Sonnenerde
Organic soil·Marketplace·AT
New partnership

The exclusive marketplace partner for sonnenerde.at — Austria's leading organic soil manufacturer.

From Q2 2026, SELECTNOIR takes over Amazon, Otto and Kaufland for Sonnenerde exclusively across the DACH region. This is not a case study about results — it is about a plan that is becoming reality right now.

Q2 2026

Kick-off

Onboarding phase in progress

Exclusive

Marketplace partner

DE · AT · CH

3

Marketplaces

Amazon, Otto, Kaufland

12 mo.

Target horizon

Through garden season 2027

Sonnenerde — organic soil from Burgenland

Sonnenerde — organic black soil from Riedlingsdorf, Burgenland

At a glance

Client

Sonnenerde GmbH

Riedlingsdorf, AT

Industry

Organic soil & horticulture

B2C + B2B

Scope

Marketplace

Exclusive DACH

Status

Kick-off

Start Q2 2026

01 · The starting point

A strong brand in retail. An underused online channel.

Sonnenerde, based in Riedlingsdorf in Burgenland, is among the most respected producers of peat-free organic soil, Terra Preta and climate-neutral quality substrates in the DACH region. The brand has been a fixture in brick-and-mortar garden centers and the specialty trade across Austria and southern Germany for decades.

The online channel, however, has long been a side stage. Individual listings existed — partly without consistent brand presentation, without a Brand Store, without a strategic PPC structure. The result: a premium brand with an excellent product, yet invisible in an online market increasingly dominated by cheap peat-based products.

State before project start (Q1 2026)

Amazon DE presence

Fragmented

No consistent brand appearance

Brand Store

Not present

No bundled brand experience

A+ content

Only sporadic

No storytelling, no education

PPC structure

Rudimentary

No seasonal logic, no budget focus

Otto & Kaufland

Not active

Potential entirely untapped

Brick-and-mortar trade

Strongly established

Must not be cannibalized

02 · The plan

Three phases until garden season 2027.

Phase 1

·

Apr — Jun 2026

Audit & setup

The 2026 garden season is already running — we are too late for that one. That is exactly why the work starts now in calm: build a clean foundation while the market is busy, and aim for 2027.

  • ▸Full listing audit: status, keyword gaps, competitive comparison
  • ▸Enroll in Amazon Brand Registry, secure trademark rights
  • ▸Align range and pricing strategy between marketplace and specialty trade
  • ▸Develop bundle and pack strategy: which products perform on Amazon under FBA costs
  • ▸Kickoff meetings with Sonnenerde, briefing of retail contacts

Phase 2

·

Jul — Nov 2026

Launch in the off-season

Soft launch outside the peak: Amazon, Otto and Kaufland go live, listings rank organically, first reviews come in. Anyone who wants to be on page 1 for peak season 2027 has to start in fall 2026.

  • ▸Listing launch of all core products with new copy, keywords and A+ content
  • ▸Brand Store live: peat-free farming, CO₂ footprint, origin in Riedlingsdorf explained
  • ▸Lean PPC campaigns for indexing and ranking build-up
  • ▸Launch on Otto and Kaufland in parallel with the Amazon activation
  • ▸Organic review building via Amazon Vine and clean fulfillment quality

Phase 3

·

Dec 2026 — Jul 2027

Scale to garden season 2027

The season everything aims at. Pre-season prep in winter, full PPC peak from February, full scaling from March through June. This is where the prep work turns into actual revenue.

  • ▸Pre-season preparation from January 2027: stock levels, keyword refresh, content updates
  • ▸Full PPC budget from February 2027: Sponsored Products, Brands, Display
  • ▸Continuous optimization during peak season March — June 2027
  • ▸Data review of the 2027 garden season: ACOS, bestsellers, bundle performance
  • ▸Long-term roadmap for 2028: multi-marketplace, category leadership, range expansion

03 · Strategic decisions

Why we go this route and no other.

Why a bundle and pack strategy instead of single bags?

Soil is heavy. A single 20L bag at €9.90 loses every cent of margin to FBA fees. Larger packs (40L+) and multipack bundles change the math: same shipping logic, but a much higher cart value. It is the only way to sell soil profitably on Amazon.

Why education content instead of price warfare?

Soil is soil — that is what 80% of buyers think. We cannot win on price with a product that costs 3x more. Instead we use A+ content, videos and advisory copy to make the difference between cheap soil and real quality soil visible. The commodity becomes a conscious purchase decision.

Why a seasonal PPC budget instead of always-on?

70% of soil revenue happens between March and June. A flat annual budget would burn money in winter. We concentrate the PPC budget on the peak months, optimize in summer, and run only lean retention campaigns in winter.

Why price and range protection for the specialty trade?

Sonnenerde is firmly established in brick-and-mortar — that is the long-term core of the business. We must not build the marketplace so aggressively that existing dealer relationships suffer. Clear range differentiation and price corridors are mandatory, not optional.

04 · Our goals

How we want to be measured.

Results arrive with the 2027 garden season. Until then, these are the target metrics we hold the work to.

Top 3

Brand Store position

In the core organic-soil category

< 25%

Target ACOS

After phase 2 (garden season)

8+

Core products live

With full A+ content

3

Active marketplaces

Amazon, Otto, Kaufland

100%

Brand Registry coverage

All ASINs protected

0

Retail conflicts

Clean channel separation

05 · Risks & plans

What can go wrong — and how we handle it.

Risk

FBA costs eat the margin on heavy packs

Our plan

We do not start with 20L single bags but with strategically chosen bundles and large packs from 40L upward. For products where the math does not work, we use FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant) from our own warehouse in Fulda instead of FBA.

Risk

Seasonal revenue gap in winter

Our plan

Instead of burning budget in winter we run lean retention campaigns and build content for the next season. In parallel we prepare strategic deals for existing customers — pre-order mechanics and early-bird offers for spring.

Risk

Retail cannibalization through overly aggressive marketplace pricing

Our plan

Clear price corridors between marketplace and specialty trade. Marketplace range and retail range are strategically differentiated — there are products we deliberately do not run online. Transparent communication with dealers from day one.

06 · The first 90 days

What happens next.

The partnership with Sonnenerde is fresh. The coming weeks are the foundation for everything that follows in the 2027 garden season — and decide how professionally we start from a standing position.

Week 1–2

Close the audit

Listing analysis, competitive check and Brand Registry enrollment.

Week 3–6

Content & listings

A+ content production, listing relaunch, Brand Store setup.

Week 7–12

Go-live

Amazon, Otto and Kaufland go live in time for the garden season.

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