Amazon is a highly-refined e-commerce platform, and the statistics reflect its success.
In 2021, the platform attracted over 56 percent of e-commerce sales in the United States alone. That means it remains ahead of its main competitor, Walmart.
But finding success on the Amazon site can be tricky unless you stay up-to-date with all its changes and updates. That’s precisely what the team at Lab 916 is dedicated to doing.
We have seen time and again how Amazon delivers the best immediate value and results and relevant feedback from customers. This information empowers brands to innovate and reach more ideal customers.
Our dedication to understanding the Amazon platform inside and out helped us introduce a company with over 100 years of industry experience to the modern marketplace.
Wilbur Packing has been in the agriculture business and has a strong foundation and reputation for quality prunes and walnuts. Having started as a family company in the 1800s, adjusting to modern retail methods and e-commerce presented a challenge.
Lab 916 has built a reliable process and system for boosting brands and sales on the Amazon platform. We have helped more than 700 brands optimize over 20,000 product listings.
Our companies partnered together to develop a new product line, Looney Pruney. Through our system, they were able to boost sales by over 70 percent. The company was also able to build a brand website, Amazon storefront, and original packaging design to stand out on the e-commerce platform.
With over a century of experience, Wilbur Packing is a family farm in California that grows and harvests premium prunes and walnuts. They offer preservative-free products with environmentally-friendly processing. The company manages over 3,000 acres of prunes and walnuts. They practice good stewardship so the land will last for future generations.
Beginning in 1869, Wilbur Packing has refined its business-to-businesses (B2B) methods over its 100-plus years in operation. As times change, companies need to adapt, and Wilbur Packing was looking for a way to sell directly to customers (D2C).
Numerous B2B companies can become overwhelmed with the idea of building an authentic brand, but with the tools, features, and processes our Lab 916 team developed during Wilbur Packing’s Amazon journey these last four years, we have a process in place that can be applied to brands who want or need to start fresh.
Wilbur Packing faced a unique challenge: the niche for dried prunes is competitive on Amazon. There were hurdles to breaking into the market, and doing so with a new brand required extra effort.
Lab 916 developed a five-year plan to launch and grow Wilbur Packing’s brand, Looney Pruney, to build the new brand on Amazon.
From 2018 to 2020, we helped boost the brand and monthly sales, which went from $10,000 in 2018 to over $50,000 by 2020. Using Amazon metrics like customer search queries and brand analytics (including demographics like gender, household income, etc.), we created a robust strategy for Wilbur Packing’s Looney Pruney brand.
Using internal reports and modeling tools, our team dove into the metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure our decisions were data-driven. We also interviewed the business and reviewed the various company departments so our team could gain an understanding of the needs and capabilities of Wilbur Packing. For Lab 916’s approach to be successful, we needed to understand their packing facilities and ability to expand the product line based on data from Amazon analytics.
After we collected the data and information from the company, we developed a comprehensive plan to grow the Looney Pruney brand. Part of that plan included building a presence on Amazon that would stand out from competitors.
The company selected orange and white as its brand colors for the product to stand out on Amazon search pages. It also opted for child-friendly packaging using hand-drawn eyes and mustaches to boost the brand’s appeal to kids. Our research also helped Wilbur Packing decide on the optimal packing sizes for clients.
Our team developed a variation on themes for some product offers to distinguish between higher-tier and lower-tier products. This prevented these products from competing on the same product pages. We used new copy, images, and A+ content as part of this process.
The Lab 916 team registered and trademarked the Looney Pruney name through the Amazon Brand Registry. We then created a new storefront for the “Looney Pruney” brand. We ensured all branding and messaging were consistent for customers.
We also assisted Wilbur Packing in meeting net margins by tracking, modeling, and reporting regularly based on Amazon analytics.
With our efforts, the Looney Pruney brand was able to boost sales and growth. Specifically, total sales increased by 72 percent from $667,625 to $1,151,026. The number of units ordered went up 79 percent, and the total order items increased by 80 percent.
In addition to a boost in the company’s bottom line, Lab 916 also created a storefront, new product variations, brand videos and ads, and the brand website.
Our team also considers the client’s appreciation and understanding of the Amazon platform as a positive result. We explain how to navigate the platform, troubleshoot, and allow clients to see how they can stay competitive and thrive in the e-commerce industry. Wilbur Packing was able to see how they can provide an excellent experience to customers and shoppers on the Amazon platform.
The growth of Looney Pruney has given the company its first new sales channel in over 100 years!
At Lab 916, we aim to come alongside those companies that want to expand into the e-commerce world but are unsure where to begin. In this case, we worked with a business that had been around since the 1800s and already had a strong business foundation. However, adjusting to a modern industry can be a challenge. Today’s retail industry favors those who can “cut out the middleman” and put products directly in the hands of consumers.
If you’re looking to build a brand and increase your Amazon sales, let us help you.
Contact Lab 916 today.
We bring our clients real-world experience in product branding, storefront and product listing management.
We bring our clients real-world experience in product branding, storefront and product listing management.
