Background: The Context and the Challenge
In early 2025, the U.S. market faced a new wave of tariffs that directly impacted manufacturers and importers across multiple product categories. Margins tightened almost overnight, and brands were left with 2 difficult options:
- Absorb the additional costs and sacrifice profitability,
- Or increase prices and risk losing market share.
Most sellers hesitated, waiting to see how competitors would react before making any sudden moves.
SPAX, a premium brand known for high-performance fasteners and construction solutions, took a different approach. Rather than waiting for the market to settle, the brand made a bold strategic decision to lead the change. Between the first and third quarters of 2025, SPAX increased its average sales price (ASP) from $88.95 to $140.67, representing a 49% rise.
This move was necessary to protect margins but came with clear risks. Historically, higher ASPs trigger price elasticity challenges, including reduced order volume, lower conversion rates, and a rise in advertising costs per sale. The marketโs initial response confirmed these risks, as competitors hesitated to follow with similar adjustments.
SPAX had SalesDuo as their Amazon partner to navigate this critical transition. The goal was clear:
- Maintain buyability,
- Refine advertising efficiency,
- And identify higher-value customer segments that could sustain growth even as prices increased.
Through a combination of data-driven decision-making and agile account management, SPAX sought not just to endure the market change but to emerge stronger on the other side.
The Timeline at a Glance
- Q1 (JanโMar): Stable pre-tariff performance established the baseline. Sales and advertising metrics remained consistent, with predictable conversion and steady demand.
- Mid-Apr: The price increase was implemented. The new pricing strategy aimed to balance profit protection with long-term sustainability.
- MayโJun: As expected, sales volumes declined, dropping by roughly 50% compared to Q1. Unit sales fell 65%, and advertising efficiency weakened, with ACOS peaking in May.
- JulโAug: Recovery began as new campaigns took effect. Sales rebounded 43% and unit sales grew 37% compared to MayโJune levels. ACOS declined sharply, signaling more efficient conversions.
- SepโOct: The upward trend continued. ACOS improved by 55% and TACOS by 51% from their May peaks, reflecting sustained advertising efficiency and higher-quality traffic.
- October: SPAX recorded its first $100,000 month of 2025, marking its strongest performance of the year.
- By Q4, SPAXโs total sales had surpassed early-year levels, achieving growth at a significantly higher price point.
Challenges Faced
When SPAX decided to move forward with its price increase, the team anticipated turbulence, but the scale of immediate impact brought several challenges to the forefront.
- Price Elasticity: The nearly 50% ASP hike risked alienating price-sensitive customers. Early sales data showed a sharp dip in conversion as shoppers reacted to higher prices before competitors made similar adjustments.
- Conversion Drop: Advertising metrics reflected the pressure almost instantly. CPCs and ACOS spiked in May, signaling less efficient ad spend and shrinking return on investment. This period became the high point for ad costs across the year.
- Demand Uncertainty: With no historical precedent for post-tariff buyer behavior, forecasting became complex. Market signals were inconsistent, and SPAX needed to determine whether the drop was temporary or structural.
- B2B Blind Spot: A significant portion of SPAXโs orders came from business and institutional customers, but campaigns had been structured for retail audiences. This left a valuable segment underleveraged during a critical phase.
- Category Diversification: The portfolio leaned heavily on retail-oriented SKUs, which amplified the impact of the sales slowdown and delayed overall recovery.
SalesDuoโs Account Management team moved quickly, dissecting order data, buyer patterns, and campaign behavior to identify opportunities for stabilization and recovery.
Solution โ Step-by-Step Strategy
Part 1: Uncovering the B2B Advantage
The first breakthrough came from a detailed analysis of order composition. SalesDuoโs analytics identified that B2B transactions contributed nearly 23% of total sales, with an average selling price about 42% higher than retail orders. This revealed that a strong segment of SPAXโs business buyers remained largely unaffected by the price increase. However, no active B2B-focused advertising strategy was in place to capitalize on this insight.
Recognizing this, SalesDuo launched a set of B2B-exclusive campaigns. These campaigns were structured to directly address the needs of professional buyers โ highlighting attributes like bulk reliability, technical specifications, and compliance standards. Messaging and visuals shifted from consumer-facing lifestyle themes to efficiency and performance-oriented communication.
Day-part bidding was also restructured. Ads were prioritized during business hours, when corporate and contractor buyers were most active. Budgets were reallocated toward keywords associated with volume purchasing and industrial use cases, while underperforming consumer keywords were gradually phased out.
The impact was immediate and measurable.
- As B2B campaigns gained traction, sales began to recover, climbing 43% between the early post-price dip and the rebound period.
- Ad efficiency improved substantially, with ACOS dropping about 55% from May to September.
- Conversion rates also rose, proving that business buyers were far less price-sensitive than retail customers.
This shift marked a turning point for SPAX. By leveraging its existing but underutilized B2B customer base, the brand successfully offset the decline in consumer demand, stabilizing total sales volume and improving advertising efficiency at the same time.
Part 2: Targeting by Interest โ The Farm & Ranch Opportunity
While B2B targeting helped stabilize SPAXโs high-value order base, keyword mapping uncovered another emerging audience segment. Post-April, SalesDuoโs analytics showed a clear uptick in conversions from farm and ranch locations. These customers demonstrated low price sensitivity and high intent, driven by needs such as reliability, volume consistency, and durability over cost.
Recognizing this, SalesDuo crafted a series of interest-based and contextual campaigns aimed at farm and ranch audiences. Search terms were refined to capture rural and agricultural intent, while creatives were reimagined to highlight functional product benefits โ weather resistance, strength, and ease of use. Visuals shifted from standard catalog imagery to real-world application shots, connecting directly with the working environments of the target audience.
The results were immediate.
- Sales stabilized through the recovery period, supporting a 43% rebound in total sales between MayโJune and JulyโAugust.
- Advertising efficiency continued to improve, with ACOS consistently declining as campaigns reached more qualified, higher-intent buyers.
This phase of optimization proved that growth could be driven not just by pricing or placement, but by relevance.
By listening to the data, SalesDuo helped SPAX shift from competing on price to competing on purpose.
Part 3: Continuous PPC Optimization and Portfolio Lift
Once stability returned, SalesDuo transitioned into a phase of continuous improvement. The goal was not only to maintain momentum but to make it sustainable. A structured optimization loop was put in place, combining weekly performance reviews, bid recalibration, and new keyword cohort testing to continually refine campaign efficiency.
Three key focus areas shaped this stage:
- Keyword restructuring: Comprehensive negative harvesting and match-type control to eliminate budget waste and prioritize high-performing search queries.
- Campaign layering: Launching fresh, targeted campaigns for previously underperforming SKUs, ensuring each product had visibility aligned to its profitability potential.
- Budget governance: Redirecting ad spend toward the top 80% of performing ASINs, ensuring higher ROI and stronger sales velocity across the catalog.
Read more on the above at: Amazon Advertising Benchmarks: Key Metrics, Insights & How You Stack Up
The payoff was clear in the data.
- TACOS improved by 33.5% from Q2 to Q3, reflecting a healthier ratio between advertising spend and total sales.
- ACOS declined by 55% between May and September, marking one of the most efficient phases of the year.
- Month-over-month sales growth remained positive through Q3, building a strong base for Q4.
This continuous optimization effort became a hallmark of SPAXโs resilience. It was not a quick recovery driven by short-term tactics, but a deliberate, systematic strategy that ensured the brand could thrive sustainably โ even with a 49% higher average price point.
The Results
By the end of Q3 2025, SPAXโs recovery was not just visibleโit was measurable across every core performance indicator. The data told a clear story of resilience, strategic segmentation, and advertising discipline.
The average selling price (ASP) rose by 49% from Q1 to Q3, cementing SPAXโs position as a premium brand in its category. Initially, this shift brought expected turbulence: between January and March and May and June, sales dropped by roughly 50% and units by 65%, as the market adjusted to the higher price point.
However, SalesDuoโs targeted campaigns and audience segmentation quickly reversed the trend. From MayโJune to JulyโAugust, sales rebounded by 43%, with unit sales up 37%, signaling restored buyer confidence. The strategic push toward high-value B2B customers and farm/ranch audiences allowed SPAX to recover demand without compromising margins.
Advertising efficiency improved in parallel. ACOS declined by 54.8% between May and September, while TACOS fell 51.1% during the same period. From Q2 to Q3, overall TACOS improved by an additional 33.5%, confirming that profitability gains were not temporary but systemic.
SPAXโs B2B segment continued to be a strong anchor, accounting for an average of 23% of total sales with an ASP premium of about 42.6% over retail. This segmentโs stability softened volatility across other sales channels and provided a reliable revenue floor.
By October, SPAX achieved its first $100,000 month of 2025, the highest monthly revenue of the year. More importantly, the brand entered Q4 with higher total sales than Q1, despite a nearly 50% higher ASPโproving that smart segmentation and disciplined campaign management can overcome market-wide price sensitivity.
The sustained ACOS and TACOS compression validated that this was not a temporary rebound, but a durable, scalable improvement in advertising efficiency and overall channel performance.
Key Takeaways
- Account intelligence matters: Identifying the 23% B2B contribution early allowed SalesDuo to redirect focus quickly toward a more resilient segment.
- Targeting drives resilience: The Farm and Ranch campaigns demonstrated that well-defined audience targeting can stabilize demand even amid price turbulence.
- Optimization compounds: Regular bid refinements, negative harvesting, and campaign layering built lasting efficiency rather than short-term gains.
- Growth at higher ASPs is possible: SPAXโs experience proves that with the right audience mix, analytical rigor, and ad control, brands can achieve higher total revenue even when prices increase significantly.
SPAXโs journey illustrates the power of precise data interpretation and strategic agility. With SalesDuoโs partnership, a potential price crisis became a growth milestoneโan outcome that underscores how insight-driven advertising can turn market disruption into long-term advantage.
Client Testimonial
SalesDuo has been an exceptional partner for our Amazon business. Their team brings strong expertise across multiple areas โ from operational support to listing optimization, strategy development, and advertising execution. Weโve seen meaningful improvements across several key metrics since partnering with them.
A special callout to our account manager, Devashish Mishra, who continues to exceed expectations. He is organized, proactive, and consistently goes above and beyond to keep our projects moving. Devashish handles multi-level initiatives with ease, provides clear communication, and brings thoughtful recommendations that make a real impact. His advertising support, in particular, has been fantastic โ data-driven, detailed, and aligned with our business goals.
If youโre looking for a reliable, knowledgeable Amazon partner that feels like a seamless extension of your team, I highly recommend SalesDuo. Their support has been excellent, and Devashish is truly top-notch.
โ Stephanie Feyen, SPAX eCommerce Manager
Facing a similar market shift?
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About the Author
A passionate brand strategist and customer success manager, Devashish Mishra helps brands thrive on Amazon. With a unique blend of hospitality experience and an IIM education, he brings a fresh, customer-first mindset to eCommerce. Outside work, Devashish enjoys jamming on his guitar and discovering new music vibes.
