by Sanam Hakam | Dec 12, 2017 | Amazon, Tips
Amazon is one of the largest online marketplaces that hosts an entire multitude of products for everyday life such as electronic games, books and much more. It presents an avenue for retailers to set up shop and their brand known to internet users looking to buy the items online.
Getting noticed is important in the overall picture since it enables your business to reach a wider audience, thus driving your growth. Emerging at the top of search results for the trending searches often gets to reveal your acclaim to more people which is good for sustainable development.
Ranking highly on Amazon requires that you have some features that clearly set you apart in the way of appearances and presentation. Giving enough details about the products and not forgetting to include images can get you more traffic as a clean and organized website will receive more attention, and help make you stand out. When you provide highly detailed descriptions of your products, more visitors will take interest in reading more, viewing other pictures and videos, and it will help them decide what to purchase.
Additionally, the wording should be convincing so that crucial information is not left out and customer questions are immediately answered. This should also come with a bit of optimization to rank you better than competition. Pictures should be clear and professional. Climbing up the success ladder comes with preparedness and a readiness to take on any tides which may blow toward you.
Finally, you also need to be ready to make changes where you don’t feel much impact being made. With this, comes continual improvements that will surely help your business stay ahead. With a careful scrutiny of your Amazon business page, all of these glaring issues will clearly stand out to be modified and even improved. This will gradually grow your ranks and strengthen your brand presence to keep your business alive, beating the odds in the highly competitive market.
Keeping track of statistics and analyzing trends for patterns ensures your business better days ahead. You’ll be able to better your filters for the best impact in getting an audience and staying sustainable even when you feel the odds are piled high against you. With these habits, the growth of your Amazon brand will be unrestricted and opens you up to see things differently.
by Sanam Hakam | Nov 13, 2017 | Amazon, Marketing and Branding
Online marketing is important especially when vendors want to promote their products and realize the necessary conversions. Sadly, there are plenty of online marketing strategies that don’t work. As such, it is a vendor’s ultimate goal to find and try the few strategies that work. One of such online marketing strategies that work is none other than the use of Amazon promo codes.
Reason #1
With the use of Amazon Promo Codes, vendors can gain the much-needed access to 7 different areas of placement across Amazon. These include the Shopping Cart, Search Results, Product Detail Pages, Coupon Landing Page, Email Campaigns, Amazon Coupon Page, and Amazing Gold Box Page.
Reason #2
Using Amazon Promo Codes will also give the vendors a chance to use the all-important Advanced Filter Mechanism for their benefit. This filter device only broadcasts the vend0r’s products to potential Amazon buyers who have either viewed ASINs or made a purchase. The latter will, therefore, increase the chances of the goods in question reaching the right prospective buyers thus enhances the likelihood of an increase in conversion.
Reason #3
The vendors can also track their coupon’s performance thanks to the Amazon vendor promotions offer redemption that is also made available thanks to the use of Amazon Promo Codes. These useful metrics will give the seller valuable data on matters such as a lift in sales, volume of sales and the traffic. There is a link named “View Metrics” that can be accessed by opening the Merchandising Menu, then proceeding to the Coupons Tab and clicking on it.
Reason #4
The most important role played by the Amazon Promo Codes is the promotion of items to prospective buyers. Doing so will not only increase the sales volume and product awareness but will also result in the accumulation of valuable reviews.
Reason #5
These codes can also boost off-site traffic with the all-important Coupon Landing Page, popularly referred to as CLP. The CLP is a URL that links an offer from any other online platform apart from Amazon hence making it easier for prospective buyers to make the conversions without hustling. If the customer has an Amazon account, the offer will be auto-clipped onto their accounts, making it easier for them to make the conversion whenever they feel they are ready.
It is almost impossible for a product to be successful in the market without proper, proactive promotion. It is therefore very critical for any vendor intending on promoting their products on Amazon to consider using the Amazon Promo Codes since they are useful in creating awareness across all the targeted members of Amazon. There are those who complain about Amazon Promo Codes being costly, but they seem to forget of the rewarding outcome that comes with investing in them. Last but not least, make a point of trying the valid Amazon Promo Codes today and get to reap the benefits!
by ned | Oct 23, 2017 | Amazon, Tips
Holidays are just around the corner. Early online shopping sprees are on the go during this time of the month. This is the peak selling season for the year and Amazon Sellers must prepare everything from their inventory stocks down to their product shipment. Here is a complete guide on how sellers should prepare for the holiday sales:
- Check out the due dates for the 2017 holiday selling shipment. Two important dates to take note this year are November 7 and December 1. November 7 will be the due date for the Black Friday (November 24) and Cyber Monday (November 27). To make sure that your inventory will be available to customers for shopping Christmas gifts, ship your items right away so it can arrive until December 1. As an additional, products that you are going to market for the year 2018 should be shipped no earlier than December 17.
- Prepare and label shipments for fulfillment centers. Attaching an Amazon-generated barcode to the product occurs at the labeling process of your goods. However, there are specific requirements laid down by Amazon, when it comes to prepping your products for fulfillment. By following these, you can prevent quality issues and unnecessary prep fees.
- Send your inventory. To fulfill the promised delivery for your customers, you must send your inventory to Amazon before the given due dates. Provide your box with content information so your products can move through their fulfillment network more efficiently; making it available for sale the soonest.
- Optimize your inventory. Review your inventory, and check whether the right products are in the right place at the right price. You can also use the Restock and Excess Inventory tools which are available in your Inventory Dashboard. Restock Inventory tool is used for replenishing your best-selling products at the right time; while Excess Inventory tool is used to help you avoid unnecessary fees by identifying products that aren’t moving as well as they could be.
- Consider advertising on Amazon. There are two pay-per-click advertising platforms you can use in promoting your products in Amazon. These are the Sponsored Products and the Headline Search Ads. Sponsored Products appear on the first page of search results. It helps advertise individual listings and drives sales growth. However, Headline Search Ads are being used by registered brand owners to increase the visibility of a brand’s product line through ads. With these two, you can reach millions of your customers, so start advertising now.
Preparing for the holiday sales is a very important task. Upon following the guides given above, you are sure to earn larger income as soon as the holidays arrive.
by ned | Oct 23, 2017 | Amazon
Now, FBA Business is becoming extremely popular. The number of Amazon sellers doing business under the FBA business increases annually. Therefore, it is important for them to keep up-to-date with any FBA new and recent changes. These include the following:
- Changes in Fulfillment Fees
Fulfillment fees in United States are being adjusted. According to Amazon, this is being modified to reflect on the changing costs of storage, fulfillment, transportation, and customer service. The Order Handling, Pick and Pack, and Weight Handling fees are combined into a single unit price. This modification took effect on February 22, 2017. Aside from this, other fulfillment fee changes are:
Fulfillment fees for the month of October are lowered in price. The effectiveness of the October Fulfillment find starts on October 1, 2017. This is consistent with the November and December fulfillment fees. (Tip: To pay lower FBA fulfillment fee for the month of October, try to find ways in reducing your storage space used.)
Fulfillment fees for media products will be higher to match the increase in non-media products. Media and non-media products are joined together in a single standard-sized tier. The change in rate has been effective since last February 22, 2017.
Also effective last February 22, 2017, the Zero-Fee Fulfillment was discontinued. Zero-Fee fulfillment refers to discounts for standard-sized items that only sell for $300 or more. Fees based on the product size tier will apply.
- Changing Seller Shipment Requirement
When creating a shipping plan, you are tasked to send items to a number of destinations. Effective last July 19, 2017, Amazon increased how often you have will be asked about it. For the shipping plan, you can either choose to follow Amazon’s guidance or use the Inventory Placement Service. The Inventory Placement Service gives you the choice to ship to fewer destinations, and a per-item service fee applies. The fee is dependent on the number of destinations you are going to choose.
- Changes in Monthly Inventory Storage Fees
The Inventory Storage Fee for the month of October will be increased for the standard-sized and oversize items. The said changes were made so that October inventory storage fees are consistent with the storage fees for November and December.
The following changes mentioned above are based off of the announcement made by Amazon. These are only effective within the United States.
by ned | Sep 27, 2017 | Amazon, FBA Inventory
Does running low on inventory on FBA affect your keyword rankings? It’s a common concern for all FBA sellers. Even more feared is the impact of completely running out of stock. Here I will lay out some of the negative impacts on keyword rankings – both from running low on inventory to being completely out-of-stock. I’ll also look at what you can do if faced with super low stock.
How Low Inventory Problems Occur
There are many reasons why you might run out of inventory. The most common include:
- An unexpected spike in demand
- A delayed shipment of new inventory
- Forgetting to reorder inventory
- Incorrectly calculating future inventory needs
Does low inventory levels affect keyword ranking?
Low inventory by itself does not appear to have a significant affect on inventory. Anthony Lee, of ZonBlast.com, did one of the most detailed studies comparing stock listing levels and sales trends. Lee used sales levels as a proxy for keyword rankings. The study found that the impact of lower inventory levels was essentially neutral.
Anyone who has tried to increase inventory levels to positively impact ranking levels will recognize the same lack of correlation. Simply increasing or decreasing inventory levels, by itself, does not impact keyword ranking. However, running out of inventory all together is a different story.
Avoiding a Bad Scenario
The worst case scenario is completely running out of product. No product, of course, equals no sales. Your listing will also be ghosted by Amazon making your product impossible to find. In turn, this can lead to a drastic drop in rankings when your listing goes live again. In short, avoid completely running out of product!
Should you increase prices?
When you are faced with potentially running out-of-stock, a logical response may be to increase prices. One may think that raising prices will slow sales as buyers shift to less expensive options. By incrementally increasing prices, sales may decrease until your next shipment arrives. Unfortunately, while this approach can work, it does potentially create some problems.
Key metrics including:
- Click-through rates (CTR)
- Conversion rates
- Total sales
These can all decrease as a result of higher prices. This, in turn, can have a negative impact on your product’s ranking. There is also the possibility that you may receive negative reviews. At a higher price point your product may not appear to offer value for money.
Key Takeaways
Running low on inventory by itself appears to have little impact on rankings. Raising prices in response to short inventory can slow sales but it may also impact keyword rankings. Completely running out of product can have a significant impact on pricing and should be avoided even if this means raising prices. What this reinforces is the importance of prudent product management. The best case scenario is to not run low on stock in the first place. Of course, the unexpected does occur for any business. Luckily, running low on inventory should not have a significant impact on keyword rankings by itself. The danger for keyword ranking comes from the necessity to raise prices, or even worse, running out-of-stock all together.
by ned | Sep 27, 2017 | Amazon, FBA Inventory, Tips
FBA long-term charges are sometimes stressful to pay. Therefore, you should adopt some strategies to reduce these charges to the minimal amounts. The following are some of the mechanisms that will help you reduce your FBA fees.
One month before Amazon starts the extended storage date, you should go through your inventory and discount the commodities that will have a fee. You have to ensure the items are sold to avoid paying the extra fee. You do not have to get items sent back home / to your office.
- Use Amazon Promotions and Sponsored Product Ads
Another strategy is to conduct promotions and get ads for all items that will be charged fees one month before. Therefore, you have to spend some money on ads or simply sell them at a discounted price.
- Capitalize on Free Removals
Sometimes Amazon has promotions whereby FBA sellers can remove commodities from their respective warehouses. This promotion will see the removal of order fees on all items removed during the promotion period. Though it is not guaranteed whether or not this promotion will be offered, when it is, you have to utilize it. You have to note that when transferring inventory to minimize charges, there is a set deadline that should expire before you are allowed to send them back to the FBA warehouses. Usually, this is between 3 to 6 months in the future.
- Manage the Level of your Stock from the Start
One of the most efficient ways to avoid to paying long-term fees is to take control of the total inventory you send to FBA warehouses. For instance, if you send in only inventory that is likely to be sold in less than or 6 months, then you should expect to have minimal long-term storage fees.
- Time when you will Send Inventory
Another way you can minimize on this fee, is timing when to send in the inventory to FBA warehouses. For example, let’s say you send your goods to FBA on the 21 of the month, you will be charged a long-term storage fee on commodities that you have stocked for exactly six months. However, you will not pay for the items that have been in stock for five months and 29 days. Therefore, if your items arrive at the warehouse on say 30th of August, then you will have almost a whole year before you are charged LTS fees. Therefore, you will save a good amount of fees by having a strategic timing when to stock items in the FBA warehouses.
The various ways of reducing your FBA warehouses fees have been discussed. Now you are aware on how you can minimize your FBA storage fees. Therefore, go ahead and call these strategies to action and you will finally pay less!
by ned | Sep 25, 2017 | Amazon, Marketing and Branding
You may need tips on how to grow your Amazon business, but don’t have the time to read or take a course. Podcasts are great for getting information on the go and Seller Mobile wants to help. We have compiled a list of podcasts that will provide you with tips on taking your business to the next level.
This list gives you the top 5 podcasts on how to grow your FBA Amazon business.
- The Amazing Seller-Podcast
Scott Voelker is a photographer turned e-commerce expert. He built his successful business, New Portrait Biz, in 2008. He expanded to an Amazon F.B.A Business in 2014. He shares with you the steps to take towards launching a successful business.
Some Helpful Episodes:
- FBA Journey Podcast
R.C. Rice started out young and made a quick climb to the top sellers list. In this podcast, she shares her tips for success that teach you how to become a professional seller. This podcast is for people who are growing there business from the ground-up.
Helpful Episodes:
- eCommerce Momentum
Stephen Peterson runs a successful seller account on Amazon with his wife. In this podcast he shares with you tips on how you too can run a successful business and interviews other knowledgeable experts. Stephen Peterson interviews e-commerce experts who share their stories on the growth of their own businesses.
Helpful Episodes:
- FBA Allstars
Matt Ward takes a bold approach to business coaching. He doesn’t hold back in this podcast and emphasizes the importance of not wasting time or money on e-courses. Listen to his interviews instead. You will learn how to expand your business by narrowing down your focus.
Helpful Episodes:
- Am/Pm Podcast
This podcast provides expert private label selling tips and troubleshooting. You will find helpful interviews and quick episodes for when you are running short on time. If you are looking for tips of how to bring in 6 to 7 figures through your FBA Amazon business, then this podcast is for you.
Helpful Episodes:
Share your experience. Have you listened to these podcasts? Which one seemed to help the most?
by ned | Jun 26, 2017 | Amazon, FBA Inventory, Sales / Business
Amazon FBA program is a great platform for selling products on a large scale. If done right, a person can become a full-time seller with promising returns to look forward to. But the lack of a good selling plan can make selling on this platform a regrettable idea.
There are challenges to expect in the selling chain that needs proper planning. Each step in the selling process poses a new challenge that can effect the sale of products. Below are important lessons learned on the first day of Amazon FBA sales.
- Products with Good Reviews Sell
Products of all types can be sold through the Amazon FBA sales program. But not all items sell. Most customers look up to reviews of products by previous buyers before buying. It is advisable that a seller focuses on products that have good customer rating. Not only does it reduce returns, but it also increases a seller’s revenue.
- Pricing Can Influence Profits
Profit margins differ based on different factors. Spending less on sourcing costs gives a seller the will to determine the selling price of a product. The lower the sourcing costs, the higher the profit margins a seller can expect.
Another factor is quantity. The number of products sold through the Amazon FBA program will also influence profit margins. Selling products that do well on the market push up profit margins. Market research done before a person starts selling can help determine fast moving products.
- Shipment
A seller should prioritize shipping before profits since it takes long to package products. Before sending a product to Amazon fulfillment centers, products have to be well packaged. Each product should be packaged in a right sized box. Other things needed for proper packaging include:
- Scotty Peelers to remove price tags
- Poly wraps or self-seal poly bags to enhance packaging appearance
- Dymo label printer to print Amazon FNSKU label
First-time packaging is always the hardest. However, the process becomes easier with time.
by ned | Jun 26, 2017 | Amazon, Sales / Business
Sellers on Amazon need to be very strategic to be distinct and maximize profits. One of the things that can help merchants with this is the Buy Box that the platform offers. It is ideal for sellers who are dealing with products that already exist on the platform. Debatably, it is one of the most crucial elements to any Amazon seller. The Buy Box is a small little blue box found on the right side of the product details screen on Amazon with the “Add to Cart” call to action. It is a striking feature with eye-catching color and prominent right side placement. Note that it accounts for more than 82% of the sales on Amazon, and it is the reason why it is so important.
Any seller with Buy Box can rest easy since it represents the most searches, most visible and the most sales. One should know that the Buy Box is the ultimate trophy for sellers, but winning is not easy. Despite the fact that Amazon uses complex algorithms to determine the sellers that walk away with prime location on the page, there are a couple of factors that can help merchants get to the front of the line. These include:
- Focus on offering exceptional customer service- respond to questions on time in a helpful and respectful manner. Always ship on time and correctly. With a high rate of customer satisfaction, sellers will be in a good spot for the coveted Buy Box.
- Keep prices affordable- maintain affordable product prices as well as shipping costs, ensuring that they are consistent with other merchants on Amazon.
- Have stock- Amazon wants buyers to find what they are looking for. Without current stock of the products, it is impossible to win Buy Box. Inventory information should always be up to date if merchants do not want negative reviews when they cannot fulfill orders.
After Winning Buy Box, sellers start dealing with multiple orders that they must meet if they want to increase sales tremendously. Seller Mobile presents the perfect solution for this by providing an app which is available on Play Store and Apple store. It allows merchants to access the Amazon Seller Central Business conveniently from their mobile phones. With this, traders can sell smart and respond faster to rise to the most preferred merchant on Amazon. The app is a “miracle worker” as marketers can use it for multiple functions like inventory management, viewing daily revenues, searching products, shipping and tracking, viewing orders and pulling up orders fast via Amazon order ID.
Seller Mobile also provides a repricer tool – which ensures that your pricing is in sync with your competitors. Now, you don’t have to manually update your pricing. Your prices are always the best in the market, and you are sure to get more Buy Box wins! Download it now and watch your empire grow by the minute!
by ned | Jun 26, 2017 | Amazon, Tips
Amazon helps small businesses and entrepreneurs to market their goods by providing ready access to a large customer market. To register and access the market, there are myriad rules and agreements to bind to. This is done to protect the reputation of Amazon and maintain a satisfied customer base.
Failure to these performance expectations will lead to your account suspension and subsequently termination of your sales listing. Your money will then be held for not less than 90 days as they try to cover unresolved financial issues.
We at Seller Mobile know what this will result into if your business relies on Amazon as the primary business conduit. You will probably panic if the closure is permanent. However, you can still petition and have your account reinstated. This is not easy and your account will be scrutinized for a period of time after being reinstated.
To prevent your Amazon account suspension, regularly review the agreements and rules as guidelines and procedures can change without an official notification. You should monitor your customer metrics as compared to the performance with Amazon’s seller performance targets and ascertain whether you are hitting the expected benchmarks. Make sure subscription fees are paid on time. Amazon can terminate or suspend an account if the renewal or subscription fees are not paid on time.
Once your account is suspended, try the following tips to avoid permanent suspension:
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Look clearly at the letter they will send to you and review your consumer metrics to gauge if you are not meeting their expectations.
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Respond immediately and explain why your suspension is unfair and argue your case with all the factual information that you have.
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If you have failed to meet the performance targets, offer an action plan you will use to correct this.
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Emphasize your customer service record and point out how your products are beneficial to customers.
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Monitor your emails as you wait to the decision from Amazon.
We at Seller Mobile believe that if you follow this guideline your account at Amazon will remain safe. This will give you a peace of mind as you watch sales grow. Signing up with us will provide you with mobile access of the functionality provided by Amazon Seller Central. This enables you review your orders, manage inventory and search products from the comfort of your phone or tablet. This is will go a long way to offer better services to your customer and reduce the likelihood of Amazon account suspension.
