01
Amazon eats the margin
Amazon FBA + returns + Sponsored Ads stack — gross margin down to 25%. Brand and profit both need DTC.
Overseas / hardware·Hardware overseas · 20-week build
Aeris · Smart air purifier global
Hardware brands usually start Amazon-only, then realize: Amazon owns the channel, margin's not yours. Aeris's answer: DTC site — but only if you can run entity / payments / logistics / traffic together.
20-week launchY1 US $1.2MAmazon top-50 BSR
Customer names + data are written-permission released. Some sensitive data masked.
The challenge
What Amazon-only really costs.
02
US entity is foreign turf
US LLC + EIN + ITIN + Mercury + sales tax — 5 things take 4-6 months solo, plus possible rejections along the way.
03
Google / Meta is a black box
100% ad budget on Amazon. Never run Google / Meta — no idea how to measure ROAS / CAC / LTV.
What we shipped
We shipped the overseas 5-piece bundle.
US entity + site + payments + ads + support — one stop. You read the ROI.
Incorporation Pro
US Delaware LLC + EIN + Mercury · 4-6 week pass
See product pageExpress build Plus
DTC site on Shopify Plus · PDP + video + reviews
See product pagePayments Pro
Stripe + Paddle dual · KYC + webhooks + monthly recon
See product pageOverseas ad ops · all
Google + Meta + TikTok · landings + creative + monthly ROI
See product pageTimeline
20 weeks from entity to Amazon BSR top 50.
01
Wk 1-6
Entity + bank + tax
US Delaware LLC + EIN + Mercury · ITIN in parallel · US sales tax registered.
02
Wk 7-14
Site + Stripe
Shopify Plus DTC · Stripe + Paddle · product shoots + review widget.
03
Wk 15-18
Ad test
Google + Meta small budget live · week 1 data → tune · week 4 scale.
04
Wk 19-20
Amazon co-promo
Amazon Sponsored Ads + DTC cross-traffic · BSR rank up.
Outcomes
12 months of real results.
$1.2M
Y1 US revenue
Year 1 US market revenue · DTC + Amazon combined
+60%
AOV uplift
DTC AOV vs Amazon · +60% · gross margin +18pp
Top 50
Amazon BSR
8 months post-launch · Amazon Air Purifier category top 50
We were 100% Amazon, traffic costs were crushing margin. DTC site lifted AOV +60%, gross margin recovered — and now we own the customer data, which is what 'our brand' actually means.
Your hardware / consumer brand wants true DTC?
30 minutes: your product · current platform · monthly revenue. We map what 6-month DTC can ship.