Bringing media in-house isn't a new idea. Brands have been weighing the agency versus in-house debate across social and search for years. And now that conversation has arrived on Amazon.
On the surface, the argument seems straightforward. Agency fees are under scrutiny, AI is making campaign management feel more accessible, and many marketing leaders are wondering whether it's time to build those capabilities internally.
As an Amazon agency, we’re not afraid to say: sometimes the answer is yes, but sometimes it's a very expensive mistake.
More critically: too many companies are framing the decision as agency versus in-house. That's the wrong debate. The better question is much simpler: What capabilities does your business actually need to win on Amazon, and can you realistically build and sustain them yourself?
That subtle shift changes the entire conversation.
Quick Answer: Should You Hire an Amazon Agency or Build an In-House Team?
There is no universal answer.
At Code3, we find that brands should evaluate four factors before deciding whether to build an in-house Amazon team or partner with an agency:
- The problem they're trying to solve
- The true cost of building internal expertise
- The complexity and speed of their category
- Their ability to attract and retain Amazon talent
In general:
- In-house teams excel at brand knowledge, internal alignment, and organizational context.
- Agencies excel at specialized expertise, cross-client pattern recognition, platform access, and staying ahead of industry changes.
For many brands, the strongest model is neither fully in-house nor fully outsourced. It's a hybrid structure that combines internal business ownership with external channel expertise.
Why More Brands Are Talking About In-Housing
There isn't one reason this discussion is happening now. It's the result of several trends colliding at once.
Cost Pressure is Forcing Every Marketing Investment Under the Microscope
Every marketing leader is being asked to do more with less. Agency fees are naturally part of those conversations, and executives want to understand whether bringing work in-house could reduce costs while maintaining performance.
It's a fair question, but cost alone rarely tells the whole story.
AI is Making Retail Media Feel Easier Than It Actually Is
The rapid advancement of AI has changed executive perception. As automation becomes more common, it's easy to assume that managing Amazon advertising has become significantly simpler. That's leading many organizations to ask: "Can't we just build this internally now?"
More Marketing Leaders Have Brand-Side Experience
Many of today's decision-makers built their careers inside brands rather than agencies. As a result, building internal capabilities often feels like a natural progression, but familiarity with managing marketing doesn't necessarily translate into building an Amazon organization from the ground up.
Sometimes the Real Problem Isn't the Agency Model
There's another trend that's worth acknowledging.
Some brands considering in-housing simply aren't getting the strategic value they expect from their current agency. That's a very different problem. If your agency has become reactive instead of proactive, or execution-focused instead of strategy-led, it's understandable to question whether you'd be better off bringing the work inside.
But before making that leap, ask yourself one important question: Is the problem agencies, or is it this agency? Those aren't the same thing.
A disappointing agency relationship shouldn't automatically become an argument against the agency model itself.
The Question Brands Should Actually Be Asking
Instead of asking whether agencies or in-house teams are better, start here:
What problem are we actually trying to solve?
Is the issue: Cost? Slowing performance? Lack of strategic thinking? Slow decision-making? Limited visibility?
Each of those challenges has a different solution. If your agency isn't delivering strategic guidance, replacing them with an internal team may not solve the underlying issue. Likewise, if the goal is simply reducing costs, it's important to understand what building a high-performing in-house operation actually requires.
Amazon Has Become Too Complex to Think in Single Roles
One of the biggest mistakes brands make is assuming Amazon requires one or two experienced practitioners. Today's retail media landscape is significantly broader than that. Success often requires expertise across:
- Amazon Ads
- Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC)
- Amazon DSP
- Walmart Connect
- Target Roundel
- Instacart
- Catalog mangement and discoverability
- Inventory monitoring
- Buy Box management
And unless you know a unicorn, that's not one generalist. It's multiple specialists working together under experienced strategic leadership.
For brands evaluating an in-house model, that leadership may be the single most important hire. Without someone capable of building the function, developing talent, and connecting strategy across platforms, assembling a collection of specialists isn't enough.
The Hidden Cost Most Brands Forget
When organizations compare agency fees to hiring internally, they often compare one line item to another: agency fee versus salary.
But that's rarely an apples-to-apples comparison. An internal retail media team requires ongoing investment in recruiting, hiring, management, and retention. And then there's turnover.
When someone leaves your agency team, replacing that expertise is the agency's responsibility.
When someone leaves your internal team, that responsibility belongs entirely to your business.
Hiring takes time. Training takes time. And during those gaps, campaigns don't stop needing attention. Those operational realities are often overlooked during the initial business case.
Before You Decide, Answer These Four Questions
Before moving Amazon in-house, leadership teams should be able to answer four questions confidently.
1. What problem are we solving?
Don't start with organizational structure, start with the business problem.
2. Have we modeled the real cost of building an internal team?
That includes strategic leadership, platform specialists, and the long-term cost of retaining them.
3. Do we have someone who can build and lead this organization?
Hiring practitioners is one challenge; building a high-performing retail media function is another.
4. Are we replacing the wrong thing?
If the issue is a lack of strategy or innovation, the answer may not be to eliminate agency support. It may be to find an agency that delivers the level of strategic partnership your business actually needs.
The Bottom Line
There isn't a universal right answer. Some brands should absolutely build internal Amazon capabilities, and others will create unnecessary complexity by trying to replicate expertise that already exists externally.
The mistake isn't choosing one path over the other.
The mistake is treating the decision like it's simply agency versus in-house.
The brands that make the smartest decisions start somewhere else. Because in retail media, organizational structure isn't the competitive advantage. Capabilities are.