A $300M sports nutrition brand transforms retention advertising by identifying complementary product journeys, turning 7% cross-category adoption into systematic LTV expansion.
Despite offering a complete sports nutrition portfolio—protein powder, pre-workout, creatine, and ready-to-drink shakes—this $300M brand watched customers buy once and disappear.
The data was stark: only 7% of customers had ever purchased a complementary product within the brand's portfolio. Customers would buy protein powder and never discover the brand's creatine. Pre-workout users never tried the convenient RTD shakes. Each customer relationship was essentially a single-product relationship.
This wasn't just a missed revenue opportunity—it was a fundamental misunderstanding of how athletes and fitness enthusiasts actually build their supplement routines. Without visibility into customer journeys and purchase patterns, the brand was:
Traditional advertising metrics couldn't reveal the deeper patterns. They needed advanced analytics to understand not just what customers bought, but when and why they expanded their routines.
Amazon Marketing Cloud analysis revealed the hidden patterns behind successful routine building—insights invisible in standard reporting.
Protein powder and creatine formed the most common complementary purchase pattern—a classic muscle-building stack
Ready-to-drink protein shakes, though lower margin, kept customers engaged between powder purchases
Customers searching the brand name only saw single products, missing cross-category discovery opportunities
AMC revealed optimal windows for introducing complementary products based on initial purchase patterns
The breakthrough: different product combinations indicated different customer archetypes. Protein + creatine buyers were serious muscle builders. RTD shake buyers valued convenience. Pre-workout users were performance-focused. Each required different retention strategies.
Virtuous Commerce restructured the entire retention advertising strategy around AMC-identified routine-building opportunities.
Instead of generic retargeting, we built campaigns around complementary purchase journeys:
Updated Sponsored Brand and Sponsored Display creative to showcase product variety and prompt cart-building:
Quarter 1: AMC analysis and insight generation
Quarter 2: Campaign restructuring and creative development
Quarter 3-4: Launch and initial optimization based on performance
Quarters 5-6: Full validation through Amazon's Annual Customer Value reporting
The AMC-driven strategy delivered both immediate AOV improvements and long-term customer value growth validated by Amazon's own reporting.
13% increase validated over 12 months
8% improvement QoQ
Annual value increase
Account Executive confirmed
For a $300M sports nutrition brand, a $26 increase in Annual Customer Value represents massive incremental revenue. Even with conservative estimates of customer base size, this improvement drives millions in additional revenue without acquiring a single new customer.
8% increase validated quarter over quarter
13% ACV improvement per Amazon reporting
Full 12-month lookback for accurate ACV measurement
Standard reporting shows what happened. AMC shows why it happened and what happens next in the customer journey.
Customers searching your brand are your highest-intent audience. Use these moments for strategic cross-promotion.
RTD shakes as "habit bridges" shows that lower-margin products can drive long-term value through engagement.
15 months to full validation seems long, but the insights create permanent competitive advantage.
Complete restructuring of retention campaigns based on AMC insights
Updated Sponsored Brand and Display creative for routine-building messaging
Working with Amazon Account Executive for advanced customer journey analysis