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Amazon Pro-Merchant
Consulting
Mariano Marketing
has extensive experience in managing Amazon
Pro-Merchant store accounts for consumer products, but we do not manage
book seller accounts.
Amazon has been aggressive in adding new sellers and it has become
increasingly competitive within the Amazon marketplace. They have also
increasingly consolidated products listings into shared product pages,
pitting sellers against each other within a single product page. This
has led to the practice of private labeling as a means to own your own
product pages. As a
result, the deck is
initially stacked against the new seller, as the ability to finance
private label inventory and accumulated sales history and feedback
are key factors to get noticed. You must have
patience and make a long term commitment before you can determine your
potential in Amazon.
Formula
for Success
From our experience, we have observed the need for the following to be
truly successful in Amazon:
- A
unique product
offering or one with a differentiation that is beneficial
- Sufficient inventory
always on hand
- Ability to buy large
enough quantities to get the best wholesale price
- Low operating costs
allowing for tight margins
- Very liberal return
policy
- Competitive shipping
costs, or the ability to profitably use FBA
- Ability to ship
products the same day ordered or the next
- Highly focused and
responsive customer service (not necessary using FBA, but you will need
to respond to Amazon requests for inventory)
- Willingness and
ability to appease disgruntled customers at (almost) any cost (not
necessary using FBA, but you may also see a higher return rate)
- Dedication to stay on
the Amazon program in terms of years
Special Note:
There are no (legit) shortcuts to getting good listings or sales in
Amazon. A
high degree of patience is required.
Necessary
Abilities
- Unfortunately,
when
all sellers of the exact same product are forced to share the same
product
page (the Buy Box), the seller with the lowest overall cost (price plus
shipping) usually gets preferential treatment. This
means you need the ability to sell at a slim margin. Even with your own
private label, you may find competition from many others selling the
same product with a different private label
- In addition to
pricing, you need to maintain a very high customer satisfaction rating.
Even if you are the lowest cost seller, a poor reputation will lose the
sale and Buy Box position. Using FBA largely avoids a bad seller
rating, though
- In terms of
reputation, you pretty much live and die by shipping satisfaction. You
need to ship orders quickly and get them delivered within the estimated
delivery time, preferably before. It's the #1 thing customers leave
positive or negative seller feedback on. However, for some sellers or
products, it may be
worthwhile to investigate using the Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) program,
where Amazon takes all responsibility for shipping and returns
- While you can easily
add products to Amazon simply by matching them to existing identical
products,
you need to upload product and categorization information for unique
products, such as private labels. It benefits you to add as much
information as
possible for all your products, whether it is required information or
not. This means
you should spend the time necessary to add all your products' back end
information, other than by
simply matching or uploading only the minimum required data
- The Amazon system
picks one or two sellers to provide product descriptions and photos
when your product shares a product page for the same product. It
is often the seller with the best overall rank, but sometimes not. If
you private label, you do not share a page (unless an unscrupulous
seller jumps on your page claiming to be selling your products),
so you need to provide all text and graphics. At
any rate, it is in your best interest to provide highly accurate and
easy to understand information. Merchandising is critical and you
should be prepared
to provide high quality and multiple product photos (Amazon includes a
zoom feature, so your the image needs to be large enough). The
better the
merchandising, the better the sales potential
- The most successful
sellers are monitoring their best selling products daily and responding
to every competitive move. You must stay on top of the competitive
environment
- We have found that
often the best way to gain ground in Amazon is by having one or two
"winners" in your product offering. These are products that initially
account for the majority of your sales. Sometimes it's hard to
determine what those might be and why, but if you have a winner, the
trick is to build from there with other products in the same category
- We have also found
that sales tend to move to and stay at a higher level after a seasonal
sales period. For most, this is the Christmas season, or Prime Day. If
your products
are seasonal, it is important to make the strongest showing possible
during that time. However, Amazon heavily favors only the products they
sell directly or on the FBA program, and even then there may be paid
promotions you'll be "tempted" to participate in
Special
Notes:
Over the course of time, we have received calls relating to these 2
Amazon topics we can offer this advice on:
- Being found via
an Amazon search -
Bear in mind, the Amazon system uses
only multiple fields to match your product to search results: Product
title,
Product description, Manufacturer name and the available search term
fields found through
Seller Central or product upload files (in Seller Central's Help
section, search for "browse and search" for more details). Even if you
added your product to an existing product page, we recommend you add
your own text and maximize the available opportunities. Amazon also
offer product advertising, BUT, it may cost far more than you'll ever
make, so tread lighly with ads
- Being thrown out
of Amazon - Amazon enforces
it's rules. If they discover, or a
competing seller notifies them of, a significant violation of the
rules,
like if you claim to be selling a particular brand of product but you
ship a different brand, Amazon sends you one warning letter requiring
you to explain to them what you are going to do to correct the
situation. If they accept it, which they usually do, they allow you to
keep selling. However, if there is another rule infraction, or too many
warnings over time, you are
shut off and they allow you no recourse. You do not get a second chance
and you are not allowed to plead your case. Make sure you know, and follow,
the rules!
The
Amazon
Opportunity
Amazon is a unique environment. As we often
say, There's e-commerce and then there's Amazon. If you can
successfully tap into the power of Amazon, it can become one of your
biggest sales channels. But, while Amazon has made great strides in
building it's system, there are still many inconsistencies and
idiosyncrasies remaining. Only after years of experience can you fully
understand how the system---and organization---operates and use it to
your advantage.
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