You’ve got a decent product idea. Now all you have to do is find a place to sell it. There are several online markets that make the processes easier but Amazon is the most popular.
Amazon sellers don’t need a lot of money to get started. You don’t even have to have an original product idea. If you see that there’s a market for coffee cups, you can list coffee cups.
No matter what you sell, you will have a lot of competition, however. You’ll need to come up with a few successful business strategies if you want to stand out.
We can help you out with that. Keep reading for a few tips that will help you sell your product on Amazon.
1. Use Plenty of Detail
Amazon sells millions of products. For a buyer to find what they’re looking for, they’ll have to narrow things down a bit by searching for it. They may start with a generic keyword like coffee mugs, and go down the rabbit hole from there.
Some have a specific product in mind. They need a charger for a laptop, for example. They’re going to type in the name of the laptop brand, the model, and the word “charger.”
The struggle for you, as a seller, is ending up in both types of searches. To do this, you’re going to have to get a little descriptive.
Your title and description both need to have keywords. You can add these words by using Amazon’s backend search terms feature. You only have a certain amount of space to add your words, so don’t repeat any and avoid fillers like a or by.
A lot of sellers post a large wall of text in their descriptions. The goal is to convince people to buy their product. You should strive to be different.
Tell a story with your description. Tell the buyer how your product can improve their lives. Instead of overwhelming the eye with a long list of features, talk about the benefits.
2. Stay Organized
Selling a product isn’t always fun and games. You can’t get out of it without doing some accounting for e-commerce. You’ve got to stay on top of your numbers. If you don’t, tax time will be an absolute nightmare.
If you’re only selling as a hobby, it’s hard to think of it as a business, but it is. This means that you shouldn’t put off registering it as such. You could run into legal trouble otherwise.
You’ll need to keep your Amazon income separate from your regular income by opening a business bank account. It will make doing your taxes at the end of the year a lot easier.
You’ll have to stay on track with financial spreadsheets. It’s easy to make mistakes with this. You may have to invest in a fba accountant or, at least, get some online business accounting software.
3. List for the Right Price
Many people filter their searches by price. They want to get the best deal for the things that they need. If you overcharge for your product, this will throw your customers into the arms of your competitors.
Search for items similar to yours to get a good idea of how to price your products. You can also use Amazon’s pricing feature. It will allow you to set your preferences so you’re always matching the lowest prices.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you don’t want to fall into the 99 cent trap. Sellers have been using this trick for years. They’ll post their product for 15.99 instead of 16.00 to sort of trick the buyer into thinking that they’re getting a better deal.
Users have caught on to this little trick, so if the price of your product ends in 99 cents, they may feel like you’re trying to trick them. As you can imagine, buyers don’t take too kindly to this.
4. Up Your Image Game
If you don’t post pictures of your product with the description, you’re not going to get many buyers. People want to physically see something before they commit to adding it to their cart.
Taking a grainy picture with your cell phone may have worked in the past, but it’s not going to help you sell many products anymore. You’ve got to show buyers that you’re a professional.
That means you have to go all-in with high-definition photographs. Keep in mind before you get started, Amazon does have certain requirements. You’ll have to adhere to image size limits.
They also want your primary picture to be on a plain background with no bells and whistles. That doesn’t mean that all your pictures have to be on an empty white background.
The rest of your pictures should show off the different uses for the item you’re selling. Don’t be afraid to get a little creative, and consider bringing in a professional photographer to help you out if your budget allows for it.
5. Monitor Your Performance
The worst thing you can do is post your products up for sale and forget about them until you’ve got to ship out an order. You should always look for ways to improve your selling efforts.
Pay attention to your sales. How often are you having to process a return? What’s your seller rating?
All these things are pretty telling. By studying the numbers, you’ll be able to see what you’re doing wrong and find out how you can do better.
6. Follow the Rules
Amazon doesn’t only have rules on images. They have restrictions on many things. If you don’t stay up to date on the policies, you could end up with an account suspension.
It’s easier to make mistakes than you may think. For example, you can ask a customer to leave a review on Amazon. What you can’t do is try to influence their feedback in any way.
You can’t attempt to increase your seller rank by paying for orders. You can market your product, but it’s against the policy to damage another seller’s reputation in the process. These are only a few traps that you’ve got to avoid.
7. Manage Your Inventory
A lot of people buy on Amazon every day. It’s great for profits, but it can be hard for the sellers to keep up with the demand. If you don’t manage your inventory, you may end up getting an order for something that you don’t have in stock.
Now you have an angry customer on your hands. Not keeping up with your inventory could also cause you to get hit with the Amazon ban hammer.
On the other side of the coin, if you have too much inventory, that can hurt you as well. You don’t want to end up paying for storage. You’ll need to find some good middle ground.
8. Good Customer Service Is a Must
You’re not meeting your customers face to face, but that doesn’t mean that you should allow your customer service to fall through the cracks. Users like knowing that they’re buying from an actual person.
If you can show them this, you’ll make lifelong clients. To this end, watch how you answer customer questions. If someone has a problem with your product, handle this dispute with kindness.
Don’t make it difficult for someone to return a product. It only makes you look sketchy. Amazon can handle some of these processes for you.
9. Use Fulfilment by Amazon
For fast returns and order fulfillment, you can use FBA. Through this service, Amazon will handle all your orders for you. The problem is that this feature doesn’t come without a price.
It will get orders to your customers a lot faster, but many business owners feel like it’s not worth the money that you’ll pay for it. It’s up to you to weigh the pros and cons.
10. Attracting Customers
The rule of the advertising game is to drive traffic to your product page. The easiest way to go about this is to use social media to your advantage.
You can make a Facebook or Instagram business page. Both will allow you to post ads for your product and provide you with analytics. You’ll be able to see which posts your followers interact with the most.
Useful Tips All Amazon Sellers Should Follow
Do you have an amazing product that you want to share with the world? The easiest way to go about it is to put it on Amazon. Thousands of people use the site, so you’re sure to get hits if you use these tips for Amazon sellers.
Following these steps will help you advertise your item, handle the influx of orders, and practice good customer service. If you’re looking for more ways to drive traffic to your product page and make customers happy, check out the Business section of our blog.
