In our last article, we described the data that’s available in the Amazon Advertising API to give you a sense for what to expect when you first connect. The obvious next question is, “Now that I have the data, what do I do with it?”
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As an agency that manages multiple brands or a brand that operates on the Amazon platform, you are painfully aware of the ongoing requirements to inform and direct your clients or stakeholders through the Amazon abyss. We collectively refer to this process as ‘reporting’ as a means to communicate the state of a brand’s Amazon presence and performance. Agencies and brand owners know that reporting can be both a best friend and a worst enemy. Below we explain limitations on ‘Operations’ data, advantages of Amazon Advertising API data for reporting, and three ways to report on Amazon Advertising API data designed to avoid common issues. We are not endorsing any one tool in particular that we mention by name, and you should do proper due diligence of each solution to ensure that it will work for your agency’s or brand’s use case.

This week we assess why Amazon Advertising API data, and a corresponding data storage solution, is crucial for your agency’s, brand’s, or investment firm’s success. No matter how you slice it, API data is crucial to understanding and growing your Amazon business. 
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I’m switching gears a bit this week as this very question came up while I was working with a paid media agency in the Denver area. It went something like, “Can I get by working with the manual advertising report downloads that come out of Amazon directly?”. The short answer —no. Keep reading to avoid the pitfalls of relying on manually downloaded Amazon advertising reports.