Starting out life as an online bookstore, Amazon has undergone tremendous growth into the largest internet retailer in the world. There are precisely many ways of making money on Amazon, depending on how much time is devoted by an Amazon seller to the business. Based on the different creative ways that people develop to generate sales, it is clear that a thriving business is not achieved from combating competitors but from using different strategies to discover new markets and seize demands.
On Amazon, this is applicable in the case where many sellers are after the same set of goals and hence making it very competitive. This is the basis of recognizing low competition and increasing sales. Here are ten useful tips that can help a new game starter sell goods in Amazon swiftly. Before we get started, don’t forget to check out one of the best applications out there that help Amazon sellers save money, Helium 10.
1. Stack Up Positive Reviews
Customer evaluations are critical on Amazon to help a seller increase sale. According to a survey by Dimensional Research, 90% of the respondents stated that positive reviews played a key role in influencing their purchase decisions. This is an indication of how powerful reviews are in today’s business world.
When it comes to rankings, Amazon takes into account reviews and ratings of a product, among other things, in ranking their products on search results. Getting positive reviews works to reaffirm your buyers’ confidence and boost your rankings on Amazon’s search results. The net effect of all these is an increase in sales. Ask friends and acquaintances that like your product to give reviews. For a new product, even consider giving away a number of them for free in exchange for reviews, as this will also generate good will that is very beneficial in the long run.
Sellers can also visit a learning institution to enquire for some students to help them get the reviews. This can be free or can cost little amount of money. The reports that the seller gets assist them in improving their products. Use negative reviews to streamline your product before launch. Don’t forget about your competitors; check out their negative reviews for ideas to surpass them.
2. Improve SEO Optimization
With over 183 million unique visitors each month at Amazon all searching, you’ve got to ensure your product is among the top of that list. SEO is the fuel that powers search engines. Most sellers make the mistake of thinking that higher rankings on Google search automatically translate to higher rankings on Amazon searches. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
[pullquote]Amazon’s search engine, A9, operates using a rather simple algorithm that searches for keywords included in the search query.[/pullquote] The keywords are then searched against the information provided for the product e.g. in the title and description. Ensure that the information you provide for your product has a high search volume to guarantee a spot at the top of the search rankings. This will go a long way in increasing your sales. Amazon allows a maximum of 500 characters for the product title so include as many keywords as possible. Don’t despair, though, tools like merchant words can help you find popular long tail keywords.
3. Competitive Pricing
The pricing of your product is a major factor of how it will appeal to customers. Keep in mind that the main appeal of private label product is affordability over their name brand counterparts. Most sellers struggle to find a perfect balance between winning a sale and making a profit. The main reason for this is that they fail to utilize proper pricing models. One of the best approaches to pricing products that lead to increased sales is competitor-driven pricing.
In this approach, you have to keep tabs on the prices that your competitors place on their products. Price your products slightly lower than your competitors so as to attract more shoppers. Since sellers on Amazon adjust their prices regularly, it is recommended to invest in repricing software that automatically adjusts the price of your products automatically so as to remain competitive.
Repricing software, such as feed visor helps in monitoring one’s competitors to ensure that they always remain competitive. By simply entering what they want to be slightly cheaper than competitors, sellers can have massive benefits. However, don’t go overboard. Overly cheap products are viewed with some suspicion since customers always expect a catch or doubt its quality. Ensure your product is cheaper than the name brand but not cheap enough to cost you profit. Additionally, if a competitor has run out of a certain stock, the repricing will by its own nature, raise the price of that particular product to ensure maximum profits.
4. Advertising On And Off Amazon
People should sell their products both on and off Amazon to ensure that a significant number of customers are aware of what they are offering. A good example of marketing products outside Amazon is through advertising on blogs, articles and social media like Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest. Amazon also offers Display Advertising service which is a creative way of presenting your products to the market. This is especially helpful for new retailers or if you are looking to launch a new product on Amazon. A huge number of successful sellers use Amazon Sponsored Products to increase their sales.
[pullquote]The biggest goal of taking the advertising route is to increase product discoverability.[/pullquote] Sponsored products appear in the right column on search pages, below search results and in ad slots on detail pages. Advertising provides an opportunity for the products to be discovered, even if they do not rank at the top of the search results. Increased visibility in most cases leads to increased sales. As the number of customers who are aware of the products increases, there is an increased guarantee of accelerated sales.
5. Discounts And Giveaways
Most buyers on Amazon are hunting for great deals. Giving discounts and giveaways is an excellent way of creating new and long-term relationships with buyers. Giving momentous discounts could see one ranked at number one for their product variety and it might also be listed under the “Hot Deals” category by Amazon. This category receives a huge amount of attention from shoppers.
This also grants exposure of the other products which can also be seen on the home page and thus customers can view the seller’s other offerings, and they might be allured to buy those products as well.
However, do not come across desperate to your potential customers when offering discounts. A good practice is aligning your discount pricing to an event or a holiday to give it legitimacy. Every month has at least one minor calendar event so take full advantage of that to please your customers. When you are just starting out, try offering a time-limited discount promotion to entice buyers, which push your customers to take advantage of the discount while it lasts and increases your sales.
6. Sell Products In Bundles
If rolling out a new product on Amazon or you want to give it a promotion, sell it together with some of your customer’s favorite products. Selling of new products together with readily acceptable products increases the chances that a customer will always come back to the same seller to check for products the next time they want to purchase goods on Amazon. Simply group your products into a 5 in 1 or 3 in 1 pack and list it under a separate product listing. It can make your offers look more attractive than competitors, guaranteeing substantial sales.
7. High-Quality Product Descriptions
Most sellers on Amazon focus most of their energy on bidding and Buy Box optimization. However, a majority of the effort should go into creating high-quality product descriptions. The detailed product description should paint a vivid picture of the product and address any fears of queries the buyer may have. Use words and phrases that will attract the buyer to the product. Do not underestimate the impact that pictures of your product have on sales.
Photos with great lighting and multiple shots from various angles help give your product a professional air that could go a long way in engendering trust of potential buyers. Additionally, such photos could increase your product ranking on Amazon. You don’t have to break out a full set of professional equipment, just use a high-end smartphone with a portable lighting studio, and you’ll be good to go.
8. Keep Up With Changing Customer Demands
Customer demand changes all the time. These changes may arise as a result of a change in tastes or season. In the case of seasonal products such as winter clothing, it is important to keep track of historical sales records and contact information of all customers. That enables you not only to anticipate the future demand for the product while rewarding or communicating with clients using customized information that boosts sales online. Also, keep track of monthly sales over a span of multiple years to determine the changes in demand throughout the year. Proper planning for changes in demand will prevent stockouts and stale inventory.
9. Restocking And Shed Stale Inventory
[pullquote]Invest in an inventory management software that will help you restock only the most profitable products.[/pullquote] This type of software shows the top restocking opportunities that provide the highest profit. Since the process is automated, identifying the most profitable products is fast and accurate. Avoid stock that will last on the shelves for ages. Additionally, this inventory management software can help you easily spot out stale inventory. You have to get rid of stale inventory, liquidate the items as soon as possible. This could mean selling the products at a loss. Even though it hurts the business in the short run, it opens up capital to invest in more profitable opportunities in the long run.
10. Provide Timely Shipments
One of the biggest gripes of shopping online is late shipments. Late shipments make customers very unhappy who will provide negative reviews and ultimately, the probability of getting return customers drops significantly. One way to avoid all this is to try out Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA). This means that Amazon handles shipping and the products are delivered in 2 days. Also, Amazon helps handle customer service.
Author Bio: Sarah Kaiser is a digital marketing manager at Casino Global Sourcing, the sourcing division of a French retailer Groupe Casino. Godirek.com is the product catalog of Casino Global Sourcing, which offers helps and tips from product sourcing, cost saving to sales boosting for Amazon third party sellers. She’s a fan of water sports and has studied business management in France. Her works have been published on dozens of websites and blogs.
How To Master Selling Private Products On Amazon
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