David Narayan – Page 9

May 3, 2022May 2, 2022

How to Leverage Amazon FBA for Online Sales Success

The competition in the Amazon marketplace is fierce. The e-commerce giant commands a massive customer base that visits the site daily, generating billions in sales. Of those sales, 56 percent were third-party sellers.

Digging deeper, of those third-party sellers, the most successful have learned to leverage Amazon’s FBA services. As FBA caters to Amazon’s Prime Members, these sellers see better sales and conversion rates than general sellers.

For nearly every seller on Amazon, the FBA program provides a tremendous benefit. Understanding it can be a bit tricky, however. That is why today we’re going to look at what FBA is, and how you can utilize it for online sales success.

What is Amazon FBA

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service that Amazon offers to third-party sellers. The main purpose of this is to enable anyone to outsource their shipping, returns, refunds, and storage needs to Amazon’s warehouses.

Sellers simply send their products to Amazon, and they process orders. This frees the seller to do what they do best: sell.

Of course, there is a fee associated with this. However, the benefits frequently outweigh the costs for sellers. The key is to balance FBA fees and your ability to move products.

Why Use Amazon FBA?

There are many benefits to utilizing Amazon’s FBA program. These include:

Shipping

Selling products is only half the battle. Once they’re sold, you still have to wrap, stamp, and send them.

Shipping is one of the main features of the Amazon FBA program — a great relief to sellers everywhere that are sick of spending all their time on shipping.

This means all you have to do is track your listings and inventory. Then let Amazon take care of the rest of the process. Packaging, shipping, and tracking are all taken care of by Amazon directly.

Even more importantly, this gives your customers access to Amazon’s delivery times. All FBA products become eligible for Prime free shipping and shipping times.

Fast, reliable shipping is currently an expectation, not a benefit. If you were to try and keep up with the next-day shipping power of Amazon, it would require costly premium shopping rates.

Storage

Not all of us can have a spacious warehouse on standby, and let’s face it, how much inventory can you manage on your own? FBA provides a solution by granting access to virtually unlimited space via Amazon’s vast network of warehouses. For a fee, you can utilize one of the biggest networks of warehouses for your own business.

Customer Service

Amazon provides its customer service for FBA sellers. However, you can also use their platform to care for customer service needs personally while using the same platform for easier management.

Multiple Channels for Fulfillment

FBA recently started providing multi-channel solutions. As such, you can now also sell your products on other platforms such as eBay, and Amazon will still fulfill them!

With this feature, businesses can market products across platforms, and still rely on the same service.

Starting Right with FBA

As with all things, it is important to start with FBA right. Jumping in without a plan is never wise in business.

Start Smart

It is tempting to immediately start sending products to the warehouse. Before you do, you need to know what is going to sell.

Start with a small selection of items to list with FBA so you can ease into learning best practices. These should be products you are familiar with, and know are going to sell.

Once you have learned the best practices for the platform, you can diversify with other items. This will help you avoid accruing warehouse fees on items that aren’t moving.

Marketing

As in all commerce, marketing is key to getting the most out of FBA. Amazon has a massive customer base, and this means it’s an incredibly competitive market. Before getting started, make sure you’re ready to run an effective marketing campaign.

This is the secret of the top sellers on Amazon. Their marketing campaigns make their products rise above the rest. You’ll need to be ready to do the same to make your FBA products as effective as possible.

Learn and Keep SEO Best Practices

It is always best to optimize Amazon listings for organic rankings. By learning the SEO best practices for Amazon listings, you will get more out of your FBA products. To do this, format listings and include information that puts your products in front of shoppers when they make a query.

Here we’re going to list some of the most important qualities of a listing to optimize for SEO rankings on Amazon.

Description – The description should include all the information necessary for a customer to make an informed purchase.
Images – Amazon recommends sellers provide six images and at least one video for all products. You can pack a lot of selling points into these. So, do not underestimate them!
Title – Amazon provides 150 to 250 characters for titles. Make the best use of this space, and include necessary product elements and keywords here!
Backend keywords – This is the most important part of the listing that the customer can’t see. Research your product thoroughly and provide strings of the most important keywords to your product.
Bullet points – This is the place to present the most important information on a product. Amazon says keeping this section below 1,000 characters improves readability and discoverability.

Keep this information in mind when starting with FBA to ensure success and profitability.

More Tips for FBA sales

Breaking into the Amazon marketplace can be a challenge as it is. So, here are some more tips to help you with your FBA sales.

Analytics

Research is the name of the game. Use analytic tools to find the most profitable products on Amazon. This information helps determine which are the best products to sell and which will be the most successful when listed with FBA. If they’re doing well, you can get in on that success by doing well.

Bundle Items

There are a lot of similar products on Amazon. Some of these only vary slightly in price and reviews. Try bundling items to draw attention and give customers more in one listing. This will drive sales and keep warehouse fees down.

Remember your Brand

Selling is more than making products available. Asserting your brand identity with your listings is a good way to stand out on Amazon. This will build a reputation with your target audience. Those that recognize your brand provides quality products are sure to give you repeat business across product categories.

How Else Can You Succeed with Amazon

These are just some of the important points to remember when setting up with Fulfillment by Amazon. The endeavor can be complex and intimidating to newcomers looking to make a profit.

That is why at Anata we offer services that will help you handle and improve your chances on the Amazon Marketplace whether you use FBA or not. Contact us today to free yourself of the tedious parts of running an amazon marketplace.

Whether it’s education, brand essentials, or total handling of your Amazon profile, we’re here to help. We don’t get paid unless you do, so you know that we’re willing to put our money where our mouth is!

Free up your time to focus on the important things with our services.

May 2, 2022May 2, 2022

How to Successfully Market and Make Your Products Standout on Amazon

Amazon is a mighty force of eCommerce traffic. As of 2020, the number of Amazon Prime members alone numbered 200 million worldwide. That’s not to mention the number of users without a subscription looking to purchase.

Amazon offers a powerful place to sell online. However, anyone looking to sell on Amazon must prepare to make the most of this traffic. This requires optimizing listings to make the most of this traffic convert to sales as possible.

Today, we will be looking at some tips to make your product stand out on Amazon.

Make Good Use of the Search Terms Section

It’s essential to prepare for how customers word their search queries.

To do this, you need to consult the search terms section for your listing. Amazon features this section in the backend of seller central. This is where you can attach all the of the most important tags for a product (with a 250-character limit.)

Sellers should start by identifying the terms they know customers will be using for their searches. These are the terms closest related to your product in terms of specificity. Then the seller can add these terms to the field including their variations such as plural and singular.

From there, it is important to remember that Amazon isn’t looking for coherent sentences, it’s only scanning for terms. As such, a search term field can be a string of words connected to the product with no rhyme or reason.

That means a search terms section can appear as the following: USB microphone microphones mic boom booms studio studios streaming gaming recording record stream game pc pcs.

Amazon’s search will scan for these terms when a user makes a query, attempting to connect them to the most relevant products. The example above would make an appearance for users with queries such as, “USB microphones with Studio Booms”

Additionally, sellers must be wary of using prohibited words that are subjective, temporary, profanity, or considered a brand name.

Customers Will Judge A Listing by the Title

The title is one of the first things a customer will see for your listing. If your listing doesn’t match their criteria, they will continue on their way without giving it a second thought. For this reason, optimizing your title is absolutely vital.

The title is a good place to place important keywords. Include the necessary elements of your product like the brand name, name of the product, and any distinguishing features. Sellers must present information in a way that is easily read in 150 to 250 characters.

A simple example of an effective title would be: USB Condenser Microphone with Studio Boom Arm – Easy to Use – for Recording, Streaming, and Gaming – Branded Name – Black

This example provides everything a customer needs to know about the product, what it features, who it’s by, and what they can use it for. What’s more, it includes the important keywords for customers making search queries such as “microphone with a studio boom,” “USB microphone” or “condenser microphone.”

Quality Images Sell Quality Products

Another key component to an effective Amazon listing is only using the best product images. The images attached to a listing are the closest the customer can come to the experience of handling the actual product.

They are the first impression of your business. You can think of these images as a digital window display for your products. Amazon recommends listings include six photos and at least one video.

Amazon also has an exhaustive list of requirements to show your products. Some of these requirements are technical whereas others are stylistic. Let’s review some of these requirements below:

Amazon Image Requirements

Amazon requires all images to be an accurate depiction of the product for sale. Additionally, 85% of the image must be the product itself listed with no pixelation or blur. You can design any photo that is not the main photo in any way that stays within Amazon’s product style guides.

The main image is the first image in a listing and has stricter requirements. Amazon requires these to be professional-quality photos of the actual product on a pure white background. These images cannot include any form of text or infographic.

With these, it’s important that you do not show any accessories not included with the product. As with all pictures, consult the specific style guide for the main images. For example, main images for men’s and women’s clothing require a human model in a standing position.

Tips for Effective Images

Once you have ensured that your images meet all of Amazon’s requirements, the fun part begins. Product images are a chance to give potential customers as much visual information as possible. As we’ve mentioned before, customers like to handle products, and effective images are the closest to offering that experience.

Here are some tips for creating effective product images:

Use all available space for your images – Infographics and eye-catching graphics are effective tools to use on any image that isn’t the main one. These allow you to provide close-ups of various sections of your product along with text highlighting the most important features. As a result, businesses can market these features at a glance in a more engaging way than a title alone.
Take advantage of multiple angles – Customers like to examine what they’re buying. By providing multiple images of your products from diverse angles, you provide customers with an opportunity to give the product a closer look.
Display products in appropriate settings – By displaying your products in lifestyle-like photos, you can help your customer imagine using them in their day-to-day life. This gives life to your product. That means spatulas shown flipping burgers in the kitchen, or models speaking into a microphone.

The Power of Bullet Points

The customer has found your listing, seen your title, and perused your images. Now they need to know more. This is where bullet points come into play.

Bullet points offer the opportunity to expand further on the features of your product. It may be tempting to fill this space with keywords, but good bullet points naturally include these while describing a product. Amazon says keeping this section below 1,000 total characters improves both discoverability and readability.

Bullets should contain brief statements or short paragraphs at most. The first few of these bullet points are best utilized by highlighting the most important features of your product.

What is it that makes your product the best product for your customer? Spend the first two to three bullets here answering that question. To add extra punch, lead with your product’s key features in all caps.

Once you’ve highlighted these features, use the remaining bullets to answer any big questions or concerns you think a customer might have. Is there a warranty? What is your product compatible with? These can also double as selling points

What Else Can You do?

These are just a few tips on how to market products on Amazon Marketplace. It’s easy to see why selling through Amazon can seem like an intimidating endeavor.

Thankfully, at Anata, we offer innovative services to help handle and improve your Amazon Marketplace. Contact us today so we can help you handle as many of these elements as you would like.

Our services free up your precious time to focus on other aspects of your business.

What has worked for you on Amazon Marketplace?

April 25, 2022April 25, 2022

What We Often Get Wrong About E-Commerce — And Why It Matters

E-commerce saw a spike of 25.7% at the start of the pandemic in 2020. By 2025, projections expect the industry to hit $7.385 trillion.

Needless to say, this would absolutely blow the minds of businesses in the late 1990s when e-commerce began. However, it is important to note that this skyrocketing industry has also experienced a rapid evolution in the process.

As a result of this, e-commerce has become a troublesome subject to understand. In the process, it created numerous misconceptions which companies must understand if they wish to utilize e-commerce platforms.

Let’s address some of these misconceptions about how e-commerce works to be better prepared for the digital marketplace.

Misconception: Brick & Mortar Stores and E-Commerce are at Odds

One of the first and biggest misconceptions about how e-commerce works came shortly after the rise of Amazon just a decade ago.

There rose a panic at the time that e-commerce had the destiny to replace in-person shopping. However, in the years since, we have found that is not the case.

In-person stores have become vital, driving factors in demand. On the other hand, e-commerce has become vital to reach customers wherever they are. They each have proven advantages against each other, but their true power is as complementary systems.

In-Person Stores Drive Demand

Many in-person stores have shifted to an omnichannel sales model, investing more and more in their e-commerce platforms. Walmart as an example invested $14 billion in their logistics and automation last year.

They did this partly to enhance their e-commerce capabilities in 2021. Estimates from the company have its e-commerce revenue approaching $200 billion over the coming years.

Why is this important? Despite the radical growth of e-commerce in recent years, recent studies have found that physical stores remain vital to retailers. Stores compensate for the unfortunate limitation of e-commerce: physical customer engagement. That is why many businesses that start as online stores expand into physical locations.

A physical location enables customers to handle, test, and try out products before purchase. This enhances customer value through physical engagement that increases satisfaction.

A higher value means happier customers that are likely to repeat business with the store via their e-commerce platform. This is how hybrid models have managed to outpace many digital-only platforms.

Misconception: E-Commerce is Cheap and Easily Scaled

As domain names and hosting became more attainable in the information age, there grew a misconception that digital space was a cheap and easy place from which to work. Online stores have always been an abundant part of the internet but often fall to the wayside.

Many believe that one merely needs a website and inventory to start a successful e-commerce business. However, several factors have proven that wrong. A few of the most common of these include:

Cost

There are the obvious costs of setting up an e-commerce business. These might include things like website design, platform payments, hosting, etc. Everyone knows about these and many know they are notoriously inexpensive.

Knowledge of this low barrier for the minimum of a website conceals the true cost beyond it.

What many do not know is that e-commerce requires consistent marketing to remain viable. Whereas physical locations attract customers organically, digital spaces must work extensive marketing campaigns to gain customers. You’re not going to catch somebody driving their car past your website.

This customer acquisition cost can prove to be the biggest expense for a new e-commerce business, and risk becoming untenable in the long run.

Many e-commerce businesses have failed by never self-correcting for these costs, failing to invest in the long-term value of their customers.

Scalability

It is important to understand why future-proof scalability becomes a challenge in e-commerce. It is an issue that all platforms experience, even Amazon, and this issue is often a matter of traffic and performance.

As your audience grows, so does the traffic on your website. Should it grow beyond your platform’s ability to compensate, bottlenecks form, and performance suffers.

This damages the user experience in a way that will increase bounce rates exponentially depending on the level of performance issues. Google reports that pages that see an increase in load time from 1 to 3 seconds experience more frequent bounce rates.

This indicates a drastic loss of potential customers.

Thus, e-commerce businesses must find consistent and cost-effective solutions to scalability. Cutting corners in this area is the surest way for an otherwise successful digital business to stagnant or fail.

Conclusion

These misconceptions are common hindrances to all new and established businesses. Whether you are looking to expand into e-commerce or improve on your current platforms. At Anata, we recognize these issues quickly and correct them accordingly.
These misconceptions are only a few of the hidden hurdles in how e-commerce works. Luckily, you don’t have to face them alone!

What was something you wish you knew about e-commerce before you got into it?

April 21, 2022April 21, 2022

How to Use Amazon Launchpad After Your Successful Crowdfunding Campaign

Found yourself here after crowdfunding your product and you’re just not sure where to take it from there? You’re able to start manufacturing now, but where should you sell your product and keep that momentum going from?

There are many options for steps you could take after crowdfunding a project. For many, Amazon Launchpad represents the best possible option.

What Is Amazon Launchpad?

Amazon Launchpad is a portal on the Amazon platform created in 2015 in conjunction with over 25 venture capital firms, crowdfunding platforms, and startup accelerators.

This portal exists to help startups market and sell their products on the Amazon marketplace. This helps them to get worldwide discoverability. But what makes selling on Launchpad different from selling on Amazon?

Benefits of Amazon Launchpad

Amazon Launchpad offers a few benefits for startups that normal sellers on Amazon do not get. These include:

Startup Aide

Amazon Launchpad provides startups with additional help on the platform. The Launchpad team handles things like inventory management, customer service, and order fulfillment for startup brands.

Dedicated Launchpad Team

Another benefit of Amazon Launchpad is the support from the Launch team. They will answer questions and assist vendors with onboarding as well. Also offered is a dedicated team of experts to help guide vendors through their entire membership.

Product Story

Amazon Launchpad allows you to not only sell your products on the Amazon marketplace but also tell your customers the story of your product. This highly customizable detail page can help to get your customers’ attention.

Access to Exclusive Promotions

Members gain access to special promotions. These promotions, such as gift guides, can help increase discoverability in the Amazon marketplace. This means more exposure to your product and your brand.

Drawbacks of Amazon Launchpad

Here are a few possible drawbacks of using Amazon Launchpad for your product:

A Lack of Brand Control

With Amazon Launchpad, your product is going to be appearing on the Amazon platform. While this is a great way to get people all over the world to see your product, it is not very conducive to brand loyalty.

Oftentimes when people buy something on Amazon they are looking for the product that best fits their desire. They are less concerned with the brand that makes it and is less likely to become returning customers.

Reduced Margins of Profit

As mentioned above, Amazon Launchpad is an effective way of improving product visibility. However, you need to keep in mind that you’re selling your product as an Amazon seller. This means that Amazon will be taking some of your profits as its fee for letting you sell your product on Amazon.

Copycats

While Amazon does require a trademark for the Brand Registry, there is still a very real concern of copycat products. If you decide to sell your product on Amazon (with Launchpad or not) you will want to keep an eye out for any copycat items. You can report these to Amazon as infringements to your brand.

Is Amazon Launchpad Right for Your Product?

If you already have a large inventory of your product and you have plans to continue manufacturing it on a large scale, then this platform could be a great choice for your startup brand.

Keep in mind, however, that not all types of products sell well on marketplaces like Amazon. Still, if you are selling consumer goods made for the average person, Amazon Launchpad is likely a great option.

That is, as long as you’re okay with the following:

To successfully sell your product on Launchpad, there are a few things you should keep in mind:

You’ll need to have your product in stock and ready to sell on a large scale. Amazon is a large platform. To ensure the satisfaction of your customers, you will need to make sure you have enough stock.
Amazon will be taking a share of your profits for the privilege of allowing you to sell on its platform. You sell the product to Amazon on wholesale terms and they sell it at the retail price.

Don’t Attack the Issue Alone!

Now that you’re more familiar with the ins and outs of Launchpad it should be easier deciding on if it’s the right move for you. If it is, you can sign up by visiting the page for the service and signing up.

Still, even if it is right for you, starting and maintaining an Amazon account takes a lot of hard work and dedication. Luckily, you don’t have to do it alone!

At Anata, making sure that you don’t get stuck on Seller Central is our specialty. We’d love to talk more about your business, Amazon, and how you can get the most out of the platform. Contact us today or comment below to start a conversation!

Do you have experience with Launchpad? What’s your opinion on it?

April 19, 2022April 19, 2022

How Amazon Brand Analytics Is Useful for Amazon Sellers?

If you’re a business owner, you should be working to eat up every last bit of data that you can. There is nothing more precious in business than the data of your customers. In fact, some reports have even found data to be more valuable than oil!

Amazon Brand Analytics represents another option in that same tool chest. Fine-tuning your marketing is one of the main ways that you can elevate the scope and size of your business. Without any analysis or analytics, you are likely to find your business blinded to any potential growth opportunities.

Brand Analytics offers a detailed breakdown of your customers and how they interact with your brand and products. This enables companies to finetune their process and speak more directly to the people most interested in their offerings.

Companies that don’t take advantage of the information available are handicapping themselves from effectively moving forward. With this in mind, we want to provide you with a detailed understanding of this vital tool and tips for how to use it.

What is Amazon Brand Analytics?

Like other analytical platforms, Amazon Brand Analytics is a win-win for the company and the consumer. Amazon offers it free to all Amazon Brand Owners because increasing your sales is good for both parties.

Other platforms like Google Analytics or website analytic resources won’t cover Amazon so they came up with a solution of their own. Enter, Amazon Brand Analytics – also sometimes referred to as Amazon Retail Analytics.

How to Use Amazon Brand Analytics

As stated above, if you’re a member of the Brand Registry, you’re already eligible for Analytics. If you are not, these steps will allow you to enroll:

Log into your seller/vendor account
Visit the Brand Registry page
Provide Key information (brand name, trademark number, product categories, etc.)

After a brief verification process, Amazon will grant access to new features in your account – like Brand Analytics.

Different Reports on Amazon Brand Analytics

One of the benefits of Amazon analytics is that it allows access to a myriad of metrics related to your marketing. There are six main types of reports they provide to give insight into the sales and marketing of your business. Here’s a brief understanding of each of these:

Search Term Report

This shows the search words that customers used to find products within your industry. Keywords help increase your visibility and ensure your product is getting in front of the right audience.

The Amazon Search Term Report also provides information on what people typically click on after using specific keywords. This allows you to better understand other interests your customers may have.

Alternate Purchase Report

Alternate purchase reports take your product and compare it to the other ones that customers are viewing. With this data, companies can determine the top-five products in their industry and how they stack up against the competition.

Item Comparison Report

Somewhat similar to the alternate purchase report, this one enables companies to see how users are interacting with your brand as compared to others. Use this information to get a clearer understanding of how your competitors work and how frequently users view their products.

Demographics Report

It’s much easier to target your audience when you understand who they are. A demographic report breaks down the characteristics of the people that are visiting your product and buying from it.

Among the data points laid out in this report are:

How many unique buyers does a product have?
The demographic breakdown of each product
The number of users that have purchased the product

And plenty more.

Repeat Purchase Behavior Report

If you have a product meant for regular purchase, this report is for you. With this report, businesses can clearly see what items customers are buying repeatedly (and what ones they aren’t.)

Without this information, it is hard to tell if a surge in business is a long-term adjustment or a temporary one.

Market Basket Report

What are customers buying along with your product? If you notice repeated purchases of a product or type of item, it could open numerous avenues to expand down the line. Whether it’s through a partnership or an additional offering, there is a lot you can do with this information!

Unlock your True Potential with Anata!

Don’t get caught up in having to figure it all out on your own. Anata is here to help businesses navigate the turbulent waters of Amazon and Seller Central. Our dedicated team of experts is available with a range of offerings from educational tools to full-on management.

We use these reports and more to tailor a system meant specifically for you and your business. Don’t ever get stuck on Amazon Seller Central again, connect with us today and let us walk you through the many ways we can help unlock the true potential of your business!

What’s your experience with Brand Analytics? Sound off in the comments!

April 14, 2022April 14, 2022

How to Get Reviews on Amazon in 2022

Everyone wants to see good ratings when they are thinking about buying a product. Many people may even select one product listing over another because one has better reviews — even if it is the same product from the same manufacturer.

Two years ago, in 2020, Amazon moved from “Reviews” to “Ratings.” The new “Ratings” category includes both written reviews and the 1-5 star rating system that many of us are so used to seeing on Amazon listings. With this transition, Amazon has made it easier for customers to rate their purchases by removing the requirement for a written review

Even though leaving reviews on products is easier now, it can still feel like pulling teeth to get customers to do so. Here are a few tips that you can use to help get more customers to review your product listing and help your product stand up to (and apart from) the competition.

How to Get Reviews

There are many options for boosting customer reviews. Here are our top 7:

1. Amazon Vine

The first way that you can increase your number of reviews on one of your product listings is to use Amazon Vine. This program is available to all sellers and allows you to get your product to the “Vine Voices” — people who have a history of leaving helpful reviews on products.

Amazon Vine costs $200 per product that you enroll in the program and you can only enroll products with fewer than 30 reviews. Because of this, Amazon Vine can be a great place to get some reviews early on in a product listing’s lifespan. However, keep in mind that on Amazon Vine, low ratings are a definite possibility.

The reviewers are often more critical than average, so ratings that are 1-3 stars are not uncommon.

2. Amazon’s “Request a Review”

In 2019, Amazon introduced the Request a Review button. This allows you to request a review from customers who have purchased your product. Using this button can help dramatically increase the probability of your existing customers leaving reviews and is the most effective strategy for doing so.

There are a few things to keep in mind when using the Request a Review button on Amazon.

You can only use it within 4-30 days of a customer receiving the order
You cannot customize the message.
Both product rating requests and seller feedback requests will be in the same email to the customer.
You can still request a review in another way even if you use the Request a Review button.

3. Launch New Products Using Promotions

Using promotions can be a helpful way to get your product listing noticed by new customers. This increased exposure can help increase the number of reviews you receive by increasing the number of people purchasing your product.

Additionally, promotions often make a customer feel as if they are getting a great deal on a product. This can make them more excited about the product and lead to a greater likelihood of them leaving a review. Some very useful promotion types to use for your products are percentage-off and buy one, get one free deals.

4. Use Product Inserts

These are a card or piece of packaging that asks your customer to leave a review of their item on your product listing. This method of encouraging customers to leave reviews is one of the most popular. All it takes is a little card that you can customize and place into your product packaging.

It is important to keep Amazon’s rules about review requests in mind when you create your product insert — especially since Amazon has a zero-tolerance policy for breaking any of their product review policies.

To make sure that your product review complies with Amazon’s rules but is still helpful in getting your brand more recognition, follow these 3 tips:

Ask for product reviews, but do not ask or tell your customers to give you a five-star review.
Use this product insert to give your customer useful information about your product and your brand. Make sure to include contact information so that your customers can contact you. While this does not rule out the possibility of a negative review, it does give your customers the chance to contact you directly about any issues first.
Incentivize your customers to join your email lists or follow your social media account. This can help you retain customers longer-term while not breaking any of Amazon’s rules — such as financially incentivizing customers to leave reviews.

5. Use Great Packaging

Many people under-value packaging when deciding how to ship (or even photograph) their products. But, in eCommerce especially, great packaging can be what saves you from a negative product review.

Packaging is the first impression people have of your product. If it comes in damaged or is a bad design, your customers are much more likely to look for (and find) flaws in the product itself. Not only do you want to make sure that your packaging is sturdy, but also aesthetically pleasing. Also, make sure to include use-manuals and any other product inserts that can give your product an overall more refined feeling.

6. Request Reviews

Let’s face it, for the majority of the time, the best way to get more reviews is simply to ask for them. If you want more product reviews, try reaching out to your customers — especially those who have left good seller feedback. While good seller feedback is great for your overall Amazon shop, if you want to improve your product rating, you need product reviews.

So, try contacting customers who have already left positive seller feedback and ask them to give your product a review. Most of the time people do not recognize the difference between these two types of reviews and end up only doing one or the other.

By messaging these customers, you can remind them that they are two different types of reviews and both are helpful to your business.

7. Contact Customers Who Have Left Negative Reviews

In 2021, Amazon began offering sellers a way to contact customers who left poor reviews (3 stars or lower) for their products. This new feature allows you to begin a dialogue with customers who have left negative reviews and hopefully be able to fix the issue. This can lead to the customer deciding to revise or delete the review.

Keep in mind that to use this feature you must be Brand Registered. Also, nothing is forcing the customer to change or delete their review even if you do address the issue they had with your product.

While this tip will not exactly help you to get more reviews, it can help you to lessen the number of negative reviews that your product has — which will help to increase your overall product rating.

Final Notes

As we mentioned above in some of the tips, Amazon has a no-tolerance policy when it comes to its product review policies. The biggest takeaway from Amazon’s product review rules is that you cannot incentivize or cherry-pick good reviews.

But, so long as you abide by the policies that Amazon has created, there are many ways to increase the number of reviews you are getting for your product listings. At the very least, make sure that you are using Amazon’s methods for getting more reviews because these methods are 100% certain to follow Amazon’s strict product review rules.
The best resource for help managing your Amazon store is through a dedicated, professional, third party. That’s where we come in! If you want to make sure that you never get stuck on Seller Central again, contact us at Anata Inc!

April 12, 2022April 12, 2022

Bulk Buying is Still In: How to Leverage the Trend on Amazon

April 8, 2022April 8, 2022

What Is Amazon Automation and Why Is It Controversial?

Today it is harder than ever to run a successful Amazon store — in fact, it is becoming harder and harder to sell products on any platform.

As more small businesses continue to emerge with specific viewpoints and followings, the eCommerce industry grows more and more competitive. So, how can you compete with the thousands of competitors in the industry?

Is Amazon automation the solution to this ever-growing competition?

That’s what we’re going to look into here today. Let’s dive into what Amazon automation is, the controversy surrounding this service, and things to keep in mind if you are looking to automate your Amazon store.

What Is Amazon Automation?

There has been a lot of confusion surrounding what exactly “Amazon automation” means. Is this automation referring to the automation of certain tasks and processes of your Amazon store or does it mean hiring an outside agency to build and run your Amazon business for you? In this case, “Amazon automation” can refer to both.

So, before getting into the cautions and concerns surrounding the concept of automating your Amazon store, let’s detail these two meanings.

1. Task Automation

Up first is the automation of tasks and processes within your existing Amazon store. This type of automation is not unique to Amazon sellers, all industries have been adopting this approach to better manage their time, improve efficiency, and drive growth.

This type of automation enables you to spend your time and energy focusing on growth instead of managing repetitive tasks. This can be especially useful if you are managing your account alone. If you are using Amazon’s FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) service you are already automating your fulfillment process.

Task automation is incredibly useful to both new and existing Amazon sellers. It allows them to focus more on creating and implementing sales and growth strategies than on completing the tedious tasks needed to keep the store running.

2. Full Amazon Store Automation

The other definition of Amazon automation is a full store automation service. This is quite a few steps above task automation since it is the automation of your entire Amazon store. In this instance, you would hire an agency company to build and run your Amazon store for you — giving you a hands-free Amazon business.

Oftentimes, these Amazon automation companies will include the following services:

Research products
Contact suppliers
Set up your Amazon account
Handle shipping
Manage Amazon listings
Manage advertising
Manage the business
Share the profits with you

This is where the controversy comes in. While it is true that there are companies out there that will do all of these things, there are also many that may give you these promises as a chance to take your money and run.

What Is the Controversy with Amazon Automation?

As we mentioned above, the controversy comes in with the full Amazon store automation definition of “Amazon automation.”

This is because while many people have had a great experience with this full automation, others have been seriously scammed. Unfortunately, this is just the nature of this type of full automation service.

To have a successful shop you need to put in a lot of work, and if you don’t have time or don’t want to put in that work yourself, a full Amazon automation service might be a good option for you. Just make sure to read on for important tips to keep in mind if you decide to pursue this type of business.

Is Amazon Automation the Next Step for You?

If you’re considering automation as the next step for your Amazon business, you first need to decide which type of automation you’re looking to explore. Is it going to be task automation or full Amazon store automation?

If you’re wanting to pursue complete store automation, keep just one (incredibly important) thing in mind — make sure you’re working with the right company. These four questions can assist when you’re trying to differentiate between legitimate organizations and scams.

Is the company transparent about both its services and fees?
Are they providing you with a realistic timeline for your investment?
Do they have testimonials from previous or existing clients? If so, are they favorable?
Are the people who will be managing your Amazon account experienced in the field?

Wrapping Up

We hope that this piece has helped you learn more about Amazon automation and cleared some of the confusion about what it is and the controversies around it.

What do you think? Is Amazon automation the next step for your Amazon store? Leave us a comment below about your thoughts or experience with Amazon automation to let us know what we missed!
So, if you’re looking for help automating your Amazon account, Anata is here for you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us today to see how we can help!

April 6, 2022April 6, 2022

How Amazon A9 Algorithm Works?

Adding a product listing to Amazon’s marketplace without regard for Amazon SEO is not enough. Making sure that the A9 algorithm picks up and promotes your products is essential to having successful product listings. While Amazon does not exactly detail how its algorithm works, there is a clear goal in mind:

The A9 algorithm promotes products that customers actually buy.

In this article, we’ll look into what the A9 algorithm is, which factors influence it, and how to better optimize your listings to rank higher on Amazon’s search results.

What Is Amazon A9 Algorithm?

Before we can get into details about how Amazon’s A9 Algorithm works, we need to understand what it is. This algorithm is what powers Amazon’s search engine — it is essentially the foundation for “Amazon SEO.”

SEO stands for “Search Engine Optimization” and details the process of enhancing the positioning of your post.

While it may sound strange to use the term “SEO” for a marketplace like Amazon, the A9 Algorithm is quite similar to any other SEO algorithm. There is, of course, one major difference between Amazon’s algorithm and Google’s.

Where SEO algorithms for search engines focus on promoting the most relevant web pages, Amazon’s algorithm emphasizes the conversion rate of product listings. In other words, it focuses on promoting products that sell.

What Influences the A9 Algorithm?

The factors that influence the algorithm for Amazon include:

Keyword Relevance

Relevant keywords help Amazon’s A9 Algorithm to know what your product is as well as what it does. The more relevant your keywords are, the more likely your product is to show up in search results looking for your product or similar products.

To find out if a keyword is relevant to your product, you can try searching the term in Amazon’s search bar and see if products like yours show up.

Conversion Rate

While many factors go into the algorithm as a whole, it strongly favors products that produce higher conversion rates.

As an e-commerce website, this emphasis on conversion rates makes sense. If your product isn’t selling, it won’t appear high in the search results.

Sales Velocity

The algorithm will promote products that are being consistently searched for and purchased. This means the more products you sell, the higher those products will rank on Amazon’s search results.

Sales Rank

This is a number that Amazon assigns to all Amazon listings as soon as they have had a sale. For Amazon, this use of the “Amazon Best Sellers Rank” (BSR) is to compare how well products are selling in their categories and sub-categories.

The algorithm will promote products that rank higher as customers are more likely to trust a higher-ranking product.

Reviews

A lot of people read reviews before purchasing to determine if the product is actually how it appears online. The algorithm is more likely to promote products with more reviews because people are more likely to buy the product.

Fulfillment Method

The A9 algorithm will often rank products that are “Fulfilled by Amazon” (FBA) higher than those that ship independently. This is because these FBA products are eligible for Amazon’s signature 1-2 day Prime shipping option — a big draw for many customers.

How Can You Optimize Your Product Listings for the A9 Algorithm?

There’s more to the A9 algorithm than simple optimization of your Amazon product listings. Here are some other key factors:

Product Titles

You want one main keyword phrase at the beginning of the title and you do not want to repeat words. After your keyword phrase, add additional descriptors, such as size, color, or model.

Bullet Points

This is where you can put any additional information or details that you aren’t able to show in your title or images. These details help customers understand your product and make informed decisions before purchasing.

Images

All images on your listing should be high-quality, clear, and crisp. Make sure that your product photos do not include too much white space. A lot of white space will lead to a very unclear thumbnail image of your product. Other images to include could be instructional photos or photos that detail your product.

Product Description

This is where you get to describe to your customers how your product is going to help them.

For example, what will be in the package if a customer purchases the product? Is there a warranty? Is there else they would need to purchase separately to use your product?

Backend Keywords

These keywords are not seen by customers, they are exclusively for the A9 algorithm. These keywords are essential to making sure that the A9 algorithm will see your listing.

Need Help Optimizing and Managing Your Amazon Listings?

With all these things to keep in mind to keep your Amazon listings ranking well, it can be extremely overwhelming to manage it all on your own. But you don’t have to do it alone! Anata is here to help!

If you want help managing your account, optimizing your listings, and much more, reach out to us today!

What would you do with all that reclaimed time?

April 1, 2022April 4, 2022

How to Dropship on Amazon

Dropshipping is a method of retail fulfillment that uses a third party to ship the product to the customer. Under this fulfillment style, someone purchases a product from a retailer who then places an order with a third party. Third parties are companies like a manufacturer or other retailers.

This third party will then ship the product directly to the customer. As a result, the retailer never actually has the product they are selling physically with them and in stock.

How to Start Dropshipping on Amazon

Dropshipping on Amazon is a simple process and easy to begin. Let’s go over the easy 5-step process for getting started:

1. Open a Seller Account on Amazon

Step one is to create a seller account for yourself on Amazon. To do this, you will have to select a payment plan, input your credit card information, and provide Amazon with some basic details about yourself. There are two different payment plans available for Amazon seller accounts.

First, there is the Individual plan. This plan charges your on-file credit card $0.99 each time you sell an item.
Second, is the Professional plan. This plan charges your on-file credit card $39.99 per month — regardless of how many items you sell each month.

Amazon will also collect a “referral fee” on each sale you make. The percentage depends on the product category and is variable.

2. Choose Your Products

Once you have created your Amazon seller account, you need to choose what types of products you want to dropship on Amazon. It is important to think carefully about this step because while some categories are open to any Amazon sellers, some are not.

Some product categories require approval to sell, a professional account, and other restrictions. Some won’t allow third-party sellers at all.

It’s important to do research on the product you’re wanting to sell before creating the account.

3. Find Your Supplier(s)

Step three is finding suitable suppliers to dropship for. Like choosing the right products, choosing the right supplier(s) is essential to the success of your business. If you are using a supplier that does not offer high-quality products or is inconsistent with their orders, your business could end up with a bad reputation.

When looking for a new supplier, it’s wise to keep these tips in mind:

Reach out directly to manufacturers to see if they can ship the products you are looking for.
Always make sure the supplier is within the budget that you have set for yourself.
Look at competitors and see what suppliers they use.
Know the supplier’s minimum order quantity

4. List Your Products

After you have selected a supplier to work with, it is time to start listing your products on your Amazon seller account.

You can create these listings in Seller Central or via API. These listings will include information such as:

A product identifier that identifies the exact product you are selling.
An SKU which is a product identifier you create to track your own inventory.
The offer details such as price, condition of the product, availability, and options for shipping.
The product details such as name, brand, images, description, and category.
Keywords and other search terms for customers to find your product.

5. Market Yourself!

The last step is to increase your online presence by marketing your business. As a dropshipper, there are many different ways that you can market your business, such as social media. Using social media you can boost your visibility and post proof of how well your business is working as well as include reviews from your customers to gain credibility.

Tips for Dropshipping

Here are some additional tips to help your dropshipping business be more successful:

Only work with reputable manufacturers. This ensures that your customers will be receiving high-quality products every time.
Keep up with the latest trends and look for opportunities to sell seasonal products.
Look for products that your competitors aren’t selling to stand out from the crowd and offer something different to your customers.
Always make sure that you are optimizing your listings for maximum visibility.
Focus on niche products. As an online retailing practice, you can offer more specialized products than brick-and-mortar stores. And because these products are not offered in larger retailers, people who want them will land right on your listing.
Encourage your customers to leave reviews of their experience with your business. This helps to improve your credibility and increase your online visibility as well.

What has worked best for you with dropshipping? What hasn’t lived up to the hype? Drop a comment below to tell us what we’ve missed!

If you want some help with your dropshipping business, contact us today to learn about how we can empower you to focus more on the success of your business!