Do you want to learn how to sell on Amazon? Here's What You'll Need
If you run a successful online store or are just starting to establish your own brand You've likely thought about the advantages and disadvantages of selling your products on Amazon.
In general, you'll earn an increase in revenue and equity in your business through the creation and maintenance of an online store on your website. But, thanks to all the technology that makes multi-channel selling more effective -- and lucrative and profitable than ever it is possible to do both at the same time and swiftly expand your customer base.
If you're looking to test at selling your products on Amazon or need to learn more about what's involved, we're going to guide you through selling on Amazon, and what is required to start.
An introduction to Amazon's market
Amazon is the most popular e-commerce vendor in the world especially in it is the largest in U.S., where 70% of the adults have Prime memberships. 56% of all ecommerce transactions in the U.S. happen on Amazon which has around 200 million monthly active app customers. According to Amazon's own figures, about 7400 products sell every minute across the U.S.
Amazon offers shipping to over 130 countries If you're searching for international e-commerce customers, this is the fastest and most convenient way to reach the widest global audience.
Ready? Let's look at what you need to be aware of to make a sale on Amazon.
The types of Amazon seller accounts
There are two main kinds of seller accounts available on Amazon The two main types are Professional and Individual.
A majority of online businesses looking for consistent revenue and growth should choose the Professional option, since the Individual one charges you an amount for each sale however the Professional version charges a fixed monthly fee.
There are other selling fees that both kinds of accounts need to pay. We'll look at them a little later.
Step-by-step instructions for setting up your Amazon seller account
Amazon has put together a huge amount of content to help merchants establish accounts and get started selling. If you want to go through their help pages, you can begin by visiting this webpage. But, we've broken the process into this simple procedure:
1. Set up an account for sellers
The process of creating your Amazon account is as simple as signing up. First, you'll create your username and password and then go through the steps.
2. Select the Professional sales plan
Then, select the type of seller account you'd like to choose. In the past, you'll want to pick the Professional plan if you're planning to increase your sales using Amazon. If, in terms of sales, you expect to sell more than 40 products per month, you need the Professional plan.
Amazon probably won't be the sole e-commerce marketplace or platform. In fact, it shouldn't be because there are big benefits to developing your own shop using . But Amazon enables you to expand into new markets that you could not reach in a short time from your own store.
3. Enroll in Brand Registry
Amazon offers an Brand Registry service, which you have to use before you are able to build your online store. You can also make use of the various features and tools available on their platform like sellers protections as well as Amazon Ads. You can also get an additional 5% of the sale of your brand.
4. Make use of this Stores Builder tool to create your own online store
After you've signed up, you have the option of using the Stores creator tool, as well as its drag-and drop features to design your store. It's possible to select from three designs, and once you pick the one you like, you'll be able to add products to your account and begin creating pages.
It is possible to alter the tiles to display product pictures video, descriptions, as well as other material in a way that makes the best sense for your store.
To get this far, you'll also need an approved trademark for the nation you're registering from as well as a logo.
5. Design your product listing and start selling
With your chosen template in hand, you'll be able to begin by using the page manager to create category pages for your products, add categories, design a homepage as well as any other pages you want to include as an element of your Amazon storefront to help generate revenue.
There are specific image dimensions that you must meet, and you're limited to 200 characters for your product description that's sufficient.
"Perfect Launch," or the "Perfect Launch"
Amazon loves to advertise the concept of a "Perfect Start" for brand new sellers, which means you complete five goals within the initial 90 days of creating your account as a seller. These five goals comprise:
- Enroll in Brand Registry
- Add A+ content to your product pages
- Create 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
Doing this all within those first few days result more successful results as per their research, which is why they refer to it as the perfect launch.
After your store is established, you can begin using your analytics information to develop product bundles or combination items that consumers will be interested in. This can increase sales, as well as enables you to bundle several items into one package.
Optimize product listings to be able to use Amazon
Amazon's website functions similar to the search engine. Shoppers can type in search terms that they are looking for, and Amazon will display items that match the keywords they typed in.
This should guide your approach to creating listing of products and to optimize your product detail page.
Keywords with search-friendly properties
Use keywords that shoppers might search for that relate to your product. Put them in your titles as well as product descriptions. Make use of variations or other keywords in the event that you can think of more than one way to describe the product. Utilize models number, GTINs, and SKUs.
Informative descriptions and details
Be specific with the descriptions you write and in the details Particularly for items which have a wide range of variants, like colors, sizes, and tastes.
Also, use bullet elements to make your lists easier to comprehend, and concentrate on the advantages in addition to features. Benefits focus on outcomesWhat does this product help me? What issue does it address? What is the need that this product can meet, and how does it meet this need? It is important to address these kinds of questions in your product descriptions as well as bullet points.
Great product images
How to understand Amazon's charges
As mentioned earlier, there are really just two plans to choose from.
The Individual plan is priced at 99 cents per sale. Every item you sell online through this plan is 99 cents.
The Professional plan cost $39.99 per month. It comes and includes unlimited sales. This is where the concept of selling a minimum of 40 products per month comes from. However, even if you're sure whether you'll actually be able to sell 40 products in the first month, you should consider the Professional plan if committed to making this an important part of your online business and expect to surpass that number in the future.
If you want to advertise on Amazon and appear in the Buy Box, sell products that are restricted to certain categories (and there are plenty of them) as well as use advanced selling tools, you will need the Professional plan.
Amazon also charges several extra selling charges based upon the agreement you have with Amazon.
Fees for referral
The two plans both charge a referral cost for every sale made, and the fees can range from 3% to as high as 45 percent in some cases. However, the majority of the fees you pay for referrals range in the range of 8-15%. This is pretty typical of the online marketplaces.
ou can see many other charges, including referral fees for different product categories here.
Fulfillment and storage fees
If you involve Amazon for the delivery packaging, packing, or other fulfillment tasks you will pay charges for it too, which is determined by the size and weight. If you are using them only to deliver packages, you'll be charged based on both those factors.
There's additional costs 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 shortly. One of the biggest advantages is the possibility of offering 2-day shipping with their own brand name.
During October through December, storage charges are three times higher than the other nine months, due to the festive period.
Fulfillment options - FBM, SFP, FBA
In the same way, you have to decide what you'd like to do with satisfaction.
It is possible to complete all your orders yourself and this is referred to as "fulfillment by seller" (FBM). You can also make use of seller fulfilled prime (SFP) A special service offered to experienced Amazon sellers. It's not something you're able to make use of if you're just starting out. Additionally, you have the option of using Fulfillment offered by Amazon this is what they'd like you to use which is packed with rewards.
Merchants fulfill the order.
The fulfillment service offers you the highest degree of control over your fulfillment process. You get to manage the order, pack them for shipping, then store them in your home or warehouse locations. If you're using dropshipping, that's what Amazon allows, you will most likely opt for this method.
The drawback for FBM is that you aren't able to take advantage of being an Amazon Prime seller, which has a variety of benefits.
But, if you want to pay particular attention to the process of packaging, you may find this to be a more beneficial option regardless of whether it means fewer people order from you due to the more time-consuming shipping process.
Seller Fulfilled Prime
In this case, you store your stock in your own warehouse, but Amazon takes care of the distribution process using suppliers of their own choice.
But, you won't be able to use this until your Amazon store is:
- It offers premium shipping options
- Over 99% of orders on the same day.
- Cancels orders with a rate of less than 0.5 0.5%
- Make use of Amazon Buy Shipping Services for the majority of orders
- Utilizes methods of shipping that allow the weekend delivery
- Successfully completes a trial period
Get more details about the specifications.
Fulfillment is handled by Amazon
Amazon customers are awestruck by Prime Day, and all things Amazon Prime. As mentioned earlier, about 70 percent of U.S. adults have Prime memberships. Thus, any thing you can accomplish to entice those members will be advantageous with regard to sales.
If you opt for FBA and you choose FBA, your Amazon business will receive an Amazon Prime Badge. If customers are searching for a store on Amazon you can select to filter their results based on stores with an Prime Badge. So, if you don't have this, you won't show up in search results for customers who use this feature.
Even for those who do not use filters to narrow their searches and aren't filtering their searches, they will still view the Prime logo next to your listing when you're using FBA.
In addition, by using Prime Badges, you can offer Amazon Prime's free 2-day shipping and also free shipping in general. Amazon handles the shipping, return, packaging and issues with customer service.
FBA can also allow customers to utilize Amazon's machine learning software for the management of inventory. This helps you anticipate the demand of customers so that you don't purchase too much or too little stocks.
It costs more to use Fulfillment by Amazon However, you'll receive a lot than that, plus some tasks associated with running an online store is lifted off your shoulders through an Amazon fulfillment center that is optimized.
So, it's a good option for businesses that value the time and labor savings and don't wish to deal the logistics of storage and shipping. If you'd prefer to handle the stuff yourself to save money and time, then FBA isn't your best option.
Wait -- inventory?
If you're just beginning in your venture the inventory aspect is one you may not have thought much about.
The amount of inventory is influenced by a variety of factors that will be different for each business, such as:
- The number of channels you're selling to
- Your industry norms
- What kinds of items that you offer
- The size of your business
As you expand the channels that you're utilizing and the greater number of products you'll sell. In terms of stock, this makes it harder to keep track of all of it.
As an example, let's say you own a warehouse that has a stock of 50 of a specific product and you sell 30 of them through Amazon in one month. You are feeling great and decide to replenish your stock with 50 more.
But what if you're also selling on your store, and you've sold 20 additional products the same month on that platform. Your inventory will be not enough, and if sales do not increase the next month, you'll need more than 50.
That's an oversimplified example, because sales don't all happen at once. However, it illustrates why you have to be continually monitoring your supplies as well as the rate at which they're selling, as well as the ways they're selling and each might have distinct fulfillment methods.
Also, you must factor in products that may be not selling anymore, and expensive storage costs.
Wherever you're selling, you'll require a method for monitoring all the details. This is more information on Amazon about managing stock.
Customer service and maintaining a high seller rating
As you learn how to sell on Amazon, you'll find the process of interacting with your customers a little harder than with your own store on Amazon. But you need to develop methods to deliver customer service at a high quality to earn high seller ratings.
The first step is to use your product descriptions to be able to answer as many inquiries as you can imagine customers could be likely to.
Second, use good images and other visuals to help buyers to understand the products they're purchasing.
Thirdly, you should respond positively to all reviews, even the negative ones. This shows you are attentive to your customers and are committed to providing your customers the best service possible.
And last thing, at Amazon there is a tool called Brand Follow which provides a way for customers to follow you even when they don't purchase items on their first visit. Any person who decides to follow you is informed of any updates to your products which gives you a possibility of regaining their trust.
Sell on Amazon and build your future on
You can profit in endless freedom, total control, and powerful capabilities -- all without selling costs on the platform. Furthermore, you will not have to fret about rival services appearing right next to yours!
The ability to sell on several channels lets your reach the maximum proportion of your customers and reach them where they're. There are a variety of multi-channel extension options that let users to link their online store to Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Facebook, Pinterest, and much more.