Located in the remote and rugged village of Dunnet on Scotland’s north coast, Martin and Claire Murray founded Dunnet Bay Distillers back in 2014, setting out to create world-class spirits that reflected the wild beauty of Caithness. With Martin’s knack for chemical and process engineering and Claire’s background in hospitality and tourism, they saw a perfect opportunity to combine their talents.
Their spirits, including the award-winning Rock Rose Gin and Holy Grass Vodka, are handcrafted using a meticulous process and are stocked in leading UK supermarkets.
With low sales margins achieved on Seller Central, Martin had switched to a distributor with Vendor Central, but soon found Amazon was discounting the price of his stock. Alongside this, Martin faced other business pressures, as he was project managing the restoration of a mill, which he has since converted into a restaurant for the distillery.
The Amazon crossroads – how Amazon Business Coaching gave Martin clarity and direction
Martin wanted to determine whether there was a middle-ground solution for his Amazon activity. He had an in-house marketing team member who could be trained to lead on the Amazon sales strategy, but what he really needed to know first was whether Amazon was working for his business.
An invite to dinner with Sell Beyond’s founder, Heloise Finch, piqued Martin’s interest, and although he was unable to attend the event, this was a turning point in his decision to seek outside support to understand what was really going on with his Amazon sales channel.
“Amazon is a huge opportunity and can be brilliant for some, but bad for others. Knowing whether you are making money and being able to cut through Amazon reporting is crucial to understanding your profit margins on this complex sales channel.” (Martin Murray)
Amazon coaching in action – what it covers and how it works
Working with Heloise and her team, Martin and his Marketing Manager, Gaelle, were coached on several areas of Amazon strategy, including PPC campaigns and optimisation.
Through 121 coaching, Sell Beyond’s PPC experts, Paul Christopherson and Phil Revitt, taught the Rock Rose team how to set up, manage and report on their PPC campaigns. In weekly calls, Sell Beyond provided explanation, insight and clarity on Amazon reporting and helped Martin and Gaelle interpret their Amazon sales.
Alongside this, Heloise met with Martin every month to discuss the role Amazon was playing in the wider sales and marketing strategy of Rock Rose gin.
The impact of Amazon coaching – understanding profit margins
“Amazon was too competitive and margin-hungry for our product. Last year we had lots of sales, but we didn’t make any profit.” (Martin Murray)
Martin had suspected this was the case, but he needed the Sell Beyond team’s expertise and time to delve deeper into the numbers.
“Amazon changes so quickly. To win on Amazon, you need to be up to speed with the constant changes and updates. It’s so different from just two years ago. It’s easy to do it wrong and end up in a muddle.” (Martin Murray)
As a result of coaching, Martin now knows Amazon isn’t the best place for his product and is applying a light touch to it. It’s a great channel in seasonal down times, but it’s no rival for the profit margins achieved on Martin’s own website.
“Sell Beyond gave me clarity and the ability to make a sensible business decision. They are really nice people to work with, balanced, helpful and great listeners.” (Martin Murray)