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Hi there! 👋

Many e-commerce brands have a love/hate relationship with their suppliers.

You know that when a dog has 10 puppies, they all feed at the same time? 

The mama dog just lies on her side, exhausted, while the puppies climb all over her and feed until they’ve sucked out all the remaining nutrition. After that, then they run off to play.

Your e-commerce business is the mama dog. And agencies, suppliers and 3rd party contractors are the puppies.

And you probably have been laying on your side way too much.

Time to change that.

One thing is for sure. They’re not going to volunteer to regain your profitability.

When rebooting your business, you need to take back control.

And the easiest way to do that is when you have no other choice. Your back’s against the wall. Your last resort. It is simply a way to stay alive.

But even if you’re just looking to optimize profits, the following tactic can help you reset the relationship and stretch profits.

The tactic is simple.

You have to force the issue. You need to jam your suppliers. Hard.

Put all contracts out to bid. Call every supplier and let them know that shit is serious and you need to knock down prices by 30%.

The same goes for agencies, consultants and 3rd party contractors.

They might play hard ball. But no business is happy to lose you as a customer. So you need to play even harder.

This isn’t an enjoyable part of the playbook. But it is neccessary. You have become way to dependent on lost of suppliers.

You’d be surprised how much they are willing to cut if the only other option is to terminate the agreement.

I’ve seen between 20-27% cost reduction using this tactic.

You might not become the most loved person, but it will bring your business more money.

You got to jam them hard.

Feeding time is over.

Have a great Sunday.

Erik

PS. It’s mother’s day. Don’t forget.

Whenever you’re ready, there are three ways I can help you.

1. Interim E-Commerce Management: I run, scale & optimize your e-commerce business.

2. Resource Library. Useful resources for every marketer. Includes an E-Commerce Audit Report, ChatGPT Prompt Guide & Midjourney Masterclass.

3. Book a 1:1 Call. A No Bullshit 20 min Ask Me Anything call. If you’re facing challenges in online business, I’m happy to talk.

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