Start With the Shopper - Lessons in Growth with Scott Lester of eos - Episode 410

Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Account Management.

Today, we’re thrilled to be joined by Scott Lester, Senior Manager of Digital & E-commerce at eos: the brand behind the beloved Evolution of Smooth products, from body lotions and lip balms to shaving creams.

We first connected with Scott at eTail East, where he spoke on marketplace optimization and strategy. His insights really stood out, and we’re excited to dive deeper into those ideas with him today.

Tune in to find out more!

KEY TAKEAWAYS

In this episode, Julie, Jordan, and Scott discuss:

• Scott Lester’s Nontraditional Career Path: Scott shares how he went from a Spanish literature degree and pharmaceutical sales to a thriving career in ecommerce, emphasizing the value of curiosity and adaptability.

• Translating Brand Ethos Across Channels: The eos team maintains consistency in their brand voice across digital marketplaces, retail media, and in-store experiences.

• Marketplace Growth Framework: Scott walks through eos's approach to marketplace growth by breaking it into four stages: market anticipation, leveraging reviews, discover & rank, and platform optimization.

• Nimbleness in Product Innovation: Insights on how eos uses social and market trends (such as their "Flavor Lab" launches inspired by viral secret menu hacks) to quickly develop and release new products, benefiting from the agility that comes with being a relatively small company.

• The Power of Customer Reviews: Discussion on how reviews are being repurposed into user-generated content and ad creative, and why customer sentiment is now essential, especially with the rise of AI such as Amazon’s Rufus and Walmart’s Sparky.

• Shifting Optimization Strategies: The evolution from keyword-stuffing to a more nuanced approach focused on consumer language, mobile relevance, and content that appeals both to customers and marketplace algorithms.

• Paid vs. Organic in Digital Shelf Strategy: Scott explains balancing organic and paid tactics, and why he no longer believes in strict “upper/mid/lower-funnel” strategies. Instead, eos seeks to create memorable, shareable moments across multiple touchpoints.

• The Rise of AMC and Measurement: How Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) has moved from “nice to have” to essential for tracking incremental impact and optimizing media spend effectively.

• AI: Both Exciting and Alarming: Scott offers candid thoughts on the double-edged sword of AI in ecommerce, from helping with data analysis to concerns over generative imagery and deepfakes.