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Boost your Sales and Build your Brand with External Traffic

It’s a well-known fact that Amazon is the most dominant e-commerce store in the world, where you find almost all products under the sun. Brand recognition and the largest customer base make Amazon the best choice for sellers to reach the maximum number of users and build their brands. Whether you are a brand-new seller on Amazon or an established one, it might be hard for all your products to get listed at the top of Amazon search results. Have you put all the effort in, like Product listing optimization, Amazon PPC, and Competitor analysis to rank your products and drive traffic to your product listing page and still not getting the desired results? Do you know that most customers only go for the products ranked on the first or second page of Amazon search results? If your product doesn’t show up on the top pages, you lose to your competitors. Don’t worry. Here is the best solution – external Traffic, a powerful tool to drive customers to your product listing, separate yourself from your competitors, and boost sales. What is External traffic? As an Amazon seller, you might be more familiar with the word Traffic, which means driving customers to your product listing page. The more traffic to your listing page, the more likely you’ll see conversions. Traffic to your product listing can be internal or external. Internal traffic is when a customer finds your product from the Amazon search results or clicks on one of your sponsored ads in the Amazon store. Of course, Internal traffic is essential to boost your sales. But it is not the only way to drive traffic to your products. You can attract customers and drive them to your product listing on Amazon from outside the Amazon site. This is called external traffic. Simply put, external traffic is driving customers to your products from external channels. Why is External Traffic important for Amazon Sellers? External traffic is as important as other strategies like Product Listing Optimization and Amazon PPC. It helps increase your business value, widen your customer base, improve sales velocity, and helps you stand out from the competition. Skip your Competitors When a customer enters a keyword for the product they search for, Amazon displays hundreds of products on the search results pages based on their ranks. Each product on Amazon has many competitors and every seller puts their best efforts to optimize their product listings and improve their rankings on Amazon search results. Despite all your efforts, it’s not always possible for all your products to get ranked on the first page of the search results. This is when external traffic comes to your rescue. You can drive customers to your product listing directly from external sites like Facebook or a blog post. You don’t have to compete with other products on the Amazon search results page. Therefore, driving customers from external sites helps to avoid competitors and helps drive sales. Build Your Brand Customers who buy your products on Amazon are not your customers. They are Amazon’s customers. People trust Amazon because it is an established brand. A brand represents the people’s perception of a company’s reputation and creates a positive impression of your business among consumers. Building a brand in today’s digital world is a lot easier than ever before. You can connect and interact with a target audience directly through several channels and communicate the values that distinguish you from your competitors. External channels like social media help you build long-term relationships with customers and play a significant role in establishing credibility and enhancing your brand’s awareness among consumers. Build a Customer List One of the greatest advantages of driving traffic from outside sources is that you can reach out to customers before they reach Amazon. You can get the contact details of a prospective customer, such as an email address, and build a list, with which you can run marketing campaigns, offer promo codes for your newly launched products, build a long-term relationship with your customers, and raise your brand awareness. Boost your sales and organic rankings By driving the customers to your product listing page on Amazon, you are indirectly increasing the traffic to the Amazon site itself. This can potentially increase your product ranking on the Amazon search results page. More people buying your products means more sales velocity, which improves the organic ranking of your products.  How to Start Driving External Traffic  1. Optimize your product listing Before you start sending any valuable traffic to your product listing on Amazon, ensure that your product description gives clear insights to the users about the product and is simple and easy to read with bullet points. Your images should be clear, professional, and should be able to convey the benefits of your product. 2. Select a channel Though there are countless channels to drive external traffic to your product listing page, not all the channels are effective to raise your sales. You need to pick a channel that has a high customer base, where you have a fair chance to engage with potential customers and get your ads to reach the right people. 3. Targeting Finding your target audience is crucial to driving external traffic to your Amazon Product listing. Not all people are interested in buying your products. You want to target only those who are interested in your products. Any audience that is unlikely to convert is a waste of your investment. The best way to find the right audience is to define the interests of your ideal customers, who are more likely to purchase your product. Choose the audience who will see your ads.  Proper targeting not only lowers your cost of running the ads on external channels but also improves your ROI and boosts your sales. 4. Define your goals Defining your goals helps you plan an effective strategy to get a lot of people through your sales funnel. Why are you driving external traffic? What is your main objective?

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European Fulfilment Network For Amazon Sellers

If you’ve heard about the European fulfilment network for Amazon sellers, then you’re probably aware of Amazon’s global program and FBA services. Becoming a global seller on Amazon is not an easy task and this undertaking comes with its own set of problems. Selling your product in an international market can be intimidating, however, with the help of Amazon FBA and Amazon Global services, this process has become a tad bit simpler. If you’re planning on selling your products offshore, there are three basic types you can consider. European Fulfillment Network (EFN) With European Fulfillment Network (EFN), you ship your products to Amazon’s fulfilment centre, which will then be held in one country. Once an order is placed by a customer, the items will be picked, packed, and shipped by Amazon. You pay only local fulfilment fees on domestic orders. With Amazon’s EFN Network, you can sell on Amazon’s other European marketplaces with cross-border fees. Pan-European FBA With Pan-European FBA, you ship your products to Amazon’s fulfilment centre in your home marketplace. The order fulfilment process is done by Amazon. Amazon distributes your products throughout Europe based on anticipated demand without any cross-border fees. You can also save up to 52% in fulfilment fees. Multi-Country Inventory (MCI) With Multi-Country Inventory (MCI), you can choose which countries you want to ship and store your products. You have to pay local fulfilment fees for sale in the marketplaces you store products. With Multi-Country Inventory (MCI), you can sell on other marketplaces too with cross-border fees. European Fulfillment Network Typically, sellers can choose between FBA & FBM while deciding on the kind of carrier they want to choose for boarding their products offshore. EFN is part of the Amazon FBA program that dictates Amazon cares for the transport and delivery of your packages using one of its local warehouses. If you have a European marketplace seller account that’s registered under FBA, you can store your inventory in Amazon’s warehouses (also known as fulfilment centres), across Europe, and manage orders coming in from your European marketplace using the same local inventory pool. The reason why EFN is beneficial is that it keeps your stock stored in a single space, also known as the local pool, in a single fulfilment centre so that you gain maximum control and flexibility for marketing your goods. Now if you’re planning on selling your goods in a certain country in Europe, EFN allows storage of inventory in multiple fulfilment centres in one country to complete your local and trans-border orders. There are precisely only seven countries that allow the storage of goods within their fulfilment centres. United Kingdom Germany Spain France Italy Poland Czech Republic Pay Cross Border EFN fees When you sell your products to customers of other marketplaces via the European Fulfillment Network (EFN), you have to pay a cross-border fee for each order shipped. Let’s say for example you want a 600g Standard Parcel (non-media item) product across all five European marketplaces and ship your inventory to UK fulfilment centres. The cross-border EFN fee would be €4.39 for orders placed on amazon.de, amazon.fr, and amazon. it, and amazon.es. Standard Parcel 600g Fulfilment Fees Sale on amazon.de Sale on amazon.fr Sale on amazon. it Sale on amazon.es Fulfilment fee for EFN (fulfilling amazon.de, amazon.fr, amazon. it, amazon.es orders from UK inventory pool) €4.39 €4.39 €4.39 €4.39 There is no need to separately register for Amazon EFN because you automatically get this service under the FBA program but it’s important to choose your marketplace. Whichever European marketplace you select enables you to use EFN for all marketplaces as your listings are uploaded with the same SKU. What’s the benefit you ask? Single VAT number that eliminates financial stress for a chunk of your inventory. EFN gives you the flexibility of enlisting your products on all European marketplaces under a single VAT number and you also become applicable for Prime status. The storage fees are higher and it’s apt for a small business, however, if you’re thinking large scale, there are better options under FBA for selling your goods in the international market. But just like the EFN has its benefits, it comes with a set of disadvantages. EU) 2019/1020 Regulation needs most non-EU businesses to have an authorized representative located in the EU. You can read more about this here, a full guide on having an Authorized Representative by  Instrktiv. FBA European fulfilment network functions under Amazon, which means you don’t need to worry about setting up your inventory at the warehouse or supervising third-party logistics. However, the downfall is that you will need to pay cross-border fees applicable from the home country to other shipping countries, which can weigh down on your expenditure. Conclusion While EFN provides fast shipping in Europe, it might take three more days for the shipment to get delivered if your product is to be delivered outside the home country. You must also have a VAT registered number in your home marketplace to be applicable for EFN. Though this option offers Prime delivery, fast shipment works when you’re delivering your product within your home. However, EFN is an excellent option to consider since FBA fees are much lower as compared to using third-party logistics services. There is a lot of work and there isn’t a whole lot of time. At BIE, we have experienced and highly skilled Amazon Human Resources who can enhance your brand presence, improve Q1 sales in 2020, and give you analytical feedback of your conversions. Want to know more about our services? Just contact us for immediate assistance! Request a free consult this instant to avail of our consultation or subscribe to our mailing list to get instant updates for Amazon seller/ vendor central-based tasks. If you need professional help with your Amazon store management, 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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Amazon’s Vendor Purge – Is It Really Bad News?

In a huge strategy shift, Amazon is reportedly going to purge small vendors, reserving Vendor central only for biggies like P&G, Sony, Lego, and other massive names. This news on the vendor purge came as a rude shock to many suppliers when Bloomberg first wrote about it last month. Much has been said and discussed since then and we have now arrived at a point where it is almost finalised and everyone is waiting for the official news to roll over. Why is Amazon doing this to vendors? “Third-party sellers are kicking our first-party butt. Badly,” – Jeff Bezos wrote in his Annual shareholder letter. This is not just a statement but a thoroughly researched statistical analysis put in simple layman’s language. Ask me how? In 2018, nearly 58% of Amazon’s total sales came from third-party sellers. In the present year, this is estimated to go even higher. This made Amazon think about pushing small vendors below $10M in annual sales to the seller central platform. Seller central is more profitable for Amazon It is hard to believe but Amazon is not making as much as we would like to hear from the Vendor central. Amazon has to hire more vendor managers and spend more on the logistics – for the fulfilment and shipping of first-party products. The cost will go further once Amazon implements its One-Day shipping program. Seller Central on the other hand is relatively easy in terms of logistics and Amazon gets a share of every single sale that is made. Small Vendors are posing a risk With the increase in competition, there is a rapid increase in counterfeit/ unauthorized products as well. With so many small vendors, Amazon is finding it difficult to properly vet, inspect, and dismiss the products that do not meet the quality standards. This directly or indirectly impacts the business model and affects customer satisfaction. Amazon had stopped issuing POs to thousands of such small vendors a few weeks back and kept them on hold until they reviewed their products. The third Party is less demanding This might sound surprising, but the third-party sellers are smarter – they put in extra effort and are self-sufficient with their own pricing, forecasting, marketing, and shipping. They strive to drive more traffic to the marketplace and provide exemplary customer service. Ultimately, Amazon gets a cut out of every sale by simply lending their marketplace and growing along with the millions of other sellers. Vendor Central, on the other hand, is a lot of work. They need to demand forecast, negotiate, buy, manage inventory, take care of logistics, and provide customer support. Amazon is simply unable to allocate that kind of human resources. Also, Amazon sells products at loss, in an attempt to win the “Buy Box” at times. There are tons of vendor manager posts unfilled since 2018 and that explains why first-party businesses growing double digits every quarter is long gone. So what’s going to happen to the small vendors? I would say it is a welcome move for vendors as seller central is in its best shape now than ever before. If you are a vendor, do not feel threatened by the sudden policy change. The transition to seller central is going to be rewarding. Far superior reporting Control over pricing Inventory control No chargebacks If you are a Private Label seller and have got Brand Registry done, you have access to Enhanced Brand Content, which is pretty much similar to A+ content in Vendor central, and you can also create your storefront page. In addition, there is a new Brand Analytics tool which is very similar to the Retail Analytics dashboard in vendor central but with limited metrics. Coming to campaigns, in seller central, you have sponsored products and sponsored brand ads. While product display ads are still not on the third-party platform, there is not much your missing out on as you can make the most out of these two. With Amazon’s new selling plan, you can reach customers in 10 countries for just $39.99 per month. Isn’t that good news? How to prepare yourself for the transition? Set up a seller central account Consider the FBA program to enjoy Prime benefits Work out on product profitability and re-price accordingly Optimize your listings as there is going to be more competition now Redefine your marketing strategy Take Away Never put all the eggs in one basket. If you haven’t explored other marketplaces, it is high time you stop relying only on Amazon. Walmart, ETSY, eBay, and Opensky are great marketplaces where you can list your products and expand your business. If you need any professional help for your Amazon store management, get in touch with 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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Amazon Is Blocking Australian Buyers From Overseas Sites. And It Is Not For What You Think!

Australia welcomed the world’s largest retailer, Amazon, in December last year and there has been a little unrest since then in the Australian market among shoppers and brick-and-mortar retailers. While Australian sellers are struggling to gain momentum, Amazon announced that it is blocking Australians shopping from overseas sites starting from the 1st of July 2018. This has left many sellers and shoppers in shock. What is this change all about? Australians have been shopping from Amazon US for many years now. However, from the 1st of July, they will be redirected to Amazon’s Australia website as the company announced that it will no longer be shipping any goods to Australian addresses. Wondering Why? You must think that Amazon is making a smart move to expand and establish its Australian market. The reason is quite different though. With the start of the new financial year, there comes with it the new GST collection law, which puts a strain on online retailers, to apply GST on all purchases that are made overseas. Currently, there is a 10% GST applied to purchases made over $1000. However, from the 1st of July, GST must be applied to all purchases irrespective of the price. What is the impact on buying-selling? Apparently, once the change is rolled out, all Australian shoppers will automatically be redirected to their Australian marketplace – which pretty much looks similar to the US website except for the fact that Amazon Australia doesn’t have a wide range of products like its US counterparts. This is a huge disappointment for Aussie shoppers but this gives more opportunity for local sellers to plunge in and sell items that are not sold in the Australian marketplace. Also, Amazon is planning to launch its next big venture – an international platform called “The Amazon Global Store” in Australia very soon, which will host more than 4 million items that were available exclusively on its US website. This will help Australians get easy hassle-free access to imported goods. Is there a workaround to bypass the ban?? If you are desperate to shop from the overseas market, yes, there is a way. Although Amazon won’t entertain Australians in any of its overseas marketplaces, you can still get items shipped to Australia if you have the time and money. While the ban is only for Amazon’s websites, overseas parcel shipping services from the United States are free to provide their services as before. So, give a local US delivery address for all the purchases and get it re-shipped to your Australian address through a parcel service. A Deal-breaker? People have different opinions regarding Amazon’s move. It is certainly going to lose business and pave way for competitors as shoppers would eventually buy from eBay and Alibaba if they are restricted on Amazon. This is only a small proportion of shoppers and hopefully, they will bounce back once Amazon Australia has set its foot strong enough. Let us wait and watch for the change to roll out and see what impact it has.

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