3 quick tips to help you succeed on Amazon
Sometimes, the best Amazon advice is the simplest. And so we wanted to share a quick take from our brilliant Head of Seller, Becca Woollin, with 3 succinct tips that will help you drive your brand to better growth and profit on the marketplace…
- Know your goal
Before you even start, it’s crucial to have a clear direction.
That way you can be sure your Amazon efforts align with your broader business objectives – without this, you risk wasting time, resource and money making moves that don’t address key issues or opportunities.
And more, understanding your goal helps you measure progress effectively.
If you don’t know what you’re aiming for, how can you work out whether your changes are getting the results you want?
A fixed, measurable goal, like “increasing sales by 20% over 6 months” or “reducing order defects by 20% over 12 months”, provides clear benchmarks to track.
All brands have different goals at different times, including:
- Boosting profitability
- Increasing market share
- Building brand dominance
And all these objectives have their place – but they don’t always go hand in hand.
It’s important that you manage your expectations from your efforts, and focusing on one thing and doing it well – before moving onto the next piece of the puzzle – is always a stronger approach than trying to do it all at once.
So pick one goal, give it your all and apply a measurable time frame so you can assess your efforts properly.
- Consistency is KING
Consistency across all elements of your Amazon presence is the cornerstone of Amazon success – including:
- Consistency of performance. Amazon’s is a dynamic algorithm that rewards sellers who maintain steady performance. Consistently updating product listings, managing your inventory efficiently and maintaining excellent customer service and delivery levels helps increase product visibility in search rankings, leading to more sales.
- Consistency of quality. offering quality products means positive reviews and repeat custom, and they in turn help build trust and credibility with new customers, creating a positive sales loop.
- Consistency of marketing. Regular promotions, advertising and launches keep your brand competitive and top-of-mind with consumers, positioning you for long-term growth and success.
- Consistency of product. There’s not much point listing products that have an end of life within months – when picking your products, go for evergreen lines that last and will deliver for your brand for the foreseeable future.
- List and Hope? No and no
Blind chance is not a winning strategy on Amazon.
The world’s biggest marketplace is one of the most competitive and dynamic sales environments around, where your brand is up against thousands of others competing for customer attention – without a proper plan, your product might never be discovered.
Brand success comes from smart, actionable steps.
A well-thought-out launch strategy, backed by research, sets you up properly from the off.
Armed with a strong understanding of the customer base you’re serving, the pricing trends and competition in your sector and properly optimised listings, you can help your brand secure visibility, drive better margins and build credibility.
And later, with the foundations in place, you can continue to thrive with a brilliant advertising strategy that takes those strong listings and magnifies their reach.
Want to leverage more of our commercial clarity for your Amazon brand? Speak to our experts today.
Amazon Competitive Pricing causing Buy Box issues? You’re not on your own…
Let’s set a scene. You’ve been winning the Buy Box for a while now and sales are rolling in but, with manufacturing costs and shipping expenses soaring, you need to raise your price. Simple, right?
Sadly it might be trickier than you think.
It seems that more recently, the application of Amazon’s Competitive Pricing policy means that a price increase can see your Buy Box privileges vanish – even if you’re the only seller of your product on Amazon – frustrating both you and your potential buyers.
Why is this happening?
It looks like there’s been a tweak to the competitive pricing algorithm, which is the gatekeeper of the Buy Box.
Amazon say they only feature offers that hit their benchmarks on three fronts:
- Price
- Delivery
- And customer service.
If no offers meet all those expectations, you get the dreaded “no featured offers are available” notice.
Given brands are losing their Buy Box privileges when nothing has changed except from the list price, it seems that Amazon is now comparing your price on Amazon to pricing for the same products outside of Amazon.
And if your price is higher than other retailers?
Even if you’re crushing it on all other fronts, it’s bye-bye Buy Box.
Let’s face this together
What makes this issue so tricky is timing.
Outside of Amazon, other retailers may still be selling old stock at lower prices – leaving you caught between raising prices and risking your Buy Box or slashing margins to compete until the market catches up.
If you’re facing this challenge?
We’ve got strategies to navigate this balancing act while keeping your business profitable. Let’s talk.
Diverse, dynamic and oh-so-seasonal, come take a deep dive into the Toys and Games sector on Amazon Prime
With Black Friday and Christmas on the horizon, we thought we’d take a little trip down memory lane and revisit some of our team’s expert insights into the Toys & Games sector – giving you time to get up to speed before these biggest of annual sales events arrive!
What can you expect to uncover?
One of our in-depth sector analyses, we asked our team to take a forensic view of the entire sector, pinpointing the best opportunities for brands of all sizes – from the best selling models through key growth trends to a subcategory spotlight on the 3 strongest subcategories.
But the most interesting section to revisit is the one which outlines our keys to success in the category.
What we found in this sector was that, while yes – major brands like Lego are dominant forces – this is a tough market for big names, needing complete investment and a robust all-round Amazon strategy to continually defend market share, protect against any detrimental reseller activity and grow through cannibalising the share of their competitors.
Where it gets interesting is when you look at the Challengers
We found lots and lots of Challenger brands making strong sales within the top 100 – which equals plenty of growth potential for brands of all shapes and sizes.
“For smaller, challenger brands, there is real potential to take a slice of the market share pie,” advise our expert team.
But how?
“By drilling down into the opportunities on offer in the sub-categories and coming through consumer trends, and then combining a smart product offering with a strong, holistic strategy that excels at everything Amazon.”
Want to learn more, including our top tips for how you can seize some of that market share pie for yourselves?
Hit this link to dig in…
How to… Calculate your Digital Services Tax for your Amazon Account
From 1 October 2024, Amazon is introducing a stand-alone Digital Services Tax (DST) fee as a separate line item on your invoice. But what does this mean for you, and how do you work it out?
The UK Digital Services Tax – an Explainer
But what is the DST?
Basically, it’s a levy on the revenues of search engines, social media platforms and online marketplaces that was designed to target those large international companies who pay less than their “fair share” of UK taxes.
The UK government, alongside others like France, Italy, Spain, and Canada, introduced this tax to “align profits with the value created locally”.
So why is it impacting our brand?
Because Amazon is passing it on to you, the retailer.
The idea was to tax the big players, but the reality is that the cost trickles down to sellers like you – and ultimately, if you don’t absorb it yourself and squeeze your margins, to the consumer.
Argh! How do we work out what we’ll pay?
You’ve actually been paying it since September 2020, when Amazon increased UK selling fees by 2% (which covered the DST).
It’s just that, from October, Amazon is introducing the fee as a separate payment – reducing your selling and FBA fees and introducing a separate charge that’s based on when your business is based.
For example, if you’re in the UK, you’ll face a 2% DST on your fees; in Italy, it’s 3%.
How can you plan in advance?
You can preview these fees in the Revenue Calculator starting in September and track them via Payments reports.
And Amazon’s Automate Pricing tool will also account for DST from October, so at least you’ll be able to see how you’re being impacted.
