1. What’s the quick origin story of your brand, and what makes your product or positioning genuinely different from other options in your niche?

Kevin Huffman: Ambari Nutrition came into existence as a product of my experience in the bariatric field. I realized there was a common challenge with generic supplement recommendations for patients, so I created a product line rooted in clinical studies and real patient results. What makes us different is we focus on pharmacokinetic-informed formulations, formulating supplements in the way they are absorbed in the body following bariatric surgery, and our dedication to data-driven product development. We’re not just making products in response to what’s trendy; we make them by measuring evidence-based needs from real people.

2. Since launch, what have been the 1–2 real turning points for your brand-specific decisions, pivots, or experiments that noticeably changed your growth or profitability-and what did you learn from them?

Kevin Huffman: The tide started to turn for us when we made a conscious shift in our messaging away from exclusively bariatric-based and toward a wider audience interested in metabolic health. As we scaled out, we achieved a 3.2x increase in new customer acquisition and nearly ~30% reduction in cost per customer acquired. The key lesson? Your niche can be a way to define your expertise, but not to limit who you should be talking with.

Another breakthrough came when we introduced an adjustable subscription model. We increased retention in subscriptions by 22% after we had customers self-select how often they wanted to receive orders, either every 3 weeks, 6 or 8 weeks and this saw a reduction of churn/skip rates of 32%. What we found is that most people don’t churn because of the product per se, they in fact churn because a subscription doesn’t match their lifestyle.

3. Which 2-3 channels drive most of your revenue right now (for example SEO, paid social, email, marketplaces, influencers), and what have you learned about making those channels work in your category?

Kevin Huffman: Email and SMS is now driving approximately 40-45% of our revenue. The secret? Segmenting by metabolic goal, is it for weight loss? maintenance? high-protein living? By aligning our messaging to the outcomes we’re driving towards, we’ve seen a major uptick in engagement and conversion. Biology-based segmentation trumps demographic segmentation in this category every time.

SEO and content results in 25–30% of our revenue. But there’s a trick: we target ‘clinically practical’ keyword clusters like ‘best protein snacks for gastric sleeve patients’ and ‘low glycemic meal replacements’, long-tail queries that have search intent, but also meet a need for our audience. Our experience? Quality content is always better than a generic content if the topic is about health and nutrition.

Paid social is 15–20% of our revenue, but we’ve had the most success with ads that tout our doctor-developed and clinically-proven functional nutrition. Real customer experiences of increased satiety and energy, in user generated content (UGC) shortform videos have been our best performing ads. Tangible evidence trumps sweeping promises in this area.

4. How are you thinking about search in 2025 – Google, AI assistants like ChatGPT, and other discovery platforms? What, if anything, have you changed in your content or site to stay visible as AI search grows?

Kevin Huffman: With the evolution of AI assistants and platforms like ChatGPT, we have a new way to think about what people search for. They’re posing intent-rich, context-heavy questions like “What is the best protein supplement to take if I get hungry at night?” or ‘low calorie snacks with 15g+ protein.’ In such an environment, how do you succeed? Give structured clear scientifically backed content for these specific needs.

We’ve adapted by making our pages AI-readable by adding product spec blocks, and rewriting them to be much more context-first around distinct things we’d like it to rank for (appetite control, or low-glycemic energy boosts for example). In addition, we’ve added evidence citations to help increase our E-E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) signals. As AI search takes over, the brands that have clarity, science and strong signaling of intent are the ones that will surface to visibility.

5. What do you do to turn first‑time buyers into repeat customers and advocates? Are there specific experiences, content, or community touches that work especially well for you?

Kevin Huffman: The trick for us to turn first-time buyers into lifetime customers, is by giving them that quick ‘win’. Our high-satiety products deliver tangible results to the customer in 48 hours: reduced hunger or increased energy. When they experience the rewards so immediately, they’re more apt to return.

We even put money into custom follow-up sequences and we send them tailored content for their metabolic needs. After their first purchase, customers who watch the ‘how-to-use’ video are 31% more likely to make another order. Finally, human touches, like a video message from me or an email about a customer’s journey, help create emotional loyalty, not just transactional loyalty.

6. If you had to write a short playbook for an ecommerce founder one stage behind you, what would you double down on over the next 12 months – and what would you stop doing entirely?

Kevin Huffman: If I had a single piece of advice for any ecommerce founder, it would be: double down on retention. Retention is the secret growth weapon, it compounds faster than acquisition ever will. For us, zero-party data, gaining direct feedback from our consumers through surveys and personalized recommendations has been a game changer. We’ve been able to scale effectively by simplifying operations, too i.e. fewer SKUs, better margins.

And I would stop pursuing every marketing channel out there. Most brands shouldn’t have more than two key channels to drive real growth. And I’d also stop over-discounting. It draws bargain hunters who don’t stay for the long term.