Empire Case boosts new product ROI and revenue

The company saw a 100% increase in Amazon sales after launching Sponsored Products.

Empire Case sales details

Empire Case, which sells about 9,000 cell phone and tablet accessories online, keeps its brand fresh by continually introducing new products. “In our industry, being first-to-market with a uniquely designed case can mean the difference between high sales and no sales,” says William Land, Founder and CEO of Empire Case. “Amazon Sponsored Products gives our new products the instant visibility they need to succeed.”

Sponsored Products, a cost-per-click (CPC) advertising program, prominently positions Empire Case products in customers’ Amazon.com search results. Since it began using Sponsored Products to advertise new offerings, new product sales have skyrocketed, contributing to a doubling of overall Amazon sales.

Easy creation of new product campaigns

According to Land, it takes just two minutes to create a brand new campaign for a new product, and less than 15 seconds to tailor an existing campaign for a new item. Empire Case checks Amazon’s search term suggestions and uses Amazon’s ACOS (advertising cost of sales) calculator to figure out break-even percentages. Land finds Sponsored Products’ simplicity a stark contrast to another platform’s paid cost-per-click program that he tried but found “incredibly complex, even for a data cruncher like me.”

Instant “front of store” exposure

In the crowded cell phone accessories market, placement can make or break a new product. “If a product isn’t found right away, it could get buried under hundreds of search pages,” Land says. “Sponsored Products gives us a way to get exposure almost immediately, instead of waiting weeks for an algorithm bot to crawl and index a new item.”

Land likens Sponsored Products to placing goods at the entrance of a retail store. “When you want to showcase a new product, you put it where consumers can easily see it. Sponsored Products is like being in the front of the store.”

He adds, “Using Sponsored Products to get new offerings on page 1 or 2, and to boost rankings of existing products, has completely changed our business.” In the one and a half years since Empire Case began using Sponsored Products, its Amazon sales increased 100 percent. During the same period, the company’s overall revenue jumped 66 percent, from about $6 million to $10 million annually.

Strong ROI

While ROI (return on investment) varies per product, returns are generally compelling. For instance, a two-week campaign for a new cell phone case yielded a 206% ROI. Empire Case was able to achieve this with an ACOS that was nearly 20% lower than its goal.

Land says that strong results like these illustrate why Sponsored Products is ideal for new product launches. He points out, “None of these new product sales would have happened without Sponsored Products.”

Even click-throughs that don’t convert are valuable, however. Land explains, “If we see on Amazon’s Seller Central dashboard that a new product isn’t selling, it may spur us to change the product images or content, or even stop carrying the product altogether. These insights are a great eye opener.”

Highlights

“Amazon Sponsored Products is vital to our business. It provides the instant exposure and sales boost our new products need to succeed.”

William Land, Founder and CEO of Empire Case