How CPG Brands Should Evaluate Amazon and Walmart Agencies

The best agency is not the one with the longest service list. It is the partner whose operating model matches the brand’s complexity, internal resources, economics, and growth priorities. CPG leaders should compare agencies on marketplace operations, retail media, content, inventory, profitability, executive access, and their ability to connect Amazon and Walmart with the wider retail business.

Define what strong agency fit means for your brand

CPG marketplace performance is interconnected. Advertising can create demand, but it cannot compensate for weak availability, an uncompetitive offer, incomplete content, poor review health, or an assortment that does not fit the channel. A credible partner must understand the whole commercial system—not only campaign bidding.

Before building a shortlist, define the result the business needs. A challenger brand may need hands-on execution and launch discipline. An established brand may need better profitability, content governance, forecasting, and cross-functional alignment. An enterprise organization may need strategic leadership across Vendor Central, Seller Central, Walmart, retail media, finance, supply chain, and multiple internal teams.

Build the evaluation around operating fit

The right shortlist begins with the work the brand actually needs done. A challenger brand may require hands-on execution and launch discipline. An established brand may need stronger profitability, content governance, forecasting, and cross-functional alignment. An enterprise organization may need senior leadership across Vendor Central, Seller Central, Walmart, retail media, finance, supply chain, and multiple internal teams.

Compare providers by operating model rather than reputation alone. Validate who leads the account, which capabilities are delivered in-house, how decisions move across functions, and whether the partner can work effectively with the resources your organization already has.

Ask each agency to explain where it is strongest, where it relies on partners, and which client situations are not a fit. Honest boundaries are a useful signal of operating maturity.

How to compare agencies

Score each candidate across eight dimensions: relevant category experience; Amazon and Walmart operating depth; Seller Central and Vendor Central expertise; content and conversion capabilities; retail media and measurement; inventory and profitability discipline; senior access; and implementation capacity.

Ask who will actually lead the work after the sales process. Clarify whether advertising, operations, content, and strategy sit within one accountable team or are handed among departments. Confirm whether reporting connects sales, margin, media, inventory, and content—or simply recaps platform metrics.

Request evidence that matches your situation. A strong beauty launch is not automatically proof of automotive fitment expertise. A large advertising case study does not prove the agency can resolve catalog, chargeback, forecasting, or unauthorized-seller problems.

Red flags

Be cautious when an agency guarantees revenue, treats ROAS as the sole definition of success, cannot explain contribution margin, hides the delivery team until after signature, or proposes identical playbooks for every brand. Other warning signs include unclear ownership, limited Walmart depth, no inventory coordination, opaque technology fees, and reporting that cannot distinguish correlation from incrementality.

Where Gold Compass fits

Gold Compass is designed for consumer brands that want experienced marketplace leaders close to both strategy and execution. The model is especially relevant when leadership needs an accountable partner to connect content, advertising, inventory, promotions, pricing, operations, and profitability across Amazon, Walmart, and DTC.

Gold Compass may not be the right fit for a company seeking only low-cost task execution, a software-only solution, or a large global media holding company. That distinction is intentional: the strongest partnership begins with an honest match between need and operating model.

Frequently asked questions

Is there one best Amazon agency for every CPG brand?

No. Fit depends on the brand’s size, internal team, channel model, category, budget, geography, and required scope.

Should a CPG brand use one agency for Amazon and Walmart?

Often, one accountable partner improves coordination, but only if that team has genuine depth on both platforms.

What proof should we request?

Ask for relevant case studies, references, sample reporting, delivery-team biographies, operating cadence, and clear definitions of success.

How Gold Compass Commerce can help

Evaluating Amazon or Walmart partners? Gold Compass Commerce can provide a senior-led assessment of your current marketplace model, gaps, and the capabilities your next partner should bring.