Amazon is undoubtedly the biggest eCommerce retailer in the world, with more than 2.5 million sellers on the platform. If you’re thinking about starting your own business on Amazon, you should be aware that there are a lot of things you need to do before you find success.
For example, there is a lot of competition you need to look out for and a lot of different factors you need to know. Amazon sellers have to ask the right questions and seek advice so they can learn and grow constantly. That way, they can fill out any knowledge gaps they might not even be aware of and stay afloat in such a competitive environment.
If you really want to grow your Amazon business, you should follow some proven tips that you can read below.
Be passionate about what you do
One of the biggest rules of business is to never do something you’re not interested in, even if that’s something extremely profitable. You need to choose something you’re passionate about because that way, you will always be motivated to keep going. Passion drives people more than anything else, and if you’re passionate enough, you will be able to form exclusive relationships and connections with people who will help you on your road to success.
When it comes to these connections, there are two types of relationships you need to nurture the most: with your suppliers and with your employees.
When it comes to suppliers, explain that you’re in it for the long haul. Reach out to them regularly and ask if there are any ways you can improve quality, costs, but also communications, and never work with someone who isn’t prepared to listen to your request.
On the other hand, when it comes to hiring employees, you need to build a team of professionals who are just as passionate about the industry as you are. That way, you will have a stable team where everyone’s collective goal is to grow together instead of multiple individuals who are just looking for a paycheck.
Passion is what motivates you to grow your business, and that gives you a number of great options. For example, if you decide to retire, you will be able to sell your Amazon business for a sizable profit if you have been taking the right steps with passion. Since there are always more buyers than sellers in the market, you probably won’t have any issues when you decide to sell.
Implement live chat
Every successful Amazon business owner knows the importance of live chat. It humanizes your store and offers instant support from a real person, and can even mimic the experience consumers have in traditional stores.
According to live chat stats, more than one-third of consumers expect to see a live chat feature on a company’s website, but only 9% of companies use live chat. Of course, there are other reasons you should incorporate this function other than customer expectations.
These are the biggest benefits of live chat:
- Saves time. One of the biggest indicators of good customer service is speed. When someone is shopping online and has any sort of question, they want answers straight away. So instead of making your customers wait around for a customer service agent, make things easier with live chat.
- Eliminates hesitation. When shopping online, if a customer has a question and can’t get an answer right away, they’ll become hesitant about making a purchase. Hesitation turns into doubt very quickly, and before you know it, you will lose a customer without even realizing it.
- Ensures seamless communication. Live chat is written communication, which means that you are able to provide seamless support to your customers. Every new conversation can be started without any mindset adjustments, as live chat representatives always respond in the same tone of voice.
- Allows you to collect valuable insights. After every communication via live chat, you can ask customers for feedback much more simply than you could via email or phone. You can also easily track customer behaviors and use all of that data to improve customer experience.
Win the “Buy Box”
Amazon’s Buy Box is the box that is located under the price on a product placement that says “Add to cart” or “Buy now” on Amazon’s listings, and it displays three or four similarly priced items. If you manage to win the Buy Box, you will also be able to direct sales toward your business.
The eCommerce giant has an algorithm in place that decides which sellers win the Buy Box:
- Pricing. Competitive pricing plays a big role in determining who wins the Buy Box, and sellers who have the lowest price + shipping costs have an advantage.
- Shipping. High-performance, hassle-free, and preferably free shipping will get you in the Buy Box.
- Perfect Order Percentage and Order Defect Rate. POP measures the number of orders a seller had without any complications or customer intervention. ODR shows how many orders had negative feedback, were returned, canceled, or had any issues. Keep your POP high and ODP low.
- Seller rating. Even though you can’t influence your rating, don’t give customers any reasons to leave bad ratings and reviews. Ideally, your rating should be 90% or higher, so ensure you have great prices, offer excellent shipping, and provide quick feedback on all inquiries.
Invest in paid advertising
Most eCommerce websites try to grow their business through search engine optimization, but SEO techniques won’t do much for you, considering you don’t own the website you’re selling on. That is why your best chance to attract customers to your businesses is through paid advertising.
A staggering 90% of searchers haven’t made their mind up about a brand before starting their search, so you can attract a lot of customers to your brand with the right ads. There isn’t one type of ad that will ensure success, and you will have to go through different kinds of campaigns before you find the right one.
The most important thing when it comes to advertising your Amazon business is testing. The best way to find the winning strategy and get the most out of your campaigns is to A/B split test your images and copy to find out what resonates best with your target audience.
Build your own website
Using Amazon as your business platform is great for many reasons, but it has some downsides too. One of the biggest ones is that you don’t have any access to customer data. This can be an issue because this information is crucial to building your business and succeeding in the long haul.
Even though there are some tools you can use to collect this information, the best way to do this is to create your own website that will capture customer data and extend your online presence.
When you have your own website, you will be able to direct at least a part of your traffic to it and won’t have to rely on Amazon for all of your profit. If you apply the right strategies and use all-in-one SEO tools, you can get customers through direct searches and still build product and brand awareness at the same time.
Another reason why you need a website is that it gives you multiple opportunities to build an email list you can use for targeted campaigns.
Final thoughts
When compared to a traditional eCommerce store, starting your business on Amazon requires much less capital and work, especially in the beginning. The most important part about being a seller on Amazon loves what you do, and the rest goes from there.
Amazon gives its sellers a wide range of resources that can help them grow and succeed, so as long as you put in enough effort, you can’t fail. And of course, follow all of the tips you read about here because they will be key to your success.