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A picture paints a thousand words: 5 analogies to help ecommerce 'click' with execs
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A picture paints a thousand words: 5 analogies to help ecommerce 'click' with execs

Sometimes the most effective way to explain complex concepts is through relatable analogies.

I decided to tap into the collective wisdom of my network and asked several ecomm leaders to share their go-to analogies about ecommerce and retail media - the ones that actually land with their teams and get those "aha" moments from executives. What they each shared was both practical and surprisingly creative, offering fresh ways to demystify retail media for anyone trying to get buy-in or build understanding within their organization.

The Two Streets of Performance: Profit and Sales

Scott Oshman, VP Digital Commerce at the agency Quickfire and host of the 'Always Off Brand' podcast, frames retail media strategy as a critical fork in the road. He explains that there are two distinct paths: the profit street and the sales street. "You cannot go down both streets at the same time," Oshman says. While you must choose one primary direction, he notes that success in one area eventually leads to gains in the other: "If you do profit at certain points, you'll get the sales. Same thing if you go down the sales street, down the road, the profit will come back."

The Farmer's Market

Ben Galvin, Senior Director of Omnichannel Retail Sales and E-commerce at Monster Energy, compares retail media to a farmer's market. "Each brand has a booth. It's a very democratic society. It doesn't matter how big a brand you are, you only get one booth," he explains. In this analogy, advertising determines your booth's location, visibility, and foot traffic. The better your spot and messaging, the more likely shoppers are to visit and purchase from your stand.

The Fine Wine of ASINs

Paulo Baccarin Filho, Commercial Director at Tom's of Maine, likens managing Amazon product listings (ASINs) to aging fine wine. He emphasizes that while innovation drives short-term sales in traditional retail, the longevity of ASINs on Amazon "usually pays even greater dividends." This aging process involves building ratings, reviews, subscribe-and-save base, traffic volume, and conversion rates. While it takes time, it creates what Filho calls a "virtuous cycle" of organic relevance and improved share of voice.

Eye-Popping Displays On The Physical Shelf

Darren Silverman, SVP of Digital Commerce and Media at Petmate, uses a familiar retail scenario to explain retail media's value. He asks executives to imagine paying a few cents for their product to "jump off the shelf" every time someone walks down their category aisle in a physical store. "Why wouldn't we do that in the digital equivalent of that space, which is the digital aisle, the digital shelf?" he poses.

The Shelf Reset

Ash McMullen, Head of E-commerce at Advantice Health, draws a compelling parallel between physical and digital retail. She explains that "every Amazon product search is a digital shelf reset," comparing it to the physical shelf reset that happens once a year in brick-and-mortar stores. This analogy helps emphasize the importance of maintaining consistent advertising presence in digital retail spaces.


Complex retail media concepts can be made more accessible when you use language, stories, and anecdotes that your audience can relate to. Whether you're explaining strategy to executives or helping team members grasp new concepts, hopefully these analogies can help you communicate the fundamentals of retail media and ecommerce within your organization.

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