, we went offline as well. So you can kind of see the the progression where it made sense for us to add all these channels.
Jamin Arvig 00:05:14 And now the good news is we have this multi-channel expertise that is more necessary now than ever.
Josh Hadley 00:05:20 Yeah, Jamie, I think I love that you didn’t just do this on a whim. Obviously, like you’ve grown through all of these experiences, and that’s where, like, your expertise becomes so valuable here. So I’ve got a two part question to really kick things off here. Why is a multi-channel strategy so important to help a brand grow to the next level? And then the second question on that note is how does that multi-channel strategy influence the overall valuation for that brand?
Jamin Arvig 00:05:51 Sure, it’s hard not to grow without multiple channels. There are so many reasons that multiple channels can help a company grow. So sure, it’s possible to grow without them. You’re doing it. We’ve done it. Many can do that. But when you have more, when you have more wins at your back, it certainly helps. And when there are downturns, it may be necessary to break even or even grow at all. So to have those multiple channels and and some of the reasons it’s important is that each channel has gotten more saturated and more expensive over time.
Jamin Arvig 00:06:21 When you look back, like you just mentioned in with Google SEO and then with Google paid search and then with some of the social channels and some of the different marketplace channels that developed over time, each one of these traffic sources or channels became more expensive over time. Originally, you know, it was the Wild West and it was a new open opportunity. And and it was, you know, someone could figure out how to play in that pretty easily. Maybe even someone could find out a loophole where they could develop a whole lot of growth in that area. But then there becomes sophistication in that area. Other players move into that area. There’s competition. The platform itself develops ways to monetize. There’s different ways to have advertising in these channels, and those ads get more competition and the bids go up and and prices go up for the ads. And so you can see little by little, the, the, the, the, the prices in each of these channels gets much more expensive. And so to, to to exist, to survive, to thrive in any of these one needs to be adding these channels.
Josh Hadley 00:07:26 Yeah, I love that. Now, on that note, Jamie, and I’d love to ask this question. Like to the guests here is where do you see things going for brands that are solely focused on Amazon only right now, what do you think the future looks like for those type of brands over the next 3 to 5 years?
Jamin Arvig 00:07:45 It’s hard. I think, if a company is solely focused on Amazon, they are at risk of a number of things. First, of course you’ve seen it, but there’s there’s knockoff considerations. There’s counterfeit considerations, there’s black hat considerations. Fewer black hat maybe than in the past. But still, there’s all those considerations when there is when there is an Amazon only product or brand that grows, it is very common that that there are knockoffs quickly. And then those, those, those knockoffs present, some erosion of margins, if nothing else, and likely erosion of, of revenue as well. So if someone is solely focused on Amazon, it does become hard. They need to be very, very good at product development and to be good at, of course, good at the blocking and tackling and good at sourcing all those types of things, but good at product development so they can keep launching new products and not be dependent on those that they got them where they are.
Jamin Arvig 00:08:38 So I think those are some of the things that are necessary to, to survive on, on the channel, like Amazon in the future. If you’re focused on that, if you’re if you’re looking at how can you how can you go beyond that? It becomes a lot more impactful, a lot easier because you can you can grow on the other channels and your brand awareness grows and so many other things become possible. And as you say, looking forward for, for years, I mean, we’re running into challenges with the economy. We’re we’ve got recession fears that are that are growing. And the market has already changed dramatically over the last year, I suppose. Right. With aggregators like Thrasio that did a phenomenal job of bringing brands into their, into their ecosystem. But then, during that land grab, there were challenges and, and, there were there were reasons to pull back. And so the valuations and a lot for a lot of those Amazon brands went down too. So, I’m throwing a lot out here, but I think the point is that to grow your business and to improve your valuation, you can you can really do better by diversifying into more channels and, and strengthening, strengthening each of the channels, but really trying to build a brand and not just build a product listing.
Josh Hadley 00:09:55 Yeah. Now, Jamin, I love to leave the audience with three actionable takeaways from each episode. There are so many things that we talked about, and we could have even dug deeper into many of these topics, but here are some three actionable takeaways that I think our listeners could use going forward. Let me know if you think I’m missing something here. So action item number one is, the first thing that a brand should be doing is creating a list of all the different marketplaces or channels that they could envision selling their product into. Right. You’ve got Walmart, you’ve got Etsy, you’ve got Wayfair, target.com. Like the list goes on and on. But I think the important thing here is like list, actually create a list of each of these and then go back, hit rewind. Listen to what Jamin talked about of here are the different like things you need to consider for each of these channels. You know, what’s the amount of search volume being done for that channel for your specific product? What’s the the competition landscape look like for your product on that channel in addition to that? What additional complexities may be required? Do you have to change your product packaging? Do you have to change the way your logistics work? Do you have to hire team members to support this and assign a value to each of those, and then prioritize? Obviously, starting with the least complicated, but producing the highest return on investment first and go from there.
Josh Hadley 00:11:27 So that would be action item number one is create that list and score those different areas that we talked about. Action item number two I think is one of the crucial things here is start first with your best selling products and don’t get overwhelmed, especially if you have a large skew count. Start with a few. Take that initial baby step that’s going to be much more manageable. to take that next action. And then finally, action item number three is to partner with experts like yourself, people and guides and mentors that have been there, done that, that can help you see around those those blind curves that you’re about to come around that you don’t know what you’re about to experience yet, but somebody else does. You will go faster. You’ll make better decisions if you have somebody like that in the in your back pocket. all too often I think entrepreneurs have the mentality which can be good but also bad. At the same token of I can hustle, I can grind this, I can learn this and do this myself.
Josh Hadley 00:12:30 Sometimes your time is better utilized, focused on the future vision of the business and allowing other experts to come in and help guide the formation of that vision. Jamie, is there anything else that you would add to these action items here for our listeners?
Jamin Arvig 00:12:45 I think you said it well, and, you know, happy to be a resource as well. That’s why I’m here. Trying to spread the word and the importance of multichannel. So if anyone is overwhelmed or or wondering if multichannel fits for them or what the next steps are. Feel free to reach out to e-commerce and someone there can have a conversation you may qualify for of either a quick audit to kind of think through the next steps. That would be easy for you. Or I’ll say a more in-depth free audit as well, to understand how you can win and how you can prioritize and how you can execute in these new channels. And I think it does help to talk to experts, even on the example with buy with Prime, we’ve got we’ve developed, special relationships with Amazon.
Jamin Arvig 00:13:32 So we get lots of Amazon reps that help us in our brands really get to the next level of with constraints that that come up and customized strategies and ways to make sure those those strategies actually work. So happy to be a resource and friend in this area.
Josh Hadley 00:13:49 Awesome. So definitely check out a ecommerce com for people and fortuitous naming by the way of AI commerce and getting that domain much earlier than the whole AI boom. Jamin, real quick here, I like to ask each guest the three following questions. So let’s start with number one. What’s been the most influential book that you’ve read and why?
Jamin Arvig 00:14:11 One of the books and theories that I prescribe to is, the the entrepreneurial operating system and scaling up. There are two different things, but very, very similar. And the books behind each of those are tremendously helpful. So I know a lot of people know these now, but if you don’t, I highly encourage you to look into them or get someone to help you implement them. But, the so traction is the book with entrepreneurial operating system.
Jamin Arvig 00:14:35 And then with, the scaling up philosophy. The book is called Scaling Up. And it just really helps people have an operating system for managing and growing the business. And I’m such a believer with brands, snacks. Actually, we. We have programs to help people do this. to actually implement these these things into their business. they’re very helpful. I wish I would have done it earlier.
Josh Hadley 00:14:58 Yeah, those are great books. I would definitely echo what you said there. Question number two is what is a your favorite productivity tool or software that you’ve recently been using that you think is a game changer?
Jamin Arvig 00:15:09 Well, of course everyone’s experimented with GPT, right? So I’m using that a lot. trying to integrate that into other tools too, like Gmail, for example, trying to have things that can be automatically written or updated with that. So I think there’s a lot of AI tools that are that are quite powerful right now that that I’m using. And that’s probably the, the obvious one that, that has been helpful.
Josh Hadley 00:15:33 Do you have a favorite AI tool at this point outside of ChatGPT?
Jamin Arvig 00:15:38 It’s, changing quickly. So I don’t think any that I can, can really vouch for. It’s funny, a lot of these tools are, you know, 72 hours old or something like that, right? But they’re developing and changing very quickly.
Josh Hadley 00:15:50 All right. Last but not least. Who is somebody that you admire or respect the most in the e-commerce space that other people should be following and why?
Jamin Arvig 00:15:58 Well, I think, a leader in the space that I can that I can mention is in the aggregator space. We’ve talked about them already. The ratio. founded by a co-founded by Carlos Cashman. I think he’s phenomenal at understanding, channel, distribution and ways to ways to ways to grow and get into more channels and, and, specifically or more generally, I guess, just business how one can leverage, and scale businesses. So I think he’s been, very impactful. And I encourage anyone to, to keep track of him.
Josh Hadley 00:16:37 Awesome, Jameson, great insights today. Thank you so much for sharing your wealth and, wealth of knowledge and wisdom with us all today.
Jamin Arvig 00:16:45 Happy to be with you. Thanks, Josh.
