6 minute read
Game Theory Tactics for Amazon Sellers with Eli Engelberg of SellerSnap
Welcome to the PingPong Interview, where we sit down with some of the brightest minds in global ecommerce and entrepreneurship. This time around, we’re getting to know Eli Engelberg, CEO and Founder of SellerSnap. An attorney by trade, Eli has held a number of executive positions in ecommerce techology companies before founding SellerSnap, an automated repricing tool for Amazon sellers.
When we learned their Amazon repricing software is based on game theory, we just had to know more about how this fascinating startup is changing the way Amazon sellers reprice their products and avoid price wars. If you’ve ever been in a pricing war with a competitor on Amazon, Eli provides valuable insights into how game theory can save you — and your profit margins.
What was the A-ha moment that led you to create SellerSnap.io?
Eli Engelberg: Seller Snap was born out of a mutual understanding between Yuval Kaufman (head of R&D), Joshua Beam (our CTO), and myself that there were certain challenges that came into play when selling on Amazon. We brought together our years of experience in SaaS companies and the Amazon selling industry and came up with the idea of an AI repricer based on Game Theory tactics.
Can you briefly explain Game Theory?
Eli Engelberg: In the simplest terms, Game Theory is changing your strategy based on what you expect your competitor to do.
How can these principles of game theory work to help sellers?
Eli Engelberg: Game Theory enables us to understand that it’s better to share the Buy Box, meaning NOT aim for 100% of the share to keep prices high rather than dragging them all the way down. When everyone is happy with both pricing and average Buy Box share, we avoid price wars and keep our profit margin high.
So, SellerSnap is kind of like “A Beautiful Mind” for Amazon sellers?
Eli Engelberg: Yeah absolutely! In the movie, Russell Crowe’s character John Nash explained that it is better to dance together than not at all.
And “The Prisoner’s Dilemma” is where everybody loses with a non-cooperative strategy. How’s it work on Amazon?
Eli Engelberg: This would be best characterized by price wars. A price war is what happens when two (or more) competitors are fighting for the Buy Box, one lowers their price, causing the other to lower their price below that, and next thing you know they’re both in a cycle undercutting and they dropped to their lowest price. In this case, they are still likely splitting the Buy Box evenly (i.e., 50/50). Instead, they could cooperate with one another and sharing Buy Box (50/50) while keeping their profits high.
Does SellerSnap work for all Amazon sellers, such as FBA, FBM, international marketplaces, private label?
Eli Engelberg: Our system is extremely user-friendly and our onboarding process is virtually seamless, we are geared towards more experienced Amazon Sellers, specifically those vying for the Buy Box, but anyone who sells on Amazon and is looking for a good repricer can benefit from our system.
Actually, we are currently working on implementing a private label repricer to really ensure we offer a solution for everyone. It’s only in the pilot stages right now, but we hope to get it off the ground in the near future. Private Label sellers interested in the Pilot Program can contact [email protected] for more information.
What’s one thing Amazon sellers are most surprised by when using a repricer tool?
Eli Engelberg: How automated and simple it can be, especially our onboarding process. We really took every precaution, and continue to perfect our system, to ensure it is the “most bang for your buck,” and user-friendly. We’ve got tons of analytics and insights, and with Game Theory on our side, we offer something our competitors don’t. Since we don’t have contracts so we make sure our system is worth it on all fronts.
Is there a way for Amazon sellers to test out SellerSnap for themselves?
Eli Engelberg: Of course! We want to give anyone the opportunity to try us out so we offer a free 15-day trial.
