Research suggests that it takes more than an excellent business idea to succeed in business. With more than 2.5million active sellers, over 1 million sellers joining yearly and over 95 million loyal shoppers, it will certainly take more than just a business idea to succeed on Amazon.
With figures running into hundreds of thousands of traders raking in over $100,000.00 in sales every year, there must be strategies behind their success. In order to understand how to be successful on Amazon, a few guidelines have been provided below.
Understand and Play by the Rules
Every market has its rules and regulations, whether online or offline. One reason this is very crucial in an eCommerce site is to minimize the number of fraudulent sellers. These rules are essential to the continued success of Amazon as an eCommerce site and a business.
These rules, however, have turned out to be frustrating for newcomers. It would help if you had significant time to study these rules and restrictions and play by them.
Inventory Management
Inventory management is a critical index for the success in business irrespective of the platform. It is one of the most talked-about topics in business circles. Failure to keep track of your products in stock could lead to displaying and selling products that you no longer have available; this could be annoying to buyers and may earn you a suspension from Amazon.
One solution that merchants have applied over time is to incorporate their eCommerce platform into Amazon account. In some cases, though it does not work out. A great way to solve the integration challenge is to sign up on an eCommerce platform that is trusted and have shown effectiveness in the market place of your choice.
Ecommerce solutions experts like Clarobi offer you great leverage. They could help to take the weight off your shoulder and give you the much-needed freedom to focus on other important variables. Dynamic inventory management could help to drive your profit.
Create a Business Plan
Every business needs a plan because business plans serve as a road map to guide your operations. A well-crafted business plan is an invaluable asset to a business owner because it will help you break the big picture into bits, and layout your goals as well as inform you if you are still on track.
A business plan helps you put together all the information you have gathered about your competitor, the viability of the product you want to sell, market trend, product sourcing, logistics, marketing and communication.
Your business plan should also look at the tactical implementation strategy. Marketing strategy to adopt, what platform to implement these plans on, the analytics to integrate etc. critical business decisions are informed by the quality of your business plan and more often than not, it helps you avoid the pitfalls many businesses run into at startup.
Increase Your Margin
While Amazon is a notable sales medium for numerous brands, the ever-growing plethora of selling and fulfilment charges take their toll on the profit margins; which in effect makes Amazon a costly platform to sell on. As a merchant, it is expedient to deliberately look at ways to increase your margins if you want to remain in business.
Fortunately, there are options available to you. One great way to increase your profit margin is to identify all inaccurate charges coming from Amazon. Check for size, weight and description on your stock keeping unit constantly to avoid wasting money on unfair charges.
Employ Dynamic Inventory Management to increase profit by ensuring
Follow up Customer Reviews
Customers rely largely on the use of reviews as tools to make decisions when buying products. As much as possible, they want to refer to the feedback left by other buyers who have patronized you before. Amazon customer reviews are vital for the success of your business. It is a reflection of how credible you are in your dealings with your customers. These recommendations represent social proof for your business and products. Consequently, you need to intentionally follow up your buyer to leave you feedback on their shopping experience.
These positive reviews will serve to inculcate trust in your business and strengthen your reputation in your niche area. The online review helps to build your search engine optimization and make it easy for customers to find you easily on the search engine. It also helps you connect with your customer; once they leave you positive feedback, you reciprocate with a thank you, this further build credibility when prospective customers get to see your responses.
Final Thoughts
Competition could be rife and visibility very daunting, but with the right kind of strategy, you can still excel selling on Amazon. The tips given here are proven strategies which can help you make a huge difference as a merchant on Amazon.