Amazon is the world’s largest online marketplace, and it has become an essential platform for brands, large and small, to reach new customers and grow their businesses. With over 300 million active global users, Amazon provides a massive opportunity for brands to connect with consumers and increase their sales.
To take advantage of this opportunity, brands must have a strategic approach to building and growing their customer base on Amazon. Here are five ways that brands can strategically expand their client base using Amazon:
Data Driven Amazon Strategy
A data-driven Amazon selling strategy involves using platform research, trend analysis, analytics, and data to make informed decisions about how to optimize your product listings, advertising, pricing, and fulfillment strategies on Amazon. Research sales data to identify trends and patterns and identify which of your products are best situated to successfully be sold on Amazon. While the market potential on Amazon is tremendous, you need to have a sound strategy and product to sell that has a large volume of sales on Amazon.
Let Amazon Handle Fulfillment
Amazon offers several fulfillment options, including Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), which can help improve your product’s visibility and make it more attractive to customers who value fast, reliable, free delivery within two days.
With FBA, Amazon stores your products in their fulfillment centers, picks, packs, and ships orders to customers on your behalf. This not only ensures fast and reliable shipping but also makes your products eligible for Amazon Prime, which can increase their appeal to customers and ultimately increase sales volume.
Just because Amazon is handling the customer delivery, you are still responsible for ensuring you keep inventory at Amazon’s warehouses to fulfill orders. Perhaps there is no greater sin as an Amazon seller than running out of stock! You can never recover the lost revenue from an out-of-stock item!
Ensure Your Products are Seen
Just like traditional website marketing, successful Amazon sellers optimize their product listings for Amazon to find organically using their search engine. The first step in building a strong base on Amazon is to ensure that your product listings are optimized. This means that your product titles, descriptions, images, and keywords should be tailored to Amazon’s search engine algorithm, which determines how high your product appears in search results.
Additionally, when your products are seen: Make sure your product images are professionally photographed from multiple angles, high resolution and include infographics if feasible. This will help customers get a better sense of what they are buying and increase the likelihood that they will make a purchase.
Amazon will also let you buy advertising via their Amazon Ads program with a variety of options to help brands increase their visibility. Sponsored products ads appear at the top of search results and are based on relevant keywords that customers use when searching for products on Amazon. Sponsored brands ads, on the other hand, feature a brand logo, a custom headline, and multiple products that the brand sells.
Sponsored display ads, meanwhile, allow brands to target customers who have previously viewed their products or similar products on Amazon. These ads can help increase brand awareness and drive sales.
By using Amazon advertising, brands can reach new customers and increase their visibility on the platform.
Leverage Customer Reviews
Customer reviews are a crucial element of building trust with potential customers on Amazon. Positive reviews can help increase your product’s visibility, improve its search ranking, and ultimately drive more sales.
To encourage customers to leave reviews, consider including a request for a review in your product packaging or follow-up emails. You can also consider offering incentives, such as a discount on their next purchase, in exchange for a review.
It’s important to note that Amazon has strict policies regarding the solicitation of reviews, so make sure you follow these guidelines to avoid any penalties or account suspension.
Offer Competitive Pricing
Price is a key factor in the purchasing decision for many Amazon customers. If your products are priced too high compared to similar products on the platform, customers may choose to purchase from a competitor instead.
To ensure that your prices are competitive, research the prices of similar products on Amazon and adjust your prices accordingly. You may also want to consider offering discounts or promotions to attract new customers and increase sales.
Building and growing a customer base on Amazon requires a strategic approach that considers the unique features of the Amazon platform. By optimizing your product listings, using Amazon advertising, leveraging customer reviews, offering competitive pricing, and utilizing Amazon’s fulfillment options, you can attract new customers and increase sales on the platform.
