This Issue's TLDR...

• A new answer, to an old question
• Maybe, you don't need Amazon software?
• The 3x3x3 Model

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PROGRAMMING NOTE: Best@Amazon issues are going to be shorter and more sporadic over the next 4-5 weeks. Blame it on a deal that I'm closing on, and summer vacation for the kiddos. We'll be back to longer form newsletters soon!

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This question came up in one of my eCom communities, and I thought it was worth some page space this week.

The question...is not a new question.

In fact, it's one of those nerdy Amazon debates like: "Which is more important -- traffic or conversion?"

But, as I pondering the question, I realized that my answer has changed evolved due to something that we all should be strategizing around.

More on that in a bit though.

First, here's the question that I'm talking about:

Q: How are you guys thinking about using variations of an amazon listing vs separate listings? As far as I can tell it's a question of ranking better vs more visibility in search.

So, it's the old Variate+Aggregate Reviews vs Search Results Real Estate debate.

If you're unfamiliar, the TLDR is that, there's long been a school of thought that rather than variating, e.g., four of your ASINs into a family and displaying a larger review count, you're better off occupying four separate positions in SERP (especially if all four are on Page 1).

For years, I went head-to-head against a competitor that employed the "Search Results Real Estate" strategy...quite successfully.

Until they recently stopped.

But that's neither here nor there.

What I want to explore today is whether this "debate" is no longer a debate.

Before I do that though, I'll share a couple answers to the above question, which I thought were reasonable...

ANSWER 1: There are a lot of nuances to this.

Unless you are selling Jewellery or something similar (high consideration purchase), where buyer tend to scroll a lot lower and checks different variations… Getting more visibility by more real estate mostly tends to over spend and cannibalize spend for the same Keywords.

Ideally for low consideration purchases like High protein bars OR protein coffee types usually grocery and gourmet products must be consolidated into one parent ASINs (if the products are same and uses the exact same KW for searches)

Consolidate all reviews, give more buying options to the buyer for the pay per click you already paid to have higher chance of conversion. Combined sales velocity helps you get better BSR which then also helps in ranking.

If the Keywords for 2 products are different and each of them have at least 3 digit reviews then it make sense to de-merge and have separate listings. again, depends case to case.

Basically, this person's response was "it depends" which I really respect.

ANSWER 2: Variate whenever possible to merge reviews, especially products that have flavors like yours. Do it until you hit 10k reviews.

Short and sweet, but also...reasonable.

And, importantly, in line with how my thinking on this has evolved.

To be more specific...

We're in the early innings of a world where traditional search on Amazon will be largely replaced by AI agentic search (i.e., Rufus).

The indications of this transition are already appearing:

• My good friend Max Sinclair did some number-crunching last Fall, and estimated that, in October 2024, roughly 13.7% of all Amazon search queries were being handled by Rufus (about 274 million AI-driven queries out of ~2 billion daily).
• An e-commerce study by Profitero found that only about 10% of U.S. shoppers currently use an AI chat assistant when searching for products on retailer sites, whereas 37% still prefer to use the familiar search bar and about 29% navigate via promotion/deals pages.

And, in a leaked internal Amazon memo, Amazon even believes this transition is inevitable (and lucrative):

• In an internal planning document (reported April 2025), Amazon projected that Rufus would drive about $700 million in additional operating profit in 2025 by boosting customer spending – and as much as $1.2 billion by 2027

All this is to say...

We're moving (quickly) to a world of Rufus driven product discovery and, if you've played around with Rufus at all, you know that...

Search results real estate isn't a thing, and doesn't matter.

So, for that reason, I'm retiring the Variate+Aggregate Reviews vs Search Results Real Estate debate.

In a year from now, it really won't matter.

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BEST from TikTok

I wish I didn't see this, but I did.

And, now you can't unsee it either.

Daily Mail

Lauren Sanchez dances awkwardly in front of a VERY stiff Jeff Bezos inside Ibiza nightclub. For the full video head to DailyMail.

♬ original sound - Daily Mail - Daily Mail

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BEST from X

Honestly, every Amazon seller should be doing this:

Evan Swanson @Evan_Swanson_ I'm getting to the point where my "software stack" for Amazon is: • Export ad report -> ask ChatGPT for insights • Export business report of sales and traffic MoM -> ask ChatGPT for insights • Export Product Opportunity Explorer Data -> ask ChatGPT for insight The only 9:44 AM • Aug 13, 2025 0 Retweets 5 Likes Read 5 replies

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Have you heard of the 3x3x3 Model for acquisitions?

Probably not.

It's not something I learned about until a couple of years ago, despite a long career in M&A.

Roughly, the 3x3x3 Model requires all acquisition targets to satisfy the following criteria:

1. Net Profit: $300,000+ Annually
   • The basic idea here is that you want to make an acquisition worth your time. To that end, you should be looking at targets that have achieved a minimum cash profit after all expenses, including owner salary, or $300k. Why this number? Well, if, like me, you prefer to work with partners and have to split profit, e.g., 50/50, at $300,000 profit, a $150,000 share justifies the effort and risk.
   • There's also the empirical reality that larger businesses default on debt at a lower rate.
2. Profit Margin: 30%+
   • A 30% margin indicates operational efficiency and pricing power - 2 factors that provide cushion when unexpected challenges arise.
3. Purchase Multiple: 3x or Less
   • This means paying no more than 3 times annual profit for the business. This creates immediate equity and ensures the business can service acquisition debt while generating substantial owner cash flow.

Of course, you can tweak this for yourself. But, it provides a useful heuristic if you're just getting started in ETA.

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