10 Tips for How to Sell on Amazon Successfully

As the world’s leading online retail platform, it makes sense for businesses to want to sell their products on Amazon.

Although it seems easy enough, many people struggle to get their sales as high as they’d like to when they first start out, which can lead to an early feeling of defeat.

How do you sell on Amazon successfully?

The best methods for selling on Amazon include using advertising, optimizing your listings for SEO, offering competitive pricing, and having a unique brand personality. Not all techniques will work for every company or product type, so it’s about finding those that are effective for you.

Learning how to sell on Amazon successfully is a matter of applying a range of different techniques to increase your chances and appeal to customers.

The main goal is to develop a trusted and unique online presence for your brand’s listings on Amazon, and we can show you how to do just that.

What Are the Reasons for Low Sales on Amazon?

One of the biggest misconceptions about selling online with marketplaces like Amazon is that it’s easy.

While they do what they can to make the listing and selling process simple, it’s up to you how well your products will do, so you have to utilize a range of tools to ensure success.

The most common reasons why people experience lower sales on Amazon is because they’re not marketing properly, they’re selling products that have low demand, their products aren’t priced correctly, or they aren’t dealing with customers effectively.

Without a solid business plan going into it, you’ll find that many of these issues come up for you as well.

Other times, it can feel as though you’re doing everything right, but failing to be seen in the highly competitive market. With a few simple tips, you can change this though, so it’s about finding those that work for your brand.

10 Ways to Boost Your Amazon Sales

There’s no single approach you can take to boost your sales on Amazon, but rather a handful you should be implementing to see results.

These are some of the best ways to increase your customer reach, get your brand seen, and sell more products online than you ever have before.

#1: Competitive Pricing

Whether you own a brick-and-mortar store or only sell online, getting pricing right is critical. When you’re dealing with an overcrowded marketplace like Amazon though, it’s even more important.

Learning how to competitively price your products so they’re enticing to sellers but still good enough to earn you a profit is a skill, but one that you’ll need to succeed. Amazon’s pricing model means that prices change constantly, and can even vary throughout the day.

As a seller, you can use various methods like repricing, which is undercutting other sellers by a small amount, or offering discounts and reductions in pricing to try and entice buyers. Ultimately, you’ll need to use a range of tactics to ensure your goods are competitively priced, and there are plenty of online tools that let you do just that.

#2: Create a Unique Brand Personality

Creating a brand is important for any business but when you’re trying to stand out and boost sales on Amazon, you’ll need it even more. Brand identity will be easily recognizable by buyers, help you share your principles and purpose, and cement your place as a professional company.

Your brand should be consistent in its pricing and quality, as these are the two most important factors someone considers when purchasing anything.

A unique brand identity can include things like branding, packaging, philosophies, and wording, so it’s important to use it in everything you do and remain consistent. Rather than just listing individual items, you’ll want your Amazon presence to have an identity and purpose, as customers are more likely to be drawn to this and want to see what other products you have to sell.

#3: Use Advertising

Amazon has four main advertising tools you can use, including Sponsored Display, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Products, and Stores, depending on what your brand needs and how much money you’re willing to spend. In addition to utilizing these, you should be looking at other marketing approaches like social media, email campaigns, and discount codes to boost your brand.

It’s essential to constantly monitor your advertising campaigns and change them as needed. Advertising should be relevant, exciting, and time-sensitive, so it’s not something you can set up and leave for months on end. Although you’re listed on the largest online marketplace in the world, you still need to promote your products and your brand to stand out.

#4: Aim for the Buy Box

The Buy Box is something you might not have noticed on Amazon until you started selling products yourself, but for vendors, it’s the easiest way to boost sales. The Buy Box is the small box listed alongside a product that says “Buy Now”, and to get it, Amazon must deem you worthy. It’s worth it though, as an estimated 82% of sales on Amazon occur through this single box.

To become eligible for the Buy Box, Amazon must see that you have exceptional seller metrics. Everything you do as a merchant should be with the goal of achieving the Buy Box, including customer support, product quality, shipping and returns management, and driven pricing. The coveted button ensures you stay competitively priced, as if there are other similar items for sale cheaper, it’ll tell visitors to your page to “see all buying options” instead.

#5: SEO Matters

When thinking about search engine optimization, most people don’t realize that it plays a part in places like Amazon listings as well. Knowing how to optimize the content on your product listings and within your store’s pages is the key to getting more people to see them, and there’s no need to hire an SEO pro just to do that.

Amazon has tools available that can help with optimization, including their A+ Content program which is free to utilize. Using this, you can customize product listings, provide more information about the products, share your brand information, and use quality photos and videos as part of your content. According to Amazon, the A+ Content tool, vendors have increased sales between 3% and 10% just with this approach alone.

#6: Utilize Amazon Prime

Listing your products with Amazon Prime is another great way to boost sales as it gives customers the benefit of free expedited shipping if they have a Prime account themselves, leading to more sales. When you sign up for an FBA account, you’ll automatically be able to show the Prime badge on your product listing page, so if a customer spends over $39 with you, they can enjoy the perks.

Although it’s usually only offered to those with an FBA account, there is the Seller Fulfilled Prime program that lets vendors deliver directly from their warehouse. However, this is only available to approved applicants and Amazon has put a temporary pause on accepting new registrants.

#7: Be Socially Responsible

Building your brand’s image is critical to increasing sales, and one of the best ways to do that is with social responsibility. When people see that a brand is socially responsible, they’re more likely to trust them and spend with them, so think of ways you can use your position for good.

A socially responsible company might do things like using ethically sourced materials, recycling their containers, or donating a portion of profits to a charity.

Look at the products you sell and think about what caused you could align yourself with that will prove to customers that you’re about more than just the bottom line.

#8: Fulfilment By Amazon

Fulfillment By Amazon is a program that merchants can use, for a fee, whereby Amazon stores your items, packs and ships them, and handles returns and customer support post-sale.

Although it costs more, it’s reliable, frees up your time, and ensures a more professional approach that customers prefer. If your brand sells most of its products through Amazon, it’s worthwhile checking it out.

Another benefit of using FBA is that the shipping and customer support process is taken over by them, which means they handle complaints. If there are issues with shipping or products arriving damaged, it won’t reflect poorly on your Amazon store or in reviews, as they take responsibility for it.

#9: Get More Reviews

If you’ve ever searched for a product online at Amazon and came across a listing or seller that didn’t have any reviews, you probably kept searching. The same thing happens when someone happens upon your products if you don’t have many reviews, so you need to do what you can to boost them.

The best methods for getting more reviews are by using a “request a review” button, adding inserts with your products that request a review, or improving your product so it’s at a standard people are happy with.

It’s best to avoid buying reviews or offering incentives as it’s obvious when this occurs and will usually have the opposite effect on the customer’s perception of your brand.

#10: High-Quality Imagery and Video

When you’re an e-commerce seller, it’s worth investing some time and money into improving your photography skills and getting some basic equipment. Having a simple setup at home where you can professionally shoot your products and then edit the images is all you need.

This way, customers are given quality images displayed beside the product listings which makes them more appealing. The difference between a listing with average images and one with professional ones is huge and it’ll lead more people to click on your products.

Consider having video content, if it works for the product, and using this on your store page or within the product listing, going above and beyond what other sellers are doing.

The Key to Amazon Selling Success

As a highly competitive marketplace, it’s essential to have some tricks up your sleeve that will ensure your brand is a standout on Amazon.

With our tips, you’ll be able to devise a plan that improves your customer reach and helps you develop a unique brand personality, giving you everything you need to boost sales.