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The retail industry has transformed radically in the past few years, courtesy of e-commerce marketplaces like Amazon, Walmart, eBay, etc. Majority of customers today prefer to buy things online given the convenience it offers. As the number of customers shopping through these platforms is constantly on a rise, more businesses are looking to sell or improve their sales on online platforms.
Established in 2015, Channel Op is a company that specializes in helping brands to launch, sell, and optimize their products on Amazon. The company works with its brand partners to make sure that their products are available, optimized, and advertised on Amazon. Channel Op is on a mission to help their brands reach their goals—whether it is advertising, product and brand page optimization, or anything in between.
Channel Op is the brainchild of Tyler Metcalf (Founder and CEO of Channel Op). Tyler grew up in Ogden UT and completed his BS in Economics from the U of U (University of Utah) in Salt Lake. He pursued an MBA from Babson F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business, graduating in 2013. After his MBA, he worked for a startup company selling on Amazon.
While selling on Amazon, Tyler had the idea of pivoting from a wholesale/retail relationship to a partnership with the brands where he bills the brands based on their Amazon sales. When the time came he started working with a handful of clients, and established Channel Op in 2015. He started hiring full-time employees in the Philippines and Park City.
In the first couple of years, a part of Channel Op’s sales pitch was convincing brands how important it is to be on Amazon, and now every brand knows how important Amazon is to their overall sales. Within the company it was very hard to balance staffing, sales, training, and day-to-day operations when the company had only a handful of employees. Tyler mentions that the training for the first handful was a very ‘mixed bag’ and was a lot about having them shadow his work. However, the company managed to overcome all the difficulties to become a leader in the segment today.
Channel Op is a service agency that specializes in managing Amazon for brands. The company’s goal is to take care of its clients’ Amazon services so that they can focus on other important aspects of their business. As a full-service Amazon agency with experience in every category on Amazon, Channel Op has worked with over 200 brands, which has allowed it to figure out what works and what doesn’t work in the market.
The comprehensive Amazon services offered by Channel Op include account launch, product set-up, inventory management, forecasting, advertising, customer service, review monitoring, brand protection, listing optimization, and error management. The company provides clients with a team of specialists focused on optimizing their Amazon channel. The clients also have a dedicated specialist from each department—operations, advertising, product page optimization, channel control, customer service, and reimbursements.
Alongside a team of specialists, clients also have a dedicated Brand Manager who provides account oversight, inventory management, and department coordination to ensure their Amazon goals are being met. The Brand Manager and Channel Op’s team are keeping up with Amazon’s ever-changing options and opportunities. They are constantly adapting, learning, and developing new processes to keep the clients ahead of the curve and serve them in a better way. Whether that is a new advertising strategy or reimbursement opportunity, the company is constantly looking for ways to optimize Amazon for its brands.
Like any successful business, Channel Op comes across several challenges frequently. According to Tyler, getting good people, training them, and keeping them happy is a significant challenge for the company. In many instances, the company needs to staff up quickly as well as uptrain and keep up the quality of service. “The client will always be a priority for any agency, but creating a good workplace where people are proud of their work continues to be a big goal of the company,” says Tyler.
When asked about the awards and accolades received by Channel Op, Tyler states that awards have never been a goal for the company. His favorite moments are the emails stating how happy clients are with their brand manager, along with all the referrals we get from our brands.
Neville Kurlansky from Biopak, one such happy client praised the company’s services by saying, “Biopak has been working with Channel Op for about a year now and I cannot speak more highly of them. They have delivered on all their promises, respond immediately and often, and operate on a level of professionalism second to none. Erica and Kim have been sensational and I look forward to meeting the team when we travel to USA from Australia.”
Besides client satisfaction, Tyler also feels honored whenever any of the company’s employees create a new SOP for a new process or issue. Tyler loves the quote, “The value of the company is the sum of the problems you solve together.” by Martin Lorentzon, and likes seeing all the solutions churned out by the company’s employees.
Alongside providing cutting-edge services and solutions, various other factors contribute to the success of a company. For Channel Op, going above and beyond for their clients so that they refer the services to other clients has been one of the biggest sources of success. Moreover, Kim Lynch (President of Channel Op) is one of the major contributors to the company’s growth. Kim has been proficiently handling all facets involved in running eCommerce brands—the hard skills, soft skills, and everything in between.
Tyler mentions that 2022 has been the most exciting year since Channel Op started. The company is growing quickly and made its first acquisition in November 2021, followed by the second in March 2022. Channel Op also managed to re-hire Michelle Brandon, who previously worked as Tyler’s Assistant. She has come back to the company as a Manager and is overseeing the responsibility as “Chief of staff”.
