#96 - Stop The Scroll: Build Listings Around Real Human Priorities

Think you know what your customer is thinking? We put that belief to the test with consumer behavior specialist Peter Paul Mann, who shows how smarter research uncovers the real motivations behind clicks and conversions. We dig into the practical differences between launch prep and optimizing an existing listing, why some A/B tests quietly mislead, and how to frame polls that surface true buying triggers instead of defaulting to “more for money.”

We walk through a simple system for crafting a sales story that stops the scroll: lead with the problem that matters, hook fast, explain why it’s for the shopper, and land a clear differentiator. Peter Paul explains how to turn review themes and pain points into testable concepts, why isolating creative variables beats chasing tool trends, and how a famous “six‑in‑one” shower rod example proves that versatility claims can distract from what buyers actually value. You’ll hear how to target the right respondents, design realistic scenarios, and simulate safely before making changes that could risk revenue.

We also explore white‑glove research support, segmented product sample videos that reveal tactile truths, and a pricing approach using the Gabor Granger method to map demand drop‑offs and price elasticity. Finally, we unpack a new SQP sales dashboard connected to Amazon’s API that highlights share of clicks versus share of conversions by keyword and models the ROI of small conversion lifts. The takeaway is crisp: ask better questions, test with context, and let real consumer insight guide your creative, pricing, and roadmap.

If this helped you think differently about research and optimization, follow the show, share it with a colleague who needs better data, and leave a quick review to tell us the one change you’ll test this week.

Learn more about Velocity Sellers!

Check us out on YouTube!

Book a FREE Amazon Audit! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Do you know what your

Setting the Stage: Why Ask Customers?

SPEAKER_00 0:01

customer is thinking? Nobody does. That was a bit of a misleader there, but you can understand what they're thinking by asking them. Today's guest is a consumer behavior specialist. So part of his role, and really the majority of his role, is doing a lot of deep dives into market research, into consumer insight to get inside the head of the people buying your products. So why waste time assuming what someone likes when you can just ask them directly? Today's guest is Peter Paul Mann. Sir, it's been uh while this is our last one. So I um figured we'd reach out and figure, see what's going on in the market intelligence, market uh consumer research, um, consumer behavior is probably another couple of ways to say it. But I wanted to reach back out and see what was going on in the market research world this year, what what I missed, what I need to know about, what you're expecting in 2026, of course, the big topic of AI. So we've got a lot to get into today. So I'm excited to be speaking with you again.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Yeah. Oh, thank you. Well, Pete, you're you're just saying, like, kind of like the introduction, like, how should we call it? But how how can we call this? Because indeed you're naming it uh consumer insights, but what more can you do about it? Like, what more can you say about it? What is it?

SPEAKER_00 1:26

What do you think it is? Reading the mind. I'm trying to think of this. I'll tell you this too. This is kind of a I'll maybe I'll tell you this off camera, but uh, I've got some personal stake in in this in this kind of um industry in this world now. So I'm thinking more about the best way to get inside the consumer's head, so to speak. Um, you know, someplace uh so I guess it's really I'm kind of stealing this from your website, but it's understanding what the consumers want before you even launch the product, you know, what they're looking for before you're even giving it to them, really, before you're even producing the product.

SPEAKER_01 2:00

So well, and interestingly enough, by the way, that it's not just uh before you launch your product. We are so much into listing optimization, like so much. And and uh I see like the majority speaks about us because of it's so easy to do for launch prep, and indeed it is, and I can also explain a bit why it is easier, uh, and it's quite difficult to use it split testing or whatever, uh, in whatever platform, if you have an existing listing. That almost sounds like a teaser, isn't it?

SPEAKER_00 2:34

Right,

The "Loyalty Problem" and Industry Shifts

SPEAKER_00 2:35

yeah. This is gonna be great. I did that by accident. Yeah, that was good. That was good, that was perfect. Yeah, I want to get into it. I want to hear more about again, like I was saying earlier, just just what what happened this year that has affected your industry and where are we going next year? You know, what what's been the big changes? What's Thanos is a very broad question, but what have you really noticed this year that's been better for your partners and all that kind of good stuff?

SPEAKER_01 3:01

Yeah, I'm just going to speak random, you know. I'm just going to speak what's on top of my mind. So I think that the the thing is that we are since 2014 in the industry. So Amazon is for us like we we know the space quite well now, right? And I think still I'm a bit concerned about loyalty just to drop a thing. And and somehow, if I speak with a lot of business owners and I do, then and and people are in charge of optimizations or whatever, uh, PPC uh uh agencies, whatever. Right, I hear it all the time, like it's shifting so rapidly from tool to tool to tool, and there are so many tools out there that some somehow people seem to be addicted to using a new tool again and again and again. And and if you just compare it to the industry that I'm used to, so I I have like a background of with what is it 30 years before this all started in the Amazon space. And and when you, for instance, were looking for someone to add to your team, like you want to hire someone, in the job description, you could can describe okay, you have to be experienced, you have to have experience with sales, but you need to have experience with this tool or with this tool or with this tool, right? And that was always like a strict rule, like for you you just know need to know the tool, and that might be, for instance, finance. Uh, that there is like a SaaS solution specifically for finance that everybody knows, and you need to know that. Do you understand what I mean? In the Amazon space, I don't see that. In the Amazon space, it's much more like um uh you should be uh uh resourceful, um uh never stop, a no nine to five mentality, uh uh always uh in analytical mode, uh do everything because you should be used to the fact that tools are changing maybe 10 times a day, right?

SPEAKER_00 4:52

Very rapidly, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:54

Yeah, and and that is something that I that still surprises me a bit. So I I I name that the loyalty problem, that's how I called it. Because I think if you just decide to use some tools in your organization and you're going to expand that, then you become better and better and better, and by constantly shifting, you're constantly also shifting your processes and everything, so that's going to slow you down. Does it make sense?

SPEAKER_00 5:23

So, what has been I'm trying to think of like the way to frame this is an interesting question, but I want to make sure that it's framed in a way that's in engaging and open-ended. I guess it's really more simple than I'm than I'm making it out to be, but what is or what maybe are the most important pieces of information that you get from the consumers that help you on your website? It says a lot about um product validation of new product launches and and and understanding where you're going. What are some of the most important

Why Quantitative Feedback is Often Misleading

SPEAKER_00 5:58

pieces of information that can help sellers identify, yes, this is this is the go-to sh strategy here, this is going to be successful, um, this is gonna work. What what are you getting from consumers that tells you those answers?

SPEAKER_01 6:13

Now, first of all, you need to on uh if if we need to frame this because I I just mentioned you can do uh uh consumer, you can use consumer insights as a launch prep. Right, and and that mechanism is amazing because you can simply say, like, you know what, I want to enter category X and just take a snapshot of of some competitors out there and just run a poll. And then consumers are going to tell you, like, I go for this option because whatever. And that information is going to give you very, very deep insights about maybe a value pack is better than uh just one piece, or uh a specific color is working the best in this category. If you have supplements, you should definitely target uh a specific serving size, or um no, whatever. So, or or so you you just understand, like, okay, this these are my product requirements. I if I want to enter this space, I need to my product should have these unique features for sure. But if it's an existing listing and you're optimizing an existing listing, then the whole story changes completely. Because if I take a snapshot again and I say my product, for instance, up against the competition, and um now let's stick with supplements. If I have uh 90 capsules, but my main competitor is doing 120, if I run a poll, then consumers are also looking at the quantitative differences. So if you ask them, imagine you're buying this type of supplements, let's say Kokuma, and and they see 90 capsules up against 120, they might shift towards 120 because they say, Oh, that's much more value for money. So that's going to drop you back because it's not the answer that you're looking for. What you want to know is like what is the specific benefit or the specific feature or the specific USP that truly matters to you when you are buying Kukuma or another supplement or another product. So you need to get in a setting of polling of a framing like that that is really going to give you insights that are helpful. And that is the biggest challenge, I think, in the whole A-B testing space. And and I speak a lot about this. Like, if you if you make a new image for your main image and you test your old against your new, then it's still the same product. So there's no difference there. And if it's 90 capsules, then the new one is also 90. So then responders are going to reply and say, like, oh, then I go for the new one because it looks better, whatever, it's stunning, whatever. And then the design contest is one again. So that's great. But if you place that winning element in the category, then the whole dynamic changes completely, everything changes. So and there you need to kind of figure out how can I create a pull setup, a survey, that I'm placing my product in a specific scenario where I'm taking away specific bias that are just not going to help me if I get answers to that. I have to take it out of that, and then I get answers about specific benefits. And the way we do that, for instance, and that's like truly powerful with AI nowadays, you just make so for I'm I'm just going to explain some things. So let's say you do some some uh review analysis, and and you take the the the the the top positive themes that you find from review analysis, you take the pain points from review analysis, and maybe also some feature requests that you can find in review analysis. So that's one thing, that's the post-sale analysis. Then the other part is that you say, like, okay, what is my list of USPs? What is it that I'm really unique about? Now you take it all together and then you just write down your sales story. And what I mean by sales story is that you kind of figure out what is stopping the scroll. That's number one, from my opinion. Like, if I'm just looking at the pain points and the objection that I might be countered, or that the benefits that I should highlight, whatever. What is stopping the scroll? In my opinion, my sales story, what's that I believe in? Second, what what is the hook? So, what is it the way I open up in my second image that that that I'm really showing something that people care about? The third image is the why. So where you kind of open up with like, okay, but now this is for you. I'm going to address that. Then you continue to the differentiator where you're going to highlight your value. Now, it's much longer than this because I can run I can continue to to image eight. Now, if you have this concept in mind, you can create with AI or with your designer new concept of your same of the same product, and then test these concepts against your own. What's going to happen is that there is no differentiator, there's no quantitative difference. Everything is the same. People are going to reply to the communication style, like maybe uh lighter tone of photos, or maybe specific emotional elements that you place in there, or maybe just featuring uh instead of easy to install, you say, like uh everything needed for uh a quick installation. It's it's the differences that that matter, and then you can kind of listen to the consumer, like how do you respond to that? Now, when you have all that data from your isolated test, and then you go up against the competitor, you will get quantitative feedback. So you will get uh and and I'm sorry that I'm I'm going all over the place with product examples, but for instance, this is good. This is good a shower, a shower curtain rod. That that's like an example that we worked on. Now, a shower curtain rod, if I run a poll, there are some competitors out there that say, like, you know what, it's a U-shaped uh shower rod, U-shape. So everybody who's listening right now, like, what is he talking about? So it's a U-shaped shower rod, but you can also mount it in a corner, you can also mount it straight, and then you have like different lengths. So some competitors are saying I have a six in one solution, and the other one is saying I have a four in one solution. But the fun fact is if you're buying a shower rod for your shower, I don't think that everybody's going to dismantle it and then install it again in a different layout. Right, you're buying it for one scenario, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:37

But you're never gonna move it. You're never gonna move it.

SPEAKER_01 12:38

Exactly, you're not gonna move it. Yeah, in polling, people are gonna say, Oh, I praise the one that has the six and one installation because that's much more, but that's nuts, right? Because somehow, so you need to kind of run through that data, like this is not that important. What is important, however, is that why is it winning and that are the elements, the other elements, and that's the depth of Intelli that we provide, where we have the consumer insights and then the layer of AI reporting and the the the in-depth understanding of the consumer insights to understand, like, okay, what is really shifting the needle?

SPEAKER_00 13:14

Right. What's important to the consumer, I think, is the to go back to your very first question of how else would you describe consumer insights or market research is what what do people give a damn about? Because you're right, who's giving who needs a shower rod that you can move around? Nobody. So you're right, and that's a lashing on this example, but you're you're right. There's probably a lot of products and a lot of images that that focus in on the things that people don't care about.

SPEAKER_01 13:40

It's not gonna happen, indeed. And and if you have like um yeah, like like uh a kitchen drawer inlay, again, it then it it should it it doesn't matter that that if if a listing is saying like we have multiple sizes, right? Maybe it is if you have like a versatile kitchen with all different sizes, then maybe it does. But the whole point is that I'm gonna make is that the actual consumer, and and so many people are complaining about it by the way, about it like, yeah, yeah, but the actual thing that really is delivering data is the Amazon space itself, right? I agree on that, I really agree on that. I I think that having the actual sales and see the data, like now I change something and it's really delivering me sales, that's the absolute data that counts. However, it's also quite dangerous if you do changes in your listing and it's going to drop sales. You don't want that. So that's where I think, and we believe, that you have to simulate all the time in a testing environment that's safe, but you have to do it smart.

unknown 14:47

Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

You want to be able to, and I think we talked about this on our first episode as well, but I think we mentioned you want to the same thing with the shower example. You know, if I um right, you were selling kitchen inlays and I'm selling, I'm I don't want to be asking someone that doesn't have a kitchen, which is maybe a broad example, but if I'm selling baby products, I'm not gonna ask a single guy

The Power of Emotional and Contextual Framing

SPEAKER_00 15:08

what he thinks about my product. I don't really, I don't really care what he thinks because he's not a consumer, right? That's kind of what you're that's kind of what you're you're saying a little bit there.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

Is and and that that's more about the framing story, so that's indeed something that that that matters. So you can just ask random people, but if I'm asking you a shower rod, then I have to start like, hey Pete, well, I don't know your name, that's not what's happening in the participant uh thing. So it's just someone where I ask you like imagine uh you you have a shower and you're looking for uh a shower rod to neatly hang your curtain there and it should fit in a corner. Whatever that that's somehow I have to frame it. So I have to do something like that. I I have to frame it from the start. I I have to bring you in the situation that that it matters, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:55

And then of course we'll provide, will allow, I'm guessing, the person you're asking to answer the question better as well, instead of saying, Oh, do you have a shower? And then I just say yes.

SPEAKER_01 16:06

Yeah, and and a different one. So recently I was working on a mastectomy belt. Like that that is like like a critical thing, you know? It's really it's not nothing that that you're targeting uh women, but testing that that type of product, that's quite challenging. So we came up with the idea to to say, like, you know, imagine that you are buying a product that is comfort someone, a friend of you that has recently uh uh got uh a breast cancer surgery. So yeah, I hope I say it right all, but that you understand that you kind of bring the sensitivity in it and the emotion in that that someone really comes to the level, like, oh, but if it's for a friend and it's an impact moment, you know, in someone's life. Now, what what would I care about? And by by testing this specific scenario, you just bring a participant in a position that they start to care about it, that they start to think about what matters to them, and and and then the feedback comes so to life it's it's it's going to be relevant. Does it make sense?

SPEAKER_00 17:11

Yeah, yeah. No, it it like I said, it's it's getting into the head of the person you want to sell. It's almost like um, I don't know what I say, it's not like cheating, obviously, but um a lot a lot of the tips that we do for when we do product research is we will look at the reviews of existing products and say, okay, what do these people hate about this existing product?

SPEAKER_01 17:31

Um, you know, and the problem the problem with that is

New Tools from Intelivi: White Glove and Product Testing

SPEAKER_01 17:34

because there's in my opinion, there's really a problem with that. So if if and and and we discussed it also in our previous uh conversation, if if I'm buying something, then then and and the same applies to you and everybody who's listening. If you buy something that a certain point you you're just collecting the data in your mind, like this is what I want, this is what I want. And at a certain point you come to a point that you say, like, okay, this is the one I'm gonna buy. And there are some reasons you have why you're buying a product, there are some expectations, like and even if it's a high-priced product, you might even return to the listing again while you're waiting for the delivery, just to check the images again and the A content. So you're reading even much more, maybe you're even diving deeper in the reviews. So there's a certain level of expectation. If the product is received, delivered, and expectations are fulfilled, then the positive feedback will be not much more than uh maybe mentioning again what I expected.

SPEAKER_00 18:31

Right.

SPEAKER_01 18:31

So it's it's it it's it's like uh yes, it's exactly what I wanted, and then you come with some words, or you say it's a piece of junk without not that much of information, right? Right. But if I ask someone, imagine you're looking for this type of product, what would be important to you? That is so different, and I see that all the time. I see that for many years now, all the time it's exposing elements that are so important for stopping the scroll, generating that click, making that specific ad that's just highlighting that specific sentiment that everybody cares about when they are searching for that type of product, and all of a sudden you're just making a difference, and it's going to it's going to lift your brand awareness, it's going to make you more relevant to the consumer, it's going to make you a brand that is connecting with the person or persona or audience that really is looking for this type of product. And and right it's going, yeah, it's going to do something for sure.

SPEAKER_00 19:39

Which is it, which is that's that's one of the big uh you know, social proofs or one of the big um uh that's not the word, but there's a there's a term for where you're you're connected, you're engaged with the people that are buying your products, you're building a community along with your brand. And you're right, the information, you know, the the whole theme of this episode really is information is power. So the more you know about what the consumer wants, you're saying, the the better you're able to sell them on your product and and and raise their confidence level in your product. Like you said, the the person that buys a very high priced item might go back to the listing while it's in shipping. You know, you want to make sure that you're assuring them that what they're getting is a good purchase.

SPEAKER_01 20:20

Yeah, exactly. Exactly. But if you only look at at competitors' listings and you only analyze what you need to say, uh you might you might end up in in in in in a scenario where you're doing the same shit as the rest.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

Right. You don't want to be a snake oil salesman, you don't want to sell them. Hey, I saw you had this problem, we have this, you know, solution for it right here. And yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:43

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

That's it. That's interesting. Yeah. Well, what else? What what else are you guys at Intelli? Tell me what what's coming up for 2026. You know, we're at the end of the year here. Um, are you guys working on any new fancy upgrades there? Is there anything incorporating with AI?

SPEAKER_01 20:58

The the the biggest thing that we did is uh so we we are known for for um a consumer insights platform, so and we have many users, of course. Um, and it's a DIY platform. So we we uh and I don't think this is in in the environment of having a SaaS platform, so being a SaaS and and delivering you, you're always constantly thinking about UX, UI, make the experience as good as possible, that everybody can find their way and use the platform while we can just do something fun. The reality is different, however, but that's another story, right? Um but that DI part um is not always working that good. So that meaning that you can just create a poll and get results that are disappointing or that are not really what you're looking for. So and then we we we really thought about it like how can we fix that? And what we did is that we now uh started offering Whitecloth, so it's in Tel Aviv Whitecloth where we do it for you. So the market research is done by us. So we we dive into your listing, uh, we do an audit, uh, we look together with the customer, like what is the the most critical thing that we should uh uh solve first, because you always have to look for low-hanging fruit, and then it's about SQP data, it's about the the PPC analysis, like what is really important? It might be it always comes down to the most important KPIs, clicks or conversion. Then we offer a package, the customer pays

Connecting Consumer Insights to Amazon Sales Data

SPEAKER_01 22:36

for that, polls are included, and we do everything for them. So that means that first poll setup is done by us. Then when the results come in, we provide a loom video and we give them a briefing document where we explain we have to do this, you have to do that, you have to do that. Then once that's done, we also guide that process, we test and validate in a second round so that we really can confirm like the consumer insights is helping you to shift that needle, and that that is really something that is is uh is uh growing fast, and uh it will enter 2026 for sure. Sweet. Another part is that um we uh because consumer insights, like consumers, we have a huge panel that we can reach out to. Uh something new is that we also have a product sample campaign, and the the idea is it's quite simple, but maybe also I don't know, like it might sound like wow, how how does that work? But let's try it. If you if you have a new concept, product concept, you can just send them to your sample to customers, and uh together with the customer, we decide uh what the questions are going to be, and you will get a video in return with the actual product in hand and actual consumers even segmented. So you you we really do the deep dive that you have the exact consumer that you're looking for, and they will test your product, they will do a scent test, a taste test, uh, an unboxing test, uh a feeling test, whatever. So, whatever you want to get that experience across and to make sure that you're launching a product that is, and then indeed we are speaking about launching again, but also if you want to fix something in your high returns, right? So, let's say that there's something wrong in the high returns, you're just thinking about okay, now I want to know. You know, we just send a few products out there, and we're just going to wait for specific feedback. So that's also possible. Okay. Uh, another one is a pricing report uh that is um uh based on the method of Gabor Granger. It's so everybody who's

Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_01 24:40

listening, you have to look it up. It's Gabor Granger, that's how it's called, and that mechanism is is is by quite a huge amount of respondents. Um, we ask, would you buy this product as at this price point? Yes, would you buy it at this price point? Yes, would you buy it as this no? No. Okay, and then at a certain point you have a drop-off, and from that inside you get an optimal price point that is going to help you uh to make the most revenue, but also to have a price elasticity that is going to well give you kind of like a confident, confordable position with your price in the space. Now, I have to say that this only works if you have not only, but it has to be something unique. Like, if you're adding some value to the product, then then this is really useful because you might enter the marketplace and say, like, okay, the category price is all around $25, so I'm going to do it somewhere around that, but file a pricing report. You just understand people are willing to pay for this value because they see it. Uh, another one is, and I think this is really, really interesting. The rest is also very interesting, but that's the uh we're going to uh launch uh a sales dashboard in the Intellivi platform that is connected with your Amazon uh sales, so it's connected with the Amazon API, and you will get S QP data into the platform. And by seeing that, you will also see like uh what is the market share on clicks and what is your position, and how is the market share on conversion? What is your position on specific keywords? So that is going to be helpful because if you see on a specific keyword that you are below the benchmark of the marked of the market, and while your clicks are very good in S QP data, then you just know like if I'm going to work on my conversion now, it's going to shift the needle and rapidly. So we also have like an ROI calculator in there that you can calculate uh if you just increase by 0.5% to 1%, what is going to happen money wise can be to bring it back in the platform and to also make a better understanding like why should you invest in that? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:04

Very neat. Well, thank you. Thank you for for giving us a heads up. I'm excited. We'll have to have you back on in in maybe early next year and talk more about kind of what we're looking for, what we're looking at, uh, and how how these are more information about these different tools that you're coming out with. But any any final thoughts for us, Peter Paul, on just the importance of, especially maybe going into quarter four. Any final thoughts for us here on the importance of knowing on market research into the holiday season and really just in general?

SPEAKER_01 27:39

Yeah, yeah, just constantly keep on testing. That's the whole thing, you know. You you you I I really believe in that. You you know, you should understand what the consumer wants and you should really be critical about everything that you do, and and and even uh moving a bit of shade or or changing that minor color or uh or turning that capsule around or whatever. It's going to be so, so, so helpful.

SPEAKER_00 28:03

Cool. Well, Peter Paul, thank you again for joining me for doing another episode with us. Again, I'll have to have you back on pretty soon to talk more about uh early Q1 stuff and we'll chat more. I'll send another email and we'll uh we'll go back and forth there. But I'll make sure to have also uh for all of you watching, thank you. I will have Peter Paul's LinkedIn as well as Intellivis uh homepage linked down below in the description. Make sure to check both of those out to get up to date with all the different things that Peter Paul had mentioned, all the new apps, and also just to test and learn more about your consumers. Get more knowledge is power. And uh, you know, we gotta make sure that we're accumulating a lot of power here. So yeah. Yeah. Cool. Peter Paul, thank you. Thank you very much, Pete. Thank you all for watching. I'm your host, Velocity Pete, and we will see you next week.