Nectar launches Cue to turn Amazon Marketing Cloud analysis into same-day answers

Nectar introduced Nectar Cue, an AI workflow platform that lets Amazon and marketplace brands query audience, sales, and margin data in plain language and get same-day answers. The rollout aims to turn AMC analysis into faster action on ad spend, profitability, and workflow decisions.

Why it matters: - Nectar Cue is built to shrink Amazon Marketing Cloud analysis from days to seconds, giving brands faster answers on which audiences and campaigns actually drive margin. - The platform is designed to help brands act on AMC audiences, not just build them, by tying analysis directly to profit and incrementality. - Nectar says the workflow matters most for brands managing thousands of SKUs, where the bottleneck is often execution rather than analysis.

What happened: - Nectar, an independent retail media and commerce agency and Amazon Ads Advanced Partner, introduced Nectar Cue on August 6, 2026. - Cue is an AI workflow platform for Amazon and marketplace brands. - The platform is built on iDerive, Nectar’s proprietary commerce analytics platform, and the iDerive MCP server. - The system lets brands ask questions about their Amazon business in plain language and get answers the same day. - Nectar says the same analysis has historically taken an analyst most of a week.

The details: - iDerive unifies Amazon Marketing Cloud audience and measurement data with sales, advertising, and profitability data down to the SKU and search-term level. - The platform is built to answer growth questions against profit, not just top-line sales. - Access runs through the iDerive MCP server, which uses Model Context Protocol, an open standard introduced by Anthropic for connecting AI assistants to live data. - Brands can query their own marketplace data from their own Claude account, with no analyst in the loop. - Nectar says a brand manager can ask which new-to-brand segments are growing, how they overlap with current spend, and where the next dollar earns the most margin, then see the answer in seconds. - Nectar’s advertising teams also use the same audience logic in Amazon DSP and in audience-based bid modifiers on Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands. - iDerive measures whether that activation was incremental, using new-to-brand rate and contribution margin rather than ROAS alone. - Cue extends the foundation from analysis to workflow by reaching Amazon Marketing Cloud, Vendor Central, Seller Central, Amazon Ads, and additional marketplaces through one connection. - The platform can surface exceptions such as a suppressed listing or an emerging revenue opportunity and route them to the person who can act. - Cue is already in use across Nectar’s analyst teams and is rolling out to brand partners in phases. - The iDerive MCP server is available to iDerive clients today, and brands can connect iDerive to Claude as part of their engagement.

Between the lines: - Nectar is positioning Cue as a bridge between data science and media activation, not just another dashboard. - The focus on margin, incrementality, and new-to-brand growth signals a push away from ROAS-only reporting and toward more profit-aware media decisions. - The Claude integration suggests Nectar wants brands to interrogate their own data directly, with less dependency on manual reporting cycles.

What’s next: - Nectar Cue is rolling out in phases, starting with Nectar’s team and select brand partners. - Nectar says its teams will continue using the platform internally while the company expands access to clients. - The company is also pushing the iDerive MCP server as the access layer for brands that want to connect iDerive to Claude.

The bottom line: - Nectar is betting that faster Amazon analytics will be most valuable when tied directly to profit and activation, not just reporting. - The company is using Cue to turn AMC insights into same-day decisions across ads, audiences, and marketplace operations. - Nectar says partners are already seeing gains, including Petmate, Boxie, and Epson: - Petmate grew new-to-brand orders by about 85% and Core ASIN revenue by 12% through audience-led advertising measured in iDerive. - Boxie increased ordered revenue on Amazon Canada by 55.4% on roughly half a percent more ad spend. - Epson lifted ad-attributed sales 153% while keeping ad spend steady.