There’s a lot of talk about who will be able to compete with Amazon and Shopify post pandemic. Our guest today, Anton von Rueden, and his team at Boosted Commerce are looking at Amazon and Shopify as the OS for ecommerce, to see who is succeeding and then buying those winners and helping grow them through efficiencies and internal operating systems.
Anton’s Background:
Anton von Rueden is currently Boosted Commerce’s President & COO. He began his career in Germany in 1999, joining a small startup that would become eBay Germany. At eBay, Anton managed marketing, built eBay’s European Customer Service Center, and then, as Managing Director, established eBay’s business teams in Austria and Switzerland.
In 2012 he co-founded Carfrogger and led the company as CEO until the successful completion of a merger in 2014. Anton subsequently joined TechStyle Fashion Group as General Manager of Global Customer Service before relocating from Berlin to El Segundo to serve as Chief Operating Officer, overseeing all Global Operations. Anton also serves on the Advisory Boards of the Los Angeles Kings and Sondors Network.
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In this episode we discuss:
03:37 Anton’s journey to Boosted commerce
05:26 How Boosted looks for acquisition targets
06:57 What “Fifth Ave Placement” means on Amazon
08:29 Why they focus on CPG and personal care products
09:53 The purchase criteria Boosted
11:26 Advice to new sellers on Amazon
14:19 The truth about competition from Amazon Basics
15:56 Do buyers even know who they are buying from
17:39 The registration and verification process on Amazon’s side
19:38 The future of Amazon merchants
20:38 The future of brick and mortar commerce
22:47 How distribution will help shape commerce
24:26 Boosted’s edge in the FBA rollup market
27:15 The onboarding process
28:15 The software Boosted Commerce uses to gain edge
30:03 Third-party addons to make Shopify closer to the Amazon experience
31:19 How consumer habits can evolve over time
32:33 Instagram and other social shopping platforms
33:29 Livestream shopping and video ads on Amazon
35:10 The pandemic’s effect on Boosted Commerce’s operations
37:00 Thoughts on supply chain globalization
39:28 What North Americans should know about the German tech scene
41:28 The tech ecosystem in Miami
Books Anton Recommends:
Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Whitman
Intentional Integrity: How Smart Companies Can Lead an Ethical Revolution by Robert Chesnut
Rebooting Work: Transform How You Work in the Age of Entrepreneurship by Maynard Web and Carlye Adler
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Anton von Rueden of BoostedCommerce.com on The Future of E-Commerce & The FBA Roll-Up Strategy