Commercial collaboration
In the fast-paced world of e-commerce, standing out on Amazon is a constant challenge for brands. With new ad formats and features emerging every day, how can businesses ensure their investment truly drives growth? We sat down with Max Rottenaicher, the Managing Director of Amerge Germany, to explore how his team combines cutting-edge technology and deep industry expertise to help brands not just compete, but thrive on the world’s biggest marketplace.
Max, please introduce yourself and your role at Amerge Germany.
“My name is Max and I am leading our Amerge business in Germany. I opened our office in Munich in June 2022 and, since then, my team and I have been helping brands on a global scale drive their results with Amazon (and beyond).”
You also host the ‘wieCommerce’ podcast. What inspired you to start it, and what key value does it bring to the German e-commerce community?
“When I started Amerge in Germany, we had an office community with two other start-ups. One of them was called Packshack – a start-up in e-commerce logistics that Kristina, my co-host, was working for. We often sat together for lunch and at one point, the idea was born to start the ‘wieCommerce?’ podcast, in which we leverage our combined knowledge built on different experiences in the e-commerce and marketing industry. It’s released every Monday and aims to inform about the latest industry trends in our bi-weekly #kassensturz. It also explains and teaches in our deep-dive episodes on social commerce and retail media.”
Compared to other Amazon agencies, what is Amerge’s single biggest differentiator? How does Amerge’s proprietary tech, like AMC Pro, Amerge View or Amerge Engine, translate into concrete advantages for your clients?
“I think the biggest differentiator is the combination of our people and our proprietary tech. The reason we build our technology in-house rather than using a third-party tool is, on the one hand, the agility in development. On the other hand, it’s built based on the way our account managers manage Amazon for our clients. And we have a very peculiar way to run these activities. With DSP, for example, we have our so-called “audience-first approach” – an extremely granular campaign setup enabled through our own technology. And through this granularity, we are able to achieve better results. Based on historic benchmarks from Amazon, 91.2% of Amerge’s Amazon DSP campaigns are beating the Amazon category benchmark. Just now in Prime Day 2025, our EU client ROC skincare had their best Prime Day in their company history.”
Amerge offers a proprietary reporting dashboard, Amerge View. What unique insights does it provide that brands typically can’t get elsewhere?
“Our dashboard, Amerge View, reports insights at a granularity that is very particular to Amerge. On Sponsored Ads and DSP, you not only have ads and vendor/seller KPIs combined – allowing access to calculations like TACOS on an ASIN level – but you also have all classic ad KPIs available on a product group, product, placement, creative, and audience level, and more. A fashion client, for example, can see the performance of a certain product or product group, say their new jeans collection, with one click and compare it across all live countries in one table. Furthermore, our AMC solution, which was one of the first in the market in Germany, is also in Amerge View. It allows not just for the analysis of single KPIs but also enables account teams to look at the overall customer journey.”
Amerge emphasizes becoming an ‘extended part of the brand’s team. What does this mean in practice, and why is this collaborative approach so crucial for success on Amazon?
“At Amerge, we have over 200 years of combined ex-Amazon experience. That’s the foundation on which we build our products and serve our clients. All clients have not just one account manager but a full account team that they partner with, which includes a client lead and specialist account managers for the different services they are booking. The combination of specialized account managers plus a client lead – with whom you, as a client, have joint discussions on a business and strategy level, as well as individual discussions to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of single channels – really pays off. If you want to be successful with Amazon, you need to break through silos, and that’s what we are doing!”
In Amerge, ‘incrementality’ is a key concept. Can you briefly explain why measuring incremental sales, not just attributed sales, is vital for brands? How does Amerge’s strategy ensure that ad spend truly drives new sales rather than cannibalizing organic ones?
“The concept of incrementality is at the center of our advertising campaigns. Every brand wants its ad investments to drive additional sales. But when looking at the wrong KPIs, you are automatically allocating a budget to channels that are doing the opposite: not driving additional revenue but revenue that would have, with a certain probability, occurred organically. I always say: The higher the ROAS, the more you reach a customer who would have bought your product anyway. That’s why at Amerge we have a special incrementality setup that, on the one hand, ensures campaigns are still efficient and driving sales profitably – so we’re not ignoring Ad ROAS. But at the same time, we’re reaching customers you wouldn’t have reached without the campaign. And that’s exactly what advertising, in general, was created for in the first place.”
What is your top advice for a brand striving for long-term success on Amazon Germany? Does this advice change for a new brand entering the market versus an established one looking to optimize performance?
“At this year’s OMR festival, we presented a case study together with our client e.l.f. Cosmetics. We showed how we helped them launch in Italy from scratch versus how we improved their results in Germany – a market they were already live in before we took over. In general, the first step is market research: What is the opportunity? Which customer personas do you want to reach, and how is this different from other countries where you are already marketing your products? You need to build a plan that you are working toward, which contains the right KPIs to measure success. And then you test, learn, and iterate. In new markets with a full-funnel setup, you probably have a higher share of awareness activities versus established markets. But there is also no “one size fits all.” The plan and its measures need to be individually discussed. If you have the ambition to sell internationally, a sparring partner like Amerge can help.”
Amerge operates globally. How does having a global perspective and reach benefit German brands, whether they’re focusing solely on the German market or planning international expansion?
“The biggest opportunity with Amazon lies in its global marketplace. Germany is the second-biggest market for Amazon and, at the same time, it’s a very mature market. So, as a brand, you have on the one hand a large existing market that you can tap into. But if you are focusing only on Germany, you are just tapping into one of 24 countries that Amazon is operating, which in many cases show higher growth rates than Amazon.de. German brands have a strong reputation in the world, and when expanding into new markets, these brands have a trust advantage. And as many markets around the world are not so saturated yet, this advantage in brand trust also comes with an early-mover advantage, which translates into more organic visibility and lower customer acquisition costs.”
Amazon tentpole events are crucial opportunities for brands. How does Amerge help clients maximize their performance during major events like Prime Day or Black Friday? What is one often-overlooked strategy for these high-stakes periods?
“At Amerge, we are early adopters and we were the first in Germany that fully went into Amazon Marketing Cloud. We are even an officially certified AMC software and services provider. This year, for the first time for Prime Day, we were heavily using the AMC audience opportunity for our clients, which has increased their results. Beyond being on top of the innovative opportunities we are given by Amazon and which we incorporate into our offering, monitoring and reviewing the performance closely together with the client is key. This also helped this year to navigate the first 4-day-long Prime Day event. Also, our international setup plays an important role. It ensures that throughout the full 24 hours of the day, there is consistent monitoring by humans on top of what our software Amerge Engine is already doing.”
Amazon frequently introduces new ad formats and features. How does Amerge stay ahead of these changes to benefit clients, particularly concerning the latest ad tech products and Amazon video products, including the recent integration with Disney inventory?
“At Amerge, we have a close partnership with various Amazon teams, particularly one with the Amazon Ad Tech Team. In bi-weekly meetings, we are updated on the latest product developments, are invited to new features as beta partners, and in general, are getting support whenever we work with clients on innovative campaigns that often involve a lot of technology. To be able to run on third-party streaming platforms like Disney+, but also in Germany Joyn or Sky, there are special workflows that ensure the setup and delivery on these platforms. And through this close ad tech partnership, we receive help with these types of workflows.”
Looking ahead, what is one major trend or innovation you believe will completely reshape the Amazon marketplace in the next 1-2 years, and how is Amerge positioning itself to lead that change?
“From Day 1, Amazon has been an innovation leader in the market that is always seeking to improve customers’ lives while never reaching Day 2. The evolution of online shopping will be centered around AI technology, and so will Amazon’s shopping experience. There is already Amazon Rufus, Amazon’s chatbot-style shopping assistant, as well as ‘Buy For Me,’ a shopping agent enabling customers to check out products from third-party online shops, but on Amazon. I expect that we will see much more from Amazon around AI agents and chatbots. And like in the past – which our two Amazon Ads partner awards for the category ‘Innovation’ prove – we at Amerge will stay on top of these developments. We will incorporate them into our products and services to improve the results for our clients with Amazon, and beyond!”
As the e-commerce landscape continues its rapid evolution, driven by innovations in AI and ad tech, Amerge is clearly positioning itself to lead the charge. The company’s unique blend of human expertise and proprietary solutions, like Amerge View and AMC Pro, offers a glimpse into the future of Amazon commerce. For a deeper dive into their approach and to explore how they can help your brand achieve its next phase of growth, you can find more information on the Amerge website.
