It’s a jungle out there…

 

Here we are in the throes of Q4 and the demons are lurking. While the rest of us are getting our products settled in one of the many & vast Amazon warehouses in one piece & time for a busy Christmas season, evil beings are working their wiles on how to take us down faster than we can get up & running.

While Christmas trees are being decorated, cookies baked and gifts being purchased, listings are being hacked, photos are being changed, fake reviews are being posted, inventory is being purposely damaged, fake IP claims are being filed, tempers are flaring. 

Yes, the villains are out in full force on Amazon. And for sure, like Santa’s elves, fellow marketer turned fixer, Cynthia Stine, will be very busy this year patching up the messes that will be made of many Amazon sellers businesses.

 

It is said that “Amazon is the judge, the jury, and the executioner”

 

But perhaps, but the wrong people are being executed. Businesses are being ruined. Lives are in the balance.

I like it. Amazon Monopoly is actually a great idea. Taking down K-Mart‘s & copying  3rd Party seller private label products as we make our way past GO sounds like jolly good fun.

Oh, and  ‘Get Out of Jail Free‘ cards with a picture of Cynthia Stine on them      … Oh, nevermind

I wonder what Jeff Bezos would think?   I’ll want my cut  Jeff … 

 

Yes, while shoppers are sipping lattes while perusing the busiest site on the internet, here is what is really going on behind the scenes on the Amazon marketplace  …. Merry Christmas !

 

Presented by Josh Dzieza for  The Verge.  Thanks Josh!

 

Ciao! 

 

 

 

Running your own e-commerce business can be an extremely lucrative way to build an online business, become an entrepreneur and even secure your financial future. Selling products using FBA can be a particularly effective business model.

However, especially when you are just starting, it can be difficult to know how to best promote your business  to be a successful Amazon FBA seller. Here are 7 great marketing tips to get you started –

1. Leverage Your FBA Status

Being an Amazon FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon) seller gives you extra credibility with customers: being part of the program represents a trust signal to potential customers, who will have the added security of knowing that Amazon will resolve any issues or problems which may arise with their product or delivery. Additionally, using FBA opens up shipping options such as Amazon Prime free Two-Day Shipping, Super Saver Shipping and FREE Shipping.

Leverage this by promoting yourself as an Amazon FBA in the sales copy in your listings and be sure to emphasize these aspects. You can also use this as a trust signal on external marketing efforts such as your website.

2.  Use Keywords For Better Rankings

Implementing the correct keywords is one of the most important things you can do to drive sales for your Amazon FBA business. The best thing to do to bring potential customers to your listing and increase your sales is to rank highly on Amazon searches. Using the right keywords is one of the best things you can do (along with having great sales conversion rates) to rank on Amazon. Amazon keyword research tools like Keyworx will help you to identify the best keywords to rank your products.

The important thing is to have keywords that are not only linked to a high number of relevant searches,but which also convert. Research user intent for every keyword, and collect data based on past keyword performance in your own listings, as well as competitor analysis. You can then use this data to run A/B split tests to optimize the titles, images and bullet points in relation to keywords and other factors.

3. Optimize Your Listing

It is crucial that each product listing in optimized in two respects: for Amazon, and customers. Optimizing your listing for Amazon means using keywords and on-page Amazon SEO to make sure your listing ranks highly on search results.

When we talk about optimizing your listing for customers this covers:

• Visibility: driving referral traffic through PPC and Digital PR (more on both of these below)
• Conversion rates: making sure your listing converts visitors into sales.

Conversion rates are important not just because this means immediate sales and revenue for your business, but also because this will improve your rankings, driving more sales, and so on. Don’t forget that Amazon is a business and has a vested interest in promoting listings which are most likely to make money, and so it ranks listings with high conversion rates.

Improve conversions on your listings with keywords which convert, engaging images which explain product benefits, persuasive copy, and including as many details about your product as possible, and communicating how these benefit your customer.

4. Build Your Reviews – Fast

Another factor which will improve your Amazon rankings is having a large number of positive reviews. Be proactive in encouraging reviews from all customers – always following up at least 2times until they leave a review. Furthermore, the first 7days of your listing are crucial for ranking your product, so it is important to bring in as many reviews as possible during this time frame.

This is where using your network is important: when preparing to launch a new product, reach out to your contacts and ask them if they would be prepared to buy and review your product as soon as it is launched. Follow up on your launch date to make sure they go ahead and leave their review. In some cases, you may choose to offer a free sample to some of your networks by reimbursing them for their purchase, in order to secure reviews in this crucial 7-day window.

5. PPC Advertising

PPC (pay-per-click) advertising is a relatively-expensive marketing strategy, at least compared to other tactics covered in this article. However, it can be a good way to boost sales when used in combination with other strategies, and in particular within the crucial 7-day window after you launch your product in order to rank well on Amazon.

On Amazon, there are a range of paid advertising options: headline search ads, product display ads, lightning deals, daily discounts, coupons, and sponsored product ads. Off Amazon, Google Adwords, Facebook, and Content Networks can have great results in bringing in sales leads and can represent good ROI.

6. Digital PR

Digital PR can be a great way to reach a wider audience of potential customers and in particular to drive initial sales. Use competitor research to find sites which are already linking to your competitors and offer to create great, relevant content for them. This is a great way to link customers to your product page while offering something of value (great content).

7. Email Marketing

Email marketing has continued to be one of the most popular forms of content marketing with businesses of all kinds – and with good reason. Email marketing can take the form of newsletters, news on product launches, special offers, or something else. In all cases, these have great conversion rates, at least in part because your audience is already highly targeted to those interested in your products.

Building an email list of previous customers, site visitors and other contacts, and putting it to good use, can generate quality organic traffic and greatly improve sales

 

 

The battle with Amazon counterfeiters continues. But whose battle is it?

 

Back in 2014 Amazon began aggressively courting Chinese sellers. Since then, it has been a counterfeit product free for all affecting the sellers and customers on their platform. Years and multiple lawsuits later, this rampant counterfeiting is still going on with no signs of stopping.

Offering perks like free international shipping & reduced fees. The platform was quickly deluged with all kinds of counterfeit products exactly duplicating the look and packaging of some of Amazons top sellers. These items very obviously commingled with the inventory of legitimate sellers without their knowledge. ‘Commingling’ is an option that sellers have that allow them to have their inventory stored with that of other sellers. At least we thought it was an option. An option, that I quickly learned, was not a good one. However, an option it is. One that Amazon feels is at their own discretion, even over the wishes of their sellers.

They are aware that fakes are being openly sold on their platform, yet do nothing about it.  Heck, they themselves copy the best selling products, using very a very finely tuned algorithm to mete out the best products They then go nose to nose with their most lucrative sellers for the bottom line under their Amazon Basics brand. All with no shame. Often, Amazon’s products are far un-superior to the actual product. Do we need to guess who is manufacturing these products? 

The fact that they openly destroy businesses by comingling  (mishandling) the inventory of legitimate business owners shows their lack of concern for the sellers on their platform. They should be fully liable for the service that they CHARGE FOR. The mistake Amazon makes is in thinking, for some reason not known to mankind, that they own the seller, when they simply charge for & provide a service. Same as any other business.

 

All of this falls back down to the customer.

 

Each bad review equals a dissatisfied customer.  Customers who are NOT receiving the product they thought they were purchasing. Funny, that Amazon has always maintained that these are THEIR customers, not those of the seller. This is true, of course, until they receive a counterfeit item or taxes are involved, then they quickly become the sellers’ customer. A fickle friend indeed.

Of course Amazon’s predominant concern is their bottom line. A dollar earned is a dollar earned. But at what cost?  I do not agree that they are not liable for the activities of counterfeiters that they openly invited onto their platform. For me, it did not take a college degree to figure out how this was going to go. I expected that a behemoth like Amazon’s Jeff Bezos would know better. The question is who does Amazon care about. It is certainly not their sellers. It is certainly not their customers and where will this finally end up?

My two cents.

An article written by David Pierson for the LA Times , adds an additional look into this mayhem.

 

Ciao! 

 

 

 

eBay’s search engine, Cassini, has been running the eBay engine since 2013. The job of Cassini is to improve customer experience through a more refined search engine, helping customer find what they are looking for more quickly. Great for the customer, not so great for sellers who struggle to keep their products visible in eBay’s catalog. 

 

 

Here are few tips to keep your sale humming on eBay –

11 Ways to Improve eBay Sales