Amazon is one of the most popular online marketplaces with a huge global audience. It allows traders to run online stores without having to invest in the launch and promotion of a branded website. At the same time, Amazon customers can compare offers from multiple brands selling similar products and shop smartly, selecting the best offers from verified stores.
But despite a wide range of helpful e-commerce features available at Amazon, it won’t make you rich overnight. Before you start making the big bucks, you need to invest some time and effort to promote your venture, establish niche authority, stand out from competitors, and break even.
Following our list of best practices will help you run a successful Amazon store and grow your sales.
1. Set Competitive Prices
When the same item is sold by multiple stores, price often becomes a key decision-making factor. Do not allow your rivals to lure your customers with a one dollar discount. If you can set a lower price and continue to make a profit, do it. It is better to lose a dollar than to lose a customer. However, if setting competitive prices means you won’t make a profit, consider selling other products with a larger profit margin.
Be sure to factor in storage, delivery, advertising and other expenses when pricing your products.
2. Use High-Quality Photos
Appealing images of your products will help attract customers. Good photos not only show your items from their best vantage point, but they also provide a comprehensive idea of their components, features and uses. You should either hire a professional photographer or devote some time and attention to learning the art of photography. Some quick tips:
- Shoot your items without a flash. Work in daylight that provides natural color and soft light and shadows.
- Use a tripod to avoid blurred images, even when photographing with a smartphone.
- Use a white background to ensure nothing distracts customers’ attention from your product. This is an Amazon requirement.
- Take photos from different angles.
- Additional pictures can showcase lifestyle situations, to give shoppers an idea of how your items can be used.
While photos serve as a primary focus of attention, engaging descriptions that encourage users to buy are as important and should complement your visual content.
3. Acquire Professional Seller Status
As an individual seller, you pay $0.99 for each item sold, which can become costly if you have an extensive assortment and sales volume. As a Professional Seller, Amazon charges $39.99 per month. If you sell 100 items in a month, you will save $60,01, which is a great way to increase your profit.
Professional Seller status lets you upload an unlimited number of items per month, provides handy tools to boost the performance of your store, generates rich reports and enables you to upload items in bulk.
4. Sell on an FBA Basis
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) saves you from having to pack and ship your products. The marketplace undertakes responsibility for these aspects of the sales process. Once your items are sold, Amazon delivers them to your customers from its warehouse.
The FBA service is less expensive than regular warehousing and delivery. Also, it saves you time and effort that can be spent on business planning, store management and product promotion.
5. Acquire the Buy Box
The Buy Box grants you the privilege of selling your items before competitors with similar offers. When a customer hits the product’s “buy” button, the product of the BB owner is added to their cart. Shoppers rarely take time to compare the featured offer with other options, since they trust that Amazon will give priority to reputable brands with competitive prices.
Winning the Buy Box entails tough eligibility requirements. You need to provide upscale customer service, favorable prices, multiple shipping options, and have a squeaky clean track record.
6. Create SEO-Friendly Listings
Amazon has a sophisticated search algorithm that helps shoppers to quickly find products of interest by inserting keywords in a search bar. Be sure to embed strong keywords in your product titles and descriptions to display them to your relevant audience.
7. Collect Customer Feedback
When considering an unfamiliar brand, shoppers want to verify its integrity by reading reviews from previous customers. Positive feedback dispels their doubts and increases their likelihood of buying from your store.
Satisfied buyers rarely post reviews, while disappointed customers often use reviews to vent their anger. This can cause you to have more negative reviews than positive ones. To prevent this, offer small incentives to your customers for sharing favorable feedback.
8. Attract Traffic from External Channels
You are not allowed to lure customers away from Amazon to your website. Market your store on your blog, social media, via email and other channels to attract more targeted traffic to your platform.
9. Follow the Rules
Amazon is merciless to sellers who neglect the platform’s internal code. If you deviate from the established rules, your account can be suspended or banned without any chance of redemption. Take time to study your rights and responsibilities as a seller before registering on the marketplace.
10. Utilize the Power of PPC Ads
Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising helps you increase sales by boosting your visibility both within and beyond Amazon. This option is much more cost-effective than regular ads, since fees are charged only when users interested in your products click and follow your links. Keep in mind that other traders may also qualify for advertising spots, so you need to offer competitive bids to be featured.
There are three types of Amazon PPC ads:
- Sponsored Products dedicated to a single item, featured on related product pages and Amazon’s internal SERPs
- Sponsored Brands featuring your store and up to three items on Amazon’s SERPs
- Sponsored Display Ads featured on Amazon pages and third-party platforms that are part of the Google Display Network
For more detailed information on different Amazon PPC options, their launch and management, check out our comprehensive guide.
Amazon provides a number of opportunities for growing and developing your online store. Use them wisely, adhere to the best practices, tap into emerging programs for sellers, strive to provide upscale customer service and comprehensive information on your items, and watch your sales grow.