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9 Plays e-Commerce Leaders Are Running to Protect Margin
On the surface, selling out sounds like a pretty good holiday problem to have. That’s the case until the costs add up.
CommerceIQ discovered that stockouts cost brands 140% more than baseline on Black Friday and 248% more on Cyber Monday.
Holiday growth can be difficult because more sales don’t always mean more profit. Margin quietly disappears across ad spend, discounts, inventory decisions, creator payouts, and returns that hit in January.
9 Plays to Defend Your Margin This Holiday Season looks at nine of those places, including:
Healthy ROAS hiding money-losing SKUs
Discounts on products shoppers aren’t price-comparing
Ad dollars going toward inventory at risk of stocking out
Creator payouts capped by first-order math
Returns that turn into refunds instead of exchanges
Plus learn four more ways to keep more of what you earn this Q4.
Welcome to this week's House of Leadership Book Club, where we take one book and distil it down to what actually matters, something to build your knowledge, shape your mindset, nurture your relationships, and help you lead more effectively.
FIRST, YOUR JOB HAS CHANGED
One of the hardest transitions into management is accepting that the skills that made you successful before aren't necessarily the skills that will make you successful now.
As an individual contributor, your value was largely created by your own work.
You designed it.
Built it.
Solved it.
Delivered it.
Then you become a manager and the equation changes.
Your success increasingly depends on what other people are able to achieve.
That requires a different mindset.
Instead of:
“How can I do this?”
Start asking:
“How can I help them do this?”
THE MANAGER'S JOB: 3 THINGS
Zhuo simplifies management around three areas.
1. PURPOSE
Does your team understand why it exists and what success looks like?
People make better decisions when they understand the destination.
Your job isn't simply distributing tasks.
It's creating clarity.
2. PEOPLE
Do you have the right people — and are you helping them become better?
That means hiring well, understanding strengths, giving feedback, coaching performance and creating opportunities for people to grow.
Management is ultimately a people-development job.
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3. PROCESS
Does the way your team works actually help them succeed?
Meetings.
Communication.
Decision-making.
Planning.
Information sharing.
Good managers continually improve the environment around the team rather than expecting people to overcome broken systems through sheer effort.
6 SHIFTS NEW MANAGERS NEED TO MAKE
FROM ANSWERING → TO ASKING
You don't need to solve every problem. Help people develop their own judgement.
FROM DOING → TO DELEGATING
Holding onto your old responsibilities might feel productive. Eventually, it limits both you and your team.
FROM BEING LIKED → TO BEING USEFUL
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