Maximizing Amazon Sales: The Ultimate Strategy for Brand Owners

You need to have a solid Amazon sales strategy to make money with Amazon. Amazon has crystal clear selling policies and summarizes best practices for Amazon retailers within Seller Central. But many people are still worried to start, or won’t even look at, selling on Amazon as a new way to do business, due to lack of an Amazon sales strategy.

The two most common reasons I run into for not having an Amazon sales strategy are

• Lack of time and

• Channel conflict (i.e. creating a channel that leads to pricing problems across all other distribution channels).

Amazon is viewed as too overwhelming with the kicker that it could disrupt your existing e-commerce or traditional sales channels.

A. Building Up a Good Seller Rating

It’s virtually impossible to sell anything until you have a high Amazon seller rating. Selling at a loss can help you get those first sales you need to establish yourself as a reliable and trustworthy seller.

B. Building Up Item Reviews

Loss-leaders can help establish a new product or brand that has no Amazon reviews yet. In particular, self-publishers using Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing often does quite well by using Free Book Promotions to garner attention before actually selling the book.

Just keep in mind that this strategy may lead people to think the product isn’t worth the price you plan to charge later. Don’t use it when you’re trying to differentiate something based on quality or luxury.

C. Getting Buyers to Your Seller Profile

Buyers who are interested in one of your products may like the other things you have to sell. You, therefore, want to get them to your profile, where they’ll see the rest of your selection.

Offering something for a loss can lead people to your profile for two main reasons:

They may click on the listing after seeing your low price. Then, even if they don’t want to buy that particular item, they may want to see if you have similar products they want more.

They may buy the item and then check your store for compatible accessories or other related items.

Above: A visitor can find your seller profile by clicking the link on a listing. The top link goes to the manufacturer’s storefront; the lower one goes to the profile of the seller who’s won the Buy Box.

D. Use Data-Driven Pricing

Too many sellers rely on instinct and opinion when setting prices. This often results in prices that are too high to sell or lower than they could be for optimal profits.

With prices on Amazon changing millions of times per day, it can be impossible for humans to crunch the numbers fast enough to set the ideal price.

E. Stick to High-Quality Products

Obviously, somebody has to sell cheaper products, and it’s often especially tempting to do so when using loss-leaders. However, sticking to high-quality products usually gets much better results, always.

The reason for this is that customers are more likely to be satisfied with their purchases. That means fewer return requests and negative reviews. For a detailed strategy on how to get more reviews, keeping return requests down will lower your losses and leave you with more time to focus on selling. And with a high Amazon seller rating, you’re much more likely to make sales. Say goodbye to loose leaders!

It’s also worth noting that Amazon’s customers aren’t particularly stingy. eBay is the home of serious bargain hunters; the average Amazon buyer cares much more about the quality of their experience and the product.

F. Prioritize Customer Service to Win the Buy Box

The Buy Box is Amazon’s Holy Grail and the end goal of most successful Amazon selling strategies. It’s commonly said that 90% of all Amazon sales are made through the Buy Box, and sellers who have won the Buy Box can often sell at prices 20% higher than their competitors. It’s as big a deal as having your website ranked #1 on Google.

Amazon uses an enormous variety of metrics for determining who can win the Buy Box and never gives out exact numbers. But most boil down to this: treat your customers as well as possible.

Summing-up Everything Together

Overall, we think about how you want the Amazon channel to fit within your existing business and choose a method that works for you. It is easiest to start with one method and then incorporate others later.

Consider which administrative activities you can manage effectively and easily and which you would like to avoid. There is not one right answer, but keep in mind that most items that go from FBM to FBA see a 10%-20% increase in sales and a boost of 40%-50% once they are sold directly to Amazon.

And if you’re interested and want to hear a quote, schedule a free consultation call. We’ll answer all your questions and explain how we can help!