The Silent Shift
Many brands believe driving traffic from their own DTC site to Amazon is a win-win: capture Amazon’s massive audience while keeping their own site running. But there’s a catch: when you send that traffic, you may be giving Amazon data, traffic signal, and algorithmic momentum—while you lose control.
1) How It Works: Amazon Attribution & Traffic Monitoring
The tool Amazon provides—Amazon Attribution—allows brands registered under Brand Registry to measure how off-Amazon sources (social, search, email, DTC site) drive Amazon listings. Amazon Ads+1
When you send traffic from your own site to Amazon product pages using Attribution or tracking links, Amazon obtains visibility into:
- which channels drove that shopper
- how they interacted on Amazon (detail page views, add to cart, purchase)
- reinforcement of Amazon’s internal ranking algorithm via your traffic signal
In essence, you’re giving Amazon your audience’s warm intent, without owning the full funnel.
2) Why Brands Might Be Losing Out
- Data Leakage: You lose visibility and control of customer intent once they click to Amazon.
- Margin Erosion: Amazon controls the check-out; subscription, first-party relationship favours them.
- Brand Funnel Weakening: Instead of building a long-term owned audience via DTC, you’re building Amazon’s signal.
- Algorithmic Advantage for Amazon: The more external traffic Amazon gets to your listings, the more it can prioritise you—while you still pay referral fees and have limited first-party control.
3) Three Strategic Moves to Rebalance
A) Own your DTC traffic first
Drive initial traffic to your website or landing page, capture email/first-party data, then convert/transect via Amazon once you’ve warmed the audience.
B) Choose what traffic you send to Amazon
Not all traffic needs to go to Amazon. Use Amazon for certain funnels (cold social, search) but keep warm & loyalty audiences within your DTC ecosystem.
C) Use Amazon strategically — not just as default
When you do send traffic to Amazon, use tracking tags (Amazon Attribution) intentionally. Monitor which traffic truly works and what you sacrifice in control and margin.
Final Thought
Sending traffic to Amazon isn’t bad—it’s smart. But doing it without strategy hands Amazon the advantage. Brands that control the funnel, protect their first-party data, and choose when & how to engage Amazon will win the long game.
