Want to Learn How to Sell on Amazon? Here's the Information You'll Be Needing
Whether you already have a thriving ecommerce store or you're just beginning to establish your own brand it's likely that you've thought about the pros and cons of selling products on Amazon.
Traditionally speaking, you'll keep more revenue and build more equity for your business by establishing and managing the store you have on your site. However, with all of the devices that make multichannel selling more effective -- and lucrative and profitable than ever, you can do simultaneously and rapidly expand your reach.
If you're ready to try at selling your products on Amazon, or you just would like to find out more about what's involved in the process, this article will guide you through selling on Amazon and the things is required to start.
A brief introduction to Amazon's marketplace
Amazon is the largest e-commerce seller in the world, with the most likely being in that is true for the U.S., where 70% of adults are Prime members. The majority of ecommerce purchases across the U.S. happen on Amazon, and it has about 200 million active users. Based on their own statistics, about 7400 products sell each minute in the U.S.
Amazon offers shipping to more than 130 countries So if you're looking for global ecommerce customers, this is certainly the most efficient and effective means to reach a wide world audience.
Ready? Let's discuss the basics you must know to sell on Amazon.
Types of Amazon seller accounts
There are two primary kinds of seller accounts available on Amazon The two main types are Professional and Individual.
The majority of e-commerce companies trying to achieve a consistent income and expansion will choose the Professional option, since the Individual option charges fees for every transaction however the Professional one has a fixed monthly rate.
Other selling charges that both kinds of accounts need to pay for, but we'll look at them a little later.
Step-by-step instructions for creating the account you want to use as an Amazon seller account
Amazon has put together a huge amount of information to assist merchants create accounts and start selling. If you're looking to read through their help pages to get started, start on the following page. But, we've broken the steps to the following basic steps:
1. Set up an account for sellers
Beginning your Amazon accounts is easy as signing up. First, you'll create your username and password and you can go on from there.
2. Choose the Professional Selling Plan
Next, choose the seller account type you'd like to utilize. As mentioned already, you'll want to pick the Professional plan if you intend to increase your sales using Amazon. If, in terms of sales, you plan to sell over 40 items a month, you want to go with the Professional package.
Amazon probably won't be the sole e-commerce marketplace or platform. And it probably shouldn't be since there are many advantages of building your own ecommerce store with . However, Amazon lets you expand to new markets you simply could not reach in a short time with your own shop.
3. Sign up to Brand Registry
Amazon offers the Brand Registry service, which must be used prior to constructing your store and take advantage of various other tools and features available on Amazon's platform, including seller protections and Amazon Ads. There is also a 5% bonus on purchases that are branded.
4. Use this Stores Builder tool to create your online store
After you've signed up, you have the option of using the Stores creator tool, as well as drag-and-drop tools to build your store. You'll get to choose from three design templates, and once you pick the one that you prefer, you'll be able upload products and start creating pages.
The tiles can be adjusted to organize product photos and descriptions and any other content to make the most sense for your store.
In order to get there, you'll also need a registered trademark in the country you're enrolling from, along with the logo.
5. Make your listing of products and then begin to sell
Once you have selected a template, you are able to start with the page manager. It will allow you to create category pages for your products, add categories, design a homepage as well as any other pages you'd like to make part of your Amazon shopfront, to generate sales.
There are certain dimensions that you must meet You're only allowed 200 characters in your product title and that's sufficient.
"Perfect Launch," or the "Perfect Launch"
Amazon likes to promote the idea of the "Perfect Start" for sellers who are new, which means you complete five tasks within the first 90 days of creating your account as a seller. Those five tasks are:
- Join the Brand Registry
- Make A+-related content for your product pages
- Set up Fulfillment by Amazon (we'll discuss this in the future)
- Automate your pricing using Amazon's machine-learning technology.
- Design and create sponsored ads coupon codes, sales, or other deals
All this in just the initial 90-day period results with significantly higher results, according to their data, which is why they call it the perfect launch.
When your shop is up and running and you're ready to begin utilizing your brand's analytics data to design product bundles and pairings that people will want. This increases sales, and allows you to pack several items into one shipment.
Make product descriptions more appealing to be able to use Amazon
Amazon's website functions similar to an engine for searching. Shoppers can type in keywords in order to search for products, and Amazon will present them with products that align with their search.
It is the information that should be the basis for your strategy to create listing of products and to optimize your product detail page.
Search-friendly keywords
Utilize keywords shoppers may be searching for and that pertain to your items. Use them in your titles and descriptions of your products. Use variations or complementary keywords when there's more than one way customers might talk about your product. Utilize models numbers, GTINs as well as SKUs.
Details and descriptions of the informational text.
Make sure you are precise in your descriptions and details particularly for those products which have a wide range of variants, including sizes, colors and tastes.
Also, use bullet elements to make your lists simple to read and focus on positive aspects in addition to the product characteristics. Benefits are about outcomes -What do I benefit from this product? What is the problem it addresses? What is the need which this product will meet and how does it meet the need? You want to answer those kinds of questions in your descriptions of the product and bullet points.
Great product images
How to understand Amazon's charges
In the past, as mentioned it is really only two plans to choose from.
The Individual plan is priced at 99 cents per transaction. Everything you sell online under this plan will cost you 99 cents.
The Professional plan cost $39.99 per month, with an unlimited number of sales. The idea selling at least 40 items every month from. But even if you aren't sure whether you'll actually be able to sell 40 products in the initial month, opt for the Professional plan when you're determined to make this one of the most important aspects of your online business and anticipate to exceed this number later on.
If you are looking to promote on Amazon or appear in the Buy Box or sell items that are restricted to certain areas (and they are numerous of them) as well as use sophisticated selling tools, you'll need to purchase professional plan.
Amazon is also liable for a variety of selling costs that are dependent upon the agreement you have with Amazon. They also charge a variety of additional fees based on your arrangement with.
Fees for referral
Each plan charges a cost for every sale made, and the fees can range from 3% or up to 45 percent in certain occasions. The majority of fees for referrals are between 8-15%, which is quite typical for the online marketplaces.
There are many additional fees and referral charges in diverse categories of product on this page.
Fees for fulfillment and storage
If you engage Amazon in the delivery, packaging, or other fulfillment activities There will be charges for it also, and that is based on the size and weight. If you use them just for shipping, you'll pay according to both of these factors.
There are also fees for using Amazon's warehouses for storing your items. You might want to think about this because it comes with some other benefits that we'll talk about in a moment. One of the biggest advantages is that you are able to offer two-day shipping for your customers under the brand name.
In the months of October and December, storage charges will be three times more expensive than during the other 9 months due to the holiday period.
Fulfillment options -- FBM, SFP, FBA
In the same way, you have to decide what you'd like to do with fulfillment.
You may choose to process all your orders yourself this is known as "fulfillment by retailer" (FBM). You can also utilize the Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) which is a unique option for experienced Amazon sellers that you can't make use of if you're just getting started. You can also use Fulfillment offered by Amazon this is what they would like for you to try as it comes packed with rewards.
Merchants fulfill the order.
This fulfillment option provides you with the most amount of control over your fulfillment process. You can manage your orders, package them to ship them and store them in your home, warehouse, or other place. If you're doing dropshipping which Amazon allows, you will most likely opt for this method.
One disadvantage of FBM is that you aren't able to avail the benefits of becoming an Amazon Prime seller, which offers a host of benefits.
If you decide to take extra care in your packaging process it could prove to be more valuable in the event that less customers order through you due to long shipping times.
Prime Seller Fulfilled by Seller
Here, you still store your stock in your own warehouse, but Amazon takes care of the distribution process using companies of their choice.
You can't do this till you've got the time you are in your Amazon store opens:
- It offers premium shipping choices
- Ships over 90% of all orders within time
- Has an order cancellation rate that is less than 0.5%
- Uses Amazon Buy Shipping Services for 99percent of purchases
- Uses shipping methods that support weekends for delivery
- Achieves the goal of completing a trial
Get more details about the specifications.
Fulfillment through Amazon
Amazon shoppers love Prime Day, and all aspects Amazon Prime. In the past, around 70% of U.S. adults have Prime memberships. So, anything you can make to attract the Prime members is going to be to your advantage for sales.
If you opt for FBA, your Amazon business will receive a Prime Badge. When people search for items through Amazon you can select to narrow their search results based on the stores that have a Prime Badge. Therefore, if your store doesn't already have it, you will not appear in the search results for those who use this option.
Even for those who do not use filters to narrow their searches, they can still view the Prime logo beside your listing when you're employing FBA.
Also, with Prime Badges, you can give Amazon Prime's two-day free shipping and also free shipping in general. Amazon is responsible for packing, delivery, returns, and customer service issues.
FBA also allows you to make use of Amazon's machine-learning technology to assist with inventory management, which helps you plan ahead for consumer demand, so you don't procure too much or too little inventory.
You'll pay more for Fulfillment through Amazon However, you'll get more than that, plus some part of the burden of managing an ecommerce business is taken off your shoulders through the optimized Amazon fulfillment center.
So, it's a good option for businesses that value the time and labor savings and don't want to deal with shipping or storage. If you prefer handling that task yourself, to cut costs, then FBA isn't your best option.
Wait -- inventory?
If you're just beginning on your business it's likely that inventory is something that you've probably not thought very much.
Inventory depends on several factors that will be different in each company, such as:
- The amount of channels you're selling your products on
- Your industry norms
- The types of products you sell
- The size of your company
More channels and platforms you're using The more items you'll be able to sell. In terms of inventory, that makes it more difficult to manage everything.
For example, suppose you've got a warehouse 50 units of stock of a specific product and you're able to sell 30 the same items on Amazon in a month. It feels great, and you plan to restock your supply with 50 more.
But what if you're also selling your products on your store and then you've made 20 sales on merchandise the month before using that particular platform. This means that your inventory is full, and if sales increase at all during the month following it will require a greater than 50.
That's an oversimplified example, because sales do not happen all simultaneously. However, it illustrates why you have to be constantly monitoring your inventory, how quickly they are selling and what channels they're selling on Each of these could have different fulfillment procedures.
Also, you must factor in products that may be non-perishable, products that aren't selling anymore, and the high cost of storage.
No matter what you're selling you'll require a method for monitoring all this. Here's more from Amazon regarding managing inventory.
Service to customers and keeping an excellent rating for sellers
When you begin to learn how to sell your products on Amazon it will be apparent that interacting with customers is a little harder than with your own store on Amazon. However, you must develop methods to deliver customers with excellent service standard to get great seller ratings.
First, be sure that you use the descriptions of your products to be able to answer as many inquiries as you think customers might ask.
Second, use good images along with other pictures to help clients to comprehend the product they're purchasing.
Third, respond positively to any reviews you receive regardless of the reviews that you receive, even negative ones. This will show that you're aware of your clients and you want to provide your customers the best service possible.
Then one, in Amazon you can use the tool known as Brand Follow which provides an option for buyers to follow you even when they don't purchase items on their first visit. If they choose to follow you is notified of your product updates, so you have a possibility of regaining their trust.
Sell your products on Amazon; build your future around
By using the platform, you'll benefit of endless flexibility, complete control, and powerful functionality that are all free of fees through the platform. Additionally, you don't need to fret about rival items appearing on top of yours!
Selling on multiple channels helps to reach the largest proportion of your customers and get them to in the place they're. There are a variety of multi-channel extensions that allow you to connect your online store to Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Facebook, Pinterest, and many more.