When you are looking to grow your small business you may consider whether selling on Amazon is the right choice for you. Amazon has a trusted reputation as an online retailer and you can absolutely jump on the bandwagon of trust and benefit from their customer service experience by becoming a third party Amazon seller.
When you are looking to find out how to drive your profits higher on Amazon there are many different things to take into consideration. But you can absolutely sell more online by following these 5 tricks that break down how you can best improve your chances to sell on Amazon.
1. Consider Using the Fulfilled By Amazon Service
One of the hardest parts of selling online is the fulfillment process. Fulfillment can be a real challenge of an e-commerce business. When you opt to become an FBA affiliate Amazon will then store your products in their warehouse and ship them to your customers.
This means your customers can take advantage of their prime shipping benefits and Amazon will handle the return process and any refunds necessary. Amazon has a quality reputation for excellent customer service and you can opt right into that by becoming an FBA seller.
You may think that the FBA market is saturated but it really isn’t. There are a lot of third-party sellers on Amazon today, but there are also more customers than ever before, making FBA the perfect choice for jumping into selling online and growing your small business.
If you are concerned about the fees and whether you can turn a profit, there are many calculators online to help you make the right decision for your business like the amazon fba fee calculator from synccetric.
Since Amazon will be taking care of the fulfillment process, you can spend your time and efforts gaining customers and finding new suppliers and items you may want to add to your online inventory. As your business finds more success, you can use your sales to rank higher and achieve even more sales going forward.
2. Be Certain Your SEO is Working For You
How often do you go on Amazon and browse, hoping to find something you need? It’s probably not very frequently as most people go in search of something specific they need or want. With that in mind, you need to be sure that potential customers are able to find your listing over others that may be similar.
It should motivate you to learn that Amazon’s algorithm rewards sellers with higher rankings based on sales. You can generate more sales by increasing your search potential and the fastest way to do that is by adjusting your listing title. One additional keyword can make a difference in being found.
Amazon has a standard 500 character limit on listing titles, but that doesn’t mean you should use every single one of those characters without putting thought into what you’re saying. Think like a consumer and what you would want to know as you’re searching. Do you mention the brand? If you aren’t mentioning the sizes and colors in your title you are doing yourself a disservice.
There are many keyword tools available for you to make sure that your listing is as strong as possible. Remember that Amazon just wants items to sell, that is their business model and they don’t care who customers are buying from as long as it’s through Amazon. Their search engine is consistently updating and improving to help their customers find what they want.
If you think you’ve done everything right and you’re still not getting the sales you’ve expected that can be really frustrating. But it gives you a great opportunity to ensure you have really optimized your listing. Check your keywords often and consider adding a new picture of your items from time to time.
3. Know the Rules
This may seem like a silly warning, but be sure that you’re following the rules and regulations that Amazon has set up for its third-party sellers. Amazon is quite strict and is not unwilling to suspend people who are not following their rules. Repeat offenders or even shut down permanently, which can be disastrous for your business.
In fact, Amazon’s policy is that they can cancel you for any reason at any time with notice. But don’t depend on an email notification you may miss in order to keep your listings active. Take initiative and double-check all of your listings and your seller’s profile to be sure you are following the rules.
Some of the most common reasons for being suspended are selling prohibited or inauthentic items. So make sure your inventory does not have any counterfeit products within it. Suspensions can even be triggered by a bad review claiming your item is a knock-off so make sure everything you sell is as advertised.
If your account is associated with too much negative feedback, that can also be cause for Amazon to shut down your account. Never under any circumstances set up a new account if you’ve been suspended, that will result in being banned permanently. Remember you can’t sell your products if you don’t have a seller’s agreement so following the rules is only to your benefit.
4. Try Offering A Sale
One great way to gain more sales on Amazon is to offer a sale or a promotion. Consumers love to believe they are getting a bargain, so help them choose your listing by giving them one. Many third-party sellers list their items with a crossed-out retail price and then the price at which they are selling the item for.
That is absolutely a great way to drum up some business, but not every seller offers coupons or promotions. Spend some time playing around with your numbers to see how you can price items and pair them together to entice customers while still meeting your preferred profit margin.
Whether it’s a “Buy 3 Get One Free” type of deal or a simple “Save 15% when you buy 2” these promotions can help generate higher sales, which in turn will help your sellers ranking go up, making it easier for future customers to find your listing.
5. Change Up Your Listings
You might be motivated to search Amazon and pinpoint the items that can turn the biggest profit. While that is one way to make money, you might feel burnt out because you don’t feel passionate about what you’re selling. Try selling things that you would actually use and like.
There isn’t one perfect product out there, for instance, holiday decorations sell well at the end of the year and not so well in May. This doesn’t mean you can’t make money selling holiday decorations on Amazon, it just simply suggests that you need to expand your inventory so that you can turn a profit year-round.
Every category on Amazon has a best-selling item list that is updated hourly. Keep track of what items are on those lists and then determine whether or not you should possibly sell some of those items. Spending time researching how many sellers offer that product and how many other FBA accounts have that product listed can help you narrow down some new items.
There is a lot to consider when changing your inventory, but when you choose items you are invested in the success of and those with a broad appeal you stand to sell more items on Amazon. You may decide you don’t need new items to sell and that’s just fine too, but don’t limit yourself to one type of product unless that is actually paying off for your business.
Conclusion
Selling on Amazon is a numbers game and there is no one thing that will help boost your sales alone. By combining several strategies however you can grow your business to successfully sell on Amazon, use these tricks as a jumping-off point and see where it leads you.
Remember, customers can find nearly anything they want to buy on Amazon. So the only thing stopping them from buying from you is that you aren’t listing what they want. (Or they can’t find you!) Meet your customers where they’re at by optimizing your listings and offering sales and trying new products to increase your Amazon business.
Guest post: About the Author
Gabe Nelson is a content specialist of over 7 years of experience. Just out of highschool he set off crab fishing on the bering sea in Alaska. From there he went back home to finish his college degree at the University of Montana. He has a passion and keen understanding when it comes to digital marketing inside and out. He has written hundreds of content pieces in numerous niches. Currently, he lives in Missouri with his wife and kids enjoying the peaceful town of St. Joseph.