"Lionel Bruder discusses strategies for e-commerce businesses to address sales volatility without relying on costly advertising agencies"
In the dynamic world of e-commerce, brands often grapple with fluctuating sales and a lack of predictability. However, Lionel Bruder, CEO of Bruder Consulting, offers a solution to this problem: establishing more efficient processes, a clear course, and the development of internal competencies that allow online retailers to adapt to the market without relying on third parties.
The key, according to Bruder, lies in building an in-house, scalable marketing system. Instead of outsourcing hope, e-commerce companies should consider taking marketing into their own hands. This approach offers numerous benefits, including greater marketing channel ownership, better data insights, lower long-term costs, and stronger control over the customer experience.
One of the most crucial aspects of this approach is owning customer relationships. By utilising direct channels like email and SMS marketing, brands can bypass algorithms and platform risks, ensuring stable communication streams with customers. This is essential for repeat purchases and increasing customer lifetime value (LTV).
Another important element is integrating acquisition, conversion, and retention strategies into a unified system. This allows brands to analyse and optimise performance data internally, leading to consistent growth insights rather than reacting to external vendor outputs.
Scaling marketing operations internally is also essential. By using platforms that enable flexible campaign management and automation, brands can enhance deliverability, marketing control, and customer experience without fragmenting the brand’s messaging.
Building a strong marketing team is also crucial. A dedicated team can support growth goals, iterate on strategies in-house, and tailor acquisition and retention techniques aligned with the brand’s unique audience and values.
Using automation tools embedded in e-commerce platforms can also help in automating repeat business efforts internally before expanding to dedicated marketing software. This balances cost and control by minimising reliance on multiple third-party integrations.
While outsourcing marketing or sales agencies offers rapid scaling and cost benefits, building an in-house system leads to greater marketing channel ownership, better data insights, lower long-term costs, and stronger customer experience control—all critical for predictable and sustainable growth.
With a scalable system in place, e-commerce companies can expect higher and more stable monthly revenues, growing social media channels, and smooth ad scaling. So, it's crucial for entrepreneurs to take marketing into their own hands and maintain an overview from a bird's-eye view. After all, the marketing work is the most important and decisive for e-commerce companies.
In the context of e-commerce, Lionel Bruder suggests that businesses should adopt an in-house marketing approach for better data insights and control over customer experience. This method, involving internal team development and scalable marketing systems, can lead to lower long-term costs, greater marketing channel ownership, and vital predictability for sustainable growth.
A unified system that integrates acquisition, conversion, and retention strategies can provide meaningful performance analysis and optimization, paving the way for consistent growth insights rather than relying on third-party vendor outputs. By utilizing direct channels like email and SMS marketing, brands can establish stable communication with customers, fostering repeat purchases and enhancing customer lifetime value.
