Scott Needham is the Founder and CEO of SmartScout, an Amazon FBA product research software. He is also the former CEO of BuyBoxer, which he built into a top 100 Amazon seller, managing over 120,000 products. Scott hosts the Smartest Amazon Seller podcast, which shares insights on navigating the Amazon marketplace. 

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• [1:34] Scott Needham shares how he began selling on Amazon and founded SmartScout
• [5:09] How tariffs have impacted product pricing on Amazon and how brands are responding
• [12:37] Amazon’s 10% year-over-year growth and the rise of TikTok Shop
• [17:02] The challenges of a full-funnel digital marketing approach
• [23:39] Scott shares TikTok Shop strategies, like hosting a 24/7 livestream to drive conversions
• [26:43] SmartScout’s pricing intelligence dashboard — and Scott’s favorite Amazon sellers
• [33:14] The future of AI-driven personal shopping assistants and consumer search behavior

In this episode…

As global tariffs shift and economic uncertainty looms, brands are under pressure to make informed pricing decisions and maintain margins. Many rely solely on internal data for scenario planning, making it difficult to benchmark against the broader market. Without visibility into industry-wide pricing trends, how can businesses decide whether to raise prices or maintain their threshold?

After monitoring price movements across product categories, pricing and market intelligence expert Scott Needham noticed that only 3% of products available on Amazon experienced price increases during the initial tariff period. He emphasizes that brands need external market visibility to justify pricing structures internally. Additionally, brands can leverage TikTok Shop and influencer-led strategies as growth engines, especially in fast-moving categories like groceries and supplements.

Join Aaron Conant in The Digital Deep Dive as he hosts Scott Needham, Founder and CEO of SmartScout, to discuss pricing strategies and market trends in a shifting eCommerce landscape. Scott shares how brands can use data to avoid reactionary pricing, Prime Day discounting strategies, and the future role of AI shopping assistants. 

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Aaron Conant on LinkedIn   
• BWG Connect  
• Scott Needham on LinkedIn 
• SmartScout 
• Smartest Amazon Seller on YouTube
• “The Future of Onsite Search With Charlie Cole” on The Digital Deep Dive
• “Incremental Retail Media Measurement With Meghan Corroon” on The Digital Deep Dive

Quotable Moments:

• “We want to create… cool, flashy analytics, big numbers… we’re not building accounting software.”
• “Amazon might be the cutting edge of where tariffs start to show their ugly head.”
• “No one wants to be… associated with raising prices… Amazon doesn’t want to be the story.”
• “Retail media has exploded in a way that is… just big.”
• “I like seeing US brands win in unique ways… that’s exciting to me.”

Action Steps:

1. Use external data to inform pricing strategies: Relying solely on internal data can create blind spots when responding to market shifts. Incorporating competitor insights and category benchmarks strengthens scenario planning and executive decision-making.
2. Track pricing movement over time: Monitoring changes across SKUs helps identify trends, outliers, and opportunities to adjust or defend pricing strategies. This visibility is crucial during volatile periods like tariff hikes.
3. Leverage influencer marketing on emerging platforms: TikTok Shop and short-form video content are accelerating brand growth, especially for consumer-friendly categories. These platforms offer cost-effective exposure and can jumpstart product awareness.
4. Analyze category-specific Prime Day trends: Understanding how discounts and deal volume vary by category enables more strategic participation in high-traffic events. This insight helps brands plan inventory and pricing with greater precision.
5. Build tools for scenario testing and market share analysis: Having flexible tools allows brand leaders to test pricing hypotheses and understand competitive positioning. It enables confident forecasting and internal alignment.

About BWG Connect...

BWG Connect provides executive strategy and networking sessions that help brands from any industry with their overall business planning and execution. We network and knowledge share together to better understand and adapt to the newest trends, strategies, and pain points shaping growth in the digital space. BWG Connect, in conjunction with BWG Strategy, has built an exclusive network of 125,000+ senior professionals and hosts over 2,000 virtual and in-person networking events on an annual basis.

In addition, we have had 1x1 conversations with over 5,000 brands and have a real-time pulse on what digital strategies are successful and why. This in-depth knowledge allows our team to operate on the cutting-edge and provide our clients with best-in-class guidance on how to win in the digital world. We have provided free consultations and strategy sessions for companies of all sizes, from start-ups to Fortune-100, to enable growth, resolve issues and make curated service provider introductions that can impact your digital footprint.

We have held to the philosophy of providing high-level insights and actionable knowledge with no sales pitches in order to provide to our network the ability to listen, learn and act to improve themselves as well as their organizations. Our ultimate goal is to be the resource out there to help digital executives find the research they need to excel in the modern marketplace.

If you are interested in getting involved with any of our current or past events, you can find them here. If you are looking for help & would like to set up some time to chat with our team, you can schedule a time or reach out directly to Aaron@bwgconnect.com or Tiffany@bwgconnect.com.