Brand Spotlight: Mother's Shea Founder Naa-Sakle Akuete on the Amazon Black Business Accelerator Program
Authors : Luminary Retailers in Collaboration with the CU Digital Marketing Team including, Jacob Allington, Graham Bryant, Alia Burton, Emmily Chang, and Joelle Trubowitz
Naa-Sakle Akuete couldn’t help but notice a concerning statistic: shea butter was on its way to being a 3.5 billion dollar industry by 2028, yet the 16 million women harvesting the nuts to make the butter rarely saw any of the profits. Unwilling to let this industry continue to leave women behind, she launched Eugenia Shea and Mother’s Shea. These two personal care brands focus on the entire supply chain of their products, working directly with the nut pickers, buying at a premium price, and channeling 15% of the profits back to the families of the pickers.
In order to grow her business and reach more customers, Naa-Sakle turned to Amazon. This decision led her to Jessica Lukon and her company, Luminary Retailers, an Amazon Account Management agency that helps brands elevate their Amazon presence. Luminary immediately recognized the potential of Naa-Sakle's mission-driven business and was eager to help her succeed on Amazon.
The partnership between Mother's Shea and Luminary has been a game-changer for the brand. Luminary connected the brand with the Black Business Accelerator program, which provides grant support, visibility, and additional marketing opportunities for Black-owned businesses. This partnership has given Mother's Shea access to resources and support that they may not have had otherwise.
“Working with Luminary has revolutionized my Amazon game. I found Jessica after at least three failed Amazon consultants/agencies, and I was drawn to her and the team immediately. No shade at the men out there, but I love working with female led teams — in addition to being driven and talented, they are often able to combine their industry intelligence with an incredible level of emotional intelligence. The resulting partnership has been flexible, seamless, and cognisant of everyone’s needs.”
In partnership with Amazon's Black Business Accelerator program, Luminary has helped Mother's Shea increase brand exposure and awareness. Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator (BBA) supports Black-owned businesses to build sustainable growth by offering limited opportunities, strategic business guidance, financial assistance, and marketing and promotional support. While participating in the program Mother’s Shea has seen a 36% increase in sales.
Over the last year, Amazon’s Black Business Accelerator provided Mother’s Shea with numerous exclusive opportunities including site banners and primary page placement, marketing and advertising support, access to limited promotions, influencer opportunities and deeper dive listing analysis. For example, actress Tracee Ellis Ross live streamed the product and Mother’s Shea saw a 5% increase in order item session percentage during black history month.
When asked about the support and benefits provided by the Black Business Accelerator program, Akuete highlighted the 1:1 guidance, access to consultants, courses in business management, grants, and contributions to Amazon ad spend: “All of these resources have been incredibly helpful in understanding how Amazon works and optimizing the available tools.”
Akuete has been impressed by the impact Amazon has had on her business. The platform has given her access to a massive audience and allowed her to reach customers who may not have discovered her brand otherwise. Mother's Shea is currently available in about 5000 retail stores nationwide and Amazon is projected to make up about 20% of the brand's total sales in 2023.
When reflecting on the impact Amazon has had on her business, Akuete noted:
“Literally hundreds of millions of people use Amazon not just as their first shopping source, but also as a product search engine and source of discovery. It’s the difference between essentially only being visible to someone typing our specific url into their browser to find us vs searching ‘body moisturizer’ in Prime and finding us — Luminary gave us access to a source of revenue that was completely untouched for us before.”
The partnership between Mother's Shea and Luminary Retailers is a great example of how a mission-driven business can succeed on Amazon with the right support and guidance. By working together, women-owned business, Luminary, is helping to empower women in the beauty industry and create a more sustainable and equitable future.
