If you’re an entrepreneur, then it’s likely that you’ve had countless different ideas about starting a business or selling on Amazon. Sound about right? If so, then this blog post is a perfect read for you! This guide will detail best practices and instruct you to help make your journey into Amazon merchandise much easier. Whether you’re just getting started or have been a vendor for years, there are always new tips to use for selling on Amazon. We’ll cover different ways to improve your product listing, inventory management, and more.
So don’t miss out on these nine essential Amazon tips – they could be what takes your business from success to legendary status!
1. Always keep in mind the policies for Amazon selling
Because you’re selling on this platform, you are bound to their rules and policies. Since thousands of sellers exist on the platform, it can become a lot of work to micro-manage every account. For this reason, it’s not a surprise that Amazon is strict with how things work.
Before listing your products, be sure to get familiar with their policies. The document is long, and it might take a while to finish reading it, but giving yourself some time to understand this will help avoid any penalties or account suspensions in the long run.
2. Understand all aspects of your products
When you’re selling on Amazon, you need to know your products down to the core. So along with conducting market research, you should also be familiar your product’s use, purpose, dimensions, and condition of the item.
In many cases, sellers don’t know how their products work or any other details about it. So when you’re selling something, remember that you must be one of the most knowledgeable people to refer to about your product. This helps significantly in writing detailed product descriptions and answering inquiries from interested buyers about how the product works.
3. Follow these instructions for your listings
If there’s one aspect that you should put the most time and effort into as an Amazon vendor, it should be your product listings. Think of these as displays in a window storefront for your customers to see. A good listing will entice buyers to shop for your products, so making sure they are captivating will make customers buy from you.
There are sellers out there that don’t put enough effort into producing their listings when this is a clear opportunity to get the attention of their target market. Amazon is a competitive space. Getting your listings optimized is one of the many ways you can do protect your brand on Amazon.
How you publish and optimize your listings are vital factors in protecting your business from getting hijacked. For example, when your listings get hijacked, unauthorized third-party sellers can copy every detail of your product listing, from the images to its descriptions, and sell it at a lower price. Therefore, when an interested buyer sees both listings (yours and the hijacker’s) offering the same product and sees that the hijacked listings prices are lower, they’ll likely buy the lower-priced version instead of the actual product listing.
Aside from publishing your listings, other good tips for selling on Amazon include enrolling your brand on the website’s Brand Registry Program to protect your brand. Although the application process can get drawn out, it’s worth it! Consider applying for this, especially if your product is in a somewhat niche category.
4. Ensure the use of high-quality photos in your listings
Good visuals are essential when you’re selling online, and it’s critical to invest in taking high-quality photos. But remember, hiring a professional photographer is not necessary to achieve this. If you have a camera that produces high-resolution images, you can build out the product shoot yourself.
If you do have the resources to hire a professional photographer, it would be a definite asset! Although it will cost you, it will be worth it since these are your selling points – consider it as an investment. The more attractive your listings’ photos are, the more likely they are to sell!
Pro tip: If hiring a professional photographer, be sure to mention Amazon’s photo policies. Make sure that the shots are clean and not cluttered with too many distractions. The product has to stand out! While you can use other props as materials, you should see to it that the main focus of the photo is still your products.
5. Make sure your merchandise is always well-stocked
Aside from optimized listings, you can also improve your listing visibility by having consistent inventory. If you have a product that’s always in demand, it’s easy to go out of stock. Don’t forget to stay ahead of your inventory – going OOS could risk your ranking on Amazon. Don’t lose your momentum!
If you’re going through your inventory quickly, you’ve probably already built a solid following from your customer base, making it hard to keep up with orders. If this is the case, you might have experienced managing negative inventory for orders you can’t fill right away. Of course, when selling only a few ASINs on Amazon, investing in tools to keep track of your inventory levels might not be necessary. Still, as you grow your business, you must have a strategy to ensure that you are always well-stocked.
You may already be using Megaventory to prevent having a hard time keeping up with your inventory status. As you can already tell, it can be a lot easier to manage your Amazon inventory. And that without having to go through the hassle of checking so frequently. On top of that, Megaventory allows you to manage the inventory of multiple locations and sell channels in a single place. So adding Amazon to your list of selling points should not complicate things.
6. Remove obsolete products from your listings
Part of keeping your listings updated is by removing any outdated, out-of-stock, and obsolete products from your listings.
If you forget to remove these listings, there’s a chance that a customer can check these out, and you either have to fulfill their orders or cancel them, risking your seller’s health and reputation. As an Amazon seller, you want to avoid canceling orders simply because you forgot to update your listings.
7. Price your products competitively without undercutting other vendors selling on Amazon
Selling on Amazon is cut-throat competition. Some sellers who offer the same or similar products undercut others by selling at a meager price. As a vendor, it may be tempting to price your products way lower than others. When in reality, you may be fostering unhealthy competition.
Stick with the suggested retail price and offer other attractive promos instead! You don’t have to undercut others’ businesses just because you want to have some leverage against them.
8. Consider shipping fees for selling on Amazon
If you’re new to selling on Amazon, you might not be familiar with how to price your products yet. Aside from researching how competitors price their products, also consider the shipping and other selling fees.
Unfortunately, when selling on Amazon, you have no control over shipping costs. Amazon calculates these fees depending on where the customers are. You can, however, adjust your products’ prices accordingly so your products will still be competitive, even with shipping fees factored in.
9. Always communicate with your Amazon customers
If there’s anyone you should always aim to please, it’s your customers. After all, they are the ones who will determine the success of your business. That’s why it’s critical you do everything you can to make them feel valued.
There are several ways to conduct exceptional customer service. One is by responding to their inquiries promptly and resolving any order problems and issues they might be facing. Another great way to appease and keep your customers is by offering them vouchers or coupons. In return, they can help boost your business through word-of-mouth, sales, searchability, and reviews. So make it a point to communicate with your customers regularly!
Final Thoughts
The Amazon marketplace can be fun and exciting, especially when you know your way around it – keep in mind to abide by their rules and apply them throughout your Amazon operations. We understand how challenging selling on Amazon can be at times, so refer back to these tips to help you find your way around!
Author Bio
Jayce is the managing director of Seller Interactive, the number one Amazon advertising agency based in Canada that helps brands build their business on Amazon. His content marketing expertise has led him to work with brands such as Toyota and GoDaddy, producing content that has reached over 20M views in a month.