Is it time to expand into Amazon Poland? New incentives say yes…
If your brand has been looking for a new European market to enter, new Amazon FBA incentives could put Poland on your map…
Launched in 2021, Amazon Poland has been growing rapidly, with 11 fulfilment centres already in place to serve an expanding customer base.
And from 12 August 2024, Amazon is making the move to entice new Amazon brands into the market, reducing FBA fees by anything up to 50% – a fee change that they say has no expiry date.
What does the Polish EComm market look like?
Poland is the largest economy in Central and Eastern Europe, with a growing middle class and increasing online shopping penetration – an e-comm market that’s certainly smaller than, say, the UK or Germany, but one that’s increasing at a pace.
Especially if your brand already has a strong foothold in other EU markets, adding Poland could be a natural next step.
3 Great Opportunities through Amazon Poland
Opportunity 1
Poland is the largest economy in Central and Eastern Europe, with a growing middle class and increasing online shopping penetration – an e-comm market that’s certainly smaller than, say, the UK or Germany, but one that’s increasing at a pace.
Opportunity 2
With Amazon being a relative newcomer to Polish e-commerce, brands moving onto Amazon Poland now will be taking an early-mover advantage.
Opportunity 3
Amazon Poland is still building its customer base, so competition on the platform may be less intense than in more established markets – great news especially for new brands looking to establish themselves.
3 Key Challenges of Amazon Poland
Challenge 1
Amazon Poland is a less mature marketplace, so it will be important to stay on top of your data and keep agile to succeed. And, if you’re looking for high-volume sales immediately, you may want to consider other more established markets within Amazon’s global network.
Challenge 2
Poland has strong local e-commerce players like Allegro, which is the dominant platform. Brands listing on Amazon Poland will need to create strong brand awareness, with the advertising budgets that go along with that, and employ strategic pricing strategies that align with local buying power to make a mark.
Challenge 3
It’s essential to localise your listings for the Polish market – and that includes products, language, currency, customer service and marketing approach.
The Beauty of FBA in International Expansion
We’ve talked before about how FBA offers a fantastic route to new markets, letting Sellers dip their toes with relatively little effort – and this is no different.
Basically, thanks to how Amazon’s European Fulfilment Network (EFN) allows you to store products in one country and ship across Europe, adding Poland to your portfolio could be relatively straightforward.
Our thoughts?
With these new FBA discounts, this could be a brilliant, strategic expansion market for brands, especially if you’re looking to establish an early presence in a growing economy.
Your success?
That will depend on your ability to localise your offerings, compete with local players and effectively manage logistics and compliance.
Have we whetted your appetite for a new Amazon market? Our experts are on hand to help you do it right, with all the commercial clarity, rigour and vision you need to succeed.
Useful Links
- How to master International Expansion through Amazon (Blog)
- Scaling your Brand into Europe – Expert panel including with FurnitureBox and Taxually (webinar)
- Freshly Forged 19 August 2024 – “Selling Internationally on Amazon? Don’t overlook the importance of your imagery…”
Do you *need* to do FBA? Let’s see what the data says…
A question we’re often asked by prospective clients is “do we really need to do FBA”? We know our answer (it’s yes, for the avoidance of doubt) but we thought we’d let a little snippet of data speak for itself…
The thing is, it’s hard to overemphasise how important Prime delivery is to the average Amazon customer.
This chart shows daily sales of a live product line over a 28-day period, with figures dropping steeply towards the end.
What caused sales to slow so quickly?
It happened when the product went out of stock on FBA and dropped onto an FBM offer with a 48-hour turnaround – still very fast relative to many other e-commerce delivery options, but not Prime fast.
A Rule of Thumb: Amazon Prime Matters
Prime delivery is fundamental to many Amazon shoppers for a whole range of reasons:
- Speed, convenience & Enhanced Customer Experience – shoppers are drawn to the fast, seamless and often same-day or next-day delivery options that come with Prime-eligible products.
- Trust and Reliability – Products fulfilled by Amazon are automatically associated with Amazon’s reputation for reliable service, with customers trusting that their orders will be processed quickly, packaged securely and delivered on time.
- Increased Visibility and Sales – Prime-eligible products are often favoured in Amazon’s search results and are more likely to be featured in promotions – an increased visibility that can lead to higher conversion rates and sales.
FBA vs SFP
And, although you can obviously also access Prime using Seller Fulfilled Prime, for many Sellers FBA is just the simplest way to deal with your Amazon logistics – even taking into account the fees and charges involved.
Why do we say that? Let’s compare the two:
Logistics and Operations Management:
With FBA, Amazon takes full responsibility for storage, packaging, shipping and handling returns, with Sellers simply sending their inventory to Amazon’s fulfilment centres – significantly reducing the operational burden on the Seller.
Sellers using SFP must manage their own storage, packaging and shipping, ensuring they meet Amazon’s stringent Prime delivery standards – a requirement that calls for robust logistics infrastructure and capabilities which can be complex and resource-intensive for Sellers to maintain.
Prime Eligibility and Performance Standards
Products fulfilled through FBA are automatically eligible for Amazon Prime, meaning Sellers don’t have to worry about maintaining the high-performance metrics required to offer Prime shipping.
Sellers using SFP must meet Amazon’s rigorous performance standards, including fast and reliable shipping, to retain their Prime eligibility. Managing these standards requires constant monitoring and can be challenging, especially during peak periods or if there are disruptions in the Seller’s own supply chain.
Customer Service and Returns Handling
Amazon handles all customer service inquiries and returns for FBA products. This includes dealing with customer complaints, processing returns and issuing refunds – a streamlined process that saves Sellers time and resources.
Sellers using SFP are responsible for managing their own customer service and returns, adding another layer of complexity, as Sellers must ensure they provide a level of service that meets Amazon’s demanding standards.
In summary, FBA simplifies the selling process by offloading logistics, ensuring seamless Prime eligibility, and managing customer service, making it an easier and more efficient option for sellers compared to Seller Fulfilled Prime.
Still pondering your options? Or have you got some burning questions you’d like to put to our logistics specialists? To see if FBA is right for your brand – and make the switch seamless if it is – speak to the team today.
4 Questions to shape your strategy when it comes to Brand Tailored Promotions
A brilliant tool to have in your Amazon arsenal, Brand Tailored Promotions (BTP) can be a super-effective way to target audiences like repeat, recent and high-spend customers, as well as cart abandoners. So should you just roll them out across your catalogue?
Well, maybe – and maybe not!
Like all things Amazon, the key to making BTP as successful as possible for your brand lies in taking the time to think closely about your “why” before you begin…
… And then combining your chosen why/s with concrete data! Brand Analytics Data and BTP are a potent mix.
Here, courtesy of our brilliant Head of Seller, Becca Woollin, are 4 questions you can use to shape your BTP strategies for each audience:
- Repeat Customers
What’s your “Subscribe and Save” (SnS) strategy?
If there’s a chance these promotions will overlap, you need to make sure you’ve got enough margins to allow for double dipping.
- High-Spend Customers
For Becca, rolling these promotions out to your most lucrative buyers is just a no-no.
We’ll let her explain, with one simple question…
“Why would you encourage the consumers who spend the most with your brand to shop with a discount?”
- Recent Customers
The key here is to think about your normal product life cycle – how long would you expect a purchase to last?
And, if these recent customers love your product, where do you really want to send them – to SnS or to buy using a promotional code?
- Cart Abandoners
For Becca, cart abandoners are the golden ticket for BTP.
Paired with retargeting ads, developing a strategy that targets abandoned carts is one which the Venture Forge team are seeing some really strong results from – and the place you should focus in the first instance.
Want us to replicate the success of our BTP clients for your own brand? Speak to our experts today.
A Platform Primed to Buy – Amazon Shoppable Ads are coming to TikTok
After launching on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, Amazon Shoppable Ads finally come to that most potent of purchasing platforms, TikTok…
The news that Amazon is bringing shoppable ads to TikTok is a fantastic update for Sellers*, offering a new and powerful channel with an audience known for their high engagement levels and desire to exercise their spending power.
Why do we see this as such amazing news? Because…
TikTok Shoppers are Primed to Buy
Engagement and Discovery
TikTok users are highly engaged with the content on the platform, and no wonder – the app’s algorithm has been intricately designed to surface new and exciting products to users, often in creative and entertaining ways.
The result is a shopping environment where users are more likely to discover and purchase products they weren’t initially searching for – something which aligns perfectly with the nature of shoppable ads.
Influencer-Driven Sales
TikTok’s ecosystem is heavily influenced by creators who drive trends and product discoveries.
With shoppable ads, Sellers could collaborate with carefully chosen influencers to showcase their products, leveraging their influence to build trust and encourage purchases – a strategy which has been shown to be particularly effective on TikTok, where content can go viral quickly, amplifying the reach and impact of product promotions.
Higher Potential than Other Platforms?
Yes, possibly.
Compared to Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat, TikTok today boasts a more potent combination of organic reach and user engagement.
The platform’s unique content discovery model, where users often stumble upon new content through the “For You” page, is a fertile ground for impulsive purchases – you only need to look at the success of products like the Stanley Cup and The Pink Stuff cleaning paste for examples of items that have gone viral.
Also TikTok users are generally younger and more open to trying new products compared to the older, more established user bases of Facebook and Instagram – making TikTok an even more attractive platform for brands looking to engage with the next generation of consumers.
How will it work?
Users will be able to browse and purchase Amazon products directly within TikTok’s app, with shoppable ads appearing in the “For You” feed and offering seamless integration with Amazon’s checkout process.
Users can link their TikTok and Amazon accounts through a quick, secure setup (which can be unlinked at any time), allowing them to view real-time pricing, Prime eligibility and delivery estimates without leaving the TikTok environment.
And, while it’s not yet confirmed if third-party sellers will be included, it seems likely this will be part of the long-term plan – shoppable ads on the other platforms feature select products from both Amazon and independent sellers.
*It’s US first, though
Sadly, like the other Social commerce rollouts, yes – it’s US first, with no timescale given for other locations.
