DTC855: What Went Wrong for the Robot Vacuum Brand

Good morning, 

We’re back with another Brand Breakdown! This time around, we’re taking a close look at Roomba. 

Once a household name and category creator, Roomba seemed untouchable. 

Launched in 2002 by iRobot, the brand sold over 20 million units and hit a $4.77B market cap. 

But by 2025, Roomba is on the brink of bankruptcy, following its first annual loss in 2022 and a blocked Amazon acquisition in 2024.

So what went wrong for the robot vacuum pioneer?

Keep scrolling to find out.

Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC:

📉 The Fall of Roomba
Why brands need to pay attention to this cautionary tale. 

📦 Daily Tariff UpdateU.S. targets Brazil with a 50% tariff. 

You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Coocachuu, Stem Women, and Woolworths. 👋

Before we jump in today, we wanted to let you know that the insights from our Brand Breakdowns are fueled by our sister company, Pilothouse.

Pilothouse is an omnichannel agency focused on scaling ecommerce brands and have driven $750M+ in direct revenue for their clients.

If today’s issue sparks something and you're interested in getting your brand connected, you can reach out here. Tell them DTC sent you. 😊

📉 The Fall of Roomba: A Cautionary Tale for DTC Brands  

Roomba Faces Stiff Competition and Innovation Gaps

As Roomba expanded into adjacent categories, like robotic lawnmowers, competitors doubled down on the core vacuum experience.

Eufy, Ecovacs, and Shark introduced advanced features such as 3D object recognition and self-cleaning mop heads, rapidly outpacing Roomba’s innovation.

Despite strong brand equity, Roomba’s top model now ranks just 7th in sales on Amazon. Meanwhile, premium models from lesser-known competitors (priced well over $1,000) dominate the top spots.

Here’s where Roomba’s Amazon strategy missed the mark and how brands can avoid these mistakes: 

1. Merchandising Missteps

Pilothouse shares that Roomba’s Amazon strategy failed to evolve alongside platform best practices. 

While competitors made smart use of Amazon’s merchandising tools (offering product variations, upsell-friendly bundles, and strategic list pricing), Roomba stayed basic.

They failed to:

• Leverage variations on mid-to-high-end lines.

• Use virtual bundles to boost AOV.

• Offer compelling promotions to improve conversion rates.

Without these tactics, Roomba lost visibility and sales to brands that optimized every merchandising lever Amazon offers.

Pilothouse Tips:

✅ Effective Merchandising is Key: Merchandising on Amazon is just as important as your DTC site’s CRO. 

Engage your customers with dynamic listings! 

Dive deep into your variations. Without products being together in a variation, it’s more difficult for customers to find other models. 

Set up virtual bundles with smart short names, and use small, strategic promotions to boost visibility.

✅ Adapt Your Strategy: Roomba’s downfall shows how crucial it is to evolve your Amazon strategy.

Stay agile and innovate with your listings, promotions, and ads.

2.  Inconsistent Promo Strategy

Top Amazon sellers understand that constant visibility is key. 

They maintain an “always-on” promo strategy using coupons, lightning deals, and Prime-exclusive discounts to secure those eye-catching green and red badges in search results.

Roomba, while active during major sales events, lacked year-round consistency. Without regular deals or badges, their listings faded into the background.

Take a look at these search results here:

See how much those red and green badges stand out? 

Roomba, while typically participating in tentpole events and running some deals, missed the opportunity to run a consistent promo strategy across the year. 

Without badges, Roomba’s products just don’t stand out enough to compete.

Pilothouse Tips:

✅ Take a very different promo approach to Amazon than you do for DTC. Don’t just rely on major sales events. 

✅ Engage with promos: Use coupons, deal badges, and bundles to keep your products visible and attractive.

Build a consistent promotional presence to maintain badges and stay competitive year-round.

3.  Ad Strategy: Wasted Opportunities

While the Pilothouse Amazon team can’t see under the hood into Roomba’s PPC setup, we can see which keywords they have top of search placements for in Sponsored Product and Sponsored Brand*. 

*These results can vary quite a bit depending on Amazon’s relevance determination to our searches.

While they show up in top spots for some keywords, the creative execution is lacking—wasting valuable real estate with uninspired headlines and redundant imagery.

Even more telling: Roomba fails to defend its own brand keyword (“Roomba”) effectively. 

Competitors like Eufy hold more valuable real estate thanks to Amazon’s “Overall Pick” badge. 

Pilothouse Tips: 

‍✅ A Case For Brand Defense: In many cases, brands can get away with running zero branded spend, but Roomba is a unique case. 

The brand name is synonymous with “robot vacuum,” so being aggressive on brand defense is important here. 

✅ Use Top of Search Placement Modifiers: We suspect the CPCs across these placements are expensive, but given their brand recognition, Roomba likely would net a higher conversion rate than any competitor at similar price points.

Also, they should be utilizing top-of-search placement modifiers extensively with some relatively aggressive bidding on Sponsored Brand placements.

✅ Invest in Amazon ads: Make sure your sponsored product strategy is dialed in - consistently be searching your keywords!

Remedy any gaps in visibility and ensure any creatives or copy in Sponsored Brand, Sponsored Display, or Demand-Side Platform ads are putting your best foot forward.

4.  Amazon Affiliates: The Unseen Force

Amazon’s algorithm favors products that receive external referral traffic—from reviews, roundups, and affiliate publications like Vacuum Wars or The New York Times. 

Brands that receive traffic from these external sources get a green light from Amazon’s ranking algorithm. It shows there is demand, which gives them a boost in organic rankings. 

Roomba lags behind here, too. Competing brands dominate top placements in influential affiliate content, gaining a significant edge in traffic and algorithmic favor.

Pilothouse Tips:

✅ Focus on Your Referral Traffic: Affiliates, publications, and influencer traffic are incredibly important. 

Success on Amazon requires a holistic brand-building approach. At a minimum, definitely utilize Amazon’s built-in Creator Connections. 

✅ Leverage Affiliates: Build relationships with affiliates and publications to improve rankings and drive traffic.

5.  Content 

Roomba’s listing content is decent—solid hero images, concise text overlays, and well-executed A+ modules. 

But competitors take it further, with elevated photography, seamless overlays, and more impactful storytelling.

Pilothouse Tips:

✅ Study your comp: On Amazon, “good” creative isn’t good enough.

Unfortunately for Roomba, their competitors take their listing imagery to a whole new level. 

Overlaying that text and showing USPs so much more seamlessly with some fantastic product photography:

Down on the A+ content though, Roomba did step it up, utilizing the carousel modules of premium A+ content well:

Unfortunately, though, once again, competitors’ A+ just elevated this to another level:

‍The takeaway? 

Roomba’s fall isn’t just about product—it’s about platform mastery. 

Amazon is a fiercely competitive ecosystem that rewards agility, constant optimization, and attention to detail. Roomba’s complacency cost them dearly.

For DTC brands, the message is clear: Amazon is not a passive sales channel. It’s a battleground where only the most strategic and adaptive brands thrive.

Will Roomba recover?

Perhaps. But they’ll need a complete Amazon strategy overhaul to compete with some of the most dialed-in brands on the platform.

📦 Your Daily Tariff Check-In

Whether it’s a minor tweak or a major shift, we’ll keep you posted on the latest tariff changes—so you’re always in the know. 

July 10, 2025 update:

• 50% Tariff on Brazil
  
  • The U.S. will impose a 50% tariff on Brazilian imports starting August 1, marking the highest rate announced this week.
    
  • This move follows accusations by Trump against Brazil for “insidious attacks” on U.S. interests and applies to a broad range of exports, from coffee and juice to industrial goods.

• Tariff Gap Widens: U.S. at ~51%, China ~33%
  
  • U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports have climbed to an average of 50.9%, compared to China’s roughly 32.6% on U.S. goods.
    
  • Washington has warned China must respond by August 12, or face even steeper duties in certain sectors.

• Apparel Imports from China at 22-Year Low
  
  •  U.S. apparel imports from China have dropped to their lowest point in 22 years, according to May trade data.
    
  • Trump’s steep tariffs on China has led U.S. retailers to reduce purchases from Chinese factories and focus on Vietnam, Bangladesh, and India.

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Have you heard our latest podcasts?

• ❌ TWBERP 41: List Growth, Spam Flags, and What Actually Works
• 🚴 Re-Acquisition Story: Revel Bikes Founder Buys Back Brand 
• 💡 AKNF 522: How To Strategically Win a 4 Day Prime on Amazon
• 👏 Ad-venturous 9: The Secret Messaging Tool for Creative Strategy
• 💡 TWBERP 40: Scale The Ecosystem, Scale The Brand 
• 💰 How RYSE Used Meta Ads To Raise $10M+ In Equity
• 🚀 AKNF 520: How Pilothouse Tests 30+ Creatives Weekly on Meta 

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DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.

Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content.