6 Things You Must Learn Before Selling On Amazon

Selling on Amazon is a great opportunity for individuals and businesses to reach a large audience and make money. Amazon is the largest e-commerce platform in the world, with millions of customers shopping on the site every day. By selling on Amazon, you can tap into this massive customer base and increase your visibility and sales.

Before launching your brand on Amazon, it's important to learn as much as you can so you can avoid pitfalls, and mistakes made by sellers before you. Thus, research is just as important as launching your products so you can increase your chances of success, and prevent any capital loss.

1. Research categories, and products

Researching your product/niche is a crucial step in launching an Amazon FBA business. By choosing a product that is in high demand and has low competition, you'll be able to increase your chances of success. Make sure to use tools like Amazon's Best Seller Rank, Google Trends, and Jungle Scout to evaluate market demand and competition levels. Using Amazon seller tools such as Jungle Scout or Helium 10 can help streamline your Amazon FBA business and maximise your sales potential.

This will help you make informed decisions about your product selection and pricing. Additionally, it's important to analyse the product's profitability beforehand by considering factors like manufacturing costs, shipping costs, and Amazon's referral and fulfillment fees.

2. Choosing a product or niche to build a brand around

When choosing a product, it's important to consider the size, weight, and practicality of the product for shipping, as well as the demand and competition in the market. More importantly, you must present a solution/products that are different from the competitors, otherwise you may risk being mediocre and having to go into price wars with similar products on the marketplace.

• Seasonality: Consider if the product you're interested in selling has any seasonality, as this could impact demand and sales.
• Profit margin: Make sure the product you're considering has a healthy profit margin to ensure a good return on investment
• Advertising cost: try to get cost per click data in your category which's a crucial piece in launching, and so you're well prepped as far as budgeting. Without advertising, it's almost impossible to keep your product ranking on top of search without significant ad-spend.
• Legal requirements: Make sure the product you're interested in selling is compliant with all relevant laws and regulations, including labeling and safety requirements.
• Intellectual property: Make sure the product you're interested in selling doesn't infringe on any patents or trademarks.
• Supply chain: Ensure that there is a reliable and consistent supply chain for the product, so that you can meet customer demand.

By considering these factors, you can make an informed decision about the product you choose and ensure that it will be a good fit to sustain as a business in the future.

3. Sourcing your products

You can either manufacture your product or purchase it from a wholesaler or supplier. Make sure to choose a reliable source to ensure product quality and avoid any legal issues.

Research potential suppliers to determine their reliability, experience, and product quality. You can read reviews and testimonials, or ask for references. Once you have identified a potential supplier, negotiate the terms of your agreement, including the price, payment terms, delivery schedule, and any other important details.

Make sure the supplier you're working with has the proper licenses, certifications, and insurance in place. Before placing an order, request and inspect samples to ensure that the product meets your standards and specifications.

4. Prepare to spend on advertising

Marketing and promotions are important for driving sales and building your brand on Amazon. You can use Amazon's sponsored products, sponsored brands, and sponsored display advertising to drive more visibility to your product listings (cost per click model). 

Given the fierce competition, advertising can be very expensive, therefore you may want to consider working with an Amazon PPC expert who can help you set budgets, do forecasts, cut wasted ad-spend, daily bid optimisations....etc. To help ensure you apply the best marketing strategies that can maximise sales, and profits.

You can also choose to work with an agency or use software like adtomic by Helium10 or downstream by Junglescout. Though, Amazon software tools are definitely effective to do bulk changes such as bid optimisation, yet they’re not up to par with manual PPC management.  

To learn more about the difference between hiring Amazon advertising agencies vs softwares vs freelancers, check out this guide.

5. Launch with a well optimised listing

Creating a detailed and compelling product listing on Amazon is an important step in launching your Amazon FBA business. Here are some additional tips to keep in mind:

• Use keywords: Make sure to include relevant keywords in your product title, description, and bullet points to help customers find your product when they search on Amazon.
• High-quality images: Include high-quality images that accurately represent your product, including multiple angles and close-up shots.
• Detailed product description: Write a detailed product description that accurately and completely describes your product, its features, and benefits.
• Competitive pricing: Make sure to set a competitive price for your product, taking into account the cost of production, shipping, and any other relevant expenses.
• Monitor and update your listing: Regularly monitor your product listing and make any necessary updates to ensure that it remains accurate and up-to-date.

Keeping your product listings well-optimised helps maximise your conversion rate, and sales consequently. This is paramount for newbie sellers or 7 figure brands.

6. Monitor your performance monthly, weekly if not daily

Monitoring your sales performance and customer feedback is crucial to the success of your Amazon FBA business. It helps you understand what's working well and what's not, so you can make the necessary changes to improve your customer experience and increase sales.

Some key metrics to track include:

• Sales volume: Monitor the number of units sold and the revenue generated by your products.
• Customer reviews: Read and respond to customer reviews, and use the feedback to improve your product and listing.
• Conversion rate: Track the percentage of visitors to your product page who make a purchase. You can find sessions in business reports as well as your "unit session percentage" which's your total listing conversion rate. 
• Return rate: Monitor the rate at which customers return your products and use the information to identify and resolve any quality or customer service issues.
• Advertising performance: Track the performance of your advertising campaigns and make changes to improve the ROI.

By regularly monitoring these metrics, you can stay on top of your business performance and make data-driven decisions to grow your Amazon FBA business.

Conclusion

In conclusion, launching an Amazon FBA business requires careful planning and execution. By conducting market research, finding a reliable supplier, creating a strong brand, and executing advertising properly, you can effectively launch your products on Amazon. 

Regular monitoring of your sales performance, inventory levels and customer feedback is also essential to the success of your business. By following these steps and being proactive in your approach, you can increase your chances of success and growth over time.