One of the biggest frustrations brands have when working with an Amazon agency is not really understanding what they’re looking at once the monthly report finally lands. You’ll often see pages full of graphs, screenshots and spreadsheets, but very little explanation around what’s actually happened during the month and more importantly, why it happened in the first place.
It’s all well and good getting a fancy looking report each month. But if there’s no transparency, accountability and commercial direction accompanied with it, it’s far from useful. If you’re paying an agency to manage your Amazon account, it’s only right that you should be able to clearly understand what work has been carried out, what impact it’s had, and what the priorities are moving forward.
If you’re reading your monthly report and it leaves you more confused than informed, it’s time to take action.
Why Amazon Agency Reporting Matters
Getting a detailed monthly report isn’t just important, it’s essential. It’s one of the only real ways clients can properly understand what’s happening with their Amazon account month to month. Without it, making decisions becomes increasingly more difficult and naturally creates uncertainty around whether the work being carried out is actually moving things in the right direction.
At the end of the day, brands are not just paying agencies to complete tasks. They’re paying for judgement, professional direction and delivery, and reporting is where all that should be 100% apparent. A good report should clearly explain what’s been worked on, why certain things have been prioritised and what impact any changes are having on overall account performance.
When reporting is poor, it creates uncertainty. If you can’t clearly see what work has been done and understand why it’s being done, it suddenly becomes very difficult to trust that the right decisions are being made, even if you can see work happening in the background.
What Should Be Included in a Good Amazon Agency Report?
A useful Amazon agency report connects performance with the work completed and the decisions needed next. It should cover the services the agency manages and include:
- Reporting period and scope – Identify the dates, marketplaces and accounts covered. Show the comparison period and highlight factors such as promotions or stock shortages that affect the comparison.
- Commercial performance – Summarise sales, units sold and conversion trends. Explain which products contributed to growth or decline.
- Advertising performance – Show advertising spend, advertising-attributed sales and the agreed efficiency measures. Explain campaign changes and what the results suggest for future spending.
- Listing and account work – Identify the products worked on, listing changes made, catalogue or account issues resolved, and anything still outstanding.
- Findings and limitations – Separate what the data shows from possible explanations. Flag missing information and avoid presenting assumptions as proven causes.
- Next actions – Set out the priority tasks, why they matter, who is responsible and any client approvals needed.
The report should leave you clear on what changed, what work was completed and what happens next.
How Should PPC Performance Be Reported?
An Amazon PPC report should explain what was spent, the sales attributed to that advertising and what the agency recommends doing next. The main figures should include:
- Advertising spend and attributed sales – Show the budget used and the sales Amazon attributes to the campaigns. Keep advertising-attributed sales separate from total account sales.
- ACoS (advertising cost of sales) – Advertising spend divided by advertising-attributed sales, multiplied by 100.
- ROAS (return on ad spend) – Advertising-attributed sales divided by advertising spend. Amazon explains both calculations in its guide to ACoS and ROAS.
- Campaign findings – Identify the search terms, products and placements that influenced performance, together with changes to targeting, bids and budgets.
For example, £500 in advertising spend and £2,000 in advertising-attributed sales would mean an ACoS of 25% and a ROAS of 4. These figures describe advertising efficiency; they do not establish profit after product costs, Amazon fees and other expenses.
Compare results using consistent reporting periods and explain the attribution basis used. Assess performance alongside total sales, product margins, stock availability and campaign objectives.
The report should finish with specific actions: which campaigns need attention, what will be tested and whether any budget changes require your approval.
How Should Organic and Listing Performance Be Reported?
Reporting on Amazon SEO and listing optimisation should show which products gained or lost visibility, what was changed and how shoppers responded.
For each priority product or ASIN, the report should cover:
- Search visibility – The relevant search terms, changes in visibility and the source of the data.
- Traffic and conversion – Whether more shoppers reached the listing and whether its conversion rate changed. Define the measures used so comparisons are consistent.
- Listing changes – Updates to titles, bullet points, images, descriptions or A+ Content, with the dates those changes went live.
- Outstanding issues – Suppressed listings, catalogue errors, stock shortages or other problems requiring action.
Compare the same products and marketplaces across equivalent periods. Clearly distinguish organic search measures from figures that also include paid advertising.
An improvement following a listing update does not, by itself, prove that the update caused it. The explanation should consider other changes, such as pricing, promotions, advertising activity and availability.
Finish with the next action for each priority product and explain how its progress will be assessed.
What Are the Warning Signs of Weak Reporting?
We’re not here to talk down on other agencies, and it’s important to remember that each one will have their own way of doing things. That being said, the fundamentals still remain, and it’s pretty easy to spot those that are either cutting corners or not actually doing what they’re supposed to.
If a report is full of generic fluff that never seems to explain anything meaningful, then that’s a red flag. If you’re seeing screenshots without interpretation, vanity metrics with no commercial context or repeated comments that look almost identical every month, there’s a good chance the reporting isn’t adding any value at all.
Lastly, and probably most importantly, your agency should be outlining clear actions for the following month. That’s if they actually understood the data they just reported on. A good report should help brands make more informed decisions moving forward, and if changes or priorities are unclear, it just becomes harder to understand what’s actually being managed.
What Questions Should You Ask Your Amazon Agency About Reporting?
There are a few simple questions that can usually tell you very quickly how useful an agency’s reporting is going to be.
- What changed this month and why?
- Which ASINs were prioritised?
- What is the biggest commercial opportunity right now?
- What’s currently holding performance back?
- What are we testing next?
- How are PPC, SEO and conversion being reviewed together?
- What should we stop doing?
Any agency that knows what it’s doing should be comfortable answering these questions when asked. If the answers are vague or constantly avoided, that usually tells you all you need to know about the level of service you are actually getting.
