Website Closers® presents a high growth Amazon FBA Brand that has been operating in the thriving Sports Equipment market for nearly a decade and growing nicely every year over the past several years. Their flagship product is their evergreen playbook wristband, which offers several play sheet compartments for athletes (mostly youth football players) to keep on hand while out on the field.
• This wristband comes in a variety of sizes and colors to meet different customers’ preferences and needs, bringing their SKU count to 27 total products.
• They have an Average Order Value (AOV) of $49.99 and see a strong seasonal return of repeat clients.
• Their average customer is a young athlete between the ages of 10 and 20 who uses their wristband to keep their plays by them for quick reference during their games.
• They sell to both the US and Canada through their Amazon Unified account.
• Their marketing campaign consists exclusively of Amazon PPC with sponsored ads and video ads.
Business Broker Takeaways
1. Strong Amazon Presence. The brand has excelled on the Amazon platform, where they have achieved a strong Seller Rating and hundreds of satisfied reviews. Their products are all sold through Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) with 90% of all inventory held at Amazon. The remaining 10% is made up of emergency inventory the brand holds in a modest 300 square foot warehouse, alongside wholesale orders. While current ownership prefers to ship directly to Amazon from their suppliers, these backup units let the brand manually ship out orders whenever necessary.
As the brand’s excess inventory is handled in such a small warehouse, it can easily be integrated into a 3PL, a small storage unit, or even a home garage, depending on buyer preference.
2. Several Peak Seasons. The brand isn’t limited to one block of time for their peak sales, instead enjoying multiple. Demand for their products surge during February and March when the Superbowl season comes into swing, as well as August to October. This late summer to early fall period is popular due to more people playing outside, many summer and training camps starting for children, and the NFL season beginning.
3. Modest Workload. Current ownership requires a mere 5 hours a week to run the business, which they typically spend on checking their email for orders and performing the usual Amazon FBA upkeep. They also speak with distributors and fulfill purchase orders if needed. They typically order many smaller shipments 5 to 6 times a year and have 10% down terms with their supplier. As they have been growing, the brand is placing orders more often- especially for newer SKUs prone to selling out.
Their customer service, SEO and wholesale invoicing are handled by an employee, and their Amazon PPC and account related tasks are handled by 2 freelancers.
Scale Opportunities
This acquisition has several strong scale opportunities at their disposal, some being lower hanging fruit than others.
An example of one easier scale opportunity would be offering customizable options for their products, letting customers better find the wristband that suits them best. This would lead to higher margins and strengthen brand appeal for their customers. Regarding brands, they could investigate having branded products featuring team logos, which would have a great audience appeal.
The brand could draw more attention to these new products by leveraging affiliate and influencer marketing channels. They could also pursue additional marketing strategies to build upon their relatively straightforward tactics.
While the brand exclusively operates off Amazon, they do have a Shopify storefront in place that a buyer could invest in for additional revenue. Other distribution channels and regions would help diversify their revenue and give them access to a larger number of enthusiastic sports fans.
Conclusion
The brand’s simple yet effective product has proven highly useful for their customers, who are typically young athletes who might need a little extra help remembering their plays. They have come far in the past 7 years, but an enterprising buyer can see them develop and see much more success in their industry. As this is the brand’s second year offering single variation SKUs for each color, and as the marker is larger, the seller expects there to be plenty of growth this year as it is.
The seller is committed to a buyer’s long-term success and can provide a smooth transition period for a new owner. They are also open to staying on in a non-operational role and providing additional expertise as needed.
