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Optimize Your Product Listing For Christmas Sales

Leave a Comment / Amazon, Amazon Marketing, Amazon Tools, Amazon VA, Digital Marketing Social Media, seller central, vendor central / John

If you plan on optimising your Amazon product listing for Christmas to get massive sales, we’ve got tips that will come in handy. It is tough to compete with top sellers during the Q4 season but that doesn’t mean you should lose out on business. In fact, the more you update and research, the easier it will be for your store to get noticed. A lot of Amazon sellers look for quick hacks when it comes to boosting visibility, but you can’t rely on black hat tricks. In fact, to ensure your account doesn’t undergo suspension, stick to Amazon’s guidelines, especially during the holiday season or during high sales periods. Here’s how you can quickly optimize your product listing for Christmas sales if you want to be a profitable merchant this holiday season: Understand the Christmas Cheer! Know your clientele, more so during Christmas, because that is when they’re going to hit the shop button most. Irrespective of what category your product comes under, check out what your competition is selling, in terms of discount coupons, freebies, and add-ons. Do a study of their past customers, and maybe you’ll find something new to add to your listing. When you know your clients are on the lookout for Christmas presents, that is the time to act. Throw in a discount, give them free shipping, add promotional content on your web stores, and advertise using Amazon PPC. Does this sound familiar? Of course, it does. The trick though, is in the presentation, the text content, and how you use your keywords. Go to your seller central account, open each listing, and make sure you add keywords in the search terms that should have the word “Christmas”, as a part of the long tail keywords. This is known as targeting clientele who are specifically looking for Christmas gifts. Stock Your Inventory You’ve heard this before and we’re winging it again – stock up on inventory and keep extra stock of your highest-selling products. Christmas sales have a lot to do with understanding where you’ve hit your sales the most and which products have yet to sell out fast. If your inventory list has an “x” number of products that always have a high order volume, stack up, nice and good. If your inventory list has a “y” number of products that have yet to sell out, make sure you have enough. And most importantly, highlight those products in your ad campaigns. Cold Pipeline Needs Heating Up! We’re talking about products that rarely make it to your customers. Imagine someone looking for Christmas toys for their kids. If your store comes under this category – the toy category – then it’s important you recreate the content for such listings from scratch. Don’t upset the algorithm for those listings that already have good visibility. We’re talking about a cold pipeline here, and it’s your job to identify these products and redo the listing from scratch with a new set of keywords. Get a Festive Makeover If you’re familiar with A+ content, you know what we’re talking about. You don’t need a black hat trick to tip the scales in your favour for any of your listings. It’s all about delivering fresh content, doing quick research for the latest keywords, checking on what gets indexed and what doesn’t, and creating great informative copy. It’s perfectly alright if you don’t have EBC. Your Christmas makeover can also be in the form of redoing your brand profile on Amazon’s marketplace, with new banners perhaps. This can include adding fresh lifestyle images to your listing with a Christmas theme to them. Deliver something innovative that keeps with the holiday spirit and showcases its great functionality. Mobile Friendly Content 80% of e-commerce sales take place online via mobile phones. Don’t expect your customers to order using laptops if they are browsing on phones. Keep an eye on who checks your website, social media channels, and store pages. Your sale begins with a customer browsing around for a product and it converts into a sale once they find the perfect product. That is something which happens with great reviews, FAQs, and images, to visually give an idea about the product to the customer. You can download mobile-friendly templates for your landing page, and create ad copies that are simple to read and have enough CTA buttons. Don’t Forget Those Testimonials This is the time you need to highlight customer reviews and testimonials. Whether it’s in the form of an Amazon PPC ad copy or a Facebook campaign that includes your product listing’s link, it’s all about generating leads. There are many people who buy products after they’re done browsing social media channels. It is your job to grab a customer’s trust by creating ad copies that come from different angles. It could be a testimonials copy or it could be content that offers a discount coupon. It could be informative and lead the customer onto your page’s blog or it could be a lightning deal on Amazon. Find Your Magical Keywords Just like children find their magic and inspiration from adorable Santa Claus stories, you need to find your magical keywords. Only when your products start showing up is when you’ll start seeing higher sales. To get a customer, think like one. Here’s how you start. 1. If you’re a customer who wants to buy a product, you obviously know nothing about keywords. You will type in just about anything that describes what you want. And if it’s for Christmas, that word is going to be a part of the search. Let’s say you’re looking for Christmas lights, but you want a certain kind and type. You don’t know what it’s called and you go for common words like “Christmas light”, “Christmas lighting”, or “lighting accessories for Christmas”. 2. Once your customer finds something that he/ she wants, they click on that product. Don’t assume it’s a buy. Everyone surfs more and decides later. If your customer has a brand in

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5 Strategies for Snagging the Amazon Buy Box

Leave a Comment / Amazon, Amazon Marketing, Amazon Tools, Amazon VA, Digital Marketing Social Media, seller central / John

Getting your share of the Amazon Buy Box is not an exact science, but these strategies can help. By focusing your attention on keeping your products Buy Box-eligible and expertly managing your inventory, you’ll have a better shot at getting your product in the Buy Box rotation. With the holiday season in full swing, you’ll want to do everything you can to maintain an edge over the competition. Q4 is a great opportunity to increase sales and build your brand. Don’t miss out by being unprepared! In this blog post, we’ll highlight five effective strategies for snagging the coveted Buy Box. What is the Buy Box? Sometimes referred to as the “Featured Offer,” the Buy Box is technically the “Add to Cart” and “Buy Now” buttons that allow buyers to skip the traditional shopping cart checkout process and go straight to one-click ordering. This is offered on each product detail page on Amazon. It can be incredibly beneficial to your sales, especially during the busy holiday season, when customers are trying to score a deal as quickly as possible! From a seller’s perspective, having your product in the Buy Box is a great way to beat the competition. Once you have it, though, you’re not guaranteed to keep it. The Amazon Buy Box rotates between sellers. Based on a variety of criteria, Amazon picks which accounts will have the Buy Box, so you want to do everything in your power to earn it. Let’s talk about some of the best strategies. Offer Fast Shipping Gone are the days when consumers were willing to wait weeks for a purchase to arrive. Today’s customers want their items as fast as possible. Amazon shoppers are expecting to receive shipments within 24 hours or less. There’s a lot of competition in the marketplace and you don’t want to be that one seller who can’t meet that expectation. One strategy is to offer your products through Amazon’s FBA program. You’re not required to do this, but being an FBA seller allows you to fulfil orders quickly, which can help you earn your piece of the Buy Box pie. Whatever route you choose, make fast shipping a priority. Stay in Stock You can’t sell anything if you run out of stock. Not only will this result in a loss of revenue, but it could hurt your reputation as well. Even repeat customers will be forced to look elsewhere if you’re not carrying the product that they need and when they need it. As mentioned, modern shoppers aren’t willing to wait for shipments and you shouldn’t expect them to. If winning the Amazon Buy Box is a goal (as it should be), you need a clear inventory management strategy. Build relationships and keep a close eye on your supply chain. This is important for many reasons, but it can also save you in a pinch. For example, if your order volume spikes, you might be able to fast-track your orders if you’re on friendly terms with your suppliers. Keep Your Pricing Competitive Even if your products are priced fairly, prospective buyers will always be looking for a better deal. That’s the thing about Amazon — people can compare prices in seconds. It’s essential that you’re aware of what’s happening in the marketplace so that you can remain competitive. With that being said, don’t undervalue your goods. Offering the lowest price isn’t a guarantee that you’ll win the Buy Box anyway. Instead, focus on developing a smart Amazon pricing strategy so that your prices are similar to other sellers. It’s a major undertaking and you might find it helpful and time-saving to use an Amazon repricer to stay in the game. Get Reviews If your products and prices are similar to those of your competitors, how can you stand out from the pack? By having a great reputation. How do you accomplish that? By getting product reviews. When two Amazon listings are virtually identical, buyers will be more likely to purchase from the one that has positive feedback from customers. Figuring out how to solicit feedback can be overwhelming, which is why many sellers rely on tools to help them create effective campaigns. In the end, building and maintaining a healthy Amazon seller reputation is worth it for three main reasons. It shows Amazon that you’re committed to providing excellent customer service, it gives buyers confidence in your products, and it can give your ASINs a boost. All of those things can help you win and keep the Amazon Buy Box. Maintain a Healthy Seller Account Are you paying close attention to your seller account health? It doesn’t matter if you’ve been too busy to keep track of how you’re doing, because Amazon is always watching. The company is obsessed with making customers happy and they closely monitor sellers to make sure they’re getting the job done. To ensure that you’re meeting buyer expectations, Amazon looks at metrics such as Order Defect Rate, Cancellation Rate, and Late Shipment Rate. Your performance will impact your ability to win the Buy Box and why shouldn’t it? The sellers who go the extra mile are the ones who deserve it. Give yourself the best chance at getting a share of the Buy Box by keeping your account healthy. Get Ahead of the Competition By keeping your seller account healthy and committing to impeccable inventory management, fast shipping, and competitive pricing, you put yourself in the best position to reap rewards during Q4 and year-round. Running an Amazon business takes a lot of effort. Come up with a plan of action for snagging the Amazon buy box and follow through. BIE’s Amazon Human Resource services can provide you with the help you need for running your store on the Amazon marketplace. You can find all the services required to grow and enhance your digital brand worldwide on a single platform. Our Amazon Human Resources are multi-skilled and can efficiently handle different aspects of your store, right from providing analytical reports of

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Avoid Scams While Hiring Amazon Human Resources Online

Leave a Comment / Amazon, Amazon Marketing, Amazon Tools, Amazon VA, seller central, vendor central / John

Whether you are new to Amazon seller central or a top seller, you might have hired an Amazon expert for complete store management. In this article, we’ve mentioned a few things that you need to consider and also things that a VA need to ensure to prevent scams. We’re sure that amazon human resources from around the world can easily be scammed into finishing a project and not getting their due amounts paid (discussed in a later blog). Just like how companies contract employees and take their identity proof into consideration, we would suggest signing such a contract with your VA, before you take any new hires. Let’s get into detail as to how as a virtual employee, you can avoid fraudulent acts while hiring amazon human resources online. Things To Consider Check Online Profile Thoroughly: Always be aware of the fact that many scam artists make fake accounts or profiles on writing boards, social media platforms, and other such venues. Make sure you check whether the profile has a genuine profile image and this includes studying the account history in terms of the number of posts, photograph list, address, name, website, and timeline feed. Also, remember that if the profile is newly created and there are no real friends then chances are that it is a scammers profile. Keep in mind that scammers post repeated or copied content on their news feeds and on different groups. Our recommendation is to stay away from such profiles in general. Authentication is Necessary: You need to ask for ID proof just like any other company would while hiring. Ensure you take into account your VA’s personal identity details. Before you sign a contract, ask for their government ID proof such as a passport, national ID, or driving license. Make sure the details on the government ID proof match the Facebook profile. Client Testimonials: Before you hire a VA, ensure you take into account client testimonials. Check their portfolio. Also, ask for their LinkedIn profile, as many professional amazon human resources nowadays have a profile on this media site. Make sure you take recommendations from previous clients or referrals before hiring anyone. Keep a Record of Work Hours: While hiring amazon human resources online, keep in mind the number of hours due as some freelance agents work faster than others. Whether you’re paying on an hourly basis or per project, we oblige you to use a content monitoring tool like Hubstaff to time-track work or you can take screenshots off Skype while keeping your VA on the payroll. Maintain Electronic Footprint: While hiring a VA from Facebook, ensure you maintain an electronic footprint through emails and messages. Ask for their email ID and start the conversation via mail or Skype. All your terms & conditions should be sent via email, as also the requirements for the project. If you are hiring the VA on an hourly basis, then PayPal invoicing must be included. Take Sample Test (PAID): The most important part of this hiring process is that you must test the skills of the VA you are hiring online. The VA should have all the basic and advanced skills that he/ she will need to complete your work efficiently and fulfil all the requirements. We suggest you give them a paid test assignment to know their skills. Most scammers are unskilled and unprofessional, so testing is necessary. Be Clear & Concise with Project: Before you hire a VA, you should have a clear idea about your requirements. Ensure you mention everything in the job description. You should not reach a stage where you have to hand-hold the VA. Having clear goals will save more time for you and the VA. Ensure your project details are recorded via electronic contract or some form of agreement. What About Amazon Human Resources Getting Scammed? We have also noticed that many amazon human resources get scammed after completing a specific project. To avoid scams, make sure you research the employer before applying. Beware of fake profiles as we have mentioned before. Sometimes you will find job posts for amazon human resources crafted extremely unclear and without any brand or company information. Always remember that you have the right to ask for information about the company of your employer. If a job post doesn’t have any employer details such as the name of the employer or company details, you should not go any further. In some cases, the employer may create a fictional persona, or pretend to be a third person between you and the employer. Like a lawyer, consultant, or agency. In such cases, make sure you check the employer profile carefully and ask for government ID proof. As you and the employer both are in different places, it’s always better to do a video call and record it. In addition, once you’ve submitted your application and you get hired instantly, you should proceed with caution. Most scammers accept anyone after a short interview and without any assignment. Conclusion The entire process of hiring an amazon human resources takes time. An employer will look for the right person and always for the long term so that they don’t have to hire someone anytime soon. A genuine and determined employer will look for someone who is productive, highly skilled, and most importantly, someone who will be there with the company for a while. These are the signs of a legitimate job post that you should look for if you are an amazon human resource. If you are a contractor looking to hire offsite freelancing agents, your first job is to filter out spam profiles. If you need professional help with your Amazon store management, do contact us. BIE is a Vancouver, British Columbia-based agency providing human resources to manage all things Amazon. BOOK A FREE CONSULTING CALL

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Why Your Store Needs Amazon Virtual Assistance?

Leave a Comment / Amazon, Amazon Marketing, Amazon Tools, Amazon VA, Digital Marketing Social Media, seller central, vendor central / John

It’s natural to be confused about hiring virtual assistants for managing your store on Amazon, but different sellers have different business objectives, and the most common of them is staying up-to-date. Whether you are new to Amazon seller central or a top seller on the Amazon marketplace, you should hire an Amazon expert for complete store management. Things To Consider There are some requirements you should have as a top Amazon seller before hiring Amazon virtual assistance. Whether you deploy a team of professionals or a single service expert, you need assistance that perfectly fits your business. A team of Amazon experts will make sure your store is always up to date and that your content is revised as per Amazon’s changing guidelines. There are some basic requirements you should expect from an Amazon VA (virtual assistant) and such services include: ASIN Optimization To improve product visibility on Amazon, your VA should be conducting routine checks on the content like in the product description, search terms, and bullet points. This means that as an amazon human resource, your products should be optimized accordingly. Right from competitive research of keywords and ranking, to generating high-quality content, that is specifically (Amazon-rich) keyword based, your VA should enhance the product’s visibility so it ranks higher on Amazon’s marketplace. This ensures you get higher traffic with customers being directed to your product’s page. This process includes generating high-value content that contains keywords that are indexed regularly. Amazon A+/EBC Content Creation Every seller on Amazon receives the bonus of creating A+ templates for their listings to enhance brand awareness and product visibility. This process of generating A+ content, and understanding the guidelines of the different templates present on seller central, are unique assets of an amazon human resource who’s trained in Amazon content generation & marketing. The templates allow you to feature up to six unique facts about your product, including banners, high-quality images and brand history. The tricky part is getting your content approved on Amazon because there are many sellers who face a backlash when their A+ is rejected. For example, your EBC submission can face rejection if your logo contains “trademark” or “copyright” symbols, and there are certain words you cannot use in the content. FBA Program – Setting Up Your Account An expert Amazon VA will help you create your FBA account or can assist in converting the FBM into an FBA account. Apart from preparing your products for shipment, the amazon human resource will also ensure that proper labelling is done by downloading barcodes for each unit. Tracking and checking on the units during shipment once they arrive at the warehouse is another task your amazon human resources must ensure. In case of missing units, your amazon human resources will contact customer support and mandate your amount be reimbursed. Inventory management is another major task your amazon human resources should be aware of to ensure your products never run out of stock, especially during the holiday season like Black Friday and Christmas. Conceptualizing Amazon Infographics If you find Amazon virtual assistance in a single platform, you’re lucky because a team of professionals can ensure you receive more than a single benefit. Image services. If you’re an Amazon seller, your product’s presentation is of utmost importance especially if you intend on regularly optimizing the content. While basic e-commerce tasks should be handled at the backend, receiving premium services in the form of Amazon infographics is a huge boost. The process involves upgrading simplistic product images with enhanced brand images that describe all features using both graphics and text. Does Your VA Offer Competitor Analysis? Don’t get confused between an Amazon copywriter and an Amazon Human resource. Find both solutions in one. A thoroughbred copywriter will possess the skill set of writing optimized ad copies, and split testing and will also conduct ASIN optimization. Competitor analysis is another vertical of content management and it includes: Auditing Amazon product listings Checking reviews of competitive listings Finding target keywords used by your competition Study ad campaigns set by your competition Competitive listing’s price and monthly sales estimation Amazon Sponsored Ads Now, this part of your product marketing strategy might get tricky so here’s a quick tip. Hire an expert VA who understands PPC in general and has the ability to monitor, track, and report competitive PPC campaigns. Since Amazon offers sellers the chance to boost their sales during the holiday season, using sponsored ads with high-converting keywords, is a must. Your amazon human resource must know how to set up both manual and auto campaigns, ensure a low ACOS rate, and never forget to stop an automated campaign. Understanding demography is a huge bonus and if your amazon human resource knows where your sales hit the highest, and gives an in-depth knowledge of your best clientele, you’re in for a treat. What about vendor central? Here’s everything your amazon human resource should be following if you’re a vendor and are looking for apt services: Checking the status of inventory, sales, and return numbers Checking PO to see if they’re submitted, pending, and correct Check any issues that might occur with the invoices Check for vendor returns Check for chargebacks and how to resolve those issues Check the status of existing disputes and case logs Check for coupon recommendations Conduct routine operations like new order confirmation, incomplete/ pending shipments, product submissions, order confirmation slip submission, POD submission, and vendor operational performance. BIE will not only help you with day-to-day store management activities but also help create highly optimized product listings, process customer orders, update and manage inventory, analyze competitors, and provide complete customer support. It’s difficult to stay focused on research & development when your backend operations are filling the clock. So, if you do want to work on your business strategies in peace, hire Amazon virtual assistance from a multi-purpose platform.

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How to Process Purchase Order (PO) in Vendor Central

Leave a Comment / Amazon, Amazon Tools, Amazon VA, Technology, vendor central / John

A purchase order is an official document that a buyer offers a seller in which the buyer commits to pay a nominal fee for specific products that need to be delivered. On Amazon vendor central, a purchase order is identified using a unique number that pertains to the number of items, SKU, and other product details. On vendor central, PO or purchase orders are sent from Amazon to a vendor, usually when there is a peak in demand for a particular product. Orders: Here, vendors provide information regarding the shipment and have to click on the “receive purchases orders” tab on vendor central. Items: Here, vendors need the product information on the product and can upload images, edit pricing, and other such details. Merchandising: Here, vendors can access features like Amazon Vine and A+ Premium content. Vendors can also market their product listings. Payment: Here, vendors need to keep track of invoices and remittances. Processing the Purchase Order Form An Amazon vendor can either be a manufacturer or a supplier who delivers products to Amazon directly. Amazon vendors can also be third-party merchants wherein they can deliver products to Amazon’s warehouses on behalf of the supplier. Amazon vendors won’t receive purchase orders immediately after setting up a product especially since the ordering process is automated by Amazon. Before deciding whether to order a product or not, Amazon’s system will look at the sales history as well as the current market demand for that specific product. If the sales performance is low, PO will be minimum and once this increases or becomes a high-demand product, the purchase orders will grow larger subsequently. Sometimes there might be a situation where a vendor may not possess enough stock to fulfil a purchase order so in such a case there are two options: either you can cancel the PO or you can place it on backorder till your product supply is fulfilled. In order to make sure you don’t receive a heavy PO, while you have limited or no stock, always remember to mark those items temporarily or permanently unavailable. As a vendor, you cannot issue too many backorders since there’s a certain percentage set by Amazon, and in case you do this, you’ll be issued a chargeback for the non-delivery of items. Amazon vendor central relies heavily on EDI for its purchase order, advance shipping notice (ASN), and other shipping & packaging data for appropriate data filing. Is It Important? EDI (electronic data interchange) is a technical exchange of data between the vendor and Amazon that is electronically transfigured, and it relates to processing the purchase orders and invoices one receives on vendor central. EDI documents consist of the following documents: Purchase Order, PO Confirmation Receipt, Advance Ship Notice, Invoice and 128 Label. You can either hire Amazon Human resources to manage your purchase orders on vendor central, or you can integrate EDI using reliable network services. Whether you’re a first/ second or third-party seller, it is important to streamline certain processes for quick shipment & delivery to Amazon fulfilment centres. Your business should include the ability to transmit or receive necessary EDI-compliant documents from Amazon vendor central. Amazon Chargebacks for Vendor Central For Vendor central customers, Amazon places chargebacks on items that have not been processed properly, once the POD is generated. It is important you understand how chargeback works, to avoid loss of time and money, especially once the PO is received. Each Amazon chargeback is unique and there are two categories for this: Shipping and Packaging Issue of Purchase Order Purchase order issue is one of the most common Amazon chargebacks, which involves the failure to confirm PO forms in time, shipping extra/ lesser units, or violating Amazon guidelines by delaying the shipment. Issue of Receiving If the designated shipments that arrive at Amazon’s fulfilment centres violate certain guidelines, such as missing labels or barcode issues, it is an issue of receiving the shipment, and a chargeback is issued. Issue of Packaging If the items are not properly packaged, especially items that are delicate, or are made of glass or any other breakable material, then this calls for Amazon chargeback. Issue of Advanced Ship Notice (ASN) Vendors are supposed to send the ASN correctly from Vendor Central or through EDI while shipping items to Amazon’s fulfilment centre. If there is any error with the ASN, it can incur an Amazon chargeback. Issue of Transportation If there is any failure in setting up routing requests for the products, or any specified shipping and delivery fee policies occur, then it can also result in an Amazon chargeback, especially if the vendor hasn’t paid additional fees for the delivery. PO Processing On vendor central, the process of making the PO and generating an order confirmation slip from/ as a supplier is a necessary step once you receive the PO from Amazon on your account. In order to do this, you need to do the following: 1. On your Vendor Central account, find the “Order” tab and select 2. Next, click on the “Purchase Order” tab and wait for the PO to open 3. Click on “Confirm New PO” and extract this file onto a Microsoft excel sheet 4. To confirm new PO: Go to Orders > Purchase Orders, in the Action items section, select “Confirm New Po”. 5. Select the check box in the left column for each purchase order you want to confirm and open the selected PO. 6. Before you confirm your purchase orders, you can make changes to the availability in the fields table. 7. Once confirmed and downloaded, click “Submit”. Availability Acknowledgement Code on Amazon The availability acknowledgement code you select impacts Amazon’s buying decision. In some cases, if you are unable to process certain items due to stock unavailability, Amazon will add this to the next PO, and reorder again. Orders will be suspended for 30 days unless you don’t change the status or until you restock. Selecting the “Permanently Unavailable” status indicates that you will not

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Amazon Q4 Tactics for 2019 – Amazon Optimization Tips 101

Leave a Comment / Amazon, Amazon Marketing, Amazon Tools, Amazon VA, seller central / John

For Amazon sellers, the fourth quarter, which is from October to December, is a pretty lucrative time of the year. Though, there is a lot of work that has to be done. The reason behind considering Q4 as the most important time for Amazon sellers is that this is the time websites and other online platforms get huge traffic. Amazon sellers make most of their annual sales during this time from traffic on the holiday season like Black Friday or Cyber Monday. If you want to make a huge number of sales, you have to prepare in advance for Amazon Q4. Things for Amazon Q4 Sales in 2019 Make a strategy and follow through During Q4, there will be many changes, so make sure you schedule everything. This is the time when Amazon sellers make most of their annual sales. Whether you’re engaging with your customers or simply customizing your EBC content with a holiday-themed layout, work with a consistent plan that focuses on tactics you can apply to improve the visibility of your product listing. For example, in the festive season, you have to make sure that you have done everything for higher sales and use FBA or SFP instead of FBM, up till January. There is no problem with FBM, but it could result in lower sales during Q4. Optimize your product listing Q4 is a time when you and your team have to focus only on sales so make sure your Amazon product listings are fully optimized. During Q4, you will not get time for A/B testing so invest the rest of the year in your learning. There are different priorities that you and your team will have to take care of. Make sure your team is focusing on customer orders, product reviews, seller feedback, and the two most important areas such as sponsored ads and maintaining the Buy Box which can bring more sales. Stock up Make sure you have enough stock for Q4. Many Amazon sellers run out of stock during Q4 and because of that, they end up with lower sales. So, to avoid this, you have to ensure that your inventory is available for shipment to Amazon by October. On the other hand, there are many sellers who end up with too much in stock because of the late arrival of inventory, and that also results in lower sales. It’s important for Amazon sellers to forecast their inventory in advance to ensure proper availability of stock. This is tough, especially if this is your first Q4, or if you have recently launched a new product. The previous demand for category-based products, sales uplift, and your marketing initiatives, are factors you can consider for older products. Make a pricing strategy Amazon product pricing can decide your success or failure in Q4 so make sure you have a clear pricing strategy to increase sales, and not the stock for January. As an Amazon Seller, if you don’t have a pricing strategy, you will have to sit with overstocks in January when sales dramatically go down. Decide your timeline when you want to drop the price. For example, you can drop your price if a certain percentage of inventory is not cleared. Now, you might think, “why should I drop my price?” But is far better and more profitable than having too much inventory for January. Also, you have to incur those long-term storage fees, or have your products removed, because of overstock. Promotions & Sponsored Ads During Q4, as an Amazon seller, you can take advantage of ads, as this is the time when you’re going to get more visibility compared to all year. So you need to have a strategy for ad campaigns. Make sure that you don’t overspend on ads, because organically, you will get visibility. Ad campaigns have the potential to reach more people though. You also have to plan for product promotion in advance so that you can raise the prices when there is high demand but less supply. Make a Social Media Marketing strategy for product promotion and also make sure you start early to increase product sales rank to be competitive. Backup plan What if you run out of stock on a big day in Q4? Don’t worry, we have a backup plan for you. If you are an Amazon seller and selling through the FBA program, for any missed shipment, you can shift over to Merchant Fulfilled Network (MFN), where you can send in another shipment. This way you can take full advantage of Q4 sales. There is another program by Amazon, Seller Fulfilled Prime, which you can apply to if you are eligible. Once you get the approval, you can sell your lowest-selling products through this program so that you and your team can become familiar with the requirements. Yes, it is a lot of work, but to avoid panic, you have to do this. Even after all this work, if any item goes completely out of stock, you can move on with a similar or equivalent product. To make the most profit, you do need to work hard and plan smartly. Final thoughts As an Amazon Seller, the final four months will be crucial for you, and for survival, you need to have a great strategy. But along with a good marketing plan, solid ad campaigns, optimized product listings, and a detailed forecast, you will have to be prepared for the unexpected. You can spend months planning for Q4, but once it pools in, there isn’t enough time to test and review strategies. This is a time when you have to take action. Imagine driving a super-fast car during Q4 and getting ready to shift gears anytime. If you can’t, your competitors will. There is a lot of work and there isn’t a whole lot of time, so how do you manage this? BIE have experienced and highly skilled amazon human resources who enhance brand presence and improve sales during the holiday season while providing analytical

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What is Split Testing for Amazon Product Listing?

Leave a Comment / Amazon, Amazon Marketing, Amazon Tools, Amazon VA, seller central / John

For an Amazon seller, split testing, also known as Amazon A/B Testing, is done to identify the successful variation of product content and pricing or the best-performing version. It is basically an experiment through which Amazon sellers test different variations of product names, featured photos, or product descriptions. If you want to make a profit, split testing is important, because it plays a huge role in optimizing a listing. You can observe what works and what doesn’t using customer feedback and sales performance. Why is Split Testing Important For Amazon Sellers? A/B testing doesn’t only mean that you can test two variations. As an Amazon seller, you can try different ranges of variables to find your perfect listing. Try to test as many times as possible from different approaches and figure out the problems you are facing and also the impact. Here’s a quick tip for you hardcore sellers on Amazon. You can experiment with several techniques after a thorough competitive analysis. This is the best time to optimize a product listing and figure out what works best for your listing’s ranking for a period of either a week or 15 days. If you are an Amazon seller who wants to make a massive profit at the end of the year and increase sales conversion, split testing is an obvious solution. It is one of the most creative ways to optimize your product listing for boosting sales performance. Fully optimized listings are an important factor that affects sales performance. There are many things that you have to consider while performing split testing, such as making sure your keywords are being indexed by Amazon, or using attractive thumbnail images to efficiently engage your customer base. If your products are easy to find on Amazon, your leads have a better conversion rate. That also means a higher sales rank. Split testing can only be successful if your pricing is ideal and this process allows you to optimize your pricing, which in turn helps to get a huge number of sales and allows you to make the most profit. To witness an increase in sales and to rank higher in searches, an increase in CTR and an increase in session (how long the visitor stays on a page) is vital. How To Run Split Testing? We’ve given you a basic idea about split testing. Now let’s do some work. We’ve mentioned that you have to do a lot of work, and there are various tests that need to be done. But what are those tests? Yes, you can automate the process, but what is the process? The answer is simple. You have to observe the activity of your customers by making changes to your listings. Make their journey easy and help them make an informed purchase decision. You need to guide them throughout their purchase journey. We’ve listed some tasks that need to be done for Split testing. Product Title Optimization Make sure your brand name comes first in the product title because there are many Amazon sellers who do this mistake while optimizing their listing. This is important because it can decide whether or not your product will show up in the search results. Every element in your product title requires split testing. You have to run two different listings at the same time to analyze the change. Optimize Your Pricing In terms of sales, this is one of the most important factors. To increase the number of sales, you have to first optimize the pricing of the product to increase your sales rank. Also, you have to run two listings, where one can be showcased with a sales price that can include a discount, while the other can be showcased with the normal price. It is understood that on Amazon, the more products you sell, the easier it is for your ASIN to achieve a higher sales ranking. Optimizing Bullet Points You have to put the keywords in bullet points strategically as you also have to make sure that you cover all the possible questions that the customers would have before making a purchase decision. You also have to change various elements of the bullet points like the keywords, content, and product details to test different variations. For a fully-optimized product listing, you need to have the best combination of bullet points. Make sure you follow all these instructions to run successful split testing. Optimizing Product Description Consider the product description as a sales copy and you have to give the best pitch to convert the visitors into paying customers. Don’t forget to add a Call-to-Action at the end of your product description. Just like the bullet points, you can put the keywords working for you but make sure you guide the customer while they read the description. Optimizing Product Images Many customers don’t like to read a lot of text, so images are the only thing you have that can draw in more views. There are two images which are important. One is the featured image, which is the thumbnail, that the customer sees first, and the other one is the main image on the page. Your competitors are also doing the same thing that you are doing so make sure you stand out among your competitors. Obviously, the specifications will be the same but you can play with colors too. You have to understand color psychology to engage with customers. You can test different sets of color combinations on various products to see which one is working better. For instance, blue is the colour of trust. Design your product images with blue tones or elements to improve customer engagement. Is Split Testing Useful? At this point, you might think, why should I invest in split testing just for a bunch of experiments? You will understand Amazon’s algorithms so much better when you test different variations of a listing manually and observe the impact it has on your sales conversions. To find out the perfect listing, you have to try different

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