How To Successfully Grow Your Amazon Business
How Do I Sell On Amazon?
This is a question we get from the many brands we help to prosper online. The great thing about the Amazon marketplace is that it is an easy way to enter the e-commerce business. But, you have to know how to navigate the platform and set clear objectives.
We know that e-commerce is here to stay. Consumers love shopping online because they are in control. They will choose the e-tailer that gives them the best selection, prices, and fastest shipping.
Amazon has been surpassing all other e-commerce platforms by improving its customer service. On-Click & Prime have been a clear point of difference. These consumer-focused enhancements have enabled Amazon to capture 52% of all consumer product searches.
The Amazon marketplace has allowed many brands to prosper by managing and selling their inventory on Amazon. However, many copanies don’t know where to begin. And that is where we come in.
Three ways to sell your products on Amazon.
You can be a vendor to Amazon and sell wholesale. You ship your products to Amazon. Amazon then resells your products at a markup. But you are still responsible for marketing your product. So you are giving up margin and still keeping all of the costs. Also, Amazon decides what prices they will sell your product for. So this may conflict with other pricing you have on your own e-commerce site or other retailers.
The second way is Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM). The brand lists their products on the marketplace for a listing fee. The seller is responsible for the shipment and delivery of the product. The buyer pays Amazon, and Amazon pays the vendor after deducting service charges.
In such a scenario, the vendor is solely responsible for resolving customer issues related to shipping, returns, and any other matter that may arise.
Understand, Amazon is a customer-centric environment. Therefore, your seller rating impacts your success on the platform. If you have a lot of customer service issues, late shipping problems, and returns, you won’t be very successful.
The method I prefer to use is Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). Using FBA is like storing your product in a warehouse and having Amazon picking, packing and shipping orders to customers. The customer still pays Amazon, and Amazon then pays you after charging the FBA fees.
If are a self-fulfilled company or use a third party to fulfill, you probably pay more than the FBA fees to pick, pack and ship. So, the costs are not a burden. But you get access to the Amazon customers, prime, one click and many other Amazon tools.
And you are still responsible for marketing your product.
Think about it this way. You are still the e-commerce brand using the Amazon platform to service your customers.
Which is the best option to sell on Amazon?
If you are an Amazon shopper, then you are aware of free 2-day shipping with Amazon Prime. Amazon Prime has built loyalty with Amazon. Prime is one of the reasons why people choose to shop at Amazon.
It would be great if all e-commerce companies could offer Free Shipping or Free 2-day shipping. Unfortunately, free shipping becomes cost prohibitive for many businesses. I like to look at shipping as a marketing expense.
With Amazon FBA you can conveniently ship your products to Amazon’s warehouse. Once the product reaches the warehouse, Amazon will be responsible for the shipping orders to the customers.
How to Sell Products on Amazon FBA?
Amazon FBA is simple to use. The entire selling process is very straight forward, which makes it easy for vendors to retail their products through the platform.
Here are the steps to begin selling on Amazon.
Create an Amazon Seller Account
Users who do not have a seller account on Amazon need to create one. The process to create a merchant account is simple and takes a few minutes.
The first question you will be asked when making your account is, “Do I want a Professional or Individual account?”
If you think you will sell more than 40 units of your product each month, then opt for a Professional account. Less than 40 units, an Individual account works as well.
The next step is to create an Amazon account using your desired email address. You will be required to provide the following details:
Charge Method: Your charge method is simply your credit card. This will be to pay for monthly fees or advertising while you are building your business.
Seller Information: To fill vendor information, you will be expected to provide your address, name and display name. Your display name should be your brand name or company name. You are free to make it anything you want. However, remember that your display name will be public. Keeping a professional name will help you build your brand credibility on Amazon.
Identity Verification: Lastly, you will be asked to validate your identity through a text message or a phone call.
Once you have confirmed your account, you are done. You now have a seller account and begin to list your products.
Listing Your Items on Amazon
If you are reselling existing brands, then you can search the extensive Amazon database and select the items you wish to list.
You do this by going to Inventory and click Add Product.
Once you have clicked on “Add Product,” you will be required to search for the product you wish to list. You can either search by the product name or barcode. In most cases, you will find your product on the list.
After choosing the product you wish to sell, you will be redirected to the screen to input information regarding the product.
The information must include:
The condition of your item, the price
Whether you would be shipping the product yourself or require Amazon’s assistance
The condition of Your Item
If you are a reseller or a brand, your product should always be new. Some resellers deal in broken packages or damaged product. But I don’t suggest this. Think about building your Amazon store as you would any other e-commerce business. Build customers, and you will build sales.
Selling Price
Pricing for resellers is a complex issue. When you are competing with many other sellers with the same product, and you are fighting for the BuyBox, you need to be on top of price changes constantly. Amazon has a built in the repricing tool where you can set parameters for your products price. The system will automatically make adjustments based on competitive movement.
For brands, it is a bit easier. You don’t have to worry about changing prices every day, but you do need to know where you sit relative to competitors.
You should always study the price points of your competitors to ensure that you aren’t out of the consumer’s decision set.
Shipping
Finally, you have to choose the shipping method. You can either select shipping the product yourself or through Amazon’s assistance. By selecting Amazon, you will be opting for Amazon FBA. Read the terms and conditions to proceed.
Creating Amazon FBA Shipping Plan
When you are done with converting your items to FBA items, you will set up an Amazon FBA shipping plan to proceed further. To create a shipping plan, you are required to provide the packaging type for your items and the address from where the items will be shipped.
Amazon FBA provides two types of Packaging:
Individual products
Case-packaged products
If you are sending a box of items in its original packaging, opt for the case-packaged products option.
Follow the steps to put in the required information. Make sure you understand the importance of labeling your items. Once this is all done, you can ship your items to the fulfillment center Amazon designates.
Selling your first product
Congratulations! Once your products are received in the Amazon FC, you can begin to sell your first products. Now the marketing kicks in.
Amazon has a number of options under the Advertising tab.
Campaign Manager works very similar to Adwords. It is keyword driven, and you set a target click price per keyword.
Promotions has a number of options, from Free Shipping to Giveaways to Percent Off and Buy One Get One Free offers.
I have a free ebook to help you with the marketing aspects of Amazon selling.
The Amazon marketplace is a low cost and effective option to getting your e-commerce business off the ground. Building a website and setting up your own fulfillment can be costly and risky. The Amazon marketplace takes much of the risk out of the startup and allows you to focus on selling more product.
