Mohamed Aden

Running a business on Amazon may seem easy, but it is far from it. Aside from learning how to maximize online business opportunities, you must also consider how other Amazon-related aspects work. 

Some of those are managing an Amazon seller account, optimizing product listings, navigating Amazon's fee structure, dealing with customer inquiries and reviews, and understanding the intricacies of Amazon policies.

Fortunately, there is a solution that can help alleviate some of the challenges of Amazon selling: the Fulfillment by Amazon program. With the FBA service, you can outsource your products' storage, packaging, and shipping to Amazon’s fulfillment centers. In short, they free up your time and resources to focus on what you do best: growing your business. 

But despite the benefits this program offers, it also has its drawbacks. In this article, we'll look closer at Amazon FBA's pros and cons so you can make an informed decision on whether it aligns with the needs of your ecommerce business.

How FBA Works on the Amazon Platform

Before delving into the pros and cons of Amazon FBA business, everyone should know how the program works, especially new sellers.

Any business working on the vast eCommerce platform can enroll their store or products on FBA, granting them access to Amazon warehouse facilities. By registering for the program, sellers agree to have Amazon handle the entire order fulfillment process, shipping costs, returns, refunds, and product warehousing.

There is no limit to the number of products Amazon sellers can sign up for with the FBA program. Plus, Amazon offers FBA wholesale for businesses that sell their products in bulk. It is more beneficial for wholesale sellers to join this program. With it, they don’t have to deal with many SKUs and order placements personally.

Let’s now talk about the critical aspects of Amazon FBA.

• Process

If you’re interested in becoming an Amazon FBA seller, we can provide you with a more detailed outline of how the service works:

• You take the goods to one of Amazon’s warehouses.
• Amazon securely stocks the goods in its warehouse.
• Customers buy the items. 
• Amazon handles the whole process, from billing to inventory updates.
• Amazon will package and mail the order to the consumer.
• Amazon meets the rest of the customer service needs, including returns and refunds.
• Amazon transfers your revenue earnings directly into your bank account.

Amazon's staff will dispatch all shipments, handle customer calls, inform them when their item has been shipped, and manage delivery and payments. All you have to do is replenish them with the stock and collect the cash. Running out of stock can lead to problems as Amazon cannot fulfill and ship orders for out-of-stock items.

• Cost

The next thing you must know about the FBA program is the fees. Logically speaking, you’re expected to pay for the service and the labor. After all, Amazon offers you its service and takes a lot of workload from you; ultimately, business is business.

There are two primary components of Amazon’s FBA costs:

• Inventory Storage Costs

Paying for Amazon's inventory storage is the key for small to medium-sized businesses looking for storage space. But suppose you're unsure about it. In that case, compare renting or buying your warehouse costs versus using the FBA program.

• Fulfillment and Shipping Costs

Sufficient manpower is crucial for ensuring the safe delivery of packages. Leaving your fulfillment and shipping operations to Amazon can be advantageous, provided you understand the unique nature of your business, products, and business model.

The Pros and Cons of Joining the Amazon FBA Program

In the Amazon marketplace, sellers only have little leeway to make errors. With one lousy delivery or poor fulfillment, customers have a higher chance of avoiding their business in the future. That's why many of them are jumping to FBA to handle their logistics work. They can satisfy consumer needs while minimizing the risks of errors.

But more is needed to know this information alone; you also need to weigh the pros and cons of joining the program. From here on, we will help you decide whether being an Amazon FBA seller is for you.

Pros

First, let’s sift through the advantages of Amazon FBA for sellers.

• You can use Amazon’s prestige to your advantage. Customers trust Amazon's reliability and credibility, so they feel assured that their orders will be delivered and can be returned if necessary. This trust factor can greatly impact their buying decisions.

• You acquire the opportunity to deliver lightning-fast operations. Amazon's one-of-a-kind online shopping system provides quicker loading and delivery. They’re able to distribute goods to your clients faster than you can.

• You can boost your Amazon ranking and popularity. Amazon FBA can improve your product's search rankings as it is classified based on price alone, unlike products from non-FBA sellers that are sorted by total price, which includes shipping costs.

• You have a higher chance of getting the Buy Box. This button is the large 'Add to Basket' icon on all Amazon product lists. Winning the Buy Box would mean increasing your sales and outperforming your competitors.

• You can provide customers with free shipping. Offering free shipping to Amazon Prime customers can give you an advantage over non-FBA sellers, especially during the busy shopping season.

• You can lower operating costs. You won't have to worry about storage, staff, or management thanks to Amazon fulfillment centers. You’ll be able to concentrate on delivering more goods and increasing your earnings.

• You won't have to contend with too many client inquiries. Amazon offers 24/7 support to FBA sellers. They also give your customers the same support and assistance, so you won't have to deal with fulfillment and shipping issues anymore.

Cons

While many sellers have found great online sales success with FBA, some still need to fully embrace the program. Here’s why:

• Potentially costly charges. Paying Amazon FBA fees is required for sellers using the program, but only some are willing or able to do so. For others, the cost of using FBA can eat into their profit margins, making it difficult to justify the expense.
  
• Increased returns. Vendors often discover a spike in the amount or volume of returns. This is attributed, in part, to Amazon’s no-questions-asked return policy. Previously, Amazon would mail returns to you, and you have to pay to proceed with the return. The platform is now trying to send the returns directly to your warehouse.
  
• Long-term storage fees. Amazon charges extra for items that have been stored for a long time. They may bill you and negatively impact your metrics for slow-selling items. You must factor in this cost to ensure FBA is financially viable. 
  
• Laborious product preparation requirements. FBA requires specific packaging and labeling standards for goods entering Amazon's warehouse, which can be time-consuming and tedious on your part.

• Complex sales tax. Sales tax is administered at the state level. It can be confusing which tax rate to use if your business resides in one state but has its inventory warehouse in another. 

Final Say: Should I Go With FBA or Fulfill Orders Myself?

Signing up for the Amazon FBA program must be a challenging decision for you. But we believe that its benefits still outweigh the drawbacks you’re considering. From storing your products at the Amazon fulfillment center to managing your inventory, FBA can provide faster yet reliable delivery to customers, eliminating the hassle of multitasking.

While fees are inevitable in the FBA program, the increased convenience and sales potential make it a worthy option. It’s up to you to calculate the potential costs, assess your business’s nature, and consider other important business aspects. This lets you determine how well your business fits the program’s requirements.

Getting on Amazon FBA doesn’t seem so bad. All you need is the right knowledge and assistance from Seller Interactive to guide you every step of the way! 
Contact us today. Learn more about Amazon FBA and how it can boost your business.

Brand visibility makes the world go round—at least on Amazon. As a seller, visibility can spell the difference between a business earning millions and a part-timer selling a couple of products monthly.

Amazon Stores are an excellent way of achieving this. Brand owners can further separate themselves from the competition using a storefront that offers shoppers an immersive experience.

Let's discuss how Amazon Stores work and some Amazon store optimization tips to enhance brand visibility and bring you closer to ecommerce success.

What Is an Amazon Store?

Amazon Stores allow you to showcase your brand and products in an engaging way. It is like an eye-catching miniature website for your brand in the world's largest online marketplace, aiming to establish a unique and professional presence.

With Amazon Stores, you can

• help shoppers discover your entire product range with your own branded URL on Amazon,
• easily customize your Store using on-brand pre-designed templates and drag-and-drop tiles, and
• measure success using metrics such as page impressions, visits, sales, and traffic sources.

Amazon Store vs. Amazon Storefront

While some sources use them interchangeably, they have different meanings.

An Amazon Store refers to your brand's home on the platform. It's a custom shopping destination with multiple pages showcasing a brand's story and products. You need to join the Amazon Brand Registry to create a Store with no extra fees and complete with a unique Amazon URL.

On the other hand, Amazon Storefronts are carefully picked destinations highlighting top products from Amazon sellers. This feature was introduced in 2018 to empower and support small businesses, offering a curated place to shop exclusively for American small and medium-sized brands.

Why Invest in Amazon Store Optimization? Here are the Top 6 Benefits

While Amazon Stores seem like a promising solution, you want to know exactly what you will gain from it. This ensures that you're investing time and effort in activities that will help you meet your business goals.

Amazon Store Statistics

Let's begin with two of Amazon's internal data statistics.

• +83% dwell time: Stores consisting of three or more pages experienced a remarkable 83% increase in shopper dwell time, along with a 32% increase in attributed sales per visitor.
• +35% attributed sales per visitor: Stores regularly updated within the initial 90 days witnessed a significant 35% boost in attributed sales per visitor and attracted 21% more repeat visitors on average, contributing to their overall success.

Improved Search Engine Optimization Rankings

Search engines love Amazon. It is guaranteed to reflect on the first page of the search results, so take advantage of that to entice more visitors with a compelling Amazon Store. A well-optimized custom Store offers easy navigation and other relevant functions. These qualities naturally contribute to higher SEO rankings.

Increased Traffic and Sales

Amazon Stores are excellent for helping people discover more about your brand and products. There's much to consume on Amazon results pages, so a customer might not notice who's selling what. But with a compelling Store, you separate yourself from the rest, catch people's attention immediately, and get a chance to be chosen over non-Store sellers.

Enhanced Brand Credibility and Trust

With a well-optimized and attractive Store, you have more chances of generating customer loyalty. They will find your brand professional and genuine because you've created a place to find almost everything they want to know about your offer. That's precisely the formula for customer trust.

Take Your Business Online

In today's digital age, establishing an online presence is crucial for the success of any business, and Amazon Store provides a platform to achieve just that. With a Store, you can seamlessly take your business online and reach a vast and diverse customer base.

The convenience of online shopping on Amazon allows customers to easily browse and purchase your products, boosting your sales and revenue. Furthermore, you can ensure your business is here to stay, regardless of any potential restrictions in the future, similar to those encountered during the coronavirus pandemic.

Stunning Way to Showcase Your Inventory

Enough with the dull and messy sight of standard ecommerce inventory templates; with Amazon Stores, you can easily display your product detail page in a more efficient way that helps customers to browse through them per category, ranging from best-sellers to the type of ingredient used.

3 Steps to Start an Amazon Store

Can I create my Store now? 

Not so fast! In the past few years, Amazon has been strengthening its stance on providing accurate brand representation for its customers and proactive brand protection for its sellers. So this feature is exclusive to brand owners and involves a few requirements.

Here are three steps summarizing how to start building your Amazon Store.

1) Enroll in the Amazon Brand Registry

Before you create your store, enroll in the Amazon Brand Registry first. Doing so will make you eligible for Store creation, facilitate the management of your product listings, access powerful tools, and be automatically protected.

2) Start Building Your Store

Here's how you start creating your Store in chronological order.

• Review the Store's ad policies and ensure your ASINs and content comply.
• Structure your Store with a homepage and category pages using the templates and features available.
• Add branded content to those pages such as videos, text, and images to show your offerings in action.
• Add ASINs next and group them according to their variation and pricing. Choose between the product grid or product tile feature to organize how your listings appear.
• Include unique header photos, lifestyle images, and other interactive creatives to provide a dynamic buying experience for your customers.

3) Submit Your Store for Approval

When you're ready to publish your newly constructed Amazon Store, submit it for review. Allow yourself sufficient time because Store moderation can take up to 24 hours.

How to Know If Your Amazon Store is Approved or Not

When your Store is approved, you'll spot a link in the Stores section in your Amazon advertising account. This also includes Manage Store and See Insights options.

Meanwhile, a rejected Store has two different types:

• Soft rejections -  Helps you catch errors you may have missed during Store creation. You can ignore these warnings and submit the Store for approval.
• Hard rejections - Unlike soft rejections, you can't move forward without addressing these issues.

The Next Step: Managing Your Store and Implementing Amazon Store Optimization Strategies

Is your Store approved? Congratulations! Now what?

The next step is to manage and strategize your Store activities. In building a business on Amazon, no single surefire blueprint or formula guarantees success. Entrepreneurs should create plans from A to Z in line with current market trends and the pace where the business is at. This ensures you still progress if one strategy doesn't work.

Here are some valuable tips for managing and implementing Amazon Store strategies.

1. Conduct a Post-Launch Checklist
2. Understand Amazon's Algorithm
3. Optimize Your Product Listings
4. Utilize Effective Keyword Research
5. Enhance Content with Compelling Visuals
6. Leverage Customer Reviews
7. Use Sponsored Ads to Increase Store Traffic
8. Know When to Make Store Changes
9. Monitor and Adapt Strategies Based on Data

Conduct a Post-Launch Checklist

The first thing you should do when your Store goes live is to ensure all the necessary setups and considerations are addressed after launching. Your post-launch checklist will serve as a systematic guide to verify everything is in order and identify anything else that may require your attention.

Here's what you can do:

• Link your ASINs to your Store's brand byline (the hyperlinked brand name on the product detail pages that directs organic traffic to your Store.)
• Submit a request to the Vendor or Seller Central account support team to replace your long URL with a short one you have in mind.
• Hit up the Insights dashboard to see how your Store is performing.

Understand Amazon's Algorithm

You need to understand how Amazon's latest algorithm, the A10, works and affects how you run your Store. The current update shows what Amazon considers several factors that can affect your product's ranking and relevance in the search results. 

• Keyword Relevance
• Impressions
• Click-Through Rate (CTR)
• Conversion Rate
• Amazon PPC Advertising
• Sales History
• Sales Velocity
• Internal Sales
• Organic Sales
• Customer Ratings
• Pricing
• A+ Content
• Delivery Time
• Customer’s Location
• Customer’s Purchase History

Optimize Product Listings

Optimizing your product listing ensures a high search ranking for your chosen keywords. The A10 updates didn't change a lot about this aspect. It only changed the weight of each part of the product listing. Here's what you can do:

Product Title

The A10 rules prioritize keyword readability and relevance over placement. Focus on those two factors and make things work within the 200-250 character limit. Resist the temptation to cram as many keywords in the title as possible. 

The preferred format should be:

[Brand Name]  [Product Type]  [Feature #1]  [Feature #2]  [Variance]

Bullet Points

Outline the features and benefits your customers will get from your product in bullet points and within 1000 characters (including spaces). Make your points concise but can evoke a customer's emotions. Avoid making them too long, as readers might skip reading them.

Product Descriptions

Don't treat your product description as an afterthought; Amazon customers still read them. When a buyer is intrigued about what you wrote in the bullet points, they go to the description for more details. You can put the materials used, the item's texture, assembly instructions, and other benefits here.

Backend Search Terms Optimization

Most sellers overlook backend keywords when it's one of the most important parts of a listing. Keywords that you can't put in the other parts of a listing should be placed here. Prospective buyers can't see them, but search engines do.

The limit for backend keywords is 249 bytes, including spaces and punctuation marks, so don't waste this valuable piece of real estate. Use it efficiently.

Utilize Effective Keyword Research and Implementation

Just like in Google, the effective use of keywords is vital in Amazon SEO. This determines how the algorithm analyzes what customers are looking for and matches the most relevant products to their queries. 

Enhance Content with Compelling Visuals

The ecommerce world is often noisy and cluttered. It's hard to stand out in an environment like that, so you need eye-catching visuals to make heads turn. They must also be relevant and compelling, representing your brand short and sweet.

Product Images

After searching, the first thing potential buyers check is the product image. This is the ultimate driver for sales. Ensure your images are optimized and geared towards converting those browsers into buyers.  

EBC / A+ Content

Buyers are likely to buy from your brand if they see something unique. It comes down to how uniquely you can showcase your wares. A+ Content (formerly Enhanced Brand Content) can do that for you by allowing special characters in the product title and other features that will catch any jaded customer's eyes.

Videos

Videos are an excellent way to increase online engagement if we look at social media trends. It could show potential buyers what the product looks like in real life or demonstrate a few of its features.

You can put videos under the image block or below the fold under “Related video shorts.” Depending on your goals, you can create brand videos, how-tos, testimonials, unboxing, or how a product operates under extreme conditions. 

Leverage Customer Reviews and Ratings

Reviews mean a lot to Amazon. It shows how reliable your product is and how customers like what you're selling. More positive reviews would go a long way in improving your search traffic, according to the A10 algorithm.

Of course, your initial plan would be to get as many good reviews as possible. But before making elaborate plans to achieve that, you need to consider a few things.

Memorize Amazon's Rules

Review and memorize Amazon's Customer Product Reviews Policy to avoid any infractions. These rules include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Don't create a review of your own product or a competitor's product.
• Never offer rewards in exchange for reviews on your products or a competitor's.
• Don't ask any family member or employee to review your product.
• Asking a reviewer to remove or change their review is unacceptable.
• Never put any incentive to get a positive review on the box or shipping label.
• Avoid using a third-party service that offers free or discounted items tied to a review.
• Don't do anything that can influence a customer's review in any way post-purchase.

Violating these rules could result in listing suppression, account suspension, permanent deactivation, or legal action. Be careful.

Spread the Word About Your Amazon Store

Making people outside Amazon aware of your store is a good idea, as long as you create a funnel to filter the people coming in. Social media has always been an excellent platform for marketing. Some examples of these platforms are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Pinterest. 

Improve Your Overall Customer Service

Good customer service significantly affects how customers see your products. It begins with promptly addressing customer queries and ends with effectively handling post-purchase inquiries.

• Answer queries about your store and products promptly. Not only will you lose sales if you fail to do this, but you might start the buyer-seller relationship with the wrong impression.
• Be honest about your products. Don't try to exaggerate, overhype, or embellish anything about your products, as these will come back to haunt you. Avoid making unsubstantiated claims unless you have documents to prove them.
• Set your customers' expectations about the delivery time frame. Bad reviews come from not telling customers when they can expect their package. Using a logistics partner with a tracking feature might help ease any doubts your customers may have.
• After your buyer receives the package, they might have more questions about the product, or something wasn't up to their expectations. You must be vigilant in answering these questions, as ignoring them might result in an awful review.

Use Sponsored Ads to Increase Store Traffic

Sponsored Ads can increase your impressions faster than advertisers who choose to skip them. Consider linking Sponsored Brand campaigns to your Store's homepage or any subpage to bring in more relevant traffic and make the customer's journey seamless.

You should also try sharing your unique Store URL on your off-Amazon channels, such as your ecommerce website, social media platforms, or blog.

Know When to Make Changes to Your Store

You must continuously update your Amazon Store for new or returning customers, trends, seasonality, content refresh, and new releases. It's not a one-time task; you must check it regularly to see if it requires an update. Doing so will also boost your repeat visitors and attributed sales per visitor.

Watch out for the following signs and take immediate action:

• Low daily traffic
• Excellent traffic, but sales are low.
• Some category pages convert well, but they lack traffic.

Monitor and Adapt Strategies Based on Data

Finally, it's crucial to ensure your Store optimization techniques are effective. You can do so by checking the See Insights dashboard, identifying your specific store KPIs, and tracking other metrics in your account. Additionally, you should stay up-to-date on the Store feature's releases, updates, and other important announcements.

All this information will affect your brand visibility, so adjust your strategies according to your Store's performance insights.

Keep the Ecommerce Engine Running

Treat your Store as a pride factor for your business. It's one of the best platforms to showcase what your brand is all about, expand your targets, and thrive in the competitive digital market.

And after getting your Amazon Store on the map, all you have to do is keep it going. However, the rules change, so you must always be ready to take the next step. We hope this discussion empowers you with the necessary knowledge and confidence to succeed in your ecommerce marketing journey!

What Seller Interactive Offers

It takes work to keep up with the constantly-changing ecommerce world. Because of this, many sellers get Amazon store optimization services to keep an eye on their accounts and ensure they're on the right track. You should, too.

Seller Interactive can be your partner agency in fulfilling all the Amazon tasks you need. We offer:

• full account management,
• search engine optimization,
• sponsored ad management,
• product launch management,
• product listing optimization,
• wholesale partnership,
• brand protection,
• account suspension appeal and reinstatement,
• reimbursement and refund, and
• DSP advertising.

When the tasks seem daunting, we have a team of experts to assist. With years of experience, we have seen what works and what doesn't on Amazon. We are committed to making every account we manage to succeed. 
Contact us, so you can discuss your business needs and present you with our offer.

On average, 88% of customers read product reviews before buying to ensure they're not wasting money. Amazon shoppers are no different. In fact, Amazon's A10 algorithm considers seller feedback and product reviews as some of the many deciding factors when ranking products in the search results. 

So, the consensus among sellers is that customer dissatisfaction and negative product reviews are bad. You're better off not having them. But that's not entirely true. There are a few good things that bad reviews on Amazon can benefit sellers regarding account optimization. 

While having too many of them can negatively affect your search ranking, having no negative reviews can also hurt your conversion rate. Surprisingly, negative feedback can benefit you as an Amazon seller in the long run. Read on to find out how!

Seller Feedback vs. Product Reviews

Before continuing with how the ways negative reviews help with account optimization, let’s first differentiate these two seemingly similar terms: seller feedback vs. product reviews. They may be related, but they have significant differences.

When optimizing your Amazon account, it is crucial to understand how each aspect works, as they play a vital role in enhancing your visibility and reputation on the platform.

5 Reasons Amazon Negative Reviews Aid in Optimizing Your Amazon Account

Don't worry too much about negative product reviews. Instead, look at ways to make them work in your favor. Here are five reasons outlining why negative reviews can be vital in your Amazon business: 

1) Products with Mixed Reviews Are More Credible

Most customers are considerably knowledgeable about eCommerce and the broader landscape of retail. If you think buyers are unaware of certain sellers creating positive but fake reviews for their own benefit, you'd better think again. 

A 5-Star Rating Could Mean the Seller Only Has a Few Reviews.

The Amazon A10 algorithm, like customers, relies on seller authority to rank products. It's easy to get a perfect rating but what matters more to Amazon is consistency. 

To illustrate, which product rating do you think is more trustworthy: a perfect 5-star rating with less than 100 reviews or a 4.6-star rating and over a thousand reviews? Unsurprisingly, most people would choose the latter because it has more significant social proof.

Don't be fooled by flawless stars; embrace the power of over a thousand voices!

An almost-perfect rating with more than a thousand reviews shows that the product still managed to satisfy or even go beyond the majority of customer expectations. 

Customer Expectations Are Not the Same

Have you ever heard of the saying, “You can't please everybody?” This notion holds greater significance in the retail business. Managing the customer’s expectations can be challenging because of the diverse shopping preferences and requirements. The following reasons contribute to this phenomenon: 

1. Social media has a significant influence on people's expectations. 
2. Their expectations are affected by false advertising.
3. Buyers feel that the customer is always right.
4. The herd mentality overshadows the desire for individualism.

These reasons make it harder for sellers to please everybody, and customers are also becoming aware of it. Consequently, prospective buyers no longer look for a seller with a perfect 5-star rating. They'd rather have someone with around 4.9 stars or nearly-perfect star ratings.

Buyers Expect Honest Reviews

Amazon customers love getting a wealth of information about products. The more information they get, the more informed their purchase decisions will be. Because of this, the demand for honest reviews has significantly increased. People want to know not only the valuable features of the products but also where it falls short.

Contrary to popular belief, customers knowing the negative aspects of your product won't necessarily push them away. The decisive factor in their choice is still the price. You often see reviews like, “It's good for the price,” or “It's worth the price,” showing how people factor in the price when it comes to satisfaction.

Many buyers consider 5-star reviews without any other detail fake. For a negative product review to be helpful, it should have three components:

• The bad aspects of the product.
• How the product helped solve (or didn't solve) a buyer's problem.
• How the product compares with others like it.

2) Negative Reviews Outline Your Product's Weaknesses

As a seller, improving your products is a must, not just for Amazon account optimization but also to satisfy your customers. You can't accomplish that without getting information from them; after all, they're the ones buying and using your products. 

If you're the manufacturer, you can have your development team look at negative reviews, so they'll know what other things they can do to enhance your products. You can also pass it on to the manufacturer if you aren’t the one who’s making them. 

Example: A customer complained about a particular weakness in the boots he bought for his daughter, where snow accumulates at the bottom of the soles. This negative review will serve as room for improvement for manufacturers. The manufacturer should clarify that the boots require a break-in period to perform well in snowy conditions. This information can then be added to their updated Amazon product listing description, so future customers will know what to expect.

3) It's an Opportunity for More Buyer-Seller Interaction

Consumers want to be treated as a person, not a number. Automated communication is good, but some prefer to communicate with the seller directly about their concerns. This way, you can get more information about their negative product review. 

A 30,000-respondent survey conducted by Bazaarvoice states that 48% of the respondents are more likely to buy from businesses that respond to their customer reviews. This can potentially boost conversions and sales.

Confirm the Validity of the Issue

When browsing Amazon, look for the "Verified Purchase" label on the right side of the product variances. The negative review may be invalid if you do not see this label. Responding to invalid issues serves no purpose, so we recommend creating a request for Amazon to remove it. 

⚠️ Any sign of profanity can also be a ground for removing the bad review. To do so, click the “Report abuse” button under the review or email [email protected] to notify Amazon about your concern.

Acknowledge the Negative Customer Experience

Let your customer know you feel bad about the negative experience. Empathy is one of the most critical aspects of customer service. Show them that you're also human and you understand their situation.

Sincerely Apologize and Offer Solutions

Making excuses is not an option here. It will only make the situation worse. Tell your customer that you regret the negative experience and start offering solutions. There are several options to address the problem without influencing the original review. 

Check out this game-changing feature for registered brand sellers, where you can easily communicate with unsatisfied customers and address their concerns:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRNgX_ymIkQ

You may process a refund, replace the product, process a return, offer discounts, or offer freebies. Remember, Amazon has policies penalizing sellers trying to manipulate customer reviews.

4) Customers Want to Know the Worst-Case Scenario

Some buyers are crafty when choosing the products they purchase. They evaluate your products and services based on the specifications in the ratings. And among these ratings, the negative reviews uncover the worst-case scenario associated with buying from you. 

Most buyers look at these reviews objectively. For example, if they see a one-star review stating that their purchase was delivered two days late, they may perceive such a rating as quite severe for a slight delay. This might even make them buy from you. Compared to a seller with no negative reviews, you appear more credible for letting these reviews reveal your drawbacks.

5) Negative Reviews Can Unexpectedly Spark Inspiration.

Most importantly, negative reviews that go into detail about what went wrong with the product or service may actually spark inspiration in the seller. They can provide better insight into your target audience’s needs, allowing you to not only improve but also give you a brand-new product or service idea.

Example: If your phone case product gets a review criticizing its inability to withstand water, you can manufacture and offer waterproof products more durable than your current designs.

Bad Reviews Aren't the End of the World

If you receive a negative product review, calm yourself and get to work. It's not the end of the world. Customers write negative reviews all the time. Your overall average star rating may suffer slightly, but it’s crucial to remember that having a few of these can be useful to you as a seller. 

That said, it doesn't mean your goal is to get as many bad reviews as possible. The point is not to get discouraged when you get some. When done right, Amazon account optimization can make them work in your favor. 

Remember the saying, “Nothing is permanent except death, taxes, and unfavorable reviews.” If you plan to sell for some time on Amazon, expect a few negative reviews and know precisely what to do using the tips we shared. Are you still finding it difficult to optimize your Amazon account? Let the experts handle it on your behalf! Book a call with Seller Interactive’s Amazon professionals today.

It takes several tasks to establish, maintain, and reap success with your Amazon business. These include account creation, account protection, store optimization, management of stocks and sales, shipping, and advertising. Some of these are best done with the help of a good Amazon PPC outsourcing company. 

A PPC team comprises professionals offering a wealth of knowledge and experience to bring you the best Amazon PPC strategy. But how does PPC advertising on Amazon even work, and will hiring an Amazon PPC management agency help enhance your campaign performance? 

Let’s delve into the ins and outs of Amazon PPC advertising and discover how professional Amazon PPC services can help boost your brand.

A Look Into Amazon Advertising

You may already be a long-time Amazon seller but still a novice in Amazon's advertising platform. If so, let’s briefly discuss how it works. 

Pay-per-click, or PPC, is Amazon's internal advertisement system wherein sellers bid on keywords to either rank on the search results or be advertised in multiple areas on the website.

To participate, sellers must determine the keywords they want to rank for each listing. Then, they bid for a certain amount, and whoever has the highest bid gets the ranking or advertisement. The winning seller must pay Amazon each time someone clicks on the listing.

3 Types of Amazon Ads

The platform has three primary types of ad formats that can boost product visibility, increase conversions, and improve overall profitability:

• Amazon Sponsored Products - These advertisements can be seen at the top of, along the sides of, within the search results, or on the product detail page. This format can either be automated or manually run.
• Amazon Sponsored Brands - Commonly called headline ads, they appear as banners, usually on top of shopping results. This lets you feature your logo and three of your most popular products, leading the buyer to the brand's page.
• Amazon Sponsored Display - allows sellers to advertise their products on third-party apps or websites. Amazon’s cookies will trace which buyer visited your listing or a similar one. Amazon will then promote your product on other websites the buyer visits, such as Facebook, Twitch, Instagram, or Netflix.

Choosing the most effective ad format heavily depends on your brand's goals and target audience. Carefully bidding on the right keywords for your listing will also significantly affect the performance and outcome of each advertising format.

The Basics of Keyword Research and Bidding

Keywords are words or phrases that best describe the content and are strategically selected and applied to improve a brand’s visibility and ranking in search results. People enter these terms on a search engine to find what they’re looking for. 

For example, if someone is looking for a pair of shoes, they may type "running shoes" or "best running shoes for men/women." In the context of Amazon SEO optimization, listings should contain these keywords to appear in the search results.

Types of Keywords

There are two types of keywords: short-tail and long-tail keywords. While both are equally important for a PPC campaign, advertising experts advise bidding more for long-tail keywords.

These keywords are wordier, more specific, and less likely to be searched than short-tail keywords. 

Additionally, long-tail keywords suggest buyers invested effort into refining their search terms, indicating they are more likely to buy the product. 

Types of Keyword Match

To get a good grasp on the research process and find the right Amazon keywords to use, here are the different match types you will encounter. 

• Broad Match - Amazon shows your manual ad campaigns to broader search terms (your keyword and its variants), reaching more potential customers. You're just going to have tougher competition because of their search volume. 
• Phrase Match - This is a more refined manual ad campaign. You'll appear to buyers searching for products with specifications. They know precisely what they are looking for, so there's a higher chance of purchasing.
• Exact Match - When you use this type of keyword, you already foresaw the audience who will see your listing, click through them, and buy them. You will only appear in the specific keywords you set to bid for. 
• Close Match - This automatic ad campaign uses keywords that closely match your products. 
• Loose Match - This is another option when using Amazon's automatic ad campaign. A counterpart of phrase and broad match, it shows your ads to terms loosely linked to your product.
• Substitutes - Amazon will make your ad appear on products related to yours as a suggested alternative. 
• Complements - Are you affiliated with other products? Amazon will make your ad appear on product pages that complement your offer.

Top 5 Essential Metrics

Tracking and analyzing key metrics is crucial to run successful Amazon PPC campaigns. Here are the top 5 essential KPIs every Amazon seller should learn.

• ACoS - The price of running a PPC campaign.
• CPC -  The cost of what you pay for the ads based on the clicks they get. 
• CVR -  Indicates the number of page visits resulting in a sale. 
• ROAS - Refers to how much money you make on a campaign for every dollar spent.
• CTR -  The percentage of people viewing and clicking your ads that include call-to-action.

What Can an Amazon Advertising Agency Do for Your Business?

Advertising on Amazon is no easy feat. The number of tasks you have to handle can be confusing and overwhelming. Fortunately, dozens of advertising companies can assist you and alleviate the burden of managing your Amazon PPC campaign alone.

From deciding which advertising campaign is best to strategic keyword bidding and account management, here are effective strategies you can apply with the help of an Amazon advertising agency.

Increase Brand and Product Awareness and Sales Using Amazon Sponsored Products and Sponsored Display Ads

Professional Amazon PPC advertising companies understand when to use each type of Amazon ads for success.

Amazon Sponsored Products work best to increase awareness about a specific product in your store. This product can be your bestseller. Advertising it more will ensure the stability of sales and brand visibility.

On the other hand, Amazon Sponsored Display is more focused on increasing brand awareness because this ad appears on Amazon and off-Amazon pages. Because your brand is exposed to a larger audience, you can rake in more potential buyers. 

What if you run out of stock? That won't be a problem—this ad will appear only when you have stocks, so keep your listing updated.

In eCommerce, visibility is king. Your partner Amazon advertising agency will help you reach a wider audience through this strategy.

Seamlessly Comply With Amazon’s Brand Guidelines Amazon Sponsored Brands 

Amazon is a marketplace ruled by guidelines to ensure that all sellers are in a fair selling field. These rules also ensure that all content is legitimate and not overselling. Some of Amazon's brand guidelines include call to action (CTA) dos and don'ts, proper use of images and logos, color regulations, citing details about your products, and co-branding. 

Not abiding by these guidelines can mean non-launching or even the termination of your campaign. When you have invested so much in the research but failed to get the rules right, your efforts may not see fruition. 

Fortunately, Amazon is proactive enough to show their sellers the way by publishing complete and detailed guides on what types of ad copies and creatives they can place on their Sponsored Brands ads, including a list of recommended CTAs.

Amazon Sponsored Brands aid in the seamless execution of Amazon's brand guidelines by providing advertisers with a dedicated advertising format to showcase their brand and products consistently and appealingly.

The platform even offers a brief but concise checklist for Sponsored Brands ad users to help them ensure all necessary elements follow Amazon’s policies. 

Following these recommended guidelines and formats will prevent constant ad rejections and enable sellers to maximize their ad performance and drive better results. This ultimately promotes brand visibility efficiently and effectively.

Relying on Amazon PPC outsourcing will clear the worry of non-compliance with Amazon brand guidelines. An Amazon advertising agency will not only abide by the rules but also ensure that the end product is appealing to get clicks and sales from customers. 

Attract a Larger Audience by Creating and Managing Amazon Stores

We all become buyers of someone else's products at some point. In these moments, try to be more aware of your behavior as a buyer. This way, you can understand more about your customers' needs. 

Do you research the products or read some reviews before buying? Guess what—you're part of the 70% of the consumer market, both offline and online, who do the same thing. 

If you want to attract the rest of that 70%, establish your Amazon Store or an off-Amazon website. Putting up an Amazon Store may be the best Amazon PPC strategy for you, but launching an off-Amazon website can also be a supplemental tool to get your brand's message across. 

Amazon Store

An Amazon Store is a visually engaging extension for your product listing. You can present your whole product portfolio using multimedia and introduce your brand to your viewers. Character counts are expanded, so you can discuss your unique selling points more.

Most importantly, your Amazon Store will serve as a push for buyers still thinking twice about purchasing your products.

Off-Amazon

If you wish to create a presence outside of Amazon to attract a larger audience, partnering with an Amazon advertising agency is the way to go. Off-Amazon websites do not put sales as a primary goal, but they can be a bridge for internet users looking for products similar to yours. 

An Amazon advertising agency would know which strategies work best for you. They will consider different factors, such as the profile of your potential customers, the budget, and the timeline allotted for your campaign. Depending on your goals and budget, you can also have the best of both worlds.  

Research, Brainstorm, and Execute a Keyword Strategy

Keyword research and strategy is more than just incorporating certain words into your listing up to a set frequency; it is done with technique. When devising a keyword tactic for your campaigns, you can either let Amazon do all the strategizing on your behalf, do it entirely by yourself, or combine both:

• Automatic Campaign - Amazon decides which keywords to bid for based on your product’s relevance to the search terms. This campaign benefits new sellers and those unfamiliar with keywords, giving them more time to focus on their core business.
• Manual Campaign - For manual campaigns, you will be the one to choose the keywords and bid for them, including intensive research and campaign performance monitoring. This gives you more freedom and flexibility to participate in the process actively.
• Automatic + Manual Campaign - Your Amazon PPC outsourcing partner company would know if combining the two is the ideal solution for you. Automated campaigns enable more precise targeting and data on the effectiveness of your chosen keywords.

The visibility of your campaign all boils down to whether or not you're using the right keywords and campaign strategies.

The great thing about working with a professional Amazon PPC service is that you have a foundation to build upon, so you’re not essentially starting from scratch. These experts have years of experience and observations on consumer behavior, so they know how to start strong.

While there's no single formula to guarantee a business’s success, you can always rely on the best Amazon PPC strategy unique to your brand for optimal results. 

Be Unique, Stand Out, and Get the Sale With Professional Graphic Designers

Think of an ad you can still remember from years ago; what about that ad left a lasting impact on you? You want to have this kind of recall from your campaign. Pay attention to your visuals, target what's trendy, and create images that sell. 

Amazon knows that not all sellers on their platform can create ads from scratch. Hence, they provide many types of paid ads that you can launch in just a few clicks through templates. While this is convenient for Amazon sellers like yourself, note that because of the templates, the results may not be as original as you would like them.

Give your brand the visuals it deserves by hiring Amazon ad management services. Ensure high-quality graphics and content done by an in-house creative team. They will polish your campaign from the color palette and tagline to its signature layout. Their tasks will also include monitoring ad assets throughout the campaign to measure effectiveness. 

Summary

Amazon PPC outsourcing is a wise choice if you need professional help handling your advertising campaigns. Your partner Amazon PPC agency will take care of your ads' keywords, strategies, and layout to ensure they instantly catch attention, create a lasting impression, and drive sales out of potential buyers.  

Experience the Perks of Amazon PPC Outsourcing With Seller Interactive

Seller Interactive offers the complete services you need to succeed on Amazon. We provide complete account and campaign management, search engine optimization, listing optimization, and more. Our primary goal is to provide strategies and solutions to help your business reach new heights and boost your Amazon sales. Call us at 1-800-820-3746 for inquiries, and outsource your Amazon PPC ads today.

Putting up your own business seems like an easy thing to do. But most people only see the tip of the iceberg. They see the fruits they can get from creating their own business, but not the process of how to get there. 

One of those processes? Creating effective marketing strategies for your Amazon business.

So, why should business owners like you consult an Amazon marketing agency? What do you gain from meeting with an Amazon seller consultant? 

We answer your questions (and more) about Amazon online marketing agencies in this blog.

A Peek Into the World of Amazon Marketing Agencies

Amazon marketing agencies work with Amazon sellers to increase visibility and conversion rates to maximize their profits. Keyword research, strategic planning, product photography, listing optimization, content creation, and more are among the services they provide. 

Working with Amazon Marketing Company is the perfect way to collaborate with pros who can help boost your sales and drive profits.

Types of Amazon Marketing Service Agencies

Did you know Amazon has an average of 220.48 million monthly visitors? Amazon advertising agencies, like the ones below, are popping up to take advantage of Amazon's undeniable success. 

What are the types of Amazon digital marketing agencies and their corresponding functions?

• Amazon Review Service Agency: Handles all reviews and encourages customers to leave positive feedback. They also mitigate negative reviews.
• Amazon Optimization Agency: Ensures your product listings reach your targets by staying updated with algorithms and SEO practices.
• Amazon Content Agency: Composes compelling content and descriptions that inform your target customers about the importance and benefits of buying your product.
• Amazon Advertising Agency: Guarantees the correct execution of paid product ads to increase a seller’s success rate. The best example is through a PPC campaign. 
• Amazon Branding Agency: Ensures all product listings and marketing media reflect your brand, giving it a unique identity that helps prospects remember you. Having your product branded or trademarked is your defense against hijackers.
• Amazon Listing Agency: Creates and uploads listings optimized for success.
• Amazon Creative Agency: Responsible for the creative side of product promotion, like photo layout, video editing, and more.
• Full-Service Digital Agency: An all-around agency that handles all things involving advertising campaigns and brand protection. This agency helps from end-to-end and can be cheaper than agencies with specialized services.

Why Do You Need an Amazon Marketing Agency?

Growing your business entails challenges and hurdles. What if you can get help with it? Keep reading as we share eight reasons Amazon consulting experts can help you grow your business.

To Manage and Optimize Ads

Because managing and optimizing ads are time-consuming, conversing and engaging with Amazon consulting experts is vital. These consultants craft and optimize your ads through in-house technology.

An Amazon marketing agency optimizes your product listings and ads for you, so you can focus on other operations, save time on tedious tasks, and grow your business.

For Branding

Drafting logos, creating taglines, and even designing branding kits take time and effort, especially for business owners.

We can bet that your competitors study the target market, especially with how they respond with their brand and business. The ones at the top have a dedicated team of experts that do this to make sure every line, shape, color, and text deliver a branding message their target market desires. 

To be on the same level as your competitors, hire your own Amazon consulting experts. They will be your own team of experts who can help you strengthen your branding’s message and put marketing materials together that accurately represent your brand.

To Optimize Product Listings

Ranking high on search results is tough, especially for resellers or third-party (3P) sellers.

Choosing the right keywords, images, and product descriptions influence how these listings rank and convert into sales. SEO services for Amazon help increase your organic rank on Amazon and maximize the Amazon A10 algorithm. 

To Check Reviews

Negative reviews weigh more when it comes to Amazon. It’s what psychologists call the negativity bias. So when customers check other customers' reviews, they’re likely searching for that one scathing comment in the haystack of positive ones. 

The task of an Amazon marketing agency is to make sure that if a shopper ever finds a negative review, there’s a reasonable (and polite) rebuttal and a resolution for it.

To Stay Updated With Amazon’s Policies

Amazon constantly changes to improve the service quality it provides its customers. As companies work on the growth of their business, keeping up with the updates and policies may be put on the backburner.

When you work with consultants, you get ahead since you get to review updates quickly and easily. Consultants keep you in the loop and even send you a summary of the updates directly!

To Connect With Amazon Support

Customers, sellers, and resellers need help connecting and communicating with the Amazon support team for various reasons. For those who sell, the most common ones are related to orders and Seller Central account issues which impact business.

Amazon consultants help third-party sellers (3P sellers) easily reach Amazon support through their collaborative relationship with the marketplace. By easily connecting with them, agencies can make resolutions fast, mitigating any loss of business.

To Learn From Experts

One of the indirect effects of working with an Amazon marketing agency is the transfer of knowledge. Most agencies have an open communication through online channels wherein business owners can ask questions. 

A free flowing exchange like this becomes an opportunity to consult with the team freely should the owner wishes to gain marketplace insight. Apart from knowledge, sellers can also be exposed to new tools and technologies that the agency integrates to a merchant’s Amazon account.

Types of Solutions You'll Get From an Amazon Marketing Agency

Full-service amazon marketing agencies can help you get started in the digital marketing sphere. On Amazon, you have four leading solutions to make your products and brand known, while off Amazon gives you three.

Amazon Ads 

• Sponsored Product: This type of PPC advertising is the most commonly used. It puts your products on center stage, appearing on results and product pages of customers looking for similar products. You want these potential buyers to click on your ad and buy from you instead.

• Sponsored Brands: Contrary to the first advertising solution that shows the product itself, Sponsored Brands show minimal but highly appealing taglines, photos, and other visuals with the brand's logo. It aims to create brand awareness and an audience interested enough to click to see your complete product portfolio. In creating awareness, consistency in branding is the key.

• Sponsored Display: This solution will make your ads appear on the Amazon platform, third-party websites, and applications. You may create ads focused on your products or materials for brand awareness. An Amazon marketing agency will assist you with setting clear goals and objectives, creating advertisements for your product or brand, and deciding what targeting goals you should have.

• Amazon Stores: Like building a website, Amazon Stores will provide you with a unique URL for your brand, which you can publish on other platforms to lead more visitors to your store. A partner agency will provide Amazon-sponsored ads management, which includes search engine optimization, a customized Amazon store layout, and branded images. 

Website Creation and Optimization

If you already have an Amazon store, do you still need to establish a separate website? It depends on your goal as a seller. If you want to increase your brand's credibility and have more space to discuss your products and related topics, build a website. 

The step-by-step of creating a website is a bit complex for one person. We're talking about developing the site itself, content creation, site management, maintenance, and a bunch of other processes. 

A helping hand from an Amazon marketing agency with a team of in-house content writers, website designers, SEO specialists, customer support professionals, and marketers can do wonders in this area.

Off-Amazon Ads

• Google for Retail: Another advertising solution you can use to expose your products to viewers outside Amazon is Google for Retail. Commonly called Google Ads by Amazon sellers, Google for Retail offers three main campaigns you and your partner agency can choose depending on the business goals you have set.
  
• Search Campaigns: This works like Amazon's pay-per-click advertising, where you only pay when potential buyers click on your ads, visit your website, or contact you. Your ads will appear when customers search for products or information related to yours.
   
• Smart Shopping Campaigns: Users need not search for your brand. Google has an algorithm that measures every user's search and view behavior. This will let your ads automatically appear on highly-viewed pages that offer similar products.
   
• Shopping Campaigns With Partners: With this campaign, manufacturers and retailers can collaborate. Manufacturers can support their retailers’ advertising campaigns by allocating a budget for them. With this, both manufacturers and retailers can benefit from increased sales. 

Social Media Campaigns and Management 

Your partner Amazon marketing agency will utilize the benefits of social media marketing and marketing plans to make your brand and products known.

They can partner with social media influencers to endorse your brand and create different content for various social media platforms, among other things. This will help increase sales, brand awareness, and product advertisements.

Other Digital Marketing Efforts

• Search Engine Optimization: SEO is all the efforts done to rank a product or service organically on Amazon’s search engine without spending on advertising. This includes keyword research and listing optimization. When done well, SEO efforts can bring significant effect on your Amazon product’s rankings, and your store’s overall rank as well.
• Email Marketing: This digital marketing effort provides specific content to its target consumer. The content can take on the form of a newsletter, a product update, or a full blown promotion. What’s amazing about email marketing is that it serves as a medium for more digestible forms of content that can boost customer engagement.
• Affiliate Marketing: Collaborating with social media influencers and content creators is the gist of affiliate marketing. It aims to use the popularity and “influence” of these personalities and associate them to the product a seller is advertising. In effect, they can boost a brand’s image and sales.

Should You Hire an Agency?

Though we can’t stress the importance of an Amazon agency enough, we’re sure you have numbers running through your head. We know you want to know if the benefits outweigh the expenses of hiring professionals.

To get a balanced perspective, you can look at the pros and cons of hiring an Amazon marketing agency. Read through our list below to help you decide whether or not you should work with experts given your budget.

Benefits:

• Expert Knowledge: The main advantage of working with an Amazon marketing service agency is having people with extensive marketing knowledge. Experts who understand marketing will greatly benefit you by giving you solutions to certain issues that are beyond your scope of knowledge and expertise given your role as a seller on Amazon.
• More Help: You pay for an entire team when you consider hiring an agency and not just a single expert. This means you have more hands on deck, allowing your company to produce more marketing materials and promote your brand more effectively, which you can't do with lacking manpower.
• Higher Rate of Success: Marketing agencies have been shown to help boost the likelihood of an Amazon store’s success by leveraging social media to gain more customers. Experts in certain areas of Amazon collaborate with other experts such as social media managers and SEO specialists in a unified effort to achieve your business goals. This collaboration of experts within the marketing agency brings about tremendous results that sellers can see and feel in just a couple of months.

Drawbacks:

• An Extra Expense: The common drawback is that hiring a marketing agency will cost your company more money than doing things on your own. In exchange for paying them for their services, you must also pay for PPC ad spend and any other techniques they recommend.
• Different Points of View: One more possible drawback is that your perspective for your strategic plan may differ from that of the marketing agency. You should, of course, have the final say as their client. However, they may try to persuade you that their vision is superior, which can cause some friction and slow down the entire process.

The benefits and drawbacks above are a fair evaluation of the things an Amazon agency can bring your business when you take them on. If you still need more information to make a decision, check out an agency’s portfolio and case studies to see real results from previous clients, expressed in hard numbers.

Hire the Best Marketing Agency

Opting for an Amazon marketing agency is a significant move for a business owner. Hiring consultants means you have to allot a budget for them, and you will be using a portion of your resources for professional help. So, don’t waste your time, effort, and money—here is a checklist to help you when choosing the best Amazon agency.

• Years of Experience in Ecommerce: You have to know how long your agency has been in the ecommerce industry, so ask for how long they’ve been in business and several tried-and-tested strategies that worked for them over the years.
• Services Offered: Agencies must typically cover Amazon seller management and store setup services, customer/seller support services, SEO and digital marketing campaigns, content and catalog supervision, and review management.
• Knowledge About Amazon Buy Box: It is a basic thing for agencies to work around the Buy Box that contains the "Add to List" and "Add to Cart" buttons. They must have the expertise to win this portion of Amazon through product optimization and affordable pricing.
• Satisfied Clients: Most Amazon agencies have websites where you can see the positive reviews from their clients and their portfolio of case studies. Try to learn about the accounts they have successfully optimized.
• Best Practices for Amazon Optimization: Not all Amazon agencies operate ethically: there are agencies that  practice black-hat strategies, including staged product or brand reviews and violations of search engines' guidelines to increase your product ranks. Remember that the results of these practices are temporary, and your account has the chance to be banned on Amazon. Steer clear of such agencies.
• Eagerness To Learn About Your Business: A collaboration with an Amazon marketing agency starts with a consultation call. From this interaction, you can gauge the enthusiasm of the representative. A good measure of eagerness is if they ask questions about your business and offer bits of advice to give you insights on what they will do if you take them on.

Time To Make a Choice

You have everything you need to decide whether you should opt for individual specialists or partner with a full-service Amazon marketing agency. Now you must choose if you want to support your vision of growth and longevity in ecommerce.

As a takeaway, give your goals careful thought and put a number and a deadline to them if you can. If you do this, you’re already halfway to taking the leap for growth in the Amazon marketplace—the other half is talking to an Amazon marketing agency representative so you can hash out a concrete strategy to reach your goals. This is how an Amazon business grows.

If you want to learn more about Amazon marketing services, read "Mastering Ad Essentials With Amazon Marketing Services".

Call us now at 1-800-820-3746 and let’s map out the Amazon growth you’ve always dreamed of.

Amazon's ambition to be the Earth's most customer-centric company knows no bounds. Its policies almost always favor its buyers. The anti-counterfeiting policy, customer product review policy, customer returns policy—the list goes on.

Hence, you must at least know how to write an Amazon Suspension Plan of Action (POA), especially when you've missed out on “surprise” changes and updates regarding their policies.

One of these sudden policy changes affected Amazon sellers and their FBA inventory and shipment in late 2020. What aspects are included in Amazon shipment plans in the first place, and what shipment issues must every seller avoid to prevent their account from being suspended?

Let’s revisit the Amazon FBA shipment fiasco in 2020 and learn how Amazon sellers like you can deal with suspension scares without breaking a sweat.

Shipping FBA Inventories to Amazon

The FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) model allows sellers to ship their products to Amazon’s fulfillment centers and let the ecommerce giant manage inventory, handle packaging and customer shipping, and even process item returns on their behalf.

Besides setting up the FBA account and creating product listings, all Amazon asks from interested sellers is to prepare and ship the products to their fulfillment centers on time. 

You must package your items securely, print the necessary shipping labels, and create a sound Amazon FBA shipment plan to ensure your products arrive at fulfillment centers without a hitch.

A shipment plan is a set of instructions detailing how you will ship your products to fulfillment centers. In it, you must specify your product details, quantity, packing type, and the shipping service (freight forwarder or courier) you will use for shipping.

Inventory Set-up

After selecting which items are needed, you must define how much each product will go through shipping.

Place your desired amount in the Units box. You might have to perform actions in other sections of the page, such as the Information Required tab (asking for details about your product) and the Removal Required tab (asking you to remove the items listed in this section).

Product Preparation

The next step is to prepare the product for shipment. You can pack your products yourself or let Amazon pack them by signing up for the FBA prep service. Like inventory placement service fees, the FBA prep service works with a per-item fee.

Note that Amazon can only prepare products with a single UPC or EAN corresponding to an ASIN in their catalog. Ensure that the items are securely packed and follow Amazon’s packaging requirements even if you avail of their prep service.

Product Labeling

Shipping inventory can’t go smoothly without the proper labels. Barcode labels allow sellers to track the product throughout the shipping process. Hence, every item must have a label. 

Like product shipment prep, you can print box labels yourself or let Amazon handle the product labeling on your behalf with FBA Label Service. Ensure that these labels are uncovered and scannable.

Shipment Plan Review

Once their products are packed and labeled in the shipping box, sellers must review the shipment plan’s information on the Review Shipments page and ensure the details are correct. 

The page will display a list of shipment names, their respective shipment IDs, and their fulfillment center destinations. Once satisfied, sellers can click on the Approve shipment button to approve the shipment plan.

Preparing for Shipments

After reviewing your shipment details, you can input your shipping method and mode, specify your carrier, identify the number of total shipping boxes, and schedule and pay for the shipment next. 

You can send a small parcel delivery (SPD) or a less-than-truckload (LTL) shipment for the shipping method. Meanwhile, you can choose air, ocean, or land transportation for your shipping mode.

Possible Amazon FBA Shipping Plan Issues

While it may seem simple enough, encountering several issues related to FBA shipment is inevitable. Here are some FBA shipping mistakes that you may commit, unintentionally or otherwise. Some of these can be harmless, but others can cause an account suspension.

• Putting incorrect barcode labels
• Covered or obscured packaging labels
• Inputting the wrong shipping address
• Deleting shipments from the approved list
• Shipping ineligible items, such as alcoholic beverages, gift cards, damaged items, etc.
• Not paying your shipping costs
• Not following the schedule you’ve set for shipment

The 2020 Amazon FBA Shipment Mishap

On September 2, 2020, Amazon released a policy wherein they will suspend the selling privileges of a seller account if they fail to go through with exact scheduling details on their Amazon FBA shipping plan. 

Unfortunately, the policy was effective on August 25, 2020, which makes the notice nine days late. This scenario shows you can be caught off-guard, which results in an untimely Amazon account suspension.

Here is the complete statement from Amazon Seller Central forums:

How did sellers react to this new policy?

Several sellers complained that they couldn't meet this requirement since some don't communicate directly with their shipping company. Worse, the courier doesn't update them about their shipments' status.

One argued that it is illogical that sellers should be responsible for this since they don't have control over the entire shipping process, something a designated shipping company does. Another Amazon seller suggested penalizing carriers instead of them.

In situations like these, you can't adapt and adjust quickly because several factors are involved. 

The entire supply chain was shaken because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Stay-at-home and social distancing policies were enforced to prevent the spread of the virus. Some carriers needed to limit their staff to avoid crowding their workplace, thus, slowing their operations.

Also, earlier in 2020, sellers had to cope with other recent changes in Amazon's policies connected with the coronavirus outbreak, like the suspension of inbound shipment to the Amazon fulfillment center for non-essential products in March 2020. 

And, in July 2020, the quantity limit rule they imposed on all categories was decreased to make more room inside their FBA warehouses for the holiday rush orders.

Writing an Amazon Suspension Plan of Action (POA)

Because of these sudden policy changes, it’s no surprise that many Amazon sellers got in a pickle and had their accounts suspended during that brief period. 

If you experience something similar, you must send an Amazon appeal letter to reinstate your suspended Amazon seller central account. You need to compose an Amazon POA that has three sections:

• The root cause(s) of the suspension.
• The temporary solutions you have taken to resolve the problem.
• The steps you will implement to prevent it from happening in the future.

Should you act right away the moment you receive the dreaded suspension notification? We suggest not acting in haste but taking a moment to pause and reflect to analyze the issue. Also, Amazon will give you 14-17 days to send an appeal, so don't rush things.

This is why sometimes it is better to seek an Amazon suspension appeal service offered by a third-party company. Emotions will not drive them; they can look at the situation objectively. They also have years of experience deciphering Amazon's vague responses in their suspension emails.

Here is a sample template of a POA:

Ensure your POA is short, concise, and in an easy-to-read format. Don't be too detailed and too wordy. Use bullet points, not numbers. More importantly, never blame your customers and take responsibility for the mistake, even if it wasn't your fault to begin with.

Bonus: What does Amazon want you to do?

As we read the replies in the Seller Central forum, one seller commented that perhaps this is Amazon's way of urging a third-party seller account to use Amazon-partnered carriers and only applies to LTL and FTL shipments. 

These are only assumptions, though, and need clarification from Amazon first.

But if you are keen to opt for Amazon-partnered carriers and think it benefits your business, you might consider including this in your Amazon Suspension Plan of Action.

Seller Interactive’s Amazon Appeal Service

Amazon’s detailed FBA shipment plan creation can help sellers go through the entire shipping process smoothly. However, your account may face suspension scares due to unavoidable or unexpected events, like human error or sudden policy changes.

In that case, writing a solid suspension POA is a must. However, don't hesitate to ask for help if you doubt your writing skills. Remember that you have a steep chance of getting reinstated, so there is no room for mistakes. You can use an Amazon appeal service to help you get back your Amazon seller account. 

Do you have a hard time writing an Amazon suspension plan of action? Seller Interactive has a team of Amazon suspension experts willing to help you get your Amazon account reinstated in no time. 

Book a call today, and let us help you get your account back!

Amazon has been helping sellers worldwide for more than two decades now. The platform allows retailers to use their online marketplace to sell their products and automatically gives them access to its enormous customer base. An Amazon seller can even place Amazon's logo or trademarks on their advertisements as long as they comply with Amazon brand guidelines.

Amazon PPC optimization is not just about adjusting bids and using high-converting keywords. You must also enhance the appearance of your ads, like the CTAs, colors, images, and logos. One foolproof way to attract more customers is placing an Amazon brand logo on your PPC campaign. However, you can't do it on a whim.

This article will discuss some of the brand guidelines you must keep in mind to avoid being penalized and where you can use their logo for your Amazon PPC marketing campaigns.

Understanding Amazon Brand Guidelines

"You may not use any Amazon logos or other Amazon trademarks, other than the Badge, in your online or offline marketing materials (including product listings on Amazon websites) unless you have written permission from Amazon."

-Amazon.com

We got you there, right? You almost lost hope at the "You may not use any Amazon logos or other Amazon trademarks..." But as you continue reading, the rest puts that smile back on your face.

So, what is the lesson here? Read and understand Amazon's rules and guidelines from top to bottom and front to back. Otherwise, you may miss an opportunity to put an Amazon logo on your ad or get penalized because you're unaware of their terms of service.

Now, let us go back to the quote above. It is not just a quote but one of the hundreds of rules the platform has laid out for Amazon sellers. It states that you must have written permission from Amazon before using logos, trademarks, or any other brand elements. 

You must also follow the guidelines below.

1. Call-to-Action (CTA) and Messaging

As a review, a call-to-action or CTA is a short phrase in an advertisement that tells customers what action to take after they click on a PPC ad. For example, an Amazon PPC marketing ad with "Add to Cart" as its CTA should direct the customer to a View Cart page.

Overall, the recommended CTAs in the brand guidelines on Amazon are as follows:

Shopping CTAs

• Shop now at Amazon.com 
• Shop now
• Pre-order now
• Clip coupon
• Add to Cart

Interaction CTAs

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Amazon-Branded Text Links

Meanwhile, here are allowed Amazon-branded text links:

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If you're planning to use an Amazon-branded text link, follow these standards:

• Font and Size: For small ads, it should be Frutiger 57 Condensed, in size 11.5. On the other hand, large ads should be set to Frutiger 67 Condensed at 14 point. 
• Length: The phrase should not exceed 30 characters and on a single line only.
• Color: You can use any color with the following conditions:

• CTA elements like arrows, text, and underlines should have the same base color.
• The CTA complements the promotional graphic.
• The CTA stands out from the Amazon PPC marketing ad.

• Graphical Styling: There should be one pixel of clear space on either side of each descender.
• Special Offers and Discounts aren't allowed in the text link, such as "save $1" or "10% off."

Amazon-Branded Buttons

You may also use Amazon-branded button CTAs when text links aren't visible enough. These include "Add to Cart," "Add to Wish List," "Shop Now," and "Clip Coupon." But you can only use these on ecommerce ads, and they should be displayed based on the brand guidelines of Amazon. 

This is because Amazon's brand buttons are an essential part of the shopping experience on the platform.

2. Amazon Capitalization and Punctuation

The word "Amazon" should be in the title case (all capitals or lowercase not allowed).

Allowed	Not Allowed
Shop Now at Amazon.com	Shop now at AMAZON.COM
	Shop now at amazon.com
	Shop now at AMAZON.com

3. Amazon Brand Phrases

Amazon uses a variety of gimmicks on its platform to encourage customers to make a purchase. You may also use these proprietary phrases and terms, but they require Amazon's permission first:

• Gold Box
• Deal of the Day
• Super Saver Shipping
• 1-Click
• Seller Central
• Wish List (or Wishlist)
• Today's Deals
• Subscribe & Save
• Kindle
• Amazon Mom
• Look Inside the Book
• Similar phrases (e.g., "One Click Install")

But when one of these terms is used in a blog post, you don't need Amazon's approval.

1. Colors

If your Amazon PPC marketing campaign has similar colors to Amazon's brand colors, it must be slightly different from the Amazon.com page to make it stand out. For your reference, here are the specific Amazon brand colors:

Source: Screengrab from Amazon.com

Additionally, you can't use both in any graphical treatment if you aim to imitate the Amazon brand.

2. Logos and Imagery

You cannot mistake that signature orange smile. And the way it connects the letters "A" and "Z"? Brilliant. This is why Amazon fights tooth and nail to guard its precious logo. They also set standards on how it must look in a co-branded campaign, as follows.

Size

The logo should be no smaller than 1" wide for print, or 72 pixels on the screen.

Clear Space

It is the space around the logo, and it is based on the logo's bold letter 'o.' It looks like this:

Source: Screengrab from Amazon.com

Colors

Amazon's corporate colors are Black and Amazon Orange. When the logo uses one color only, a black or white smile is permitted—never gray.

Source: Screengrab from Amazon.com

You should not alter the appearance or proportion of the logo. Use the guidelines below:

• Don't use unapproved colors.
• Don't outline the logo.
• Don't modify or recreate the provided artwork.
• Don't insert the logo in a sentence.
• Don't layer other content on the top or below the logo.
• Don't use the logo without the smile.
• Don't place the logo on a patterned background.
• Don't place a drop shadow behind the logo.

Source: Screengrab from Amazon.com

Additionally, you must seek approval from the Amazon brand team if you want to use only the logo's arrow or smile.

3. Product Imagery

Amazon brand guidelines also include the rules when selecting a photo for your PPC ads:

• You must own the rights to all the imagery used in your Amazon PPC marketing ads.
• Product imagery should not be sourced from Google or any other search engine site.
• Product imagery must be related to the offered product or promotion.
• Seek approval first before using any advertisement imagery.

You may use the guidelines above as a part of your weekly Amazon PPC optimization. It may not improve your Amazon CPC (cost per click) right away, but adding an Amazon brand logo can be a magnet for clicks and conversions.

Where To Place Amazon Logo or Trademarks

We've established that you must secure written approval from Amazon before using its official brand elements like logos, CTAs, colors, and more. But where can you use them? This is where the concept of co-branding enters the picture.

In co-branding, you can add an Amazon brand logo or any branding elements in your PPC ad. But here's the catch: you can only use it off Amazon. You’re not allowed to use the logo on Amazon. Why? Customers might mistake it as a product offering of Amazon itself. It also misrepresents the Amazon logo, deceiving and misleading consumers.

The Amazon advertising products you can use outside its marketplace are Sponsored Display ads and Amazon DSP (Demand-Side Platform).

In Closing

You don't need to be an Amazon PPC expert to understand why the number one online marketplace is adamant about protecting its intellectual property. They even have detailed brand guidelines that you must know like the back of your hand. 

It is not only for the sake of lowering your Amazon CPC. Following their guidelines is crucial to keep being an Amazon seller. Otherwise, all your hard work will go down the drain.
If you want to understand more about Amazon brand guidelines, Seller Interactive has experienced Amazon PPC experts willing to help you with your Amazon PPC concerns. Contact us today.

Are you ready to embark on a journey into the world of Amazon wholesale FBA earning? If you've ever dreamed of making your first $1,000 through this lucrative venture, you're in the right place. In this comprehensive guide, we'll walk you through the essential steps, strategies, and insights to kickstart your Amazon wholesale FBA business. From sourcing products to optimizing your listings, we've got you covered.

Dive into the full guide now and pave your way to success!

What is Amazon Wholesale?

Buying 'wholesale' means purchasing products in bulk from a manufacturer at a wholesale price, which is a price that is typically lower than a product's market value—as a wholesaler, selling the products on Amazon to gain profit. 

Under this model, you can be the only seller offering the product, or there can be many Amazon sellers. However, selling wholesale products is different from other online business models. Under this business model, Amazon sellers can expect high-profit margins for their wares, making it a win-win for both wholesale suppliers and niche Amazon sellers.

Selling wholesale on Amazon, in a nutshell, involves the following steps:

Difference Between Wholesale and Other Business Models

Wholesale is just one business model among many different business models frequently used in e-commerce and retail. Here are some of them and the critical differences between them and wholesale.

Wholesale vs. Retail Arbitrage

One of the most significant differences between wholesale and retail arbitrage models is the number of purchases. In a retail arbitrage, sellers purchase products from retail sites at a discounted price, while wholesalers buy in bulk instead of purchasing items individually or in small batches. 

Also, wholesalers negotiate the rates, whereas resellers (arbitrage) purchase discounted products. 

Retail arbitrage can take significantly longer than wholesale, since sourcing inventory involves taking time to search for online retailers or physical retail stores offering their desired items at discounted prices.

On the other hand, wholesale suppliers are also usually the product's manufacturers. So buying items at wholesale becomes significantly easier since all an aspiring retailer has to do is contact the manufacturer and negotiate a wholesale price.

Wholesale vs. Private Label

Wholesalers purchase existing branded products, whereas private label sellers create their own branded products. With a wholesale model, you can easily sell your products since you are selling a product from a known brand. 

However, a private label seller has to grow a customer base. Aside from marketing the products, a private label seller has to work with a manufacturer to develop, modify, and improve the product before launching it. 

The main difference between wholesale and private label sellers lies in the brand. Wholesale suppliers own the product brand you're looking for and are possibly responsible for its popularity; private label products only manufacture similar products of a different brand (your brand, possibly).

Wholesale vs. Dropshipping

Dropshipping is an e-commerce business model that allows sellers to sell products without having them as physical inventory. Once a customer buys the item, the seller contacts the manufacturer to ship the product to the customer on their behalf, removing the physical and financial hassle of personal inventory management.

On the other hand, wholesale requires business owners to take charge of their storage, inventory management, and order fulfillment.

What are the Pros and Cons of An Amazon Wholesale Business?

Before you try out an Amazon FBA business, you need to weigh the pros and cons of using this successful business model. So, let's look at the pros and cons to help you decide if you want to sell wholesale.

Pros of Amazon Wholesale

Negotiable Prices

A huge advantage wholesale has over retail arbitrage or other business models is that the prices are flexible, provided you can negotiate a better price. Great prices for wholesale acquisitions are key to creating flexible profit margins for your business.

Ease Of Supply

Unlike retail arbitrage or the typical flip, the wholesale business model revolves around its manufacturers—they set the price and make the product. For aspiring retailers, that's two birds down with one stone.

With wholesale, retailers won't have to scrounge discount stores for bang-for-buck bargains to restock their inventory. All they need to do is call, and the manufacturers will deliver.

You Sell The Brand

A wholesale business is usually confident retailers will buy their wares in bulk because they've already sold the brand—what customers typically buy more than the product itself. Their main competitors are private label sellers who offer to sell the same products as a certain brand except with the labels of a client's company, if not their own.

Going for established brands will always be more effective than to start selling products similar to that brand. The main brand already has an existing customer base which guarantees a market for the seller and, in turn, sales.

Scalable Growth

Starting a retail business is easy to grow because it's dependent on sales, and the more stock you have available, the more you can sell. Scalable growth becomes achievable because all that must be done is buying more inventory and selling them as soon as possible.

Less Risk Due To Authenticity

As previously mentioned, established brands are usually the ones that put out their products for wholesale business. In doing so, many Amazon sellers avoid the risk of suspension by becoming authorized resellers for a particular brand.

Wholesale Supplier Potential

When done properly, one sale can factor into multiple deals in the future, making it essential to establish a healthy relationship with customers. Who knows, maybe they'll even make you their supplier—a huge boost for your business's steady income.

Highly Profitable

Many sellers consider an Amazon wholesale business a highly profitable venture, provided you sell all of your inventory at appropriate intervals. Selling wholesale ensures each Amazon seller profits from healthy profit margins—a win-win for everyone, including the supplier.

Photo by Akashroy6417 on Wikimedia Commons

Cons of Amazon Wholesale

Needs High Capital To Start Selling

One of the first and most obvious cons of Amazon wholesale is the capital it requires in the beginning. Since you'll be selling items in bulk, producing or purchasing the needed inventory must be en masse as well to keep costs down. 

Regardless, starting a wholesale business is expensive, with rewards only to be expected when you've built a steady network of customer demand.

Lots of Competition

Despite the promise of wholesale business, competition can be staggering for any business, especially when exposed to the sharks of Amazon business. Competition is fierce in the e-commerce marketplace, which makes it doubly hard to make a sale.

Brand Restrictions

Even if they're authorized suppliers, Amazon sellers still encounter issues with the Amazon brand registry, which can lead to account suspension. This is due to the serious presence of counterfeit products in the marketplace. Amazon sellers can easily challenge this by presenting official receipts of their inventory's sale to Amazon customer service.

Steps to Start Your Wholesale Business

After understanding the pros and cons of a wholesale business, you can now decide whether or not to pursue this business model. To give you an idea of how to start, here are some steps to follow. 

Choose the Right Product

We mentioned earlier that choosing the wrong product can have a disastrous effect on your business. Hence, you need to conduct thorough product research.

To pick a product, ensure that the product is not sold by Amazon or a private label business. A private label blocks sellers from offering similar products. What you should do is look for established brands and follow their lead. 

Some product sourcing tips that you can follow are the following: 

Go to Trade Shows

Trade shows allow you to have face-to-face conversations with brand owners and learn about the products that might sell on Amazon. Plus, you can learn much about what these brands care about, their experiences selling on Amazon, and what you can offer them as a seller. 

You can pitch them why they should make you an exclusive seller. If you can successfully present your ideas to the brand owners, they might just say yes and give you the reigns to market their product.

Trade shows allow you to get to know the vision of different brands and products with big potential on Amazon. 

Look at Best-Selling Products on Amazon

Aside from trade shows, you can check Amazon for the best-selling products. You can find inspiration from the bestseller list and find possible products for your store. Remember to avoid picking products sold by Amazon because they can negotiate a better price. Hence, it will be hard for you to compete against Amazon's price. 

Research Brand Websites 

Search the internet for different brands that aren't on Amazon. List their contact details and set up a meeting with them. This allows you to look for brands and get to know them, just like the trade shows. 

Calculate How Much Money You Can Make

After picking a product, check how much you can earn from selling the product. A tip you can use is to price the product within 2% of the Buy Box. Don't price it higher because it may never be displayed in the Buy Box. 

Aside from pricing, you must know the product fees you must pay. Knowing your product fees will help you determine if you are profitable since you will deduct the product fees from the sales price. 

You can also set a target or estimate for average monthly sales through a healthy profit margin. It would be helpful to use product prices and data where you can see, on average, the product's selling price and sales volume. It will help you know how much profit the product can make and help you estimate how well you can make money online.

Find Wholesale Suppliers For Amazon

Once you have picked a product, it's time to find a supplier. One easy way to look for a supplier is to look up your potential product's Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) and use Jungle Scout's Supplier Database to find the exact manufacturer of that product. 

A number of manufacturers will be displayed, and you can choose which of them you want to contact. Afterward, reach out to a potential wholesale supplier and make a deal. Another way is to contact the brands you met during trade shows. 

Contact and Negotiate With Suppliers

When you contact the suppliers, you want to show them how you can add value to their brand as a new seller. Remember that most wholesale suppliers are big companies, so you need to bring your A-game. Be professional and respectful. Learn to be a good conversationalist and highlight the benefits of partnering with you.

 It's also a perfect opportunity for you to negotiate with them. Tell them that you can help them sell on Amazon. If they answer with a resounding "no" at first, that doesn't mean it's the end. Continue to follow up every month or so.

Purchase the Products

After negotiating a deal with the suppliers, you can now purchase the products. Since you are buying in bulk, you can negotiate for a discount. You can also try Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) to help you store, pack, and fulfill your orders. If you choose Amazon FBA, you can simply ask the manufacturer to ship your products directly to the Amazon warehouse. 

Start Selling on Amazon

Once you create an account, you can now sell on Amazon! Market your products using Amazon PPC and social media ads. Amazon is the best example of eCommerce app development. With the online marketing features in Amazon, marketing to their target audiences has never been easier for sellers.

The most successful Amazon sellers use different Amazon online marketing strategies, such as offering discounts and coupons during the launch. 

Conclusion

Starting your Amazon wholesale business can be daunting. With the work that it takes to set up a secure supply chain and steady customer base, many sellers often shy away from even trying. If you want to sell more, try Seller Interactive's wholesale partnership program. We'll happily become your third-party resellers---a win-win for us both.

Our e-commerce experts at Seller Interactive are dedicated to helping you grow a successful Amazon business. 

Book a free discovery call with us today.

It's 2023, a new year for new trends in Amazon's digital marketing efforts. Many sellers and marketers are now scrambling to set their goals, optimize their listings, and brainstorm new strategies for their stores. The marketing strategy of Amazon's marketplace is indeed dynamic and constantly geared toward customer satisfaction.

There are so many details required to create an effective Amazon marketing strategy. That is why feeling overwhelmed at first is expected. Nonetheless, no matter how challenging implementing digital marketing strategies are, it's not impossible to make it work. So, sellers, take notes!

We'll give you a complete guide to help you maximize digital marketing strategies to propel your Amazon business this 2023.

Amazon's Marketing Strategy

The online marketing strategies that Amazon implemented over the years helped them reach a revenue of $127.38 billion in the first quarter of 2023. As a seller, you may use one of the techniques to build your own Amazon business.

Search Engine Optimization

Rankings on Amazon will not be possible without optimization. At the heart of optimization is SEO. It plays an integral role in making product listings accessible and visible to browsers.

An excellent optimizing strategy can land any listing at the top of the results, provided the relevant keywords browsers use during the search match those found in the content. Find out how SEO impacts rankings on Amazon by reviewing these important pointers.

• A product listing's conversion rate corresponds with its ranking. Higher page rankings mean higher conversion rates, which translates to more sales.
• If you want to outrank other sellers on Amazon, you better employ a highly competent SEO strategy.
• When it comes to ranking, no seller will want to settle for any rank lower than 2. A page 1 ranking is always ideal. However, getting a page 3 ranking (or lower) means that the product will hardly sell at all.
• When more people are viewing your pages, it means that they appear in search results often. A strong online presence is indicated by having more visible pages to potential customers.

You will not be able to create an effective Amazon marketing strategy in 2023 without primary keywords. To help you determine the best keywords, a good starting point is to put yourself in your prospective customer's shoes. Research consumer behavior and customer interest to pinpoint precisely the words they type during their searches.

Search Engine Marketing Through PPC

Studies have shown that 9 out of 10 online shoppers search on Amazon daily. This fact explains why sellers like you will benefit much from taking advantage of Amazon advertising solutions.

PPC plays a critical role in marketing strategies. Therefore, regardless of your previous digital marketing program, you must include PPC to maximize your campaign's advantages.

Here are the different Amazon PPC ads:

Sponsored Products: The sponsored product ads are positioned on the first page of search results and product pages. Therefore, they are immediately visible to browsers. You can take advantage of this solution if you are a professional seller, online bookstore vendor, or a Kindle Direct Publishing author.

Advantages: The ads connect with the target audience directly. They will see them every time they search for similar products. Once they click on your ad, they will be directed to your page immediately.

Sponsored Brands: Advertising on Amazon via Sponsored Brands or headline search ads boost brand awareness. It is visible in search results. It lets you creatively craft your copy to convey a strong message depicting the image you want for your brand. You can take advantage of the benefits of this solution if you are an Amazon seller subscribed to Brand Registry, vendor, book vendor, and agency.

Advantages: People browsing through Amazon for something to buy will see your ad at the top of the page just below the header. This strategic placement catches attention, automatically making your brand known to browsers. Upon clicking your ad, they will be directed to your page right away.

With this solution, browsers can click on the logo or a product image. Customers who click on the logo will be taken to a store or a custom landing page. If they click on the product, they will be directed to the product page. 

Sponsored Display: Amazon recently introduced this new advertising option for Amazon sellers enrolled in the brand registry. To qualify, you must ensure that the products fall under one or more allowed product categories while complying with the restrictions. Vendors and agencies with clients who are professional sellers on Amazon can take advantage of it too.

Advantages: Amazon will determine the best audience for your products based on their activities on the platform. It works for both large and small businesses. It is advantageous, even if you have limited resources. It allows you to meet various marketing goals, such as building brand awareness, increasing sales, attracting customers, and solidifying your brand identity.

Stores: Creating a store can be done without advertising on Amazon. Like the other paid solutions, this option is available to sellers with brand-registered products, vendors, and agencies.

Advantages: Stores provides a multi-page store that lets you advertise your product for free. It is designed to familiarize browsers with your brand, allowing them to access your product portfolio. Setting up a store does not necessitate coding expertise. Moreover, you can use its insights as a vital reference for optimizing your ads.

Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing requires you to set up your brand page on popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Twitter. Take note that each platform has its target audience. This fact explains why you should set up a page for each. 

Doing so expands your market reach further, allowing you to get your products in front of tens of thousands of potential buyers. It likewise gives you the privilege to tailor your audience in multiple demographics to drive sales and more customers to your business.

Follow Amazon's example by setting up social media accounts where you can advertise your Amazon wholesale business. It is an online marketing strategy for Amazon that takes advantage of off-site advertising to drive traffic and sales. For example, you can create an Instagram account dedicated to your products and add a link in the bio that will lead customers to your product listings on Amazon.

Email Marketing Campaigns

Email marketing involves sending emails to potential buyers and new customers. When done right, it is an effective strategy for developing a good business relationship with your target market. It can convince prospects, turning them into customers. Also, it can help your business's brand recognition and earn the patronage and trust of one-time buyers, transforming them into loyal customers who make repeat purchases.

You can utilize automated email programs for your email marketing. You can use them for informing your customers about new products, sending discounts to develop customer loyalty, or even using them for surveys to know your customer pain points so you can give them a positive customer experience.

Product Listing Optimization

Optimizing your product listings on Amazon is quite a challenge, given its dense competition. But by practicing proper methods focused on your buyers' needs, you can sell products while building a solid customer base.

Here are the elements of the page that you should optimize to capture your intended audience.

Product Title

The product title introduces your product to Amazon browsers. For titles, keeping it short works best. So, in creating the title, see that you limit it to no more than 200 characters (including spaces). Include the product name, brand name, distinctive features (size, color, the material used, etc.), and one or two benefits relevant to your customers' needs and experience.

With regards to placing an Amazon brand name, you put your brand at an advantage if you put it at the end of the title instead of the beginning.

Product Shots

Your product shots are high-quality images that showcase your product's quality and exceptional features. Captivating hero shots will help your product stand out, distinguishing your brand from your competitors.

Amazon does not allow any design enhancements and background color aside from white. You can make your images pop through these creative tactics:

1. Take photos from all angles.
2. Demonstrate the benefits of your product by taking lifestyle shots of real models using it.
3. If you have content from real users or satisfied customers, feel free to include it. To further emphasize it, provide an appropriate note or caption.
4. Highlight your product's edge over competitors by featuring organized and understandable charts, lists, or comparison diagrams.
5. The bulleted product key features provide potential customers with a more detailed explanation of your product's stellar qualities and advantages. Three to four sentences comprise each bullet description, with the main points written at the beginning in all caps.
6. The style of writing the copy is similar to that of advertisements. Each bullet copy needs to be concise and punchy. Use the space strategically by writing clear yet creative descriptions. Avoid stating obvious information in your images and reiterating the information used in the title.
7. Customers who take the time to read your product description are on the verge of purchasing your product. They want more information and clarification. Hence, the description should elaborate on the information shared in the bulleted features.
8. You can discuss secondary benefits or features not stated in the bulleted copy. You can add more images and enumerate qualities that distinguish your product from the competition.
9. Enhanced brand content or A+ content allows you to elaborate further on your product description while providing more space for images and a creative layout. You can choose from pre-built templates designed to strategically house additional features such as tables, banners, interactive copy or pictures, and more.

Key Takeaways

Now that there's no stone left unturned when it comes to various online marketing strategies, you can start building a path to your company's success. The different marketing strategies will help your business grow in no time.

Whether you choose paid advertising, product display ads, Google ads, product promotion, or social media channels to create brand awareness and increase sales, one thing is for sure; it will benefit your business and make you into a customer-centric company.
Have you decided on which online marketing strategy to try for your Amazon business? Let Seller Interactive help you! We have a team of industry experts who know how to jumpstart your Amazon store’s success. Book a call with us today!

The popularity of ecommerce and the continued rise of the Amazon marketplace has brought many opportunities for businesses worldwide. One of these is the growing trend of bulk selling, making many business owners wonder how to sell wholesale on Amazon.

Since Amazon sales continue to follow an ascending trend, the wholesale business has also become a profitable opportunity. It paves a way for sellers to get the most out of the ecommerce world. However, becoming a successful Amazon wholesale seller does not simply happen overnight.

Do you wonder how Amazon's wholesale business works? Read on, and you'll learn the intricate procedures inside.

How a Wholesale Business Works on Amazon

To begin, sellers must first have a general idea about wholesaling. Wholesaling is the process of directly purchasing bulk products from a manufacturer or a company to get a discounted retail price. 

If you are just about to sell wholesale on Amazon or are simply looking for new ways to earn more, here's how the wholesale model works on Amazon.

1. Start with setting up your seller account.
2. Search for products that are in high demand.
3. Source the product directly from its manufacturer.
4. Create an optimized listing to rank against your competitors.
5. Launch and promote the product.
6. Manage and grow your business.

Wholesale Business License

An Amazon wholesale business license is the same as the regular business license you need to sell offline and online. Check the requirements in your locality, but generally offices just look for a valid tax ID and a business bank account registered in the company's name. Once approved, businesses can purchase products in bulk and begin selling in the Amazon marketplace, giving them the ability to resell the items at a profit.

Via Amazon wholesale, businesses can take advantage of Amazon's competitive pricing and fast shipping times. Amazon also offers tools and resources to help businesses manage their inventory, track their sales, and optimize their pricing strategies. Selling on Amazon wholesale is a great way for small businesses to grow their operations without the expense of hiring employees or investing in new infrastructure.

Inventory Management and Fulfillment

You still need to have inventory and think of order fulfillment when selling wholesale on Amazon. You'll face two options: Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM). These two programs are vital when you start your business on Amazon and start fulfilling orders.

Choosing Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) means you ship your bulk purchases directly to Amazon's fulfillment centers. Then, they will be in charge of storing and safekeeping the products. It's a lot more convenient, especially if you run a small business, because Amazon will process the storing, packing, and shipping on your behalf. This makes the fees for Amazon FBA wholesale suppliers lower than shipping the items to your customers yourself.

On the other hand, Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) is when sellers handle storage, pick-ups, and packaging. Sellers also manage the shipping process, so your customers get their orders on time. This is the way to go if you want to take control of your inventory, costs, and branding. Additionally, FBM can help sellers avoid long-term storage fees and can expedite the fulfillment process for customers.

But for small businesses, FBA is still the better option because it offers reliable, fast, and efficient services without the hassle of personally doing everything. As a bonus, FBA means that your products will be eligible for free shipping and other benefits that help boost sales.

4 Benefits of Selling Wholesale on Amazon

Now that you know the essential details about wholesale selling on Amazon, it's time to talk about the benefits of the business model. If you are still deciding if wholesale selling is for you, these benefits can give you a push. But, if you've already begun following a wholesale business model, you can expect to reap these benefits.

Product Demand 

One of the benefits of an Amazon wholesale business is the potential for high product demand. Amazon is the largest online selling platform worldwide, making it perfect for shoppers looking for convenience in purchasing the products they need. With wholesale selling, businesses can tap into this demand by providing a large volume of products at competitive prices.

Additionally, Amazon's search algorithms can help boost a product's visibility and increase its sales potential. This can lead to increased profitability and business growth, as well as the potential to expand into new markets.

Profitability 

The Amazon wholesale business is a good way to get your business up and running. Compared with private labels, you do not need to do a lot of work with product research and development. Products come to you ready-made, which saves time, allowing you to focus on other essential tasks in your business operations.

One of the key benefits of selling wholesale on Amazon is the potential for increased profitability. By purchasing items in bulk at a discounted price, wholesalers can often achieve higher profit margins than they would with individual pieces.

Additionally, Amazon's vast customer base and efficient shipping and fulfillment processes can help wholesalers scale their businesses and increase sales volume. With Amazon's competitive fee structure and access to tools such as Amazon Business, wholesalers can take advantage of lower costs and streamlined operations to increase profitability.

Efficiency in Inventory 

Efficiency in inventory management is a significant benefit of selling wholesale on Amazon. With Amazon's advanced inventory management system, sellers can easily keep track of their inventory levels, prevent being out of stock, and avoid overstocking.

By utilizing FBA, sellers can also reduce their fulfillment times and expenses, as Amazon takes care of storing, packing, and shipping the products. FBA allows for quicker turnaround times, which means more sales can be made, and businesses can thrive.

Time-Friendly 

FBA and wholesale selling are a match made in heaven, as Amazon will take care of storing and shipping all your products to customers. With an extensive customer base on Amazon, you have the opportunity to tap into a vast market without worrying about the logistics of shipping.

Your operations will be streamlined from production to fulfillment. As a seller, you can now efficiently manage your time. You can now focus on product research and development, finding the best wholesale suppliers, marketing, customer service, and even developing your own products without worrying about the hassle of managing inventory.

3 Challenges You Will Face When Selling Wholesale on Amazon

Along with the benefits of wholesaling, you also need to be wary about the challenges. Knowing the hurdles you will face ahead of time will allow you to prepare in case you encounter them. You will also be able to proactively shy away from them by creating foolproof wholesale business models. Let's explore these challenges.

Product Research and Development

One of the biggest challenges faced by Amazon wholesale sellers is product research and development. You can rarely change or develop what your wholesale supplier is providing. There are also so many private label sellers and wholesale sellers on the platform making it difficult to stand out from the competition. As a result, it becomes even more difficult to offer unique wholesale products that customers will want to buy.

To stand out requires a thorough understanding of your target market and their needs, as well as extensive research into the latest trends and innovations when it comes to wholesale goods. Additionally, developing new products requires careful planning, testing, and investment, which can be a daunting task for small- and medium-sized wholesalers.

However, staying up-to-date on market trends and investing in product development are still worth it. Through these, sellers can differentiate themselves from competitors and attract loyal customers on Amazon.

Competition Among Other Sellers

Competition among Amazon wholesale sellers is another big challenge you'll face. The competition is not limited to your fellow wholesale sellers but also with established brands, private label products, and branded products.

With a large number of Amazon sellers selling products that are almost identical, it can be challenging to stand out in the market. But with a solid wholesale strategy, nothing is impossible.

Here are some tips for your Amazon wholesale business to succeed and differentiate itself from the competition:

• Sell wholesale products that are of high-quality.
• Provide excellent customer service.
• Have competitive pricing and offers.
• Track market trends and make timely adjustments.
• Invest in marketing and advertising to reach your target audience.

Up-Front Wholesale Cost

As a wholesale seller, you need to invest a substantial amount of capital to purchase products in bulk from wholesale suppliers or manufacturers before you can list them for sale on the platform. The upfront cost can be a hurdle for small or new businesses with limited financial resources.

It requires careful planning of a wholesale strategy and financial management to ensure that the investment aligns with the anticipated demand and sales volume. Overcoming this challenge and sustaining a successful wholesale business on Amazon involves conducting thorough market research, analyzing profit margins, and establishing effective cash flow management strategies.

3 Tips on How to Sell Wholesale On Amazon

You are now armed with benefits and challenges knowledge when selling wholesale on Amazon. At this point, we are going to answer the lingering question of how to sell wholesale on Amazon. Having a wholesale business is complicated, but take note of these tips to make the journey easier.

Tip#1: Sell Products Customers Will Patronize

The entire wholesaling business is about riding on the success of other wholesale products and/or established brands' products. With this, resell existing branded products and wholesale products with high-demand among Amazon customers. 

Research for wholesale products with minimum order quantities that are on par or beyond your sales goals per day. Ensure that there's sufficient customer demand, and establish reasonable pricing to earn profits. Find wholesale suppliers that are legitimate to ensure your operations are smooth because you will be replenishing your inventory as needed.

Tip #2: Calculate Your Estimated Profit

It's best to evaluate the online sales and profitability of the wholesale products you're planning to sell before ordering from a supplier and officially launching online.

• Make sure that the item you want is within 2% of the Buy Box price. You'll find the widget on the right side of the Amazon product page where prices are listed. Next to it is a golden button that says “Add to Cart”.

• Utilize Amazon's FBA calculator to know the product's fees. You need to enter the Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) of the product into the calculator, enter the data, and review it.
• Determine your profitability by deducting Amazon's fees and the product cost from the sales price.
• Know your product's monthly sales estimate using a free Sales Estimator tool.
• Understand your turnover rate. You can avoid high Amazon storage costs by only stocking at least 2–3 months' worth of sales.

Tip #3: Look For Guaranteed Suppliers

Now that you have a product idea, find a legal business entity to be your wholesale supplier. Keep in mind that you're wholesaling their products, so you are offering to promote their brand and increase their sales too.

Getting private label products that aren't on Amazon yet is an opportunity for your business because you're helping the suppliers gain more customers on a different platform. Since these suppliers are big companies that sell branded products with patents, global marketing standards, and more, you add value to their brand. 

Sell Wholesale With Seller Interactive

It's normal to get confused and feel overwhelmed with all the information mentioned above, especially if you're just starting with wholesale on Amazon. Sure, you'll face a number of challenges, but that's perfectly fine. That's how you grow not only as a seller, but even as a person. If you're finally ready to start selling wholesale on Amazon, get the help of Amazon specialists at Seller Interactive to streamline your wholesaling business. 

Leave the worries to us. We'll handle everything, from storage and fulfillment, to logistics. We'll manage your Amazon wholesale account or act as a wholesale partner while planning and executing the best marketing strategies to help boost your business. 

Do you want to know more? Contact us now.

If there's anything that any seller doesn't want to go through, it's needing to get their Amazon suspended account reinstated. If you're already in this position, it only means that you cannot access your account due to the suspension. As a seller, you must be alarmed by this. Since your account is rendered inactive, it means that you won't be able to be on top of sales on Amazon.

Amazon Suspension Help: How You Can Get Your Account Reinstated

One of the most commonly asked questions by sellers who have encountered the same situation is how to get their Amazon suspended account reinstated. There are a lot of things that you first have to prepare before you write your Amazon seller suspension appeal letter. With that, here are the things that you need to do to get your account reinstated.

1. Understand why your account was suspended

The first thing that you should do is to understand why your seller account got suspended. There are a lot of reasons why an account gets suspended. These reasons are why you should thoroughly understand what you have possibly done wrong.

Most sellers don't mind conducting a thorough investigation. These sellers proceed to work on their Amazon seller suspension appeal letters as soon as they learn that their accounts are suspended. What they don't know is that knowing the underlying reasons for suspension will help them in crafting their letters.

So if you have encountered an Amazon seller account suspension, you must first try to understand what happened. You won't really have a hard time, and it shouldn't take you a full day to learn about what has happened. 

When Amazon sends you a suspension letter, you will see the reasons why they have suspended your account. However, you do have to investigate these claims and see if they got it right. Here are the possible reasons why an account may get suspended.

• You're selling items that are prohibited from being sold on the platform.

The moment you start selling on Amazon, you agree to the company's terms and conditions. This includes agreeing to what kind of products you can sell on the platform. There are a lot of items on the list of restricted products, but here are the most common ones:

• Alcohol
• Animals and animal-related products
• Dietary supplements
• Drugs and drug paraphernalia
• Explosives, weapons, and other related items
• Lock picks and devices that can be used for theft
• Pesticides and pesticide-related devices
• Plant and seed products

You might also want to check the full list of restricted products. This is so you will know if what you are selling can be sold on the platform. However, if you're already selling these products, then this might be one of the reasons why your account got suspended.

• You're selling counterfeit items.

Aside from prohibited items, Amazon is serious in dealing with counterfeit items, as well. This means that even if you're not selling restricted items, as long as your products were tagged and reported as counterfeit, it can be a reason why you got the suspension.

Usually, the item categories that have the most counterfeit sellers would be movies, DVDs, beauty products, and electronics, among many others. Counterfeit items are fake or imitation pieces of any product. This is also one of the reasons why most sellers get account suspensions, but they fully insist that they haven't done anything wrong.

Just make sure that you check with your manufacturers or wherever you're sourcing your inventory. Since Amazon is pretty strict on this rule, you have to make sure that you have a trusted source for your products, as it might be a reason for your possible account suspension.

• You've received a lot of negative feedback.

Customer obsession is one of the pillars of Amazon's values. This means that the company is pro-customers over anything else. They would often go through lengths like extending their returns policy to please their customers.

It's no surprise that Amazon would take negative feedback from their customers very seriously. Although sellers would get negative feedback on their products, too many negative reviews will grab Amazon's attention and flag your account for suspension.

• You have duplicate accounts.

Since Amazon is already a big marketplace with hundreds of thousands of sellers already on it, the last thing that the company would want to deal with are sellers with duplicate accounts. Basically, this means that you cannot create duplicate accounts. 

If you have two accounts for two separate businesses, you will be served a suspension notice. Amazon takes serious measures to make sure that there is just one account for every seller. This includes making sure that the accounts weren't made or accessed from the same IP address, or the billing details such as the physical address and bank accounts aren't the same for one account and another.

Since Amazon is also pretty strict about seller accounts being accessed through one IP address, it also means that any member of your household, as long as you're accessing the internet through the same wireless connection, can be flagged as a second account.

So even if you did not necessarily make two Amazon seller accounts, there might be some factors that can affect your suspension.

• Opening a new account after yours gets suspended.

There are some sellers who wouldn't want to go through the trouble of making an Amazon seller suspension appeal letter. However, opening a new account after getting your seller account suspended will also be a reason for your suspension once again.

There might be some doubt on your part on how Amazon is going to know that you're the same seller. You might have already tried it, but it's a guarantee that you will not succeed in selling from your new account. Amazon will always find a way to suspend your account. 

2. Don't let emotions get in the way.

When your account gets suspended, it's understandable to feel a lot of emotions. You might feel angry, frustrated, and sad, among other negative feelings. It's completely normal to have these feelings,.especially if Amazon is your primary source of income.

However, when writing your Amazon seller suspension appeal letter, it's not recommended that you involve much of your feelings. While it is understandable to some extent, you also have to take a professional approach in dealing with these situations.

Emotions won't help in getting your Amazon suspended account reinstated. So before writing your letter, make sure that you've fully set aside these initial reactions. It's also best that you work with an agency or someone who's had experience in writing suspension account appeal letters. This way, you're sure that you've fully detached yourself from what you're going to write.

3. Write your appeal letter.

It's not possible to get your Amazon suspended account reinstated without your appeal letter. So if there's a backbone to your appeal, this will be your letter. That's why you definitely have to focus on making sure that you've written your appeal properly.

When writing your letter, it's important that you include all the data that you've gathered from your own investigation. There might be some instances wherein you can point out that they have accused you of something that you didn't do. However, you should approach this in a way that sounds like you're laying down facts instead of accusing Amazon that they've done you wrong. 

Present everything that you've gathered that will help in getting your account reinstated. Here are the other things that you should remember when writing your letter.

• Don't be too defensive. Back your claims up with facts instead.
• Don't criticize Amazon and their process. They're also just doing their job in making sure that everyone is following their rules.
• Do take responsibility for what has happened. You can also go and try to explain your side.
• Do indicate the things you're planning to do to resolve the problem and how you plan to avoid it from happening moving forwards. It's your way of showing that you're keen on making things right and are committed to adhering to Amazon's rules.

How to Open an Amazon Account After Suspension

You can only open it again after having your Amazon suspended account reinstated. Basically, the way for you to do it is to submit your appeal letter. When you're in the process of trying to get your account reinstated, you have to wait for a certain amount of time before you get your results. Here's a quick rundown of what you will have to go through.

17-day deadline

You have 17 days after receiving the notice of suspension to submit your appeal letter. This means that you have to investigate the situation and write your plan of action. 

You have more than two weeks to work on these, so make sure that you're doing everything you can. Remember that your letter is the backbone of your appeal. This will be Amazon's sole basis on whether or not you're going to have your account reinstated.

48 hours after submission of appeal

This is Amazon’s official estimate of how long they will be able to respond to your appeal. However, this is a very rare scenario. This could also be affected by the numerous appeals that they have to attend to every day. 

60 days or more

According to some sellers on Amazon's forums, there are some who have experienced about 60 days or more before they have received Amazon's decision regarding their suspension appeals. Although there is a 48-hour target response time for your appeals, this usually doesn't happen. So if you're looking for a response, make sure that you're patient with how the whole process works. 

Key Takeaway

One of the worst things that can happen to you as a seller is to have your account suspended. For this, you may want to get Amazon suspension help from those who have dealt with this in the past. A properly written appeal letter will help you get your Amazon suspended account reinstated.

If you're looking for someone who can help write your suspension appeal letter, we, at Seller Interactive, are the people you should call. With our extensive experience in handling sellers who have been suspended, we definitely know how to create the letter that will help in increasing your chances of getting your account reinstated.

Want to know more about this? Send us a message at [email protected] to book a consultation!

One of the things that you should pay close attention to when you're selling on Amazon is your fulfillment methods. For this, you can go with either Amazon FBA or FBM.

Although FBA has more advantages than the other fulfillment method, you are free to choose whichever will work for you. In this blog post, we'll help you with the difference between FBA and FBM, so you can choose the best one that suits your Amazon business.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) Explained

If you're a new Amazon seller, one of the first fulfillment methods you will be introduced to is FBA. Basically, with FBA you're handing off the order processing and delivery to Amazon's Fulfillment Centers. You don't have to pack the items ordered, label, or ship them one by one. Amazon handles the fulfillment process for you. 

Now, the question for you is: is Amazon FBA worth it? For the most part, having Amazon FBA as your fulfillment method is worth it, especially if you're targeting Amazon Prime members.

If you're still unfamiliar with how this method works, you can ask a trusted Amazon FBA consultant to help walk you through the process. In this way, you can ask how to start an Amazon FBA business, among the other questions that might come up. 

Pros FBA Sellers Enjoy With Amazon FBA

Now that you know how Amazon FBA works, let's take a deeper look at this fulfillment method by exploring the benefits of FBA. Here are some of them.

1. Eligibility for Prime Shipping

If you choose Amazon FBA as your fulfillment method, your FBA products will all be eligible for Amazon Prime. Prime members can enjoy free two-day Prime shipping, while all Amazon customers can get free shipping on qualified orders. 

Your eligible product listings will be displayed with the Prime badge so customers know that Amazon is handling the picking, packing, and shipping.

According to Statista's data, there were over 150 million Amazon Prime members worldwide in 2019. 112 million of those Prime members were from the United States. That's how big your market will be if you choose to become an Amazon FBA seller. Amazon sellers should always aim for wider market reach, which the Amazon FBA program can fulfill.

2. Winning the Amazon Buy Box

Amazon favors FBA sellers because the platform knows their orders will be delivered on time. Fulfillment method and on-time delivery are two important factors to getting the Buy Box. 

With this, signing up for Amazon FBA program increases your chances of winning the Amazon Buy Box—the most coveted feature of Amazon sellers.

The Buy Box is where the "Buy Now" and "Add to Cart" buttons are on a product detail page. This makes shopping easier for many Amazon customers and helps Amazon sellers increase their visibility and sales. 

3. Dedicated Customer Service

If you enroll in Amazon FBA, Amazon will handle customer service for you. Your customers can contact their support team via phone or email at no extra charge. Amazon will also manage product returns. If an Amazon customer wants to return a product, the platform will direct them to their online returns center.

Cons of Amazon FBA

Aside from the benefits, the Amazon FBA program also has disadvantages. Here are some of them.

1. Costs

Since Amazon will take care of the process, you must expect to spend some money on FBA fees: namely the fulfillment fee and monthly inventory storage fees. Fulfillment fees cover orders picked, packed, and shipped to your customers from Amazon's Fulfillment Centers.

Before Amazon does this, however, you’ll be in charge of getting your items to an Amazon warehouse, and you have to factor in this additional cost. 

You'll also pay for monthly storage fees depending on the volume of your inventory stored in Amazon's Fulfillment Centers. To see if FBA is worth your while, you can use the "Revenue Calculator" in Amazon Seller Central.

2. Strict Packaging and Labeling Requirements

Your items should meet Amazon's packaging and labeling requirements before they can be accepted into the warehouses. Failing to prepare your inventory according to these guidelines increases the possibility of Amazon refusing your incoming shipment.

As a result, you will need to invest time and money to retrieve and re-prepare your inventory.

Merchant Fulfilled Network or Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) Explained

Based on the name itself, you should already know what to expect. FBM is the complete opposite of FBA. Instead of Amazon shipping out your products, you will do everything on your own. 

You will have to process orders, package them for shipping, label them, and send them out to your customers.

Pros FBM Sellers Enjoy With Amazon FBM

If you think you’re better off doing everything yourself, here are the benefits of FBM that may interest you.

1. Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime

The Seller Fulfilled Prime is a program offered by Amazon. It allows sellers to complete their own orders and sell Prime-eligible products, but only if they meet Amazon's strict criteria. The program also enables you to display a Prime badge on your listings, making it easy for Prime customers to find your products. 

2. Fewer Fees

With FBM, Amazon sellers obviously won't have to pay FBA fees. This means you don't have to worry about paying for fulfillment fees or Amazon's storage space. This is a huge benefit if you have a high level of expertise in logistics or if you have heavy and slow-moving items. 

3. More Control Over Fulfillment Processes

Some Amazon sellers want total control over their business processes, even if it means that additional employees must be hired to ensure that every product is processed and shipped out properly.

So if you're the type of seller who wants full access to your inventory, processing, packaging, and shipping, then FBM might suit you better.

Cons of Amazon FBM

Aside from its benefits, you also have to be aware of the drawbacks of Amazon FBM. Here are some of them.

1. Fewer Chances of the Amazon Buy Box

One major disadvantage of FBM is that it can take a while before getting approved for the Amazon Buy Box. This can be a big loss, as Amazon has reported that 80–90% of purchases on their platform are made through the Buy Box.

2. Shipping Costs

Since you're fully responsible for handling everything on your own, you will also be responsible for shipping. You'll have to pay for shipping costs, packaging materials and shipping labels.

Shipping and handling may also affect your business if you're not properly prepared to deal with an influx of orders, especially during holiday sales.

Amazon FBA vs. FBM: Which Fulfillment Method Should You Choose?

Now that you know the main differences between both fulfillment methods, which is best for you? Let's compare FBA and FBM through the following factors.

Control Over Business Processes

Choose Amazon FBM if you want full control over your business processes. However, if you don't want to oversee your Amazon business's processing, labeling, and shipping, then FBA might be the suitable fulfillment method for you.

Customer Service

Handling customer service is one thing that's important for both Amazon FBA and FBM sellers. If you already have an established customer service set in place, you can consider going for FBM. With FBM, your team should be trained to handle all customer concerns.

But if you're not confident about managing it or don't have a huge team to handle customer inquiries, you can hand it off to the Amazon FBA program.

Warehouse Services

One major factor in this decision will have to be storage space. If you already have a warehouse, you'll save a lot in terms of storage fees.

But if you're just starting out and don't have a dedicated space, it might be worth your while to pay Amazon to store your products for you. Thus, go for Amazon FBA. 

Key Takeaway

Your fulfillment method is one of the main things you must thoroughly decide on when selling on Amazon. More than simply deciding on who will fulfill your orders, this will greatly affect how your business will be run and your overall sales.
Do you need help in dealing with your Amazon seller account? Talk to a reputable Amazon account specialist today.