---
title: Amazon, Ecommerce & Inventory Strategy — 2025-10-24
type: article
created: '2025-10-24'
updated: '2025-10-24'
source_docs:
- raw/2025-10-24-doudlah-farms-marketing-amazon-ecommerce-inventory-call-96644259.md
tags:
- meeting
- client:doudlah-farms
- amazon
- ecommerce
- seller-central
- advertising
- roas
- b2b
- product-launch
- grant
- vapg
- inventory
- walmart
- popcorn
- beans
- vine-program
- access-management
layer: 2
client_source: Doudlah Farms
industry_context: food-beverage
transferable: false
---

# Amazon, Ecommerce & Inventory Strategy — 2025-10-24

## Overview

Weekly marketing call covering Amazon performance review, resolution of Seller Central access issues, status of the Old World Popcorn branded packaging launch, and B2B portal rollout challenges. Mark Doudlah joined from the field (swathing pinto beans during peak harvest season through Thanksgiving).

**Attendees:** Gilbert Barrongo, Karly Oykhman, Avokerie Onorimuo (Asymmetric); Lucy Doudlah, Mark Doudlah, Jason Doudlah (Doudlah Farms)

---

## Key Decisions

1. **Walmart fulfillment:** Start with self-ship (via ShipStation) rather than Walmart Fulfillment Services; revisit if volume grows.
2. **Old World Popcorn launch on hold:** No large branded bag order until VAPG grant acceptance letter is received. Continue small Uline bag orders as needed in the interim.
3. **Seller Central primary email:** Gilbert to contact Amazon Seller Support to change the primary account email from the defunct `mark@doudlahfarms.com` to `mark.r.doudlah@gmail.com`. Mark's personal Amazon shopping account may need to be deleted first to free up that address.
4. **B2B portal email strategy:** Karly to draft a template email for Lucy to send to key customers (starting with Epic's supervisor Andrea) proposing a streamlined account structure and highlighting portal benefits.

---

## Amazon Performance

### Year-to-Date Sales

| Metric | This Year (YTD) | Last Year (YTD) |
|---|---|---|
| Ordered Product Sales | $86,702 | ~$47,000 |
| October Forecast | >$100,000 | — |

Sales have nearly doubled YTD. October is on pace to exceed $100k for the month.

### Campaign Performance (Last 30 Days)

| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Ad Spend | ~$24,000 |
| Ad Sales | ~$73,000 |
| ROAS | 3.0x |

Campaigns are profitable. Net margins have improved from consistently below 30% to consistently above 30% (recent days reaching 34–40%).

### Top Products (Last 30 Days)

| Product | Sales | Net Profit % | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organic White Popcorn | $24,000 | 27% | Advertised units >50% of total — bids to be lowered incrementally |
| Dried Black Beans | $21,000 | — | Strong performer |
| Organic Yellow Cornmeal | ~$11,000 | — | Outperforming Old World Popcorn |
| Old World Popcorn | $10,207 | 26.4% | 4th overall; launch of branded packaging on hold |

### Keyword Visibility

Doudlah products dominate page 1 for generic keywords like "Organic Beans" — three of the top five listings for that search are Doudlah products. Video campaign ads also appearing at top of page.

### Review Generation

Pink Beans, Blue Haven, and Buckwheat Flour enrolled in the **Amazon Vine program** to generate reviews (all had fewer than 10 reviews). Expected to improve conversion and sales velocity for these lower-performing listings.

### Organic & Subscribe and Save Trends

Both organic units and Subscribe & Save subscriptions are increasing, reducing reliance on paid advertising over time.

---

## Seller Central Access Issues

### Issue 1: Lucy's Employee Access (Resolved)

Lucy had been unable to gain her own Seller Central login despite multiple invitation attempts. She had been logging in under Mark's credentials.

**Root cause identified during call:** A UI bug in the user permissions screen — checking "Grant University" did not automatically select all sub-permissions. Manually clicking the "Admin" checkbox for each individual section resolved the issue. Lucy now has her own working login with full permissions.

### Issue 2: Primary Account Email (Unresolved — Action Pending)

The primary Seller Central account is registered to `mark@doudlahfarms.com`, which is a **non-existent email address** (the domain email was discontinued). Any critical communications from Amazon (policy alerts, account health warnings, OTP codes) sent to this address will bounce with no delivery.

**Blocker:** The desired replacement, `mark.r.doudlah@gmail.com`, is already associated with Mark's personal Amazon shopping account, so it cannot be used for the Seller Central business account without resolving that conflict.

**Options discussed:**
- Delete Mark's personal Amazon account to free up the Gmail address
- Reinstate `mark@doudlahfarms.com` via GoDaddy (costs money, adds inbox to manage)

**Decision:** Gilbert to contact Amazon Seller Support to determine the correct path forward and execute the email change.

---

## Old World Popcorn Launch — On Hold

### Situation

Doudlah Farms was awarded a **VAPG (Value-Added Producer Grant)** intended to reimburse costs for popcorn marketing, advertising, packaging (bags, boxes), and related expenses. The grant was set to begin October 1, 2025.

**Blocker:** The federal government shutdown prevented USDA from issuing the grant acceptance letter. Any costs incurred *before* the official acceptance date are **not reimbursable**.

### Decision

Do not place a large order for new branded Old World Popcorn packaging (printed bags in 1 lb, 3 lb, and 25 lb sizes) until the acceptance letter is received. Ordering thousands of dollars of packaging out-of-pocket — when the grant exists specifically to cover it — is not prudent.

**Interim plan:** Continue ordering small quantities of plain Uline bags as needed, applying stickers as before.

**Preparation work:** Lucy to finalize all packaging designs (bags and boxes) now so the order can be placed immediately upon grant approval.

### Inventory Status (FBA)

Current Old World Popcorn FBA inventory is sufficient — approximately 4 months of supply on hand:
- White Popcorn: ~185 units
- Yellow Popcorn: ~126 units

No urgency to rush the branded packaging launch from an inventory standpoint.

---

## B2B Portal Rollout

### Status

The B2B ordering portal is built but stalled at the customer onboarding step. Lucy is collecting email addresses for customer accounts, which has proven more complex than anticipated.

### Core Challenge: Epic

Epic (a large tech-campus employer with five on-site restaurants) exemplifies the problem. Rather than a single designated purchaser, **5–7 different staff members rotate ordering duties each week**, each placing orders for all five restaurants. There is no consistent single contact or email address.

Similar complexity exists at Metcalfe's (3 locations) and Willie Street Co-op (3 locations).

**Additional friction:** After orders are placed, Lucy must manually download invoices, convert to PDF, and send to each customer's separate AP department email — a different contact than the person who placed the order.

### Proposed Solution

Rather than trying to map every individual staff member, reach out to the account supervisor (e.g., Epic's Andrea) to:
1. Explain the new portal and its benefits (visible pricing, automated invoicing, order history)
2. Ask how they prefer to structure their account (shared email per restaurant, shared email for all locations, etc.)
3. Propose a restaurant-name-based email convention if they don't have one (e.g., `voyagerhall@epic.com`)

**Action:** Karly to draft a template email for Lucy to personalize and send to Andrea and similar contacts at other key accounts.

---

## Action Items

| Owner | Action | Due |
|---|---|---|
| **Karly** | Set Walmart fulfillment to self-ship in Seller Center; update ShipStation settings | Next call |
| **Karly** | Resolve gift card issue | By next Friday |
| **Karly** | Draft B2B portal outreach email template (for Lucy → Andrea at Epic) | Next call |
| **Karly** | Hold off on warehouse progress page updates until federal shutdown resolves | Ongoing |
| **Gilbert** | Lower bids incrementally on Organic White Popcorn (advertised units >50% of total) | This week |
| **Gilbert** | Increase bids on other top-performing campaigns | This week |
| **Gilbert** | Contact Amazon Seller Support to change primary account email to `mark.r.doudlah@gmail.com`; advise on personal account conflict | ASAP |
| **Lucy** | Finalize Old World Popcorn packaging designs (1 lb, 3 lb, 25 lb bags + boxes) | Before grant approval |
| **Lucy** | Send B2B portal email to Andrea (Epic) once Karly drafts template | After draft received |

---

## Related

- [[clients/current/doudlah-farms/_index]]
- [[clients/current/doudlah-farms/b2b-portal]]