Last week, we hosted a webinar bringing together our divisions Backhouse Agency and ChicExecs for the session “Inside the Amazon Ecosystem: What’s Driving Brand Growth Right Now.” In this conversation, we unpacked a major shift happening in ecommerce: Amazon is no longer just a place where products are listed and sold—it has become the final step in a much larger discovery journey, where success depends on how well brands build demand across every channel.
We love working with brands that are focused on growing on Amazon, but the reality is simple: Amazon performance isn’t just about Amazon anymore. By the time a customer reaches a product page, their decision is often already shaped by everything they’ve seen beforehand on other channels.
Brands need to rethink Amazon not as a standalone channel, but as part of a much larger ecosystem that includes social, PR, influencer marketing, and paid media.
Amazon Is No Longer Where Discovery Begins
One of the clearest shifts we’ve seen is that Amazon is rarely the first touchpoint these days.
Instead, it has become the conversion layer—the place where intent turns into purchase after discovery has already happened elsewhere.
Today’s consumers are introduced to products on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, through editorial coverage, and creator content. Amazon then becomes the trusted checkout moment where they finalize the decision.
This is why we think of Amazon less as the starting point and more as the final step in the funnel.
The New Reality: Amazon Alone Isn’t Enough
Our experts also spoke about how much more competitive Amazon has become, even for brands doing $25M–$50M in annual revenue on the platform.
Success is no longer as simple as listing a product and turning on ads.
We consistently see brands run into challenges when they treat Amazon as an isolated channel instead of part of a broader strategy, rely only on Amazon advertising without generating outside traffic, launch without strong review velocity or credibility signals, or overlook the importance of optimized listings and A+ content.
The reality is that visibility has to be earned from multiple directions before conversion happens.
External Traffic Has Become Essential
A major theme from our discussion was the growing importance of external traffic.
Amazon is increasingly rewarding brands that bring attention from outside the platform—whether through PR, social content, influencer campaigns, or creator partnerships.
Without this external momentum, even great products can struggle to gain traction in highly competitive categories. The key is to feed your Amazon store demand from everywhere else.
Trust Is Built Before the Click
We also explored how consumer trust is now built long before someone lands on Amazon.
With so many established competitors already holding thousands of reviews, newer brands have to be far more intentional about credibility-building.
This includes leveraging legitimate review programs like Amazon Vine, creating consistent post-purchase engagement flows, and developing strong brand storytelling across all external channels.
In most cases, consumers aren’t discovering brands on Amazon—they’re confirming them there.
Creators Have Become a Key Driver of Amazon Demand
Our team covered the growing role of creator content in shaping Amazon sales.
Whether it starts on TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube, creators are increasingly responsible for introducing products to consumers who then move to Amazon to purchase.
Even when discovery happens elsewhere, Amazon often wins the final transaction because of trust, speed, and convenience.
We also see two consistent creator dynamics: everyday users sharing authentic, relatable product experiences, and established creators who build long-term trust and influence repeat purchasing behavior. Both contribute meaningfully to driving demand into Amazon.
Ads Perform Best When Everything Else Is Working Together
We broke down Amazon’s advertising ecosystem including sponsored products, sponsored brands, sponsored display, and DSP. But the bigger takeaway was about dependency.
Amazon ads perform significantly better when they’re supported by strong off-platform demand, high-quality product detail pages and A+ content, consistent brand visibility across channels, and existing consumer interest before the click.
Without those inputs, even well-funded campaigns can struggle to scale profitably.
Everything Is Connected Now
One of the most important takeaways from the session was that in the modern ecommerce era, every touchpoint contributes to performance: social media builds awareness, PR builds authority, influencers build trust, paid media accelerates demand, and Amazon captures conversion.
When these pieces work together, they compound.
Where Amazon Growth Is Heading Next
As AI continues to shape discovery and search behavior, Amazon is becoming even more dependent on external signals to determine what ranks, what converts, and what gets surfaced to shoppers.
That means brands can’t afford to think of Amazon as an endpoint anymore.
If brands want to win in this next phase they must build ecosystems. It may look like an overwhelming or big operation at first glance but starting small, and growing one step at a time, building visibility across media and on AI search, targeting your audience on the right channels always leads to growth.
If you’re ready to turn Amazon into the final step of a much stronger growth ecosystem or if you’re new to Amazon and need support on setup and management, connect with us.
