From Stockout to Category Leader: Skin & Bones Grows Sales 150% with Quartile

Skin & Bones is a premium pantry brand focused on simple, high-quality ingredients. The company produces wild-caught sardines packed in olive oil, offering a clean and nutrient-dense option for consumers looking for elevated everyday staples.

With a strong focus on sourcing and product quality, the brand has built a loyal customer base among shoppers who prioritize transparency and nutritional value. As demand for better-for-you grocery products continues to grow on Amazon, maintaining visibility within the category has become critical to sustaining that momentum.

The Challenge

When Skin & Bones partnered with Quartile in May 2025, the brand was emerging from a major disruption.

The product had been out of stock on Amazon for nearly six months. During that time, the brand lost valuable demand signals that influence how Amazon ranks products in search results. Sales velocity slowed, category visibility dropped, and many recurring customers stopped purchasing.

By the time the product returned to inventory, the brand’s position in the Canned & Packaged Sardines category had fallen to approximately #52, significantly below its competitive potential.

Recovering from a disruption like this can be difficult. Amazon’s ranking algorithm heavily favors products with strong recent sales activity, and once a product disappears from search results, competitors often absorb that demand.

Skin & Bones needed to rebuild momentum quickly—restoring search visibility, accelerating sales velocity, and regaining its position in the category before competitors permanently captured those placements.

Why Quartile

Recovering category momentum on Amazon requires more than restarting ads—it requires rebuilding the signals that influence visibility, ranking, and conversion performance.

Skin & Bones needed a partner with deep expertise in Amazon’s marketplace dynamics, capable of restoring performance while maintaining disciplined advertising efficiency.

Quartile combines advanced automation with hands-on strategic management. Its platform continuously analyzes performance signals to adjust bids, pacing, and placements in real time, helping brands maintain visibility across high-intent search results while protecting efficiency.

At the same time, Skin & Bones benefited from Quartile’s fully managed service model. A dedicated Customer Strategy Manager (CSM) actively monitored the account, guiding campaign structure, reviewing performance trends, and coordinating adjustments as the brand regained momentum.

This combination of automation, marketplace expertise, and proactive account management allowed Skin & Bones to rebuild demand signals quickly while maintaining tight control over performance.

The Solution

Quartile implemented a structured advertising framework designed to rebuild sales velocity and restore category visibility.

The strategy began with a consolidated campaign architecture focused on capturing high-intent searches across the sardines category. Keywords were segmented across match types to ensure strong coverage of the most relevant queries while expanding reach to adjacent category searches.

Quartile’s automation engine continuously monitored campaign performance, dynamically adjusting bids and pacing based on real-time data. This ensured budget was consistently directed toward the most efficient opportunities while maintaining strong visibility in competitive search placements.

Beyond automation, the account was actively managed by Quartile’s Customer Strategy Manager. Ongoing monitoring and strategic oversight helped identify opportunities to refine targeting, expand keyword coverage, and adjust campaign pacing as the brand’s sales velocity recovered.

To strengthen category visibility further, the strategy expanded across multiple Sponsored Ads formats. Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Brands Video reinforced brand presence in high-traffic search placements, while Sponsored Display campaigns allowed the product to appear alongside competing listings within the category.

Later in the year, rapid demand briefly pushed the product out of stock again. When inventory returned, Quartile executed a coordinated relaunch strategy designed to quickly restore demand signals. Campaign bids and pacing were strategically increased across core keywords while coupons and Subscribe & Save incentives encouraged repeat purchasing.

This coordinated approach allowed the brand to rebuild sales momentum quickly and regain category traction.

Results & Impact

The strategy delivered rapid improvements in both sales velocity and category visibility.

• Total sales increased 150% following the relaunch, establishing a new growth trajectory for the brand

• Category ranking improved 79%, climbing to top 15 within the sardines category

• Sales doubled within the first two months of the Quartile partnership

• Search visibility and conversion momentum strengthened, helping the brand reestablish its competitive presence within the category

Together, these outcomes demonstrate how disciplined campaign architecture, automation-driven optimization, and expert account management can accelerate category recovery after extended inventory disruptions.

Ongoing Value & Future State

With category momentum restored, Skin & Bones is now positioned to maintain strong visibility in the sardines category.

Quartile continues to support the brand through ongoing campaign optimization, keyword expansion, and performance monitoring. The combination of automation and dedicated account management allows the brand to scale efficiently while maintaining consistent advertising performance.

This partnership ensures Skin & Bones can continue building long-term growth on Amazon while protecting its competitive position in the category.