Prevent Lost Sales During a Stockout Case Study
#28 Category Rank
Reached the top 30 in its category under MAG management.
A better-for-you snack brand had carved out space in a crowded Amazon grocery category with a roasted edamame variety pack built for protein on the move, offering 12 to 13g of plant-based protein per pouch at only 130 calories.
With fewer than 10 units left for its single-pack variation in Shopify inventory and a campaign already scheduled, the brand needed a way to minimize lost sales during the stockout. The situation also made it clear that the client needed an agency to manage both Amazon and Shopify, which is where our email marketing team stepped in.
The Challenges
Disconnected channel strategy
Shopify and Amazon ran on separate plans, so neither channel could cover for the other when stock ran low.
No stockout Ccontingency
The team had no plan for how to prevent lost sales during a stockout, and read low inventory as a dead end.
Unsegmented email blasts
Promotions went to the whole list at once, burying high-intent buyers in a broad, low-response audience.
Fragile launch planning
Going out of stock right before a product launch was a live risk, with no inventory check built into a send.
No Amazon velocity support
Email demand was rarely pointed at Amazon, leaving sales velocity and category rank without outside fuel.
- Email Marketing
- DTC
Our Approach
2024: Foundational Work and Channel Alignment
In 2024, we focused on connecting two channels that had been operating in isolation. Our early work centered on mapping inventory exposure across both storefronts so that a shortage on one would no longer threaten a campaign already in flight.
Channel and Inventory Mapping
- Audited both storefronts to surface where stock levels diverged and where coverage gaps left campaigns exposed
- Documented which products carried depth on the marketplace and which depended entirely on the owned store
- Established a shared view of inventory so send decisions could account for what was actually available to ship
Contingency Planning
- Built a fallback protocol answering how to prevent lost sales during a stockout before a campaign ever reached a sold-out page
- Defined the conditions that would trigger a channel switch rather than a cancellation
- Trained the send process to check availability as a gate rather than an afterthought
2025: Segmentation and Demand Redirection
In 2025, we turned a single undifferentiated list into an audience with structure and pointed its demand where inventory could actually absorb it. The peak season proved the model under real pressure, when a campaign hours from sending faced a nearly empty shelf on the owned store.
Audience Segmentation
- Separated the list into behavioral tiers so top spenders stopped competing for attention with cold subscribers
- Tailored offers and cadence to each tier instead of sending one promotion to everyone at once
- Prioritized high-intent groups during peak windows where response mattered most
Traffic Redirection
- Rewrote campaign links mid-flight, applying how to redirect email traffic to Amazon when the owned store could not fulfill demand
- Routed shoppers to the fully stocked marketplace listing to preserve the purchase rather than lose it
- Preserved campaign momentum by capturing clicks that would otherwise have hit an unavailable page
Testing Discipline
- Ran structured subject line and creative tests across peak sends to replace instinct with evidence
- Applied winning variations forward so each campaign informed the next
2026: Velocity and Program Maturity
In 2026, we shifted from rescue to routine. The redirect that started as an emergency became a standing play, with owned demand deliberately feeding marketplace sales velocity and the ranking that follows it.
Sustained Velocity Support
- Scheduled recurring sends that pushed owned audience demand toward marketplace listings on a planned cadence
- Timed promotional pushes to reinforce ranking momentum rather than create isolated spikes
- Aligned launch announcements with confirmed stock so new products entered the market on solid footing
Campaign Maintenance
- Tightened sending frequency to reduce unsubscribe pressure and protect long-term deliverability
- Monitored engagement signals to keep the audience responsive rather than merely large
Sustained Velocity Support
- Modeled the post-campaign rank trajectory and projected a top 20 category position within a two-week window
- Set the projection as a checkpoint, then monitored rank daily to confirm the climb held rather than faded
2024: Foundational Work and Channel Alignment
In 2024, we focused on connecting two channels that had been operating in isolation. Our early work centered on mapping inventory exposure across both storefronts so that a shortage on one would no longer threaten a campaign already in flight.
Channel and Inventory Mapping
- Audited both storefronts to surface where stock levels diverged and where coverage gaps left campaigns exposed
- Documented which products carried depth on the marketplace and which depended entirely on the owned store
- Established a shared view of inventory so send decisions could account for what was actually available to ship
Contingency Planning
- Built a fallback protocol answering how to prevent lost sales during a stockout before a campaign ever reached a sold-out page
- Defined the conditions that would trigger a channel switch rather than a cancellation
- Trained the send process to check availability as a gate rather than an afterthought
2025: Segmentation and Demand Redirection
In 2025, we turned a single undifferentiated list into an audience with structure and pointed its demand where inventory could actually absorb it. The peak season proved the model under real pressure, when a campaign hours from sending faced a nearly empty shelf on the owned store.
Audience Segmentation
- Separated the list into behavioral tiers so top spenders stopped competing for attention with cold subscribers
- Tailored offers and cadence to each tier instead of sending one promotion to everyone at once
- Prioritized high-intent groups during peak windows where response mattered most
Traffic Redirection
- Rewrote campaign links mid-flight, applying how to redirect email traffic to Amazon when the owned store could not fulfill demand
- Routed shoppers to the fully stocked marketplace listing to preserve the purchase rather than lose it
- Preserved campaign momentum by capturing clicks that would otherwise have hit an unavailable page
Testing Discipline
- Ran structured subject line and creative tests across peak sends to replace instinct with evidence
- Applied winning variations forward so each campaign informed the next
2026: Velocity and Program Maturity
In 2026, we shifted from rescue to routine. The redirect that started as an emergency became a standing play, with owned demand deliberately feeding marketplace sales velocity and the ranking that follows it.
Sustained Velocity Support
- Scheduled recurring sends that pushed owned audience demand toward marketplace listings on a planned cadence
- Timed promotional pushes to reinforce ranking momentum rather than create isolated spikes
- Aligned launch announcements with confirmed stock so new products entered the market on solid footing
Campaign Maintenance
- Tightened sending frequency to reduce unsubscribe pressure and protect long-term deliverability
- Monitored engagement signals to keep the audience responsive rather than merely large
Sustained Velocity Support
- Modeled the post-campaign rank trajectory and projected a top 20 category position within a two-week window
- Set the projection as a checkpoint, then monitored rank daily to confirm the climb held rather than faded
Impact
The brand climbed to #28 in category rankings
We captured immediate product demand by directing traffic from their email campaign to Amazon. This helped prevent the launch from falling short, generated $3,300 in sales in a single day to deliver a strong return on investment.
Top 20 category rank projection achieved
The product’s category rank improved even further and broke into the top 20 within the timeline forecasted in our strategy, showing that the campaign produced lasting gains rather than just a temporary bump.
See what the right Amazon strategy can do for your business
Partner with experts who know how to drive results.
Amazon case studies
We work hand in hand with Growth to create tailor-made strategies that help drive growth on Amazon.