Creative Crafthouse is a family-run puzzles and games company based in Florida. Their small but passionate company handcrafts high-quality wooden puzzles, games, and ciphers that challenge the mind and spark meaningful connections. They offer their handcrafted pieces directly through their Amazon store. Each item is made with care, blending tradition with innovation to create something special for every customer.
Seasonal Selling in a Competitive Marketplace
Creative Crafthouse was navigating the complexities of scaling a brand in an increasingly competitive and seasonal space, with the bulk of their revenue concentrated in November and December. As lower-cost alternatives flooded the market, maintaining visibility and protecting their market share during their most critical time was a high-stakes battle. Competing on quality alone wasn’t enough; they needed a strategic approach to highlight their handcrafted products while maintaining advertising effectiveness. Poor timing on inventory or inefficient ad spend could mean missing out on critical sales.
While their flagship Penny Drop Game consistently performs well, Creative Crafthouse saw untapped potential in their broader catalog. The challenge was finding an efficient way to promote these products without overspending, ensuring every ad dollar was working toward profitable growth. With a strict goal of keeping their Advertising Cost of Sales (ACoS) below 17%, they needed a precise, data-driven approach—overspending would cut into profits, while underspending risked losing valuable opportunities to competitors aggressively bidding on key search terms.
With most sales happening in Q4, budgeting for ad spend, inventory, and operational costs required careful planning. Investing in growth was necessary, but any misstep could strain resources when cash flow was already under pressure. Finding a way to balance profitability, expansion, and financial stability was crucial to sustaining long-term success.
Creative Crafthouse needed an automated solution to navigate these challenges. A platform that would help them scale profitability through data-backed decisions.
How Trellis Helped Creative Crafthouse Scale Profitably
Creative Crafthouse turned to Trellis’ profit optimization solution to overcome their growth challenges. By leveraging a data-driven strategy, Trellis helped to manage seasonality, scale new products, and maintain profitability.
Winning Market Share with Smart Bidding and Full-Funnel Advertising
Using a multi-ad type approach, we reinforced their brand presence to align with seasonal demand. Sponsored Display ads leveraged ASIN and category targeting to expand reach. Sponsored Brand campaigns reinforced their story and built trust throughout the customer journey, while Sponsored Product campaigns secured top placements on high-value keywords to protect market share. This approach improved conversion rates by creating familiarity during their most critical sales window.
While over 85% of our budget was focused on Sponsored Product ads, we saw better ACoS from targeted Sponsored Brand and Display ads which made up the rest of our budget. Our multi-ad approach illustrated how every type of ad has a role to play when managed responsibly.
Creative Crafthouse combined top of the funnel ads with seasonal creative to maximize the effectiveness of their campaigns. Their Amazon Store, logo, and product images were updated with Christmas-themed visuals, positioning their handcrafted puzzles and games as the perfect holiday gifts. The campaign focused on broader targeting with strong creative, including Sponsored Brand videos focused on children and families, positioning their products with their target audience.
By integrating profit optimization software with a full-funnel advertising strategy, we ensured that every ad dollar was maximized. Smart bid adjustments, precise keyword targeting, and strategic placements made the most of Creative Crafthouse’s high-quality creatives. With Trellis, every aspect of their advertising was aligned—from winning bids to strengthening brand visibility and capturing high-intent shoppers. This synergy between automation and strategic execution allowed Creative Crafthouse to not only maintain profitability but also scale their brand efficiently in a highly competitive marketplace.
Augmenting Outcomes with Strategic Management
To maximize the synergy between strategy and software, Trellis offered a comprehensive management package, collaborating on a bi-weekly basis to align with product launches, business changes, and emerging opportunities. This included:
- Identifying top-performing products like their Penny Drop Game, Brain Teasers and puzzles, and STEM toys
- Monitoring and flagging unexpected trends or shifts in demand
- Ensuring key products remained in good standing for peak performance
- Analyzing demographics, keywords, and catalog trends to reallocate ad spend effectively
- Refining campaign structures, redistributing budgets, and running controlled tests to maximize return on ad spend
As the holiday season wound down, our software scaled back ad spend strategically, preventing wasted budget while maintaining momentum into the new year. By combining automation with expert oversight, Creative Crafthouse not only met their ACoS targets but successfully expanded their brand presence and profitability on Amazon.
Continuous Optimization and Adaptation
While the holiday season was a major revenue driver, Creative Crafthouse didn’t pause after the rush. Coming out of their peak period, they continued to leverage Trellis to maintain momentum and unlock growth across the rest of their catalog, increasing their sales compared to the previous year.
With well-established products like the Penny Drop Game, the team shifted focus to other high-potential items by analyzing the historical sales and ACoS of the catalog. Over Q1 we focused on their Moon Phases Puzzle, board games, and escape room props. To launch new ads effectively, Trellis’ automation handled bid and budget adjustments, allowing the team to focus on creative strategy and catalog expansion.
By combining Dynamic Pricing with refreshed creatives and new ad placements, Creative Crafthouse was able to keep performance steady—even as overall demand shifted. In some cases, slight price reductions improved conversion rates without hurting margins, thanks to more efficient advertising and better keyword targeting. Trellis’ automation continuously harvested keywords, adjusted bids, and optimized spend, allowing the team to stay agile without getting bogged down in manual updates.
Even outside their peak season, Creative Crafthouse continues to turn data into decisions—keeping their handcrafted brand top of mind and ensuring sustainable, profitable growth throughout the year.
Results: Turning Seasonality into Sustained Growth
With profit optimization software and strategic support, Creative Crafthouse made their most important sales season their most efficient. ACoS dropped by more than 5%, staying well under their 17% goal, while conversion improvements helped maintain strong sales. During the holiday window, they grew sales by over 294% compared to the previous period and by 4% over the previous year. Ad-attributed sales saw a 313% jump period-over-period and an 11% lift year-over-year.
Beyond their top selling Penny Drop game, we scaled over 10 other product categories. Brain teaser puzzles grew by 400%, math puzzles by over 600%, and word puzzles by almost 800%.
That momentum continued into Q1. Compared to the same period last year, total sales rose nearly 9% and ad-attributed sales increased over 40%. Even with a slight ACoS uptick, gains in volume and margin showed the impact of ongoing investment in Dynamic Pricing, updated creatives, and optimized campaigns. With Trellis automating key decisions and surfacing new keyword opportunities, Creative Crafthouse kept their catalog visible and their growth steady—even in the off-season.
staying under 17% benchmark.
5% ACoS Decrease
versus previous period.
294% Sales Growth
versus previous year.
11% Ad Sales Increase
Building Sustainable Growth, Season After Season
Creative Crafthouse’s journey shows that even in a seasonal, competitive space, profitable growth is possible with the right combination of strategy, automation, and creativity. By pairing their strong brand identity with Trellis’ optimization software, they didn’t just succeed during the holidays—they built momentum that carried into the quieter months, unlocking new product potential and driving consistent returns.
For established Amazon brands looking to scale profitably, manage seasonality, or get more from every ad dollar, learn more about how you can find the right partnership to help execute each decision and generate long-term success.
