Everybody who sells something through a third party needs to figure out their ecommerce strategy,” says VaynerMedia CEO Gary Vaynerchuk. “The thought to be reliant on retailers or Amazon or anybody else and not being the driving force of your own destiny of producing something and sending it to somebody is crazy to me.”

Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of VaynerMedia discusses on Bloomberg the necessity for sellers of products to develop their own sales channels and to not rely on Amazon or other third-party sellers:

It’s Crazy To Rely On Amazon To Sell Your Product

Everybody who sells something through a third party needs to figure out their ecommerce strategy. The thought to be reliant on retailers or Amazon or anybody else and not being the driving force of your own destiny of producing something and sending it to somebody is crazy to me. Regardless of where the world is, try not to overextend yourself on CapEx and OpEx. Let’s get into the game. For others, it’s trying to mitigate their excitement on how good their numbers look so that they don’t overspend. 

Innovation comes from times like this. If you’re selling through a retailer and you make a product you’re in a bad business. Walmart, Target, Albertsons, they have disproportionately too much leverage. If you’re selling through Amazon you’re really just setting up the next giant that’s going to have too much leverage and they’re going to ask you for more brand dollars and you’re going to spend less on the consumer. 

I think the change that you’ll see, much like anything, you look at downtown, supermarkets, and now e-comm, I do think you’ll see a fragmentation of products going direct-to-consumer, not through Amazon or Walmart. In seven years I think that many will talk to this time as the aha moment of we need to get our act together on going direct to consumer.

Customer Acquisition Costs Right Now Are Crazy Attractive

Meanwhile, because this is a complicated game. Facebook and Instagram and Google prices are down in costs in the auctions because a lot of people are not spending. Customer acquisition costs right now are crazy attractive. So the cliche plays out. Cash-rich businesses always accelerate aggressively during downtimes. If you have the ability to spend on acquiring customers right now and have a healthy business there’s a huge growth opportunity.

For others, it’s a restrategize opportunity. Dwelling and going on full defense is only the answer if you’re actually on the verge of going out of business.