1. How much do customers love free shipping? 12.4% more-sales-worth, say Amazon
Amazon are encouraging Sellers to offer free shipping, citing figures that show sell-through rates on products with free shipping were an average of 12.4% higher than identical offers – even when the products had the same landed price.
Amazon’s advice is based on sales uplift figures from a 2020 Sales Study, which compared offers where one product had an increased price but free shipping, and the other paid shipping but the same total landed price (item price + shipping fee).
The study accounted for data across stores in the United Kingdom/Germany/France/Italy/Spain.
Customers love free shipping and are more likely to choose products with free shipping than those that require additional shipping costs. Offering free shipping typically leads up to 12.4% sales uplift and can increase the chances of becoming the Featured Offer. If you’re unsure where to start, choose products with higher prices that are an easier starting point where the shipping costs make up a smaller share of the total price and pricing calculations are simpler. You can also change your products to a free shipping template for a few weeks and test the results.
Amazon
Note the bonus benefit – Amazon say this kind of sales uplift can increase your chances of becoming the Featured Offer…
Our advice?
While these results are undoubtedly interesting, there’s never a “one size fits all” when it comes to Amazon.
As with any blanket data, it’s always worth conducting A-B testing to see how it works out for your brand, category and product set.
Want some help setting up the right testing? Click here to speak to our Amazon experts.
2. Amazon Money Off Promotions are on pause – so here’s what you can do instead
On 21st March, Amazon hit the temporary pause button on money-off promotions to give them time to revamp and upgrade the programme with additional features and functionality.
With many brands relying on these deals and vouchers to promote their products, boost discovery and reduce overstock, you might be wondering where this leaves you.
But fear not, our experts are here to outline the alternatives!
But I had money-off promotions running!
While you can’t create any new money-off promotions now, any promotions created before 21st March will still run for 30 days to 20th April 2023.
On 20th April, all active or pending Money Off promotions will be automatically disabled – but you’ve got time to get your alternative deals in place.
OK, so what are the alternatives?
During the period to 20 April, you can simply convert your existing Money Off Promotions to Percentage Off promotions.
After 20th April, other promotions like Percentage Off and Buy One Get One will continue to be available while Amazon rework the Money Off Programme.
Useful links:
- To clone your Money Off promotions, go to Manage your promotions.
- To learn more, or for step-by-step instructions, go to Duplicate an existing promotion.
Want our experts to help you create promotions that pack a sales punch? Get in touch today.
3. Looking for a better return on your Returns? Try Amazon’s Automated Grade and Resell Programme
If you’re looking to increase your recovery value from returns you can’t sell as “New”, Amazon’s Automated Grade and Resell programme could be just the ticket.
Instead of you having to return the items, or worse, dispose of them and incur a complete loss both for your bank balance and the environment, Amazon hang on to the distressed returns and re-sell them as “Used” directly from their fulfilment centres.
Sounds great! Why would we not do it?
As ever, our advice on whether you should enrol in the programme or not is to look at it strategically – and actually, we’ll make it even easier and say that it’s largely a financial calculation.
Which is cheaper?
Let Amazon resell your graded returns, or pay the removal fees, have the product returned to you, store it, regrade it and resell it elsewhere yourself?
How do we enrol on the programme?
In Seller Central, go to the Fulfilment by Amazon settings page, choose your Automated Unfulfillable Settings and select “Grade and Resell”.
What happens next?
Once enrolled, eligible customer returns will be automatically evaluated by one of Amazon’s returns specialists and re-listed as “Used” under the parent ASIN.
Amazon use the same grading process as Amazon Warehouse Deals, a process which has already been optimised to suit customer expectations.
After they’ve been created, you keep full control of these listings.
How do I set my pricing policy for Automated Grade and Resell?
Obviously, all accounts are different – but to give an example, you could allocate a tiered discount that’s based on the state of the returned items – for example:
- “Used, like New” – set to a default price of 90%
- “Used, Very Good” – set to a default price of 80%
Useful links:
- Enable Grade & Resell in your Automated Unfulfillable Settings here.
- Find further information, details and FAQs on Amazon’s Help Page.
For expert help, speak to our team today.
4. Is Amazon’s Climate Pledge Friendly Certification worth it for our Brand?
As Amazon continues to add to the certifications that help you qualify for its Climate Pledge Friendly programme, you might be wondering if it’s worthwhile for your brand.
We’ve all seen how eco-friendly products with the “Climate Pledge Friendly” badges are highlighted on the marketplace, but does it really work to entice consumers with more sustainable and conscious choices?
Amazon obviously think so.
“Customers want a way to make more sustainable and informed shopping choices,” said Adam Werbach, Global Lead for Sustainable Shopping at Amazon.
Climate Pledge Friendly is ramping up its efforts to help customers know their purchases meet sustainability standards and are helping to preserve the natural world.
Adam Werbach, Global Lead for Sustainable Shopping at Amazon
For Sellers, Climate Pledge Friendly products are highlighted as such in both the results and at the top of the product details page.
They also feature in a dedicated “Sustainable Products” section, where buyers can browse ethical, organic and natural products by category.
And, to add further incentive for brands, Amazon’s own certification, Compact by Design, rewards products that are more efficiently packaged and easier to ship with the Climate Pledge Friendly badge – with the added benefit of saving Sellers money on size and weight fees.
Will it boost sales?
Well, it’s no secret that consumer desire for ethical products is high.
A 2021 study by Empathy.co found that a whopping 31% of online shoppers prefer to associate with brands that are green and use ecological packaging in their deliveries, and 35% said they would only associate with ‘responsible’ brands – including those that treat staff fairly, source goods ethically, and do not misuse consumer data.
In a global study by Nielsen, 66% of respondents said they would pay a premium for goods sold by “sustainable brands”, while 53% of Millennial buyers said they were willing to forgo a brand to buy products that were environmentally friendly.
And research by Trivium Packaging found that 74% of customers were willing to pay more for sustainable packaging and, of that 74%, almost a quarter would pay 10% more.
So let’s just say – it won’t do any harm!
How do we begin the process?
Amazon have worked hard to make it easier to apply for certification, with three options based on the product you’re selling:
- Direct from Certifiers
- Direct rom Brands (for Vendors)
- From Amazon
To find out which is best for you, you’ll find all you need to know here in Amazon’s guide.
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