Jon Derkits

BEST@AMAZON NEWSLETTER --> https://bestatamazon.ck.page/

QUICK CHAT --> https://tidycal.com/jonderkits/quick-chat
AMAZON COACHING & ADVISORY --> https://tidycal.com/jonderkits/amazon-coaching-and-advisory

* * * * *

Hi, I'm Jon and I'm a builder. 

Over the course of my 15-year career in management consulting and technology companies, I've built teams, I've built processes, I've built products, and I've built businesses (the 10-figure kind). I'm at my best when I'm in a role with scope and significance, and my superpower is consistency.

Some things I'm GOOD at include dealing with ambiguity and making good decisions in fast-paced, uncertain environments. Some things I'm *GREAT* at include obsessing over customers and developing my people.

Follow me here on LinkedIn if you want to hear my thoughts on Amazon, building great teams, or the current state of Chicago sports.

* * * * *

CLIFTON STRENGTHS
Harmony, Achiever, Learner, Positivity, Ideation

DOMAIN KNOWLEDGE
eCommerce, Marketplaces/Platforms, Valuation 

FUNCTIONAL SKILLS
Business Performance Measurement, Category Management, Data Analytics, Digital Marketing, Financial Statement Analysis, Lean Six Sigma, P&L Ownership, Strategic Planning, Team Leadership, Written Communication

TECHNICAL SKILLS
Amazon Seller Central, Bloomberg, Capital IQ, Microsoft Office, SQL, Tableau

Chief Commercial Officer (CCO)

How I'd fix LinkedIn

1) Add a Copilot button
2) When posts include multiple images, make them swipable carousels (like Instagram); not whatever this garbage UX is called
3) Make it easier to search your own activity history (posts, comments, etc)
4) Reduce AI slop by 50% in 2026, and then by another 50% in 2027. Suppress reach of AI posts and comments.
5) Reduce reach of "comment X for Y" engagement bait posts
6) Implement a Creator Revenue Sharing program, similar to X
7) Create different feed views. One for 1st connections only; one for 1st through 3rd connections (or whatever the feed algo is now); and one for "interests" as defined by the user.
8) Turn LinkedIn into a platform where experts can monetize their expertise more directly -- i.e., build an "intro.co" platform within LinkedIn
9) Fix InMail. At minimum, give me more filing/organizing options than "Focused" and "Other".
10) Get rid of the dumb games feature. If LinkedIn is really meant to be a space for professionals, don't muddy the brand by maintaining this little corner of the platform that is all about juicing user engagement metrics.

Buying & Building eCommerce Agencies | Ex-Amazon

Me, walking away from an otherwise smart LinkedIn post polluted with AI replies

No alternative text description for this image

TWO (RELATED) PREDICTIONS for 2026 👇 

1) AI content will become indistinguishable from human-made content

2) Because of #1, consumers will crave truly authentic human outputs (the pendulum probably won't swing this direction until 2027 or later)

Tell me in the comments why I'm wrong about this 🫠

Lest you feel like you can relax now that Q4 is over, I'll remind you that consumers are sitting on BILLIONS in gift cards from various retailers, just itching to spend them. 

Amazon ALONE reports >$5 billion in unused gift card liabilities on its balance sheet each year.

Amazon hasn't yet filed its FYE Dec 31, 2025 annual report yet, but here's the gift card balances sitting on its balance sheet for the past 3 years:

Dec 31, 2024: $5.6 billion
Dec 31, 2023: $5.3 billion
Dec 31, 2022: $5.4 billion

To put this in perspective, if Amazon were a bank, this amount of "deposits" would put it in the Top 10% of largest banks in the country.

#amazon
#amazonfba
#amazonsellers

This is Amazon's 4th attempt at Making Retail Great Again.

Over the past decade, Amazon has tried (and mostly failed) with:

-Amazon Books (bookstores, duh)
-Amazon 4-Star (gift-focused outlet)
-Amazon Go (automated grab-and-go stores)
-Amazon Fresh (mainstream grocery)

I'll go on the record here:

👉  I don't think Amazon will succeed with the big box format.

I think the only shot that Amazon has at winning in physical retail is to copy the Costco warehouse club format, and create an exclusive bulk buying experience for its Prime members.

***
#amazon
#ecommerce
#retail

The big news from CES 2026 that *no one* is talking about...

👉  Amazon is pivoting from a "hardware-first" strategy to an "AI-services-first" model

And the cornerstone of this pivot is the launch of Alexa.com, which brings the generative AI-powered Alexa+ directly to people's browsers.

Here's why this matters:

1) For the first time, users do not need an Echo speaker to enter the Alexa ecosystem. 

By launching a web-based chat interface at Alexa.com, Amazon is moving into direct, side-by-side competition with ChatGPT and Google Gemini.

2) Amazon's differentiator isn't just "smarter" conversation; it's the ability to execute workflows (particularly shopping-related workflows). 

Alexa+ is being positioned as a "personal chief of staff".

3) This will further fuel the Amazon Prime flywheel.

Alexa+ will cost $19.99/month as a standalone subscription. BUT: It is included for free with an Amazon Prime membership.

At roughly $240/year for the standalone AI vs. the $139/year Prime membership, Prime becomes an even more obvious value proposition for heavy AI users.

#ces2026
#amazon
#amazonalexa

Amazon's big announcement at CES is that it is pivoting from a "hardware-first" strategy to an "AI-services-first" model. 

I’m a data-loving nerd with an entrepreneurial spirit and engineering background.  

My Amazon journey started back in 2014 when I started selling molecular model kits. I quickly learned there was a lot of potential with Amazon Ads so I teamed up with Matt Wiklund - a colleague from my current employer at the time and who happens to be a automatizing whiz. We forged ahead with the idea that we could build the right tools to make sense of Amazon Ads.  

And we did! Since 2017, Ad Advance has grown and expanded our services, building all our software in-house with our clients in mind. Our team is made up of expert relationship managers who are savvy data divers. 

We currently offer ad management for Amazon Sponsored Ads, Amazon DSP, Walmart Connect, and Google. We work with established Amazon brands as well as ecommerce companies, service providers, and organizations who don’t sell on Amazon.  

Let’s connect!

Joe Shelerud

Busy day with Amazon Ads in Duluth!

Teams from across the organization joined us for a full day of learning, alignment, and planning. We covered new initiatives, supply updates, and wrapped it all with a CreativeX workshop.
 
Snowmobiling tonight, ice fishing tomorrow.
 
Thanks to Saman, Scott, Courtney, Vanness, Aaron, and Don for making the January trip north, and to Kevin and Patrick for joining virtually. We’ll aim for a warmer follow-up in July.

Digital Advertising | Data Enthusiast | CEO at Ad Advance

Have to train to get all those steps in at CES (especially now that I turned 40! 😉). 
 
Started a quick run around the MGM and went down to the Las Vegas sign since I haven't seen that in all my times coming to Vegas. Was feeling good so did a big loop to the convention center and back. 
 
Looking forward to officially kicking off CES today. Let me know if you're in town!

We’re hosting a half dozen folks from Amazon Ads this week, right in the middle of an extreme cold warning.
 
A very on-brand northern Minnesota welcome in January.
 
We’re still hoping to get them out ice fishing and snowmobiling for the full MN experience.
 
On the agenda: one-on-one account meetings, updates on Prime Video and live sports supply, and a closer look at Creative Agent. Looking forward to the conversations.

Seeing ROAS dip in your vCPM campaigns? Chances are, performance hasn’t actually changed. The measurement has.

This was a big topic in our weekly account manager meeting yesterday as we are starting to see the shift across our accounts. 

Earlier this month, Amazon tightened how view-through conversions are credited for ads that appear in the Amazon Store. Fewer ads get credit for the same sale, attribution windows are shorter, and reporting is more conservative by default.

So, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display (vCPM), and DSP store placements may suddenly look worse on paper, even though shopper behavior hasn’t shifted. I see this as Amazon dialing back cannibalization and over-crediting. 

For advertisers, re-baseline your metrics, focus on the full-funnel story, and leverage “all views” metrics for context. Smart teams will see this as an opportunity to optimize strategy, not chase upper funnel ROAS.

Who's going to be the artists at the CES Amazon After Dark party?

This was a fun test for all of the latest AI models.  Flo Rida and Pitbull are the top picks. 

Heading into the Amazon Ads After Dark event tonight at CES, Amazon didn't have the usual artist announcement but provided this teaser: “Two Grammy-nominated artists with a combined 21 Billboard Top 10 hits.”

I provided their teaser along with the event name and location to the latest AI models. Here’s how they stacked up:

Gemini (Pro Mode): Quickly picked Pitbull (10 hits) & Flo Rida (11 hits). It leaned on a match on total hits combined with high energy Vegas club compatibility.

Claude (Opus 4.5): Predicted Nelly & TLC who also have exactly 21 hits. It argued that Amazon’s history with legends like Snoop Dogg makes this the stronger contender.

ChatGPT & x.AI (Expert Mode): Initially threw out bigger pop names like Post Malone and Cardi B, but their math didn't hold up since the hits were either too high or too low for the specific "21" constraint.

As another check, I fed the other models' predictions back into each one to see if they’d analyze the new data and pivot.

ChatGPT and Grok conceded that their math didn't tie once they saw the 10+11 breakdown. They agreed Gemini’s Pitbull/Flo Rida math was the best fit for a corporate event.

Claude Opus acknowledged the strength of the Gemini theory but maintained its own was equally valid, declaring it a "50/50 toss-up."

I'm going to go with Gemini's prediction of Flo Rida and Pitbull and it will be fun to see if it was right.  

Thoughts or other predictions?

taplio

The Battle

Jon Derkits

Joe Shelerud

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreJon Derkits's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreJoe Shelerud's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Jon Derkits

Joe Shelerud

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jon Derkits's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreJoe Shelerud's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreJon Derkits's LinkedIn Performance