Inside the eCom Agency – Why Agencies suck

We are kicking off a new series this month – Inside the eCom agency – where we’re going to look at every aspect of agency life from an internal perspective and from a client perspective.

Too often we’ve heard brands and retailers say the same thing: My agency costs too much; I’m not sure what they deliver; I think they are recommending solutions because they get a kick back; changing agency is too big a risk… basically all the same thing – “My eCom Agency Sucks!”

So today in the first episode we address exactly this issue – why some agencies are fantastic and why others are maybe not so great.

We look at smaller agile staff up agencies, often set up by those with deep expertise in on particular area of ecommerce, compare with mature agencies that have been around a decade or more, and end looking at an agencies goals and what is the difference between an agency with VC backing compared to one which is self financed by the owners.

In this series, I’ll be joined by industry and agency veteran Matthew Ferguson from eManaged, and in future episodes we’ll be inviting guests from brands and retailers to join us. So sit back, enjoy the first Inside the eCom Agency episode, Why Agencies Suck, and we look forward to you joining us again next month!

Inside the eCom Agency – Why Agencies suck In this video you will find sections on: Small start up Agencies 00:00 Introducing “Inside the eCom Agency” and Matthew Ferguson, eManaged 02:02 “I’m not sure I want to use another agency because the last two I used were horrendous!”

03:32 Why small start up Agencies are often chaotic workload messes 05:55 Founder with limited managerial skills 09:14 How agencies need to think about training staff 10:53 How mission creep please no one! Do agencies over charge & under deliver?

14:09 Justifying a fee by keeping busy 14:40 Agencies that focus on growth, not profit 16:13 Agency fee structures 18:50 Auditing agencies Different languages given different pasts 23:27 Agencies with ex-Amazonian founders 29:06 Chasing marketshare at a loss 35:42 Balancing PPC, Deals, Coupons to achieve business objectives Recommended systems and partners 42:19 Recommendations that come with an agency kick back 44:12 Don’t be afraid to switch system providers with agency backing 45:55 Honest system provider recommendations 50:26 Ensuring systems are fully featured for your needs Agency Culture – Do their goals match yours?

52:50 Questions to ask an agency before signing up 54:09 Picking an agency with a long term mindset Links Matthew Ferguson (LinkedIn) eManaged