How?

The answer is twofold: a detailed Amazon marketing strategy combined with the prowess of a top-tier Amazon advertising agency, Amazon PPC service provider, or Amazon marketing agency.

Put simply, to navigate the crowded Amazon marketplace, brands need expert guidance from one of the best Amazon advertising agencies in the business.

#1 Power Digital

• Specialty: Amazon, SEO, PR, Social Media, Content Marketing, CRO, PPC/Paid Media, Amazon PPC service, Influencer Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Email Marketing, Partnerships, Paid Social Advertising, Web Design & Development, Digital Creative Design & Rapid Ad Creative, Diligence (PE/VC), Marketing Operations, Programmatic, Tiktok TikTok
• Industries: B2B & eCommerce, beauty, B2B division, fashion, private equity (due diligence), retail media
• Strengths: Custom marketing playbooks, proprietary technology, consumer values, 2.4x faster growth
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: San Diego, California
• Notable Clients: Casper, Catalonia Crunch, Honest, MyFitnessPal, Bob’s Red Mill, Gorjana, Smart Sweets, Lord & Taylor, Puravida, Kate Somerville, Taylor Guitars

Power Digital’s Amazon marketing services and Amazon management services are the key to unlocking your product’s potential. As one of the top Amazon marketing agencies in the nation, they can analyze, strategize, implement, and continuously optimize your online store.

Starting with a deep dive into your current strategy, Power Digital Amazon marketing services identify a brand’s intended destination and then charts the most efficient path according to relevant KPIs, timelines, and industry trends. New product copy, improved Amazon SEO, and high-conversion ad campaigns are then launched and continuously monitored and optimized by the Amazon agency for growth.

Full-service management from this Amazon SEO agency includes inventory control, product listing creation, adaptive Amazon marketplace strategies, and AI-powered insights.

#2 Voice SEO

• Specialty: Voice SEO, Google Assistant SEO, Siri SEO, Alexa SEO
• Industries: Local business and enterprises
• Strengths: Marketing experts in both SEO and voice search optimization
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: Commerce, California
• Notable Clients: None listed

Voice SEO‘s voice and Alexa services are the key to standing out in Amazon’s voice-controlled marketplace. This tailored strategy emphasizes appearing on Amazon’s Choice list by employing unique methods for handling conversational phrases and enhancing visibility on Amazon’s Voice Search Results.

Voice SEO is an Amazon advertising agency that seeks to elevate brands in voice-controlled shopping and consumer interactions, particularly with the Echo smart assistant. The pursuit of accuracy and relevance in this evolving landscape is the hallmark of Voice SEO’s approach to Alexa SEO services, leading the way for businesses navigating the future of search.

#3 Profit Whales

• Specialty: Paid Amazon Ad software, Amazon PPC Management, Amazon DSP Ad Services, Amazon Product Ranking, Amazon PPC Audits
• Industries: eCommerce
• Strengths: Ranked among top 100 most important companies in the eCommerce sector, traffic conversion, innovation & automation, full-service ad management
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: Carlsbad, California
• Notable Clients: Dr. Krause, Divelux, Yoga Mats

Profit Whales, a full-service Amazon marketing agency, thrives on cross-channel synergy and innovation. With a record of $1.3B in sales in 2021 and over 40 brands under management, they are an Amazon agency that emphasizes long-term growth through personalized strategy and data-driven decisions.

In a saturated marketplace, services like Amazon PPC management and unique Amazon Ads campaigns combined with an AI-driven PC optimization platform help set this Amazon PPC agency apart as one of the best Amazon marketing agencies in the business.

Profit Whales’ mission?

Building up impactful brands that not only achieve immediate product growth but continuous and sustainable scaling.

#4 SupplyKick

• Specialty: eCommerce, Wholesale Partnership (Logistics, Brand Management, Advertising, Marketing)
• Industries: eCommerce marketplaces including Amazon US, Amazon CA, MX, UK, Walmart, eBay, Lowe’s, and Target Plus
• Strengths: Over $200M sold on Amazon to date, average 99% lifetime seller feedback, 96% partner retention rate, average 60% increase in conversion rate, over 9x revenue return on Amazon Ad spend
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: Fishers, Indiana
• Notable Clients: Lids, Harness Lead, Dometic, Better Vent, Friedrich, Ciao Baby, Jennybird

SupplyKick—a top third-party seller and full-service agency—specializes in elevating brands on leading eCommerce platforms such as Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and others.

With over $200M sold on Amazon and an average 60% increase in conversion rate, SupplyKick’s integrity-driven long-term partnerships amplify end-to-end marketplace strategy. Whether through wholesale retailing or agency consultation, SupplyKick has fostered a commitment to inclusivity, change embrace, and ownership attitude—all to connect great brands with their customers on Amazon.

#5 Amazon Marketing Co

• Specialty: Amazon Growth Management, Listing Conversion Optimization, Product Launches, A-Z Account Management, Amazon PPC, Amazon Graphic Design, Amazon Store Automation
• Industries: eCommerce
• Strengths: Over $20M sold on Amazon to date, 98% job success score, 300+ brands served, and 2-10x sales boosts
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: Kirkland, Washington
• Notable Clients: Innovet, Natural Delights, Joy Organics, Roma Leaf, Sticky Wallet, Twin Lab, Biome Probiotics

Amazing Marketing Co. is a top-rated Amazon Marketing Agency with a proven track record.

AMC adopts a holistic approach that includes PPC campaigns, creative content, strategic testing, communication, and more. With over 30 years of combined experience, they’ve perfected systems that ensure results. They’re not just about tweaking campaigns; they focus on the entirety of a brand’s Amazon presence.

With more than 70+ positive reviews on Upwork and a 100% job success score, Amazon Marketing Company is committed to its client’s success.

#6 Voy

• Specialty: Advertising, Creative Studio Services, Growth Marketing
• Industries: eCommerce, social media
• Strengths: $357 million revenue generated, 92% of clients doubled revenue after the first year, 13,721 high volume creative content pieces produced each month
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: NYC, New York
• Notable Clients: Zumba, Go Sun, Paw.com, Big Life Journal, UMG, Lacoste

Voy Media—the #1 Facebook Ads Agency—specializes in direct response and customer acquisition across eCommerce, lead gen, and mobile sectors.

As a full-service creative studio, they generate impactful creative content that drives tangible results. Whether working with Fortune 500 giants or innovative start-ups, Voy has built campaigns that drive success.

Voy offers comprehensive services, including Facebook & Instagram ads, retargeting, real-time analytics, and more. The agency’s multidimensional approach and commitment to long-term growth set them apart, as they relentlessly pursue strategies that make your marketing dollars work their hardest.

#7 Emplicit

• Specialty: Marketplace & eCommerce, Marketing and Content, Store Management, Brand Management
• Industries: eCommerce
• Strengths: Proprietary software designed for total Amazon channel management, full-service store, and content management
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: NYC, New York
• Notable Clients: General Mills, Moonlight, Organifi, eMed, Bowlero, Ausnutria, Ekster

Emplicit is the eCommerce maximization partner capable of transforming brands with tailored solutions designed to enhance every aspect of the sales journey.

Whether it’s through strategic eCommerce support, omnichannel marketing, store management, or brand protection, they’re committed to client success. And their proprietary technologies and innovative approaches ensure seamless and cost-effective sales.

The Emplicit team takes pride in its culture of ‘flexcellence.’ They don’t specialize in any particular vertical or market—just effective eCommerce. Emplicit fosters growth, collaboration, and inclusivity, in both its team and clients.

#8 Rank Media Agency

• Specialty: Digital Growth, Digital Strategy, Branding and Identity, Websites, eCommerce & UX, Video & Photography, Pay-Per-Call & Lead Generation
• Industries: eCommerce, enterprise brands
• Strengths: Helping leading brands channel the power of digital. Pay-per-call and lead generation
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: Ontario, Canada
• Notable Clients: Ritz-Carlton, Sotheby’s Montblanc, McGill, LG, Liberty Mutual, Realtor.ca, eHealth

Rank is a leading digital marketing agency in Montreal known for channeling the power of digital to foster brand growth. With expertise in lead generation and conversions, building intuitive online stores, and crafting full-scope marketing campaigns, Rank seeks to transform businesses into viable eCommerce brands.

Rank has become a go-to choice for digital growth strategies. It’s SEO with curb appeal.

#9 Logical Media Group

• Specialty: Paid Media, SEO, Amazon Advertising, Creative, Fractional CMO
• Industries: eCommerce, healthcare
• Strengths: Inc 5000 company, Chicago’s Best Places to Work 2022, full-service digital marketing and fractional CMO services
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois
• Notable Clients: Vienne Beef, Orgain, Precious Moments, Learning Resources, Physicians Immediate Care, Aligned Modern Health, SK Professional Tools, OMI industries

Logical is a full-service digital marketing agency that offers a unique blend of digital marketing and design skills.

As a certified Google Partner Agency, Logical’s team of SEO and PPC consultants is certified in Google Ads and Google Analytics. They also boast designers and developers adept at both technical and creative elements of web design.

One of Logical’s most notable strengths is its proprietary process for Amazon advertising, which includes quantitative research, creative enhancement, tactical competition strategies, and daily account maintenance. This process maximizes revenue by aligning with client needs, including targeted keyword harvesting, cross-channel cooperation, storefront enhancement, and detailed monitoring and reporting.

#10 Orca Pacific (Media Monks)

• Specialty: Amazon Account Management, Seller Central Management & FBA Consulting, Vendor Central Management, Paid Search, Content Optimization
• Industries: eCommerce
• Strengths: Proximity to Amazon HQ, data-driven processes, expert thought leaders, client-obsessed services
• Pricing: Custom pricing
• Headquarters: Seattle, Washington
• Notable Clients: Reebok, Uni-Ball, Bodyglove, Rachel Ray, Godiva, Osh Kosh

Media Monks is a full-service eCommerce agency that seeks to optimize every stage of the customer journey on Amazon and eCommerce platforms.

With specialized expertise in SEO, advertising, brand store creation, and product detail optimization, they offer a comprehensive approach to growth and conversion.

What sets them apart?

Data-driven decision-making, state-of-the-art technology, and in-depth knowledge of Amazon’s ecosystem. By customizing strategies to align with the brand’s value and the customer’s needs, they transform the complex landscape of Amazon into a pathway for success, standing as an indispensable partner for brands aiming to excel on the platform.

Ranking higher on Amazon is possible with an Amazon advertising agency

The world of eCommerce runs through Amazon. So, if brands wants to succeed in the digital marketplace, it’s crucial to partner with one of the best Amazon advertising agencies, such as Power Digital.

By trusting the digital marketing agency experts at Power Digital, you can navigate the complex landscape of Amazon with precision and effectiveness, leveraging in-depth knowledge, cutting-edge strategies, and innovative tools to drive your brand’s visibility and online sales.

Sources:

1. Statista. Most visited online marketplaces worldwide as of April 2023, by monthly traffic. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1155246/leading-online-marketplaces-usa-average-monthly-visits/

The post 10 Best Amazon Advertising Agencies appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

What is the Prime Fall Deal Event?

Since its inception, Amazon Prime Day has become synonymous with incredible deals, jaw-dropping discounts, and exclusive offers for Prime members. Traditionally held in July, this shopping event has captured the hearts of millions of consumers worldwide. 

In 2022 to appeal to their loyal customer base, Amazon decided to expand the Prime Member experience with a Fall shopping event titled “Prime Early Access Sale” featuring thousands of deals exclusively available to Amazon Prime members from October 11th-12th. While it wasn’t exactly a second Prime Day event, the fall deal placement is a great way to kick off the holiday shopping season and score great deals on products that typically are harder to purchase during peak shopping season. Let’s dive deeper into what the Amazon Prime Fall day deal has meant for sellers and how they can make the most of another potential Fall Amazon event. 

1. Extended Sales Season: Traditionally, Prime Day has been held in the summer, offering incredible discounts and deals to millions of Prime members. By running the 2nd annual Prime Fall Deal Event, Amazon is extending the prime sales season and providing sellers with another opportunity to scale sales growth as they enter the holiday season. This means extended visibility, increased sales potential, and an opportunity to attract new customers who may have missed out on summer deals.
2. Enhanced Exposure and Visibility: With Amazon’s customer base and worldwide reach, participating in the Prime Fall Deal Event can significantly boost a your brand’s visibility. Amazon invests heavily in marketing and promoting Prime events, ensuring that it captures the attention of millions of eager shoppers. By aligning their products and promotions with the event, sellers can leverage this extensive exposure and tap into a vast pool of potential buyers. When it comes to promotions, brands can submit lightning deal applications until August 11th but have up until two weeks before the event to submit Prime Exclusive discounts and until the day before the event to submit coupons.
3. Paid Marketing and Advertising Opportunities on and off Amazon: As Amazon gears up for the Prime Fall Deal Event, it also opens up avenues for sellers to engage in targeted marketing and advertising campaigns through search and DSP campaigns to capture customers at each stage of the customer journey. The event’s buzz and increased customer traffic create a favorable environment for sellers to maximize their marketing efforts and connect with a broader audience.
4. Opportunity for New Product Launches: The Prime Fall Deal Event presents an excellent opportunity for sellers to launch new products or showcase their latest innovations. With the heightened visibility and influx of customers during this time, sellers can generate substantial interest and excitement around their offerings. By strategically timing their product launches with the event, sellers can capitalize on the shopping fervor and captivate the attention of potential buyers.

In conclusion, Amazon’s decision to introduce a Prime Fall Deal Event exclusively for sellers has sparked enthusiasm and anticipation within the seller community. This expansion of the Prime Day concept opens up new avenues for increased sales, extended exposure, and amplified marketing opportunities. By leveraging this event effectively, sellers can position themselves for success, attracting new customers, boosting sales figures, and building a solid foundation for the upcoming holiday season. It’s an exciting time for sellers on Amazon, and the indication of a Prime Fall Deal Event holds immense promise for those who are prepared to seize the opportunities it presents.

The post Power Predictions: Anticipating a second Prime Fall Deal event announcement from Amazon appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

45% of online purchases take place on Amazon in 2022. So, whether or not your brand is on Amazon, here are a few of Amazon’s tricks you should copy immediately on your e-commerce website.

Improve Your Website Merchandising

Analysis found that 49% of shoppers aged 27- 40 say they always or frequently purchase the first product listed on an Amazon search engine results page. The way you merchandise your website matters. Place your best converting products on the top of your page to drive more revenue this holiday season.

Add Product Recommendations to Your Product Pages

On Amazon, 45% of consumers have clicked on the frequently bought together recommendations while 35% report exploring “items other customers buy after viewing that item.” If your website isn’t helping customers find what they are looking for, you might be losing them.

Upgrade Your Shipping Terms 

48% percent of online shoppers say they typically receive packages within 2-3 days while 96% of brands offer some zero-cost shipping option. Creating shipping options that are as close as possible to what Amazon offers will set your business apart. If you are one of the 4% of brands that still charge for shipping, it’s time to consider how you can provide this nearly ubiquitous service customers have come to expect. Your conversion rate will thank you.

Demystify Your Return Policy

Amazon convinced customers to purchase with free 2-day shipping – they kept them by offering free returns. Now, 67% of customers report checking the returns page before making a purchase but less than half of e-commerce stores offer free returns. It’s not just about convenience, it’s a brand perception play. A free returns policy signals to your customers that you believe in your product and that they are safe to trust your brand with their time and money.

Need a growth partner that understands the in’s & out’s of e-commerce and business? We’re right here. Drop us a note today.

The post Borrowing Amazon’s Tactics for Your E-Commerce appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

First let’s start the most important question: What is Prime Day? 

Prime Day is an annual shopping event created by Amazon and has historically outperformed Black Friday and Cyber Monday in total sales volume on Amazon. Last year, sales were over $11billion over the two day event, up 7.7% from last year.  Now if you are thinking, that’s likely due to all the large businesses that sell on the platform, think again! Small and midsize businesses made an estimated $2 billion last year which shows that every business no matter how big or small should be Prime Day ready.  

Why participate in Prime Day?

The benefit that participating in prime day has on your brand extends much further that the 2 day event as it is a great opportunity to acquire new customers and get those considering your products to convert.  In fact in 2020, there was a 3.1x median increase in new to brand shoppers in the US compared to prior weeks. 

What steps should you take to be Prime Day ready? 

To prepare for this event, at Power Digital Marketing, we  recommend you take a full funnel on and off Amazon Prime Day marketing approach. As Amazon has stated, “75% of shoppers are likely to purchase a product during Prime Day that they discovered during the lead-up to the event” so it is crucial to be anywhere and everywhere leading up to the event.

On Amazon: 

• First look to your inventory to dictate which products should be promoted. The worst thing that can happen is running out of stock and losing all the momentum and sales velocity you have put time and money into building. 

• Once you have determined what products you want to focus on, set up a coupon or promotion. For Prime Day you can run a variety of Prime Day deals but with strict cut off dates in late May and early June, those are no longer an option. The best plan of action is to get a coupon created and submitted as this can be done on both Vendor Central and Seller Central.  The Amazon marketing team here at PDM recommends discounting your products at least 25% as it separates you from the competition and allows for significant performance bumps above the “normal” Prime Day Buffer.  

• Establish an advertising strategy using Sponsored Product, Sponsored Brand, and Sponsored Display ads. Also if you are running DSP, prepare to run prime day specific campaigns before, during, and after the even. Keep reading to see what we recommend for strategy on both the search and display side. 

• Update creatives on your brand store, A+ content, SB ads, and posts. Amazon is allowing brands the ability to establish more of a presence on the platform so take full advantage of that.  

Off Amazon:

• Preparing for prime day on Amazon is crucial but establishing your off Amazon strategy is arguably just as important to take full advantage of the event. In fact, in 2020: advertisers using multi-channel vs. single-channel marketing campaigns saw 250% higher purchase rates.  To get started, utilize Amazon Attribution, a tool that allows you to see how the multi-channel traffic you drive to Amazon impacts your total performance on the platform. When using the attribution tool, set it up in advance to properly measure the effectiveness of your cross-channel to Amazon campaigns.
• To promote Prime Day deals on these various channels (social media, email, sms messaging, ect) make them clickable and add a “Shop this product on Amazon” or Amazon Add to Cart button on the ad to the marketplace.  As all ads should lead to Amazon so with the copy you want to reference both Amazon and Prime Day. With the creative, ideally you should feature lifestyle images with your product in use or use any video assets and add an Amazon logo on the image. This makes your ads eye catching and helps your shoppers understand where they will be directed when clicking on the ad.  
• Power Digital also recommends matching any deals you’re putting on Amazon to your website or at least running a small discount as Prime Day has historically had a halo effect on brands main websites.  One thing to keep in mind, Amazon will price match across the web, so anything you put on the Amazon site must be matched on your website. 
• When looking at budgets, if you have finite spend to leverage during the Prime Day lead-up and event, shift incremental dollars to your Amazon ad spend as traffic will be most concentrated on the site. With that being said, even just allocating a small portion of spend to external traffic campaigns has the potential to make a noticeable difference over the 2 day event.

• With Search ads, plan in advance! We recommend you start launching campaigns 2-3 weeks before Prime Day to allow them to ramp up before the event.  Pay close attention to the few days leading up to Prime Day, as CPCs/CPMs will likely increase while conversions decreases as users start planning for their Prime Day shopping and hold off on any purchases until the event.  

Looking specifically at advertising on Amazon, here are our recommendations to properly prepare for Prime Day:

Search Advertising – Preparation:

Plan in advance! Start launching campaigns 2-3 weeks before Prime Day to allow your ads to ramp up and run with optimizations. It is also important to pay close attention to the few days leading up to Prime Day, as CPCs/CPMs will likely increase while conversions decreases. This is a result of users planning for their Prime Day shopping which leads to them holding off on any purchases until the event.  

Search Advertising – During Event

Be prepared to raise bids & budgets on campaigns both leading up to Prime Day (to get in front of the increased “planning” traffic) and during the event (when traffic, costs, and sales are likely to skyrocket). Campaign budgets should be closely monitored throughout the two day event, with additional allocated budget on standby as you should never want to run out of budget during Prime Day and lose sales because of it! 

Search Advertising – Post Prime Day

After the event, closely monitor your bids and budgets as well in preparation for the “Prime Day hangover”.  If you aren’t careful, costs can remain high from the aggressive Prime Day bidding, but user conversion is likely to drop significantly as Amazon Prime Day deals end & users have made their purchases. Historically, search ads conversion rate drops and ACOS increases in the first few days following the event so it is important to adjust your advertising strategy accordingly. If you are able to prepare for this decrease in traffic, you can minimize wasted spend.

DSP 

• Display campaigns should have a much longer lead time than Search campaigns.  Since almost ¾ of users are planning their Prime Day purchases in advance, prospecting campaigns should be launching 2-3 weeks ahead of the holiday to position your brand in front of new users. We have seen that utilizing expanded In-Market and Lifestyle targeting campaigns allow you to capture new audiences & introduce them to your brand
• In the days leading up to Prime Day & the event itself, retargeting campaigns should be launched to continue nurturing new users planning to take advantage of the holiday. During the massive influx of traffic on Prime Day, these retargeting campaigns will start to capture viewers from the planning phase.  

DSP – Post Prime Day

• The lead-out from Prime Day is just as important as the day of! Your retargeting pools coming out of the event will be some of the largest of the year, allowing you to capitalize on any users who didn’t convert during the holiday.  Continue nurturing your lapsed purchasers post-Prime day through retargeting, or even by implementing past purchaser targeting for brands like consumables & CPG -new Prime Day users are a great market for increasing your brand loyalty pool. 

While Prime Day may end on July 13th, the benefits the event has for your brand do not.  According to Amazon, 31% of shoppers surveyed are likely or highly likely to buy the same product after Prime Day even if there’s not a deal and 52% of shoppers surveyed are likely or highly likely to rely on ads to remind them to purchase products after Prime Day. That is why it is crucial to implement the search and DSP strategies to your Prime Day and beyond plan. It is never too late to prepare for Amazon’s biggest shopping event of the year! 

The post What Is Prime Day? appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

For brands and retailers, winning on Amazon is key. But with more than 9.7 million sellers jockeying for pole position—and with more sellers pouring in each day—actually doing so is easier said than done. 

So, how can retailers, especially smaller brands, distinguish themselves in an oversaturated marketplace?  

Amazon brand analytics is the answer. Here’s how you can leverage it in your favor. 

What is Amazon Brand Analytics?

Amazon is constantly adding features to aid sellers in their quest to connect with buyers. And in 2019, Amazon added its Brand Analytics tool, making it available to Brand Owners; that person is the seller who is: 

• An internal employee of the brand; and 
• Responsible for selling the brand’s products in the Amazon store.  

According to Seller Central,² “Brand Analytics is a feature that contains valuable insights to empower Brand Owners to make informed, strategic decisions about their product portfolio and marketing campaigns. You can find Brand Analytics under the Reports tab in Seller Central.”

It provides six types of detailed analytics reports, which we’ll break down in full below. They include 

1. Amazon Search Terms report
2. Demographics Report
3. Item Comparison Report
4. Alternate Purchase Report
5. Market Basket Report
6. Repeat Purchase Behavior Report

Note: If you do not have access to Brand Analytics, you will need to be verified as a brand owner. You can visit the Brand Benefit Eligibility page to identify yourself and gain access. Simply review eligibility requirements, sign into the Amazon Brand Registry, and then enroll your brand.  

Amazon Search Term Report

As you already know for your brand’s SEO efforts on Google, keywords are essential. And the same goes for Amazon. What consumers type in as they search for products can impact how you market and position copy for related items.  

Amazon’s Search Term Report provides priceless insights into the consumer’s search behavior over both the short- and long-term. Reports include information about:

• The most popular search terms during a given time period
• Every term search frequency rank
• The top three products that customers clicked on after searching for the term
• Each products click and conversion share  

Along these lines, users can also search for a specific term and then analyze the products that Amazon customers click on after searching for that term. Or they can look up specific products to see what terms are being used. 

This report highlights six main elements: 

• Product title – The title of the product according to its Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN)
• Search term – This is the word or keyword phrase that the Amazon shopper used to look up a product. 
• Search frequency rank (SFR) – The numeric rank of a term’s popularity compared to all other search terms in a set time period. This demonstrates a keyword’s popularity in relation to related search terms. 
• Click share – The total number of times a customer clicked on a specific product for a search term divided by the number of times a customer clicked on any type of product for a search term.
• Conversion share – The number of times customers purchased a specific product for that given search term, divided by the number of customers that purchased any product for that same search term. 
• Clicked ASIN – The products that received the maximum clicks from shoppers for a particular keyword—whether organically or via a paid ad.  

Armed with this information, an Amazon seller can: 

• Optimize listings and PPC campaigns
• Create manual campaigns 
• Understand customer trends and customer behavior
• Enhance consumer personas 
• Optimize backend search terms

Amazon Demographics Report 

Knowing your customer is an essential piece of the marketing and sales puzzle. What a single male college student purchases and the messaging he responds to will dramatically differ from a married mother of three. 

1. The Amazon demographics report enables sellers to gain a better understanding of who their target consumer is and how to best market to that persona. It provides both tables and bar graphs, showing the following information: 
2. Demographic metric
3. Total number of unique customers who purchased a product
4. Unique customers as a percentage of total customers 
5. Ordered product sales 
6. Ordered product sales as a percentage of total sales 
7. Total ordered units
8. Units ordered as a percentage of the total of each demographic segment 

The changeable demographic metric is where this report becomes immensely valuable to sellers. You can adjust according to the following factors: 

• Sales per age group – Amazon splits this category into six buyer segments so that you can see the age groups that respond best to your product or messaging. 
• Sales per household income – You can see where the buyer falls into one of the nine socioeconomic status levels.  
• Education status – Amazon provides information about what level of schooling a consumer has, which could impact how you market to that person. 
• Sex – You can see whether the product was purchased by a man or a woman. 
• Marriage status – Sellers can see whether their product is more popular with single people or married couples. 

Demographic reports help paint a more thorough picture of who your average consumer is. This allows you to build detailed consumer personas, create targeted messaging and ads, and optimize your sales and marketing funnel. 

Item Comparison Report 

The item comparison report shows you the five most popular products customers viewed within 24 hours of viewing your own product listing, along with the percentage that each product was seen.  

The comparison report utilizes the following metrics: 

• Compared ASIN – The ASIN your product was compared to.
• Compared percentage – The frequency a product was viewed on the same day as your own. 
• Alternate purchase behavior – This lets you see what competing products customers bought after seeing your product.
• Purchased percentage – The percentage of orders with the ASIN compared to the total number of orders using alternative products. 

According to Amazon,³ “This allows Rights Owners to see directly competing products in order to make better-informed product portfolio and advertising decisions.” 

Alternate Purchase Report 

Somewhat similar to the item comparison report, the alternate purchase report lets you see the top five products that were most frequently purchased instead of your own. It also provides insights as to the percentage of time each product spent as the alternative product of choice. 

And like the comparison report, it uses the metrics discussed above while also letting you filter the report according to:

• ASIN
• Brand
• Category
• Subcategory
• Search term 

As Search Engine Journal notes,⁴ “You get specific data as a percentage on how often your product is compared to the top compared products. It gives us insight into what ASIN customers are viewing and at what rate they are purchasing the competing product.”

Market Basket Report

The market basket report is widely considered to be one of the most valuable tools offered within the brand analytics umbrella, especially when used for understanding consumer behavior or optimizing paid ad campaigns. 

How does it work? 

This report shows the top three products customers most frequently purchased at the same time as your own products. Products that were purchased in a significant enough percentage to your own could be considered complementary, thus providing opportunities to cross-market or bundle. Key metrics you can filter by include: 

• ASIN
• Product title
• #1 Purchased ASIN
• #1 Purchased Title
• #1 Combination
• #2 Purchased ASIN
• #2 Purchased Title
• #2 Combination
• #3 Purchased ASIN
• #3 Purchased Title
• #3 Combination

This knowledge can help you create new sponsored product campaigns. And, if your products are purchased together via PPC campaigns, they’re more likely to show up in the “Customers who bought this item also bought” section.  

Repeat Purchase Behavior Report

Many products are intended to be purchased repeatedly. To be successful in that regard, you need to not only convince people to buy the product the first time, you must also maintain their loyalty. Often, such customers need to be retargeted to make an additional purchase. 

This report shows the total number of orders received for each product or brand, and how many of those are unique customers. Metrics shown include: 

• ASIN
• Product Title
• Orders
• Unique Customers
• Repeat purchase revenue 

If you’re trying to learn more about your products, you can also identify items that have the highest chance of being repurchased. That information could then indicate that you should invest more money into initial conversions or bid higher for related key terms.  

Better understand Your Brand with Power Digital 

Optimizing your sales and market funnel without consumer data is tantamount to driving a car blindfolded. You may get where you need to go, but the chances that you’ll get there in one piece aren’t high. 

Amazon Brand Analytics is a free tool you can and should be leveraging to get the most ROI out of each product and marketing strategy. 

But what if you don’t know how to do that? 

That’s why you’re here. At Power Digital, our mission is to help you derive the most value from your Amazon analytics and marketing efforts. Our team of experts can work with you to translate the data and put in a plan of action. 

What does that look like? Contact us to learn more about our digital marketing services. 

Sources:

1. Statista. Global net revenue of Amazon from 2014 to 2020, by product group. https://www.statista.com/statistics/672747/amazons-consolidated-net-revenue-by-segment/
2. Seller Central. Brand Analytics. https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/H2Z5B4HMF5ZXCG2
3. Amazon Seller Central. Item Comparison Report. https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/help.html?itemID=AMDGB7M5HJQD3WX&language=en_US&ref=efph_AMDGB7M5HJQD3WX_cont_H2Z5B4HMF5ZXCG2
4. Search Engine Journal. Amazon Brand Analytics: Getting the Most Out of Your Sales on Amazon. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/amazon-brand-analytics/370134/#close

The post What Is Amazon Brand Analytics? appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

For brands seeking to sell their products on Amazon, it’s practically impossible to maximize marketing spend, conversions, and sales without having a clear understanding of who their target consumer is. And, fortunately for brand owners, Amazon has recently given sellers access to demographic data via Amazon Brand Analytics report in Seller Central. 

Want to know what customers actually use Amazon and how can you leverage Amazon Demographics?  

In this guide, we’ll break down Amazon shopper demographics. 

Amazon’s Macro Demographics

Amazon is the king of eCommerce. In 2020, Amazon’s net sales were $386.066 billion, a 37.6% increase from 2019’s $280.52 billion. This revenue can be broken down into one of several service segments, including:¹ 

• Online stores – $197.35 billion
• Physical stores – $16.23 billion
• Retail third-party seller services – $80.46 billion
• Subscription services – $25.21 billion
• Amazon Web Services – $45.37 billion
• Other – $21.45 billion

Naturally, the United States is Amazon’s largest market, accounting for $263.5 billion in net sales and more than 45% of the U.S. entire eCommerce market share. This was followed by Germany with $29.6 billion, the United Kingdom with $26.5 billion, Japan with $20.46 billion, and the rest of the world for a total of 46.04 billion.¹  

As of June 2021, Amazon has experienced an average of 2.45 billion monthly visits to its website from both mobile and desktop users, making it the most visited retail site in the U.S. by a factor of 3x (eBay had 885 million monthly visitors).²  

Amazon Demographics – Prime Members

Today, more than 65% of Amazon shoppers pay to be Amazon Prime members. In just the U.S., this represents more than 153,000,000 people. 

In other words, nearly two out of every three adults in the country has an Amazon Prime membership.³ 

This paid subscription service costs either $6.49/month or $12.99/month and includes several benefits like music and video streaming, free two-day shipping, and exclusive deals. Naturally, Prime members tend to shop and spend more on average than non-Prime members. In 2019, Prime members spent an average of $1,400 annually compared to non-prime members $600 annually.⁴ 

Of the prime members, a 2019 survey found that 20% shopped a few times a week, with 7% of respondents saying that they shopped on a nearly daily basis. By category, the most popular item segments sold on Amazon were:³ 

• Electronics
• Apparel
• Footwear/jewelry
• Home & kitchen goods   

For each and every Amazon category, there’s a different buyer persona. While some goods such as electronics may be more universally bought across all demos, others such as jewelry have a more niche, targeted audience. 

Amazon Brand Analytics 

On average, the shoppers who spend the most on Amazon fall into the 45-65 age category. They tend to be college-educated, married, have a family, and an annual household income of $84,449.⁴ For such a buyer, the primary motivations for shopping Amazon are:⁵ 

1. Cheap prices
2. Free shipping 
3. Convenience

Generally speaking, this is good information for retailers to know. It paints a nebulous picture of who the typical Amazon customer may be. But those details can only take you so far. You need to delve further if you want to target consumers that are most likely to shop for each product category. 

Since Amazon’s goal is to connect buyers with sellers, the release of Amazon Brand Analytics to brand owners opened up an entirely new world of possibilities when it comes to targeted marketing and sales. Specifically, Amazon’s Demographics report shows:⁶

Brand Owners the breakdown of their Amazon customers (in aggregate) by age, household income, education, gender, and marital status. This information allows Brand Owners to assess the need for and success of targeted marketing campaigns and make product portfolio decisions based on customer penetration by demographic. This report is only available in the United States.

That said, not every seller has access to this information. You must be the brand owner and have successfully registered the product with the Brand Registry. And there are limitations on that as well. A product will need to have more than 100 or more unique customers in the given time period to be reported on. 

Amazon Demographic’s Report – Broken Down

As mentioned, Amazon’s demographic report provides a treasure trove of consumer data that brands can use to maximize their market spend. Users can access this information by following these steps: 

1. Log in to Amazon Seller Central 
2. Click on Reports 
3. Scroll down to Brand Analytics
4. Click on Demographics

The Demographic’s Portal 

The Demographics portal gives you the freedom to take a bird’s eye view of your total sales or boil things down. You have the ability to view by category, subcategory, brand, and reporting range. All metrics are visible in both table and bar graph form. Within the table, Amazon provides the following statistics: 

1. Demographic metric (you select)
2. The total number of unique customers who bought a product
3. The unique customers as a percentage of total customers 
4. Ordered product sales (adjusted for returns)
5. Ordered product sales as a percentage of total sales 
6. Total ordered units
7. Units ordered as a percentage of total

And when it comes to the demographic metric, you have five primary lenses to view your sales through.

Sales Per Age Group

Amazon breaks down sales per age group into six buyer segments: 

1. 18-24
2. 25-34
3. 35-44
4. 45-54
5. 55-64
6. 65+  

When it comes to demographics, few factors impact buyer decision-making and behavior as much as age. Effective marketing for a Gen Xer will look dramatically different from a Baby Boomer. Even if both segments want the same product, what a young shopper responds to may fall completely flat for an older generation. 

For instance, studies show that young buyers neither like nor respond well to traditional advertising.⁷ They do, however, respond well to personal recommendations—be they from their personal network, consumers on the internet, or influencers they support.  

Sales Per Household Income 

Amazon breaks down sales per household income into nine buyer segments: 

• <$50k
• $50k – $74,999
• $75k- $124,99
• $125k- $149,999
• $150k- $174,999
• $175k- $199,999
• $200k – $249,999
• $250k+

The socioeconomic status of a household can impact the price at which they purchase a product, or the products they prioritize when shopping. Brands can use this information to optimize pricing. 

For example, if a brand sees a dramatic drop-off in product sales between one income demo and the next, it may be a signal to lower the prices in order to incentivize more consumers to complete a purchase.   

Education Status 

Amazon breaks down education status into five tiers: 

• Less than high school
• High school graduate
• Some college
• Bachelor’s degree
• Graduate degree

Information about your consumers’ education levels can give you a general indicator of how you should craft messaging around a certain product. 

Sex

Men and women have different interests, purchasing habits, and marketing preferences. Some products are geared specifically for one of the two, whereas other products are sold to and for both parties. Understanding the typical buyer of your product helps you craft messaging that resonates.  

Along these lines, according to surveys and consumer data, there is a divide between men and women shoppers on Amazon:⁸ 

• Women like eCommerce shopping while men prefer brick and mortar locations 
• Men are less likely to use Amazon to price shop and bargain hunt
• Men prefer full-price retailers over discount off-price retailers
• Women prefer discount retailers over full-price brands  

Marriage Status 

Similarly, knowing whether a consumer is single or married will also impact how you market to them. Married couples and single individuals have different priorities when it comes to consumption patterns. 

On average, single people have more disposable income to spend on non-necessities. Additionally, they’re 45% more likely to engage in impulse shopping—which represents 40% of all eCommerce spend.⁹

Leveraging Amazon Customer Demographics with Power Digital

Demographic data isn’t the be-all-end-all. It’s difficult to put a unique individual into a box, especially when the categories of striation are limited. However, that data can be leveraged as a guiding map of sorts. It can be used to inform decision-making or tweak your marketing and sales strategy.

Armed with this data you can accomplish three primary tasks:

1. Build consumer personas
2. Craft more targeted ads
3. Optimize your sales funnel    

Do you need help getting the most value out of your Amazon customer demographics?

This is where Power Digital can help. Together, we can build an eCommerce marketing strategy that draws on consumer data and buyer behavior to create a message that resonates with your audience. 

What does that partnership look like? Learn more about our digital marketing services today! 

Sources:

1.  Statista. Global net revenue of Amazon from 2014 to 2020, by product group. https://www.statista.com/statistics/672747/amazons-consolidated-net-revenue-by-segment/
2. Statista. Leading e-commerce websites in the United States as of June 2021, based on number of monthly visits. https://www.statista.com/statistics/271450/monthly-unique-visitors-to-us-retail-websites/
3. Statista. Number of Amazon Prime Members in the U.S. https://www.statista.com/statistics/546894/number-of-amazon-prime-paying-members/
4. Business Insider. The average Amazon shopper still earns more than Walmart’s, and it reveals a key challenge for the e-commerce giant. https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-shoppers-richer-than-walmart-2020-1
5. Epsilon. How to Win in the Amazon Era. https://img03.en25.com/Web/EpsilonDataManagementLlc/%7Bd07fa263-a086-4e35-b562-d2904676ed84%7D_Amazon_Infographic.pdf
6. Amazon. Demographics Report. https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/PHCEMH5FFH32KG8
7. Forbes. Millennials Hate Ads But 58% Of Them Wouldn’t Mind If It’s From Their Favorite Digital Stars. https://www.forbes.com/sites/andrewarnold/2018/01/21/millennials-hate-ads-but-58-of-them-wouldnt-mind-if-its-from-their-favorite-digital-stars/?sh=27b02f0959ca
8. CNBC. Men aren’t willing to shop online as much as women, survey finds. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/19/men-arent-willing-to-shop-online-as-much-as-women-survey-finds.html
9. Invespcro. The State of Impulse Buying Persona – Statistics and Trends. https://www.invespcro.com/blog/impulse-buying/
10. Statista. Global net revenue of Amazon from 2014 to 2020, by product group. https://www.statista.com/statistics/672747/amazons-consolidated-net-revenue-by-segment/
11. Catalyst. Buying Power. https://www.catalyst.org/research/buying-power/

The post How to Use Amazon Demographics: A Guide appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

So in 2019, ecommerce giant Amazon released a loyalty initiative service, Amazon Moments. 

According to Amazon, Moments uses a “cost-per-action” (CPA) model, allowing developers to increase user actions by rewarding users with physical or digital items when they complete a certain action. These rewards could look like $10 Amazon gift cards, electronics, toys, clothing, and more. All products are sold and fulfilled by Amazon.¹

In this guide, we’ll break down everything you need to know about this new program and how it can benefit your business in the long run. Read on. 

Amazon Moments: Everything You Need to Know 

From news sites to streaming services to games, major brands are utilizing Amazon Moments to capture the attention of old and new consumers, rewarding loyal customers with both physical and digital gifts. 

Below, we’ll look at 

• How Amazon Moments works
• Who can use it
• How much it costs
• Why it can increase ROI for your company. 

How it Works 

Amazon Moments is a service that is simple, affordable, and extremely customizable. Brands can choose which actions they want to reward within their app. They then choose which rewards they want to send to their loyal users. 

Amazon offers the example of a fitness app choosing a high-value action like a user completing 30 workouts before they receive a reward, knowing that, based on data, after 30 workouts most users continue to use the app.² 

This loyalty initiative is all about garnering long-term ROI without spending a large sum of company spend. 

As head of Amazon Moments, Amir Kabarra said when the service was first launched:²

“Amazon is reinventing the way companies approach marketing by letting them turn

engagement campaigns into rewarding moments that drive long-term value.” 

Movements offers a simple, intuitive packaging rewards program that operates through a self-service console. This allows marketers to set up campaigns without the worry of reward sourcing, management, or fulfillment.  

When investing in Amazon Moments for your business, you’ll start by creating a Moments “campaign;” you’ll conduct all Moments business in your Moments Console. 

The major steps of your Moments campaign include:¹

• Set the action (aka Moment) that you want to drive. This can be anything from watching a video to subscribing to a channel
  
• Select the rewards that will be offered to the consumer
  
• Users will then engage and complete the action
  
• Amazon fulfills the reward sourcing

When choosing which Moment you want to drive, think about prioritizing the metrics most important to your business goals, whether that’s increasing retention or increasing participation in an event. 

Consider the following goals when testing your campaign strategy:¹

• Retarget lapsed customers with ads/notifications/emails that highlight a reward for re-engagement.
• Encourage users to upgrade from a free trial to a basic subscription by offering a reward equal to or greater in value than the cost of a one month subscription. 
• Increase engagement within your app by rewarding customers who conquer difficult levels or limited time events. 

The Moments application programming interface is compatible with Android and Fire OS apps, iOS apps, and websites. 

Who Can Use It?

All Amazon developers are eligible to use Moments across all countries except for South Africa, Albania, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Switzerland. 

As far as customers, all users must have an Amazon account in order to redeem their prizes. 

How Much Does it Cost?

Amazon Moments is an ideal tool for brands of all sizes as it’s easily scalable—you’re only paying for completed actions, and you can choose a CPA price as low as $3 to begin with. 

Other monetary considerations include:

• Allowing for taxes – Amazon recommends setting a CPA that includes tax
  
• Limit – Your total monthly budget limit is $5,000 USD per campaign; $15,000 USD per Moments account
  
• Shipping – Customers may have to pay for Amazon direct shipping depending on whether they’re Prime members and what the cost of the reward is 

What Kind of Rewards Can You Offer?

The rewards your company chooses for Amazon Moments are totally up to you. For example, in 2019 Amazon Moments user The Washington Post offered Echo Dots to people who subscribed to the paper.³

The only caveat is that all prizes will be items already stocked by Amazon (which still leaves you with, well, millions of options). 

When choosing your rewards, Amazon says that based on data gathered since inception, customers typically prefer:

• An actual reward rather than a discount
• Electronics, toys, and Amazon credit
• A free physical item 

Why Use it? 

Now that you better understand how Amazon Moments functions, you may be wondering, What is the impetus to invest in this service? How is Moments different from other loyalty programs? Why not just use an in-house loyalty program?

According to LoyaltyOne’s Big Picture Study:⁷ 

The global loyalty industry is estimated to be worth $74 billion, of which $42 billion is loyalty programs, providers, and platforms. The study also finds that companies invest upward of 2% of their sales in reward initiatives.

Another plus of Moments is that brands don’t need to handle fulfillment of gifts themselves. Amazon, the veritable king of fulfilling shipments quickly, handles everything. 

Amazon Moments Success Stories 

Major brands that have found success with Amazon Moments include TikTok, Bravo, Discover, Sago Mini, and Disney. According to Amazon, Disney said net revenue increased “nearly sevenfold” after offering players of the Disney Heroes Battle Mode game $5 in Amazon credits for reaching level 15.⁴ 

Need more convincing? Let’s delve into stats from two of the following Amazon Moments users.

Sprint Success Story

In 2019, Sprint was the official wireless sponsor of the 2019 Concacaf Gold Cup soccer tournament.¹ During their five week Amazon Moments campaign, Sprint wanted to create a Futbol Mode Rewards platform (Futbolmode.com) where users could complete challenges to earn real-life rewards. 

During this period, Sprint was able to increase engagement three times over with Amazon Moments. Let’s look at the details of their campaign.

To participate in this 2019 Sprint campaign, customers downloaded the Futbol Mode Rewards Wallet Pass where they could view and complete challenges during each of the five stages of the actual tournament, from pre-cup to Final. 

During each stage, users were able to accumulate Amazon credits which could then be spent in the Sprint Futbol Mode Rewards store on Amazon.

Challenges drove user engagement by having users:

• Refer friends to the reward program
• Upload videos and photos of themselves engaging with Sprint content 
• Post videos predicting the winner of a Gold Cup match for set dollar values of Amazon credits

In their case study, Sprint found that the final challenge generated the highest participation rate—74% of those who registered completed the action and claimed their reward. 

This end-of-campaign high-user participation rate strengthens the argument that Amazon Moments can provide positive ROI in the long run, even if the run is only a five week campaign. 

Discovery GO 

It probably goes without saying that Shark Week is Discovery Channel’s most popular summer TV series.¹  

In 2019, Discovery partnered with Amazon Moments with the goal to make that year’s lineup the most viewed in its 30 year history. They aimed to engage users with both Amazon devices and the Discovery GO app.

After their Amazon Moments campaign, Discovery saw a:

• 73% increase in activations
• 83% increase in hours watched per customer
• 40% increase in active customers
• 68% increase in hours watched post campaign (ahem, long-term ROI!).

Let’s delve into their campaign strategy. 

For this campaign, Discovery GO used Amazon’s Stream it Forward cause-marketing campaign, rewarding customers in the form of a charitable donation when they streamed content during certain programming windows. 

The first 1,000 registered customers who streamed at least 10 hours on Discovery GO received a $25 credit and for every hour a customer spent in the app, $1 was donated to charitable organization Oceana, which focuses on the preservation of marine life. 

Not only did Discovery Go significantly increase their user engagement, they were also able to raise $75,000 for Oceana. 

This is a fantastic example of a savvy brand that made the most of its Amazon Moments campaign by tapping into what is most important to the company and its users. 

Discovery knew that many of its Shark Week viewers would naturally be motivated to donate to a cause like Oceana, as their interest in the Discovery Channel and Shark Week shows they already have an established interest in preserving marine life. 

Make the Most of Your Amazon Account with Power Digital Marketing 

Major brands have been using Amazon’s loyalty program, Amazon Moments, to their advantage since 2019. 

This service allows developers to bring back lapsed users, retain active users, and reward top consumers by offering customers physical rewards and digital prizes based on their in-app activity. 

Interested in learning more about how to make the most of your current Amazon account? Power Digital Marketing has an entire Amazon Marketing Management team at your disposal.⁵ We’re here to elevate your business through the latest Amazon offerings including Amazon FBA and Prime wardrobe. With PDM, you’ll receive an analysis of your business without ever having to sign a contract. PDM will be able to assess if Amazon Moments, for instance, is a smart investment, and if so how you should craft your campaign. We’re also here to discuss Amazon seller mistakes to avoid to ensure your success with Amazon!

Sources:

1. Amazon. Amazon Moments.  https://developer.amazon.com/moments 
2. Amazon. Appstore Blogs: Announcing Amazon Moments.  https://developer.amazon.com/blogs/appstore/post/38c732f8-69e0-4bb7-beb8-c7332203155f/announcing-amazon-moments-reward-customers-globally-with-digital-and-physical-products-delivered-by-amazon 
3. Tech Crunch. Amazon Moments Lets Developers Reward Customers with Actual Gifts, Not Just Virtual Ones. ​​https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/14/amazon-moments-lets-developers-reward-customers-with-actual-gifts-not-just-virtual-ones/ 
4. Forbes. Amazon’s New Loyalty Program: 5 Ways Amazon Moments Will Change How You Shop. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanpearson/2019/02/21/amazons-new-loyalty-program-5-reasons-amazon-moments-will-change-how-you-shop/?sh=5d8e37b673ac 
5. Power Digital Marketing. Amazon Marketing Management. https://powerdigitalmarketing.com/services/amazon-marketing/ 

The post What Is Amazon Moments? appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

Once ordered, shoppers can try on dresses, clogs, T-shirts, joggers, and more in the comfort of their own home, only paying for what they keep. With Amazon Prime Wardrobe, you can order women’s, men’s, kids and baby clothing, plus shoes and accessories. 

In this guide, we’ll explore the ins and outs of this Amazon Prime member program, detailing everything you need to know as a shopper. Plus, we’ll delve into how the Prime Wardrobe service is different from clothing subscription services as well as from ordering clothing through regular ‘ol Amazon Prime. We’ll also investigate the pros and cons of selling your own products via Amazon’s marketplace.

Prime Wardrobe 101 

“Try before you buy,” has taken over the ecommerce retail world. Prime Wardrobe is, like all Amazon Prime services, user-friendly and free to Prime members, designed to keep customers coming back. 

Here, we delve deeper into how Amazon Prime Wardrobe functions from the consumer side including:

• How does Prime Wardrobe work?
• What is the Prime Wardrobe return policy?
• When are you charged for Prime Wardrobe?
• What clothes are available through Prime Wardrobe?

How Does Amazon Prime Wardrobe Work?

Prime Members can peruse a variety of brands of clothing, choosing up to eight items (and a minimum requirement of three) for Amazon direct shipping delivered directly to their door. 

Shoppers get a full seven days to try on the items at home; whatever they don’t like, they can return. They’ll only be charged for the clothing they keep. 

Here’s how it works:

1. To find eligible products for Prime Wardrobe, customers just have to log in to their Prime account.
2. Plug in the keyword of what they’re in the market for, like “summer dress.”
3. Then on the far left side of the browser, consumers can click the Prime Wardrobe box under “Filters” to be sure they’re only perusing Prime Wardrobe eligible items. 

If customers aren’t sure what their closet is craving, they can also visit the Prime Wardrobe landing page¹ and search curated filters like “Retro Prints,” “The Comfort Zone,” and “Sweater-Weather Essentials.”

All Prime Wardrobe returns are free (more on that below) and there are no fees associated with the service as it’s included with what they pay monthly for their Prime Membership. 

A service that does cost a monthly fee for users is Personal Shopper by Prime Wardrobe, an additional service that, for only $4.99 a month, lets Amazon expert stylists do their shopping for them.  

Personal Shopper by Prime Wardrobe 

Personal Shopper operates the same way as Prime Wardrobe, so customers can order the same number of clothing items and the same return policy is in place. The only difference is with Personal Shopper, customers instantly become the star of their own HGTV show “What to Wear Next.”

Here’s a quick breakdown of how this personal shopping service works:

• Customers create a profile and complete a quick survey so that the Amazon stylists will be familiar with their preferences, from personal aesthetic to budget to sizing. 
• Customers can include specific requests for their stylist. For example, customers may let them know that they definitely want a pair of designer jeans included in every curated lineup.     
• Prime members can also preview their stylists’ picks and choose three to eight items to try on at home. 
• From there, customers have a seven-day try-on period to find their favorite fits, and return the rest. 

Users can cancel their Personal Shopper service at any time. 

What Is the Prime Wardrobe Return Policy? 

Prime Wardrobe items may arrive on different days—typically, a prime customer can expect the full order to arrive within 4-6 business days. 

Once the last shipment arrives, this is when the seven-day trial period kicks in. Before this period is over, customers can go to the Your Orders page on their Amazon account and choose which Prime Wardrobe items they’re keeping and which they’re returning.

Customers can use the provided return label for their Prime Wardrobe order and drop their package at the nearest UPS. If a customer’s items arrive on different days in multiple packages, they can use any of the return labels to return their unwanted items.

Items must be returned, unused, unwashed, and undamaged with tags on in their original packaging—this means no wearing an evening gown out for the weekend and then trying to return it free of charge. 

In the case that a customer keeps one of their items and then decides to return it after the end of the try-on period, they still have 30 days from the end of this period to return the clothing item or items for a refund.

When Are You Charged For Prime Wardrobe?

Customers will be charged for whatever items they still have in their possession at the end of the seven day try-on period at 11:59 PM local time. 

What Clothes Are available Through Prime Wardrobe? 

Prime members can find small labels and national names on Amazon Prime Wardrobe, with pricing options ranging from the very affordable to designer-level pricey. 

Some popular fashion brands include:

• Levi’s
• Calvin Klein
• J Brand
• Theory
• AIX Armani
• Lucky Brand
• Alex and Ani 
• … and more 

Specific brands may highlight certain clothing items depending on the season and what’s trending, making it even easier for shopaholics on the fence to decide what they’d like to put in their Prime Wardrobe shipment. 

For example, Amazon brand Daily Ritual has an “Elevate Your Everyday” page linked to Prime Wardrobe; shoppers who follow this link will find pages upon pages of simple, comfortable, yet stylish staples like jersey dresses and poplin pants. 

Prime Wardrobe vs. Clothing Subscription Services vs. Amazon Prime 

Amazon has masterfully created viable revenue streams through retail, subscriptions, and web services. 

Amazon understands that in 2021, most people are over the in-person shopping experience: malls are dead zones; the threat of an ongoing pandemic rages on, making face-to-face shopping even less desirable; and the options to TBYB increase every day. 

In addition to Prime Wardrobe, Amazon has also upped their fashion game by launching StyleSnap, a tool that lets people take a picture of a clothing item and search for it online.²

All that being said, there are still some shoppers who may wonder if a subscription service like Stitch Fix or Nuuly is better suited for them, or if simply ordering clothing from Amazon the old-fashioned way makes more sense. 

Let’s take a closer look at some of the factors that set Prime Wardrobe apart from its competitors, as well as from Amazon Prime itself:

• Fees – Most subscription services require a commitment with a monthly styling fee ranging from $10+ (in addition to whatever you pay for the clothes you keep). Prime Wardrobe requires no commitment and no fee, unless you choose to use the Personal Shopper service. 
• Power of choice – In a Business Insider review, writer James Brains noted that Prime Wardrobe’s TBYB clothing service was preferable to others because consumers are able to choose exactly what they want—most other services have the built-in stylist feature, whether you want it or not.³
• No upfront payments – Unlike ordering directly from Amazon Prime, with Prime Wardrobe you pay nothing up front. So if you decide to return an item with Prime Wardrobe, you’ll never be charged, as opposed to Amazon Prime, which charges you up front and then will send you a refund once the item is returned. 

For individuals who prefer to do all of their clothes shopping online-in bulk-and who aren’t fixated on a certain brand, but are open to many different styles, Prime Wardrobe is likely the best online retail option. Nonetheless, an Amazon Prime member still has access to endless choices and benefits offered by Amazon.

Small Businesses Taking Their Cues from Prime Wardrobe

Giants like Amazon—who launched Prime Wardrobe in the U.S. in 2018—have even inspired smaller startups to create their own versions of this model. 

Take for instance TryNow, a San Francisco-based startup that offers technology to online vendors that use Shopify Plus.⁴ As of March 2021, TryNow had already raised $12 million to continue their expansion plans. Investors obviously see the potential within this TBYB landscape. 

Sell Your Products on Amazon with Power Digital Marketing 

As we’ve detailed, there are many benefits for shoppers who choose to use Amazon Prime Wardrobe, but what about sellers?

If you’re a clothing brand and choose to sell your products through Amazon marketplace, you may be wondering if your items will appear on Prime Wardrobe. 

According to Amazon:⁵

The eligible products that qualify for Prime Wardrobe and the minimum and maximum items

per order may change from time to time in our sole discretion.

So, whether or not your brand makes its way to the Prime Wardrobe catalogue, you may still want to consider selling your products—including clothing and accessories—through this ecommerce titan. 

Consider the following boons of selling on Amazon along with keeping in mind Amazon seller mistakes to avoid⁶:

• Reach a new and varied audience of countries all over the world
• Gain credibility—Amazon has spent years gaining the trust of its millions of subscribers
• Hand over all shipping responsibilities to the pros with the optional Fulfillment by Amazon service 

Ready to further investigate becoming a successful Amazon vendor? 

Try On New Possibilities with Power Digital Marketing

Power Digital Marketing has an entire Amazon marketing management team that can help you successfully list your product, adapt to the constantly changing Amazon algorithms, improve SEO, and launch new campaigns. Our team is also here to keep you up to date on new Amazon offerings such as Amazon moments and Amazon FBA. 

With PDM, your product will stand out like a glistening pearl in the sea of millions of items available through Amazon. 

Sources:

1. Amazon. Prime Wardrobe. https://www.amazon.com/learn-more-prime-wardrobe/b?ie=UTF8&node=16122413011 
2. The Verge. Amazon Launches a Personal Shopper Service That Sends Monthly Curated Clothing Boxes. https://www.theverge.com/2019/7/31/20748632/amazon-personal-shopper-prime-wardrobe-service-style-subscription-box 
3. Business Insider. Amazon Prime Wardrobe Review.  https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-prime-wardrobe-for-men-review 
4. TechCrunch. TryNow raises $12M to Bring Try-Before-You-Buy, Prime Wardrobe as a Service to Online Retailers. https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/22/trynow-raises-12m-to-bring-try-before-you-buy-amazon-wardrobe-as-a-service-to-online-retailers/ 
5. Amazon. Help & Customer Service. https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=202159370 
6. Power Digital Marketing. Should I Sell My Product On Amazon? Here’s What You Need to Know.  https://powerdigitalmarketing.com/blog/should-i-sell-my-product-on-amazon-heres-what-you-need-to-know/ 
7. Business Insider. What is Prime Wardrobe? https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-prime-wardrobe#:~:text=Prime%20Wardrobe%20is%20a%20program,home%20before%20you%20buy%20them.&text=You’ll%20select%20what%20you,don’t%20want%20to%20buy. 
8. CNET. Amazon Prime Wardrobe: How to Use Amazon’s Dressing Room. https://www.cnet.com/home/smart-home/how-amazon-prime-wardrobe-works/ 

The post What Is Prime Wardrobe? Everything You Need to Know appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

But there’s a right way and a wrong way to sell on Amazon. 

The right way will win over new customers, grow your business, and position you for long-term success. The wrong way will cost you money, hurt your reputation, and potentially get you kicked off the site. 

To help you avoid the most common pitfalls, we’ll discuss the most harmful Amazon seller mistakes and the strategies you can employ to avoid them. 

Amazon Seller Mistake #1 – Improper Listing Optimization 

Much like how your website needs to be optimized for search engines, so do your product listings. Optimizing product listings helps you maximize conversions, improves search results, and drives profitability. 

The good news is that Amazon’s search algorithm (A9) follows a more straightforward formula than web-based SEO algorithms. That’s because A9 has one chief focus—connecting buyers and sellers. Because of this, your listing optimization needs to help potential buyers find and then understand your products.  

Despite its theoretical simplicity, far too many sellers make easily avoidable listing optimization mistakes. As Search Engine Journal notes, the most common of these include:¹

• Not maximizing indexing opportunities
• Incomplete keyword research
• Keyword stuffing titles
• Failing to incorporate customer reviews and questions
• Eschewing videos
• Poor image utilization   

So, what are some best practices?

To satisfy A9, you must focus on two key ideas: Relevance and Performance.

• Relevance – Keywords are essential for ranking. You not only need to include relevant keywords on the page, but you must also focus on including them in:
  • The product title
  • Backend keywords
  • Product description and bullet points

• Performance – The way your pages look and how customers interact with them impacts rankings. Page elements you should play with include:
  • Product pricing
  • Customer review
  • Product images
  • Product video 

Amazon Seller Mistake #2 – Violating the Rules 

When you join, you agree to abide by Amazon guidelines and regulations. Failure to uphold Amazon’s policy can result in stiff consequences, especially since a seller’s actions can negatively reflect on Amazon’s reputation. Should that occur, Amazon will not hesitate to shut down your seller account, thus preventing you from reaching a massive consumer base and cutting out a major revenue source. 

Although Amazon judges rule violations on a case-by-case basis, common reasons why sellers have been banned in the past include:

• Product quality issues – Amazon’s success hinges on consumer confidence that when they shop on the eCommerce site, they expect to receive a high-quality product. Repeated failure to satisfy those expectations will inevitably lead to consequences. Common quality issues include:
  • Selling counterfeit items
  • Selling cheap items
  • Selling prohibited items 
  • Violating copyright laws
  • A lack of certification 
• Shipping issues – Similarly, Amazon has a reputation for ensuring that products ordered on their website arrive in a timely manner, and arrive as advertised. Late shipments or canceled orders are frowned upon. Learn more about Amazon direct shipping on our website. 
• Poor customer reviews – Often, the first two issues impact this one. But a lack of communication between the seller and the customer only exacerbates these problems. Should a seller receive enough negative reviews, it can easily result in a ban. Similarly, integrity matters. If you’re caught buying customer reviews, you’ll be immediately kicked off the platform. 
• Violating listing guidelines – There are rules for how to properly list items on Amazon. If your product details page violates the rules or provides misleading information, Amazon may terminate your page. 
• Having multiple accounts or selling an account – When selling on Amazon, you must do so only through a single account. And it has to be yours. The company expects honesty about who you are, what you sell, and who you sell to. Selling that account violates the contract you entered into with Amazon. 

Before you start selling, be sure to thoroughly peruse Amazon’s Program Policies page and then comply with your seller agreement. 

Amazon Seller Mistake #3 – Directing Shoppers to Your Website 

While this could technically fall under the previous category of Amazon guidelines, it deserves its own spot. 

Put simply, Amazon does not welcome competition. Well, it does—but it doesn’t allow you to leverage its site for personal promotion or to drive sales away from the site. While operating on Amazon may decrease your opportunities to retarget or push branding, that’s a tradeoff you make to access its massive shopping base. 

Occasionally, sellers will list their website store’s URL in the product listing. That’s a clear Amazon policy violation and can result in a ban. Similarly, if you use Amazon’s name, trademarks, or sales such as Prime Day on your website, but do not have links that lead directly to Amazon, you can expect the site to take swift action. 

Amazon Seller Mistake #4 – Failure to Utilize Amazon PPC

Amazon grants sellers access to a built-in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising system. This is a tool that far too many sellers fail to take advantage of. But this represents an opportunity for you to create a competitive advantage.

For a modest fee, you have the means to instantly get your product in front of customers. In addition to a rapid market entry, Amazon’s PPC dashboard makes it easy to measure and track results, it pairs well with other marketing channels, and it offers a wealth of actionable consumer data and insights. You can use Amazon PPC to boost sponsored products to the top, drive sales, and improve your rankings. 

This can help with several specific aspects of selling:²

• Driving increased traffic to holiday sales such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Christmas, and Amazon Prime Day.
• Driving brand awareness and cross-selling complementary products in your product catalog.
• Launching new products or helping products in competitive categories stand out.  

Amazon Seller Mistake #5 – Over Ordering Stock 

A common seller concern is that they’ll run out of stock in the case of a demand surge. After all, who wants to run out of product when customers are clamoring to get their hands on it? Also, many sellers hope to reduce their per-unit cost by ordering in bulk. 

If you handle fulfillment on your own, how much stock you carry is up to you. Being overstocked may impact your cash flow, but that’s your business decision. 

However, if you’re a seller whose products are Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA), having too much stock can cost you. So, what is Amazon FBA? An Amazon FBA seller pays for Amazon to stock their items. When inventory is collecting dust on shelves, you’re losing money instead of accruing it. Also, if items sit in an Amazon warehouse for more than a year, there are additional fees. 

Sellers should always seek to maintain an inventory level that falls into the Goldilocks zone; not too little, not too much—just right. And inventory forecasting, particularly with the help of automated software, can help you accomplish that. 

As Harvard Business Review notes:³ 

“Advanced machine learning and optimization algorithms can look for and exploit observed patterns, correlations, and relationships among data elements and supply chain decisions – e.g., when to order a widget, how many widgets to order, where to put them, and so on. Such algorithms can be trained and tested using past data. They then can be implemented and evaluated for performance robustness based on actual realizations of customer demands.”

Consider using automated tools to manage your inventory forecasting. Not only will this provide an accurate picture of current and future needs, but you’ll also be able to put those hours you spent managing stock toward other critical areas of your business.

Amazon Seller Mistake #6 – Forgoing Sales Tax

When selling on Amazon, you should include sales tax in the pricing. Otherwise, you’ll be the one who has to pay for it.

For a nominal fee, Amazon makes it possible to collect state tax on all of your orders. Otherwise, you may reach the end of the year, only to discover that there’s a significant unfunded liability that must be paid out of pocket and that eats at your margins. 

To avoid this issue, fill out the “Tax Settings” in the Seller Central right after signing up for the account.

Amazon Seller Mistake #7 – Poor Customer Service

Even if you’re an Amazon FBA seller—which means Amazon will handle a significant portion of returns and customer service—it’s still important that you respond to customer inquiries and reviews. If you take more than 24 hours to respond, Amazon will take note, and it will be a mark on your account. 

Similarly, it’s important that you read, respond, and then react to customer feedback. This is not only good customer service habits, but it allows you to improve your product and services. Negative feedback can be especially useful for a business that wants to continuously optimize.  

Sell on Amazon the Right Way

There’s no doubt that significant competition and saturation makes selling on Amazon difficult. Practically every B2C business has made it a central aspect of their success strategy. Therefore, you can’t afford to make mistakes that jeopardize your chance to compete. To learn more about Amazon business services, visit our website for more information on what is Prime Wardrobe or a breakdown on Amazon moments. 

Do you need help crafting an Amazon strategy that sells? 

Here at Power Digital, we have the tools and expertise to help you build a custom Amazon digital marketing and growth strategy. Together, we can instill practices and systems that drive growth. 

What does that look like? Reach out today to see what we can do for you.  

Sources:

1. Search Engine Journal. 10 Top Amazon Listing Optimization Mistakes & Hidden Opportunities. https://www.searchenginejournal.com/amazon-listing-optimization-mistakes-opportunities/398458/#close
2. Sponsored Profit. Should You Run Amazon Promotions Over The Holidays? https://www.sponsoredprofit.com/blog/Amazon-promotions-holidays-2020
3. Harvard Business Review. Inventory Management in the Age of Big Data. https://hbr.org/2015/06/inventory-management-in-the-age-of-big-data

The post 7 Amazon Seller Mistakes You Should Avoid appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

This service can be a boon for consumers as they are able to potentially receive an unlimited number of freebies directly to their door, giving them the chance to try out a variety of new products they may never have come across without this service. 

But how does direct shipping help the sellers?

In this guide we’ll explore everything you need to know about Amazon Direct Shipping, including how it works, why your business should consider taking up this practice, and common Amazon seller mistakes to avoid. Read on. 

Amazon Shipping 101 

Amazon has more than 1.5 million active sellers located around the globe and over 100 million consumers worldwide.¹ With that wide of a reach, sellers are right to be wary of how shipping cost could eat into their bottom line.  

These sellers would be remiss to rely on shipping their own products overseas to U.S. consumers—packages could take weeks to deliver, and the delivery fee would be astronomical. 

Sellers have a few options when it comes to shipping their products:²

• Fulfillment by Amazon
• Merchant-Fulfilled Orders
• Amazon Direct Shipping

Understanding Fulfillment by Amazon 

Around the world, Amazon boasts more than 150 million square feet of storage space. Independent sellers who sign up for Amazon’s Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) service get access to these shelves in addition to Amazon’s customer service, returns, and automatic Prime eligibility.

Sellers who use FBA can act like a big corporation without having to take on the cost responsibility of a big corporation. As Entrepreneur writes:³

There are a number of different ways to leverage the FBA model, but the most popular way is private labeling. The idea is to establish a brand or label, apply it to your product and sell it on Amazon … If you take the time to find a popular product category, do competitive analysis, study product reviews and identify a product that you can improve upon or sell at a better price, you’ll have found the sweet spot.

Key Details of FBA

On the fence about Amazon FBA? Here are some stats about what is Amazon FBA:²

• FBA fees – You can estimate what your FBA fees will be through an Amazon Seller Central tool.⁴ The primary FBA fee covers the cost of storing your products in Amazon’s warehouse, picking, packing, and shipping your orders plus providing customer service for products once they’ve been sold. In addition to this fee, there are:
• Monthly inventory storage fees
• Long-term storage fees
• Removal order fees
• Disposal order fees 
• Returns processing fees 
• Unplanned service fees 
• How FBA works – Amazon’s fulfillment service can be boiled down to four key steps:²
• Ship your inventory to Amazon where it will be scanned and made available for sale
• Amazon packages and ships each amazon order directly to the consumer
• Amazon collects payment from customer and pays you the funds every two weeks 
• The Amazon customer service team (which you pay for) handles questions, returns, and refunds 
• Additional FBA resources – Additional resources, video tutorials and newsletters, can be found for sellers in Amazon’s Seller Central.⁴ 

Merchant-Fulfilled Orders

The alternative to FBA is choosing merchant-fulfilled orders. This simply means you are storing and shipping your products yourself. 

Here’s how it works: 

• Amazon will charge shipping rates based on the product category
• The shipping service is selected by the customer, which is then passed on to the seller in the form of a shipping credit.
• The onus of dealing with packaging products, producing shipping labels, and tracking shipments is all on the seller.

Depending on the size and scale of your business and what products you specialize in, the merchant-fulfilled or the FBA model may better suit your company’s goals. 

If you choose the FBA model you’ll want to be able to cover the cost of the service with revenue to make it worth your whale. 

What is Amazon Direct Shipping?

Amazon Direct Shipping exists because of FBA. 

Remember those different fees associated with the FBA service? That long-term storage fee can be a real thorn in the side of independent sellers, especially when they have a product that isn’t selling well or fast enough. 

If a business’ items are stored in an Amazon warehouse for a certain amount of time, the long term storage fee will kick in. According to Amazon:⁴

Inventory that has been in a fulfillment center for more than 365 days is charged monthly long-term storage fee in addition to the monthly inventory storage fee[…]Inventory that has been in a fulfillment center for more than 365 days will be charged a monthly long-term storage fee of $6.90 per cubic foot or $0.15 per unit, whichever is greater.

Those monthly plus long-term storage fees add up quickly, meaning sellers will want to clear out their inventory ASAP before they hit this critical point. 

Using Amazon Direct Shipping, sellers can get this unsold, increasingly-expensive-to-store inventory out of the warehouse and into the hands of customers that have signed up to receive direct shipping freebies. 

How Does Amazon Direct Shipping Work? 

Although Amazon the brand isn’t involved in direct shipping, Amazon warehouses are. Freebies are shipped directly from Amazon’s fulfillment centers to consumers who have signed up for the direct shipping service. 

You may be wondering, Why do the fulfillment centers participate? Because sellers have already paid for FBA services, Amazon is still responsible for shipping their stored products. In order to fulfill direct shipping requests, the seller just has to let Amazon know about free orders and where to ship them. 

Sellers will typically try to hold off as long as possible before unloading their inventory in case they see an uptick in sales, therefore eliminating the need to send out free items. 

How Do Consumers Sign up for Direct Shipping?

So who is receiving this extra inventory? Savvy shoppers in the know who have done their due diligence and researched which sellers offer direct shipping services. 

Because Amazon Direct Shipping is not actually affiliated with Amazon, consumers cannot just pop onto their Prime account and fill out a form. 

To find which sellers offer freebies, they’ll need to investigate the following online sources:⁵

• Facebook Groups – Searching “direct ship” groups on Facebook will pull up lots of options. Some popular/vetted pages include:
• KC’s Direct Ship Freebies & MORE (17.2K members, must request to join)
• Direct Ship/ Unicorn Gifts/ Surprise Freebies (26.6K members, must request to join) 
• Direct Ship, Freebies and Fun (13.4K members, must request to join)
• Freebie Websites – Simply Gooogling “how to get free stuff online” will pull up more spam than anything. Some legit freebie websites shoppers can investigate for direct shipping offers include:
• Internet Steals and Deals
• Consumer Queen 
• Gimme Freebies
• Upfreebie 
• Reddit – Some shoppers are brave enough to go down the Reddit rabbithole when seeking out freebies. One popular sub-Reddit for Direct Ship groupies is r/freebies, which has over 778K members. 

Once a consumer has found what they believe to be a legitimate site, they’ll fill out a Direct Ship form that asks for name, address, email, and phone number. 

Why Should Businesses Use Amazon Direct Shipping?

If a business chooses to use the Fulfillment by Amazon service, they’ll need to consider whether they also want to use Amazon Direct Shipping. 

When making any business decision, a seller will want to understand what the consumer experience is like.

If the experience of Amazon Direct Shipping is overwhelmingly positive for those who receive free items, then chances are it could increase vendor-to-shopper engagement and also help a small business build a new audience. 

Pros of Amazon Direct Shipping for consumers include:⁵

• Two words: free products
• Any unwanted freebies the consumer receives can be regifted or donated 
• Consumers get to try products and brands they may never have heard of before this 

The greatest benefit for sellers who use Amazon Direct Ship is that they are able to connect with a variety of consumers who may have never discovered their product otherwise. The hope is that they would receive a freebie they loved, then log on to Amazon and purchase more items from this brand. 

As exciting as Amazon Direct Shipping is for customers, there are some cons to consider: 

• A free item may not always lead to a purchase – The downside to Amazon Direct Shipping is that all of these external sources that promote sellers offering freebies are not guaranteed to have the vendor or the consumer’s best interests in mind.
• Reputation risk – The probability that a scam is brewing in between all the legitimate online offerings is high, and your business will not want to be associated with any negative press involving such nefarious activity. 

If you choose to use Amazon Direct Shipping instead of paying a long-term FBA fee, you’ll want to stay on top of the sites listed above, making sure your company’s name is not associated with any illegal activity or negative word-of-mouth. 

Master Amazon Direct Shipping, Advertising, and More with Power Digital Marketing 

Standing out on Amazon as an independent seller is no easy feat. Competition is fierce (hello, Jeff Bezos-produced goods and services) and sellers must remain constantly vigilant in order to keep up with Amazon’s ever-changing algorithms. 

If you’re new to Amazon marketplace or want to improve your status within the system, it may be in your best interest to hire a professional Amazon marketing management team to streamline your ecommerce offerings. 

Power Digital Marketing possesses a fundamental understanding of how Amazon operates and can help you expand your brand by reaching new customers and creating loyal fans, all while getting you more for your money.⁶ 

The PDM team can help your business better understand the pros and cons of Amazon services like Amazon moments or getting you familiar with what is Prime wardrobe to help you make the best decisions for your company. 

Sources:

1. MarketPlace Pulse. Number of Sellers on Amazon Marketplace. https://www.marketplacepulse.com/amazon/number-of-sellers 
2. Amazon. The Beginner’s Guide to Selling on Amazon. https://sell.amazon.com/beginners-guide.html 
3. Entrepreneur. Guide to Starting a ‘Fulfillment by Amazon’ Business. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/282277 
4. Amazon. Seller Central. https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/help-page.html?itemID=201074400&ref_=sdus_soa_bg_xscus_201074400&initialSessionID=apay%3D145-2248296-6342933&ld=NSGoogle 
5. Thrifty Introvert. Amazon Direct Ship Ultimate Guide.  https://thriftyintrovert.com/amazon-direct-ship-freebies/ 
6. Power Digital Marketing. Amazon Marketing Services. https://powerdigitalmarketing.com/services/amazon-marketing/ 

The post Amazon Direct Shipping: A Guide for Sellers appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

For any third-party seller, Amazon marketplace is the ultimate mecca. Two out of every three sellers utilized Amazon’s FBA business platform in 2020, generating $80.46 billion for Amazon in third-party seller service revenue—a 49.66% YOY increase. This accounts for more than half of all its sales.² 

But what is Amazon FBA and how can you get your share of this eCommerce hub?

What Does Fulfilled by Amazon Mean?  

Amazon’s Seller Central empowers eCommerce businesses to sell directly to every Amazon customer. Getting started is as easy as setting up a Seller Central account. 

When you join, Amazon gives you one of two options: 

1. Pay a 99¢ free for every item sold + closing fees
2. Pay a monthly $39.99 + selling fees

Amazon suggests that businesses selling more than 40 items per month should opt for the second option, also known as the professional plan. After you make your selection, you have yet another binary choice to make in regards to order fulfillment. 

Either, you can fulfill them directly, on your own. This means you handle shipping, returns, and customer service for all orders. Or, you can opt to join the FBA program. 

And what is FBA? 

FBA—Fulfilled by Amazon—means that Amazon handles all of the storage and shipping logistics on your behalf. You send your products to Amazon’s fulfillment center, and they handle everything from there, including:

• Storage
• Packaging
• Shipping
• Returns
• Exchanges
• Customer service  

Put simply, you manage sales and make sure Amazon remains stocked with your goods. They manage the rest. 

How Does the FBA Process Work? 

Broken down, the FBA process is fairly straightforward:

1. You send your inventory to the Amazon fulfillment center near you. 
2. Amazon stores that inventory until you can sell it.
3. After an item sells, Amazon pulls it from their warehouse and sends it to fulfillment.
4. Fulfillment packs the item, ships it, and then tracks the order.
5. If there’s an issue, whether it’s a return, a replacement, or an inquiry, Amazon’s. customer service manages the response for you.  

Naturally, Amazon doesn’t do this for free. There are FBA fulfillment fees you must pay in exchange for fulfillment services. But more on that later. 

Benefits of Amazon FBA

So, why should you join the Amazon FBA program? There are several advantages to becoming a member, including:

• Amazon Prime Eligibility – Perhaps the most important reason, when you list products for FBA, they’re eligible for Amazon Prime’s free two-day shipping. For prime customers, this is a major draw and could be the difference between them choosing your item or a competitor’s.  
• Effortless fulfillment – With the FBA program, Amazon’s world-class shipping and logistics teams do all of the fulfillment work, from A-Z. For a modest fee, you have one less thing to worry about. This frees you up to focus on selling, marketing, branding, and other company logistics.
• Discounted shipping rates – Shipping products on your own is extremely costly, especially on smaller orders. Amazon’s direct shipping service reduces those shipping cost expenses. Over time, the savings add up. 
• Fast shipping – When products are FBA, the fulfillment process goes at a lightning speed. This rapid turnaround keeps everyone happy.
• Reputation – Buyers trust Amazon, especially products that Amazon backs. When you list products on Amazon as FBA, you create a competitive advantage, especially compared to only selling your items from your online store. 
• Storage space – Whether you were storing items in your home or in a warehouse, by partnering with Amazon, you no longer have to deal with the hassle or associated costs of storage.
• The ability to scale quickly – Amazon FBA can scale with your business. Amazon’s fulfillment services make it possible to grow the business without having to worry about capital investments or staffing needed to store and ship products as demand grows. 

What Does Amazon FBA Cost? 

As an FBA seller, there are several costs you must account for. These include:

Inventory Fees

Amazon charges a monthly storage fee for goods stored within the U.S. These storage fees are charged midway through the month, typically between the 7th and 15th. The time of the year and the type of good impacts pricing:³

To learn more about what is considered dangerous goods, and which dangerous goods are allowed to be sold on Amazon, Seller Central provides more information.  

Additionally, if your product is stored at a fulfillment center for more than a year without being sold, it can be charged a long-term storage fee. 

Fulfillment Fees 

Amazon also charges a per-unit fee for fulfillment, which varies according to the item’s category, size, and weight. 

Additional Fees 

In addition to the normal fees, there are some others that may pop up from time to time. These include:⁴  

• Unplanned Service Fees – Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) may also charge unplanned service fees for any one of the following issues:
  • Missing label or barcode: ranges from 20¢ – 40¢ per unit 
  • An oversized or overweight shipping box may be charged a $25 – $75 per unit
  • Electrical, sharp, or spilled product hazards may be charged a $25 – $75 per unit
• Unacceptable pallet conditions may be charged a $50 – $150 per unit 
• Return processing fees – Similar to shipping and storage fees, Amazon charges a return processing fee that depends on the type of item, handling challenges, and size. 
• Closing fees – Certain media products like DVDs, Books, and CDs come with a flat $1.80 per sale cost. 

How To Get Started on Amazon FBA?

Setting up an Amazon FBA account only takes a few minutes. Simply follow these steps:

1. Start an Amazon Account – If you already have one, you can simply add FBA to the account. If not, opt for an Amazon seller’s account. 
2. List your products – Add your products to the Amazon catalog. You can do so in bulk, by importing your inventory management software, or one at a time. 
3. Get your products ready – Prepare your products to be sent to the Amazon fulfillment center. Be sure to package and label them correctly to avoid additional fees. 
4. Ship your products – Once everything’s ready, set your shipping plan, print your shipment ID labels, and send the products off. 
5. Start selling – As soon as the products reach the fulfillment center, they will be available for sale. 

Power Digital—Helping You Scale Through Amazon’s Marketplace and Beyond 

Amazon’s FBA is a boon to small and big businesses alike. For a nominal fee, you no longer have to worry about juggling fulfillment on your own. 

But this is just the first step to successfully selling on Amazon. There’s still a lot of work to do and Amazon seller mistakes to avoid. To learn more about other Amazon offerings like Amazon moments or exploring what is Prime wardrobe, visit us today. 

Here at Power Digital, we offer digital marketing and growth solutions for your business. By partnering with us, we can make sure that your product sells and your business grows. 

Is it really that simple? Reach out today to see that—yes—with us, it is.   

Sources:

1. Statista. Projected retail e-commerce GMV share of Amazon in the United States from 2016 to 2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/788109/amazon-retail-market-share-usa/
2. Statista. Percentage of paid units sold by third-party sellers on Amazon platform as of 1st quarter 2021. https://www.statista.com/statistics/259782/third-party-seller-share-of-amazon-platform/
3. Amazon Celler Sentral. Monthly Inventory Storage Fees. https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/G3EDYEF6KUCFQTNM
4. Amazon. Unplanned Service Fees. https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/help.html?itemID=KMP2R2KBXC8R2A7

The post What Is Amazon FBA? appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

The benefits of e-commerce are significant: NBC News found that in 2020, many businesses were forced to transition to online marketplaces due to the pandemic. In this case, these businesses were able to sustain their sales and even break records.¹

Still, the logistical stress of e-commerce can dissuade many business owners. 

That’s where Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) comes in. By handling the entire fulfillment process, FBA is an Amazon marketing strategy that allows businesses to focus less on logistics and more on what they do best: crafting their products. Read on for a breakdown of the program, the benefits of Amazon FBA, and its alternatives.

What Is Amazon FBA?

The fulfillment process begins when a customer clicks “Check Out” and continues until they get their order, or send in a return or exchange. The basic steps to the fulfillment process are as follows:²

1. Warehousing/inventory storage
2. Packing orders
3. Shipping orders
4. Processing returns or exchanges

Amazon FBA is the Fulfillment by Amazon program. Businesses send their products to an Amazon fulfillment center. There, Amazon takes care of the:

• Picking
• Packing
• Shipping

Amazon FBA even covers the customer service, returns, and exchanges for these Amazon orders. How much does this comprehensive service cost? Businesses can gain access to this program for $39.99 per month, in addition to selling fees.³

Pros of Amazon FBA

The benefits of Amazon FBA are immediately obvious, especially if your fulfillment infrastructure is small or nonexistent. We’ve also outlined a few additional advantages that you might not be aware of:

• Access Amazon Prime – Businesses who use Amazon FBA are eligible for Amazon Prime shipping, which means that prime customers are more likely to click “order” on your Amazon product.
• Utilize “The Buy Box” – On a product listing, Amazon includes other sellers within what they call “The Buy Box.” An Amazon FBA seller is more likely to gain this real estate than sellers who do their own fulfillment. 
• Support multi channel fulfillment – Amazon FBA also supports fulfillment for orders that are not sold through Amazon marketplace, allowing you to support your business’s multiple sales channels.⁴ 
• Use easily – Amazon makes their Marketplace extremely simple to use, regardless of your technological proficiency. CEO of FilterBuy David Heacock describes the FBA program as significantly easier than building your own website and fulfillment infrastructure.
• Join the winning team – Amazon is by far a prominent force in e-commerce. By utilizing Amazon FBA, you can benefit from Amazon rather than trying and failing to compete.⁵
• Decrease shipping costs – No one understands scales like Amazon. With FBA, you can benefit from Amazon’s enormous size and ability to drive down shipping rates in a way only a large corporation can. 
• Expedite shipping – By the same principle, Amazon can offer your business much faster shipping without significant added costs.
• Make it simple – Amazon FBA streamlines the entire logistical process of fulfillment, making its fee a small price to pay for businesses that are unable to build up their own logistical infrastructure.
• Include customer service – FBA takes care of customer service and communication and even returns and exchanges, decreasing your own labor requirements.
• Access storage space – With FBA, you have unlimited storage space in every geographic region to utilize as your business grows.⁶

Cons of Amazon FBA

Despite these many advantages, Amazon FBA still has its drawbacks, including:

• Inventory tracking – While Amazon provides inventory tracking, it may be an adjustment for businesses accustomed to being able to physically count their products to manage their inventory.
• Increased returns – Amazon prioritizes customer experience, touting their “easy returns process.” As a result, you might see an increase in your return rate.
• Additional shipments – You will still need to package, label, and ship your products to an Amazon Warehouse and use their ASIN/UPC barcode system, which may be inconvenient to some small business owners. 
• High cost – In addition to the monthly fee, you also have to pay Amazon to store your inventory. If you’re new to inventory management and your products aren’t selling, these fees might become painful as your products sit in Amazon warehouses.⁴ For some businesses, these fees also begin to cut into their profit margins, forcing them to leave Amazon.
• Seller theft – Amazon has a problem with copycat sellers who will list their own counterfeit products under your item number. Peter Denbigh of the Watch Ya’ Mouth game dealt with this disadvantage firsthand, suffering from low customer reviews from counterfeit products and lost sales as a result. 
• No direct customer relationship – Although it’s convenient that Amazon manages customer service for FBA users, that means that you can’t actively target these customers in the future because Amazon maintains their information. At the end of the day, your company still needs to be the one to prioritize customer satisfaction and build customer relationships. 
• Uncertainty – Some sellers report difficulty communicating with Amazon, especially when problems occur, such as broken or lost items. For example, if you don’t follow Amazon’s policies, your profile can be shut down completely, and you may be unable to appeal for a reboot.⁵

How to Join Amazon FBA

If you’re ready to join Amazon FBA, here are 10 simple steps:³

1. Register for an Amazon seller account for your business.
2. Navigate to Amazon Seller Central.
3. Set up FBA through Amazon Seller Central.
4. Create listings for your products.
5. Add your product listings to the Amazon catalog.
6. Specify that your products are FBA inventory.
7. Prepare your products using the Amazon packing guidelines, shipping, and routing requirements.
8. Create your shipping plan.
9. Print Amazon shipment labels for your products.
10. Ship your inventory to Amazon fulfillment centers.

Alternatives to Amazon FBA

It’s important to remember that fulfillment by Amazon isn’t your only option. Amazon FBA is best for companies that:⁷

• Want to save time
• Want to scale their business
• Want comprehensive support
• Want to be eligible for Amazon Prime

If your business doesn’t fall into these categories or if you’re still unsure about Amazon FBA, we’ll cover your other options below.

In-House Fulfillment

With in-house fulfillment, you take care of storing and shopping your orders from your business location or a secondary warehouse. This option is best for businesses who:

• Ship at a low volume
• Have their own logistical network
• Have complex packing or shipping requirements

However, in-house fulfillment has some key disadvantages because it:

• Restricts the variety of products you can sell
• Restricts the number of products you can sell
• Increases overhead expenses in some cases

Many businesses start out with in-house fulfillment and as their business grows, transition to third-party fulfillment such as Amazon FBA.⁷

Third-Party Fulfillment

Amazon FBA is a third-party fulfillment program, but it is not the only option. It’s best to shop around to find which third-party fulfillment can offer you both the best rates and services. Whether you choose Amazon FBA or another company, here are the questions to ask yourself as you make your decision:⁸

1. How many e-commerce sales do you make? As your online sales increase so will the logistical burden and complexity of the fulfillment and inventory tracking process.
2. What kind of products do you sell? Particularly large, fragile, complex, or even hazardous items have specific shipping requirements and concerns.
3. How many sales channels do you have? Not every third-party fulfillment service can appropriately manage multiple sales channels.
4. Can you effectively track your supply levels? If you’re unable to accurately track your inventory, especially if you have perishable or seasonal products, then a third-party fulfillment service with up-to-the-minute reporting on sales and inventory is necessary.
5. Do you have in-house customer service? Some fulfillment services also take care of customer service and customer questions, but this can be to the detriment of your personal customer relationships.
6. Is your shipping both convenient and affordable? A survey by Amazon found that shipping was an essential part of the online shopping experience for 84 percent of people.
7. Do you have somewhere to store your products? As your e-commerce sales grow, you will need more space to store products, especially if there are specific concerns regarding the environment they need to be stored in (i.e. somewhere temperature controlled).
8. Can you process returns? Processing returns can add an additional layer of logistical stress that third-party fulfillment services can minimize.
9. Do you need additional fulfillment software? As your business grows, you will likely need to purchase specialized fulfillment software if you continue to handle orders in-house.
10. Do you need to make international sales? International shipping adds significant logical concerns that third-party services can reduce.
11. Do you need distributed warehousing? Distributed warehousing allows for shorter shipping windows if your customers are spread out geographically.
12. Do you need products to be bundled? Many third-party fulfillment services can support product bundling so you can improve the customer shopping experience.
13. Are you interested in subscription fulfillment? If you’re interested in providing customers with the opportunity to subscribe to your products, third-party fulfillment can minimize the additional logistical complexities.
14. What is your budget for fulfillment services? Consider the cost for your in-house fulfillment vs. the rates that third parties such as Amazon offer. Costs to evaluate include administrative, product, receiving, storage, packing, kitting, and shipping costs.

Leverage Amazon’s Resources and PDM

So is Amazon FBA worth it? Leverage the pros and cons of Amazon FBA. 

If you don’t already have fulfillment infrastructure and if you are interested in rapidly scaling your business and increasing your sales, then yes. For other businesses, Amazon FBA might not be right because the cost-benefit analysis doesn’t add up or because the direct customer relationship is essential. 

To further scale your business and increase your sales, enlist our digital marketing agency, Power Digital Marketing. We provide your business with a digital marketing strategy to elevate your brand and optimize your growth plan. 

Reach out today to learn more about other Amazon features including Amazon marketing cloud, what is AWS, and what is Amazon Explore. 

Sources: 

1. NBC News. Small businesses who pivoted to e-commerce saw record sales during Black Friday weekend. https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/smalthate-commercel-businesses-who-pivoted-e-commerce-saw-record-sales-during-n1249499 
2. Amazon. The Ecommerce Fulfillment Guide to Grow Your Business. https://sell.amazon.com/learn/ecommerce-fulfillment?ref_=sdus_fba_ecommf_what_h1 
3. Amazon. Fulfillment by Amazon. https://sell.amazon.com/fulfillment-by-amazon.html 
4. Intuit Quickbooks. Pros and cons of FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon). https://www.tradegecko.com/blog/ecommerce-tools/pros-and-cons-of-fba-fulfillment-by-amazon
5. Forbes. Thinking Of Selling On Amazon Marketplace? Here Are The Pros And Cons. https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2018/04/27/pros-and-cons-of-amazon-marketplace-for-small-and-mid-sized-businesses/?sh=240fc3b76867 
6. Big Commerce. Leveraging Amazon FBA for Your Online Sales Success. https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/amazon-fba/#the-pros-and-cons-of-fba 
7. Amazon. Common ecommerce fulfillment options. https://sell.amazon.com/learn/ecommerce-fulfillment?ref_=sdus_fba_ecommf_what_h1#three-fulfillment-options 
8. Amazon. Checklist: What factors should you consider when scaling fulfillment? https://sell.amazon.com/learn/ecommerce-fulfillment?ref_=sdus_fba_ecommf_what_h1#scaling-fulfillment 

The post Is Amazon FBA Worth It? Pros and Cons appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

Cue: Amazon Marketing Cloud. 

Its most recent version, which launched in 2021, is offering marketers a new set of tools with which to perform in-depth analyses of campaign and audience data. There’s a lot to unpack with this new technology, so let’s get started on our way to understanding what it is and how it can be used to make more informed marketing decisions moving forward. 

Here’s an overview of what we’ll cover:

• Amazon Marketing Cloud: A Quick 101
• Benefits of Using the Amazon Marketing Cloud
• Who is Eligible to use AMC
• How AMC can Lead to Marketing Campaign Success
• Additional Amazon Advertising Tools 

Amazon Marketing Cloud: A Quick 101

Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) is, in a nutshell, the internet’s gift to the data-obsessed. 

It’s a cloud space that is capable of storing and analyzing a number of datasets—both from the advertisers themselves and from any marketing campaign carried out via Amazon Advertising. It keeps track of campaign events so that marketing teams are better able to understand audience actions and tendencies.

An “event” in programming refers to an action that occurs on a web page as a result of a user’s behavior. This can be something as simple as a mouse click or the press of a certain key on a keyboard that triggers a web-related response.

What other types of data can Amazon Marketing Cloud report on? Here’s a look at a few that are useful to keep an eye on:

• Impressions – This is the total number of times an advertisement renders on a web-enabled device.
• Engagement – How many users click on (engage with) your content.
• Conversions – A conversion does not always have to equate to a sale. It is simply defined by the number of times a visitor to your website completes a desired goal set by the advertisers.
• Revenue – The money you make from your campaign performance.

As with any campaign, these are key performance indicators (KPIs) that provide a valuable analysis regarding the successes and, sometimes, blunders of the particular advertisement under review. Having this data all in one place, however, lends itself to insightful cross-channel evaluation that can help make targeted adjustments to campaigns moving forward. 

What are the Main Benefits of Using Amazon Marketing Cloud? 

Amazon itself cites the primary advantages of this platform as offering control, choice, and clarity to its users which, in broad terms, sounds great—right? 

But what exactly do these benefits look like within the framework of the cloud environment? 

Let’s have a look at that now.

• Choice – Advertisers using AMC are able to use their own programming language, known as an SQL (Structured Query Language) to extract relevant data. This may be a project that’s better suited for the software engineering team, but this freedom of choice is a useful way for marketers to be able to pinpoint the data that’s most pertinent to their research. 
• Control – AMC provides its users with total control and freedom to personalize the datasets available to them. It offers analytics reports that are completely customizable so that marketing teams can get right to the core of their objectives without having to sift through pages of less relevant data first. 
• Clarity – With AMC, there’s no confusion about what’s working and what’s not. Get a clear, holistic view of how customers interact with a brand and vice versa by comparing performance across a number of different channels. 

The overarching benefits? Customization and access to an abundance of data. Just be sure your team has knowledge of SQLs since it does not come as a ready-to-use interface. 

Who Can Use Amazon Marketing Cloud?

Given its advanced features, Amazon Marketing Cloud may not be suitable for just anyone. In fact, Amazon has currently set a few eligibility requirements in order to have access to this unique marketing tool. In order to qualify, you’ll need:

• To be an advertiser or an advertising partner
• To be active on Amazon DSP (demand-side platform)
• Resources who are familiar with writing SQL

Before incorporating Amazon Marketing Cloud into your marketing strategy, be sure you and your team are equipped with the skills needed to get the most out of it. 

How Can Marketers Benefit from Amazon Marketing Cloud? 

Now that we’ve developed a deeper understanding of the AMC functions as well as who is likely to benefit from them, let’s consider how these mechanisms translate into marketing success. Amazon Advertising provides an introduction to the Amazon Marketing Cloud which highlights a number of attractive benefits that marketers will be able to take away from this platform.  

• Maximizing your investment – The better you understand your customers and how they use different channels, the more appropriately you’ll be able to direct your campaign dollars. This way you can be sure that the investment you make is well-targeted and likely to generate higher returns. 
• Understanding the needs of your campaign – By having greater access to datasets and taking a look at them side-by-side, campaigns with a broad focus will be able to more accurately refine their audience and find specific opportunities for optimization. 
• Improving your campaign results – Whether you’re aiming to increase revenue or to encourage customers to complete a form on your website, Amazon Marketing Cloud can help you to boost conversions and, therefore, improve the overall results of your campaign. When it’s clear where, exactly, your campaign can be optimized, the easier it is to generate the desired results. 
• Combining media channels – Use AMC to find out what your audience’s preferred channels are, how often they use them, and what kinds of actions are taken on each one. With this information you can choose to combine your top-performing channels to maximize reach and generate high-quality leads. 

Other Amazon Advertising Tools to Power Up Your Marketing Plan

Beyond Amazon Marketing Cloud, there are a number of other advertising tools that marketers may want to be aware of for use in their upcoming campaigns. Consider your marketing objectives as well as your desired campaign channel in order to find the right tool for your purposes. 

Here’s a look at a few of the available Amazon Advertising options:

• Amazon DSP – Expand your audience by displaying your advertisements across the Amazon platform as well as the company’s publishing partners. It’s available in a number of countries and comes included with metrics analysis to help you evaluate the efficacy of your campaigns.
• Amazon Live – Create a more informed consumer by engaging with them in real-time. Put a new product on display, give a demonstration of how it’s used, and open the floor for questions to be asked by potential customers via the live chat feature. 
• Audios Ads – If you think you’d be more likely to connect with your target audience during their screen-free time, use this Amazon Advertising tool to build audio ads (10 to 30 seconds in duration) that can be played for consumers to hear while using Amazon Music. Plus, any business can take advantage of this ad space, regardless of whether or not they sell their products on the Amazon Marketplace. 
• Sponsored Display – These types of sponsored ads may appear on the Amazon home page, product pages, and even third-party websites. Target by product relevancy or by audience and control how much you spend by setting a fixed budget and bidding on clicks. 
• Amazon Posts – If your company already has a presence on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest, consider repurposing images you’ve already curated to use on Posts. It’s free to post the content you want and you can expect to find it in the Amazon shopping app. This is an effective way of encouraging Amazon shoppers to browse your products and also to provide them with inspiration about how your offerings can bring value to their life. 

Can’t decide on just one? Consider a strategy that combines a few different approaches and use Amazon Marketing Cloud to help you assess the results of each. 

Find a Growth Solution with the Help of Power Digital

With so many advertising and data analytics tools available, it can sometimes be challenging to discern which ones will provide your team with the highest return on investment. Keep in mind—there is no singular approach that guarantees marketing success. Instead, it’s a continual process of experimenting, evaluating, and adjusting as you go along. 

Let Power Digital help you find the growth strategy that works for you. Whether it’s gathering data from the Amazon Marketing Cloud, running a campaign with the help of another Amazon Advertising tool, or building a personalized marketing plan from scratch, we are eager to unlock your marketing potential. 

We can answer all of your questions, such as: what is Amazon Explore? Is Amazon FBA worth it? What is AWS? Or even how to get a UPC for Amazon? 

Let’s create your success story today, together. Contact our digital marketing agency today.

Sources: 

1. Amazon Advertising. Introducing Amazon Marketing Cloud (beta). https://advertising.amazon.com/blog/introducing-amazon-marketing-cloud
2. Amazon Advertising. AMC Key Benefits. https://learningconsole.amazonadvertising.com/uploads/resource_courses/targets/20727/original/index.html?_courseId=3572#/page/6080b62f20ec6c57a8f57995

The post What is Amazon Marketing Cloud? appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

With millions of customers, AWS helps to power top companies including BP, Netflix, Expedia, GE, Kellog’s, and countless more.³ 

Businesses of all sizes can benefit from the over 200 services offered by the AWS platform.¹ To help you learn how AWS might benefit your company and its overall Amazon marketing strategy, we’ve compiled a complete guide to the world of cloud computing and AWS.

AWS and Cloud Computing

To understand what is AWS, you first need to understand cloud computing. With cloud computing, organizations can access on-demand IT resources over the internet and pay for these services as needed. 

The traditional alternative would be to buy or maintain physical data centers and servers.⁴ 

To understand how cloud computing has changed the world of IT, let’s travel back in history to the early 1900s. During that time, if a factory needed electricity, they would have to build their own power plant. Eventually, however, electricity became a public utility for purchase, phasing out expensive private electric plants.

That is how Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos describes AWS. Just as public utility companies replaced private electric plants, AWS is replacing traditional physical computing technology. Also, like a utility company, Amazon’s customers only pay for what they need when it comes to storage and computing power.

The on-demand model is a solution to the previous inefficiencies in which a company would have to overpay and buy more than they need or risk not having enough computing power during periods of growth. This was especially significant in seasonal industries. Tax accountants, for example, don’t use the same amount of computing power all year long.⁵

The initial complexity of cloud computing might seem intimidating, but it is appropriate for organizations of every size and in every industry that have technological needs. Common uses of the cloud service include:⁴

• Data backup
• Disaster recovery
• E-mail
• Virtual desktops
• Software development
• Software testing
• Big data analytics
• Customer-facing web applications 

AWS’s immense capabilities have allowed it to become the preeminent cloud computing provider, owning a third of the market alone. AWS also has servers all over the world, allowing 245 countries and territories to utilize its services.

To enable this feat, AWS has servers in 76 availability zones. On top of being able to offer their services to so many countries, these 76 availability zones also ensure that:⁵

• Companies can place geographical limits on their services
• Companies can know that their data is safe because it’s held in multiple physical locations 

Hopefully, you’re beginning to better understand how cloud computing works. Now, we can look more closely at the functionality of AWS. As we mentioned earlier, AWS houses over 200 services that fall into the categories of:⁵

• Servers
• Storage
• Networking
• Remote computing
• E-mail
• Mobile development
• Security 

AWS has three main products that encompass all of these services:

• EC2 – A virtual machine service for businesses that allows users to modify the size and capacity of their cloud provider
• Glacier – A low-cost cloud storage service with longer retrieval times that provides storage for data archives and cold data backup
• S3 – A storage system for the internet that’s designed to make web-scale computing more efficient

Each of these products is designed to meet specific needs provided by cloud computing. To help potential customers and AWS users understand AWS in action, Amazon offers three examples:⁴

• Healthcare companies – A healthcare company could AWS to create more personalized treatment plans for patients.
• Financial services companies – A financial services company could use AWS to constantly detect and prevent fraud.
• Video game companies – A video game maker could use AWS to allow millions of people to play its games online at the same time.

Basically, cloud computing and AWS, which is the leading cloud computing service, are limitless.

Types of Cloud Computing

As you dive deeper into the world of cloud computing and even consider becoming a user, there are three key types of cloud computing that you might use: IaaS, PaaS, Saas. 

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) 

If DNA is the building block of the human body, the IaaS is the building block of cloud IT. Out of the different forms of cloud computing, it is the most similar to traditional IT resources, which makes it easy for businesses to transition to the cloud. It also provides the most flexibility and control. With IaaS, you can access:

• Networking features
• Computers
• Data storage

Platform as a Service (PaaS)  

PaaS emphasizes efficiency, eliminating the necessity of underlying infrastructure including hardware and operating systems. Instead, PaaS allows its users to focus on:

• Resource acquisition
• Capacity planning
• Software maintenance
• Patching

Software as a Service (SaaS)

SaaS is perhaps the most comprehensive yet simple option for you as the end-user because it is entirely managed by the service provider. Rather than putting any resources or time towards maintaining the software, you can focus on your business needs and how the software fulfills them.⁴

Benefits of AWS

AWS’s success is obvious. However, the technical complexity of its services can make it difficult to comprehend all of its benefits. At the most basic level, the key benefits of AWS include:

• Flexibility – AWS allows businesses to scale their resources based on current needs.
• Agility –  With AWS, companies can access and implement a wide range of technological infrastructure and services within minutes.
• Cost – The on-demand cost is key to how AWS operates, allowing companies to save significantly on major capital expenses such as data centers and servers and reducing variable expenses.
• Global capabilities – Companies using AWS can expand to almost anywhere in the world within minutes using Amazon’s existing infrastructure. 
• Customer experience – Similarly, the ability to use physical locations closer to the end-users of your product or services provides them a better user experience by decreasing latency.⁴
• Security – Amazon’s data centers have rigorous security and are diversified through multiple locations in case of disasters.
• Reliability – Through this diversification, Amazon can prevent service outages from ever reaching your end-user.⁴ 
• Simplicity – AWS is built to be easy to use by anyone, regardless of their technological expertise. This is a result of the AWS console, which allows you to easily access AWS.
• Limitless capacity – Considering AWS supports some of the largest corporations in the world, its capacity limits are virtually nonexistent, particularly for smaller to medium-sized businesses.⁶

Disadvantages of AWS

AWS might have a limitless capacity, but some of its cloud computing services do have their own limitations. Be warned, however, that the basis for these disadvantages is more technically complex in comparison to its easier-to-understand benefits. Key drawbacks include:

• Changing costs – Returning to the metaphor of a utility company, your electricity bill isn’t the same each month. While this can be a benefit because of the flexibility, some companies may dislike the constant price variations which are affected not just by your own usage but by the cost of land, fiber, electricity, and even taxes. 
• Size – Size is another benefit that can also become a disadvantage. Although the immense size of AWS has advantages such as geographic scope and diversification, it can also introduce temporary problems as millions of people access the same servers at one time.⁷ 
• Default limits – AWS automatically limits resources in each of its regions to ensure it can meet everyone’s needs. If you have greater capacity requirements, this might become an issue. You can request to increase your limit, but AWS provides no guarantees. 
• Cost of technical support – Although you can access immediate support from AWS whenever necessary, Amazon does charge an additional technical support fee for this service. 
• Transitioning – When you first transition to the cloud, you might experience initial issues including downtime and a lack of backup protection, but these potential problems will be quickly resolved.⁶ 

Getting Started with AWS

Amazon knows that AWS and cloud computing in general are complex topics. To help users become masters, they offer countless training sessions and certifications so you can become an AWS expert. Users can choose from:

• Digital Training
• Classroom Training
• Events 

Users can use these training sessions to simply increase their knowledge or to become fully certified in some of the services AWS offers. Amazon hopes to help 29 million people develop their technical skills through their free cloud computing training modules for professionals, which include:

• Architect
• Cloud Practitioner
• Data Analytics
• Machine Learning

Amazon also offers numerous courses, including:

• Migrating to AWS

• The Machine Learning Pipeline on AWS

• AWS Technical Essentials

• Building Data Lakes on AWS
• Developing Serverless Solutions on AWS

Amazon sees cloud computing, and by extension AWS, as the way of the future. As such, its free education offerings are incredibly comprehensive and a great place for anyone to start.⁸

AWS Offers Stratospheric Possibilities, But It’s Not Alone

In twenty years, the idea of companies using their own physical servers might seem as antiquated and absurd as imagining a business building their own power plant to keep the lights on. 

As with its e-commerce ventures, Amazon is able to use its enormous size to support smaller companies that could never achieve the same economies of scale.

Transitioning to cloud computing will help your business keep pace with the future of technology, but AWS is not your only option. Major competitors include:

• Microsoft Azure
• Google Cloud 

Smaller companies can also offer cloud computing, albeit without all of the luxuries giants such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google offer.⁵ Whichever you choose, familiarizing yourself with the sky-high world of cloud computing will likely pay off for your business down the line.

Tap into Your Business’s Marketing Power with Power Digital Marketing

Power Digital Marketing can also help to propel your business into the future. We offer customized digital marketing strategies for online growth, so your business can continue to take strides toward success. 

We can help answer all your Amazon-related questions, such as:  Is Amazon FBA worth it? What is Amazon Explore or Amazon Marketing Cloud? Or maybe you’re wondering how to get a UPC for Amazon. 

Take the first step today and contact our digital marketing agency today. 

Sources: 

1. Amazon. Cloud computing with AWS. https://aws.amazon.com/what-is-aws/ 
2. CNBC. Amazon cloud revenue growth accelerates to 37% in Q2. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/29/aws-earnings-q2-2021.html 
3. Amazon. Cloud Computing Services. https://aws.amazon.com/ 
4. Amazon. What is cloud computing? https://aws.amazon.com/what-is-cloud-computing/ 
5. Investopedia. What Is Amazon Web Services and Why Is It so Successful? https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/011316/what-amazon-web-services-and-why-it-so-successful.asp 
6. DataFlair. AWS Advantages & Disadvantages. https://data-flair.training/blogs/aws-advantages/ 
7. Intellipaat. Top 7 Benefits of AWS – Advantages and Disadvantages of Amazon Web Services. https://intellipaat.com/blog/aws-benefits-and-drawbacks/ 
8. AWS. Training and Certification. https://aws.amazon.com/training/ 

The post What is AWS? appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

Since September of 2020, Amazon’s virtual experience platform is giving the average internet user greater access to far-off places and an opportunity to attend cooking classes, wine tastings, and festivals from their sofa. 

What is Amazon Explore? 

Pack your suitcase, sunglasses, and a passport, and read on for everything you need to know about this new Amazon marketing offering. 

How Does Amazon Explore Work? 

Chances are you’ve already been chatting with friends and colleagues around the world for a while now thanks to video calling services like FaceTime, Skype, and Zoom. But what sets the Amazon Explore experience apart from the rest? 

Here’s a look at some of the nuanced features unique to this platform.

• It’s tied to an event – No, we’re not talking about a virtual baby shower or birthday celebration. Instead, this online video call consists of an interactive event of your choice—often linked to the tourism or retail industries. Connect with a chef in Buenos Aires for a cooking class and learn about making empanadas or browse through a boutique in Milan. No matter the location, there’s bound to be some sort of expert-led experience on Amazon Explore that’ll pique your interest. 
• You don’t have to be on camera – Amazon Explore is a live stream that uses two-way audio calls and one-way video calls. This means that you’ll be able to see the city you’ve chosen to venture through and the guide who’s showing you around, but you yourself won’t need to worry about being live on camera. Whether you’re on the subway or lounging in your living room, just join in on the guided tour to engage with the local expert. 
• You can make purchases – If it’s an available option on your host’s platform, it could be tempting to do a bit of shopping for something that’s hard to find in your local neighborhood. You might just need to double-check that your purchases comply with import and export laws and do not exceed $800 per day. Your guide will ship the items in your order directly to you after your Amazon explore session has concluded. 
• It’s a unique opportunity for businesses – If you loved your experience as an explorer but are interested in showing off your local expertise, consider registering with Amazon Explore as a host. Become a teacher, guide, or show your guests around the corners of your charming retail shop as a way to boost sales. Just answer a few questions to get started. 

Amazon Explore provides a unique opportunity to enjoy a few of the perks of traveling without the added expenses of flights, accommodations, and dining out. So, even if you aren’t able to take off extra vacation time, you can still feel a connection to culture, language, and history on a weekday afternoon or a Saturday night in. 

So, how does it work?

• Pick your preferred virtual experience – It may be helpful for you to search by location, category, or based on how much you’re looking to spend. Just use the filters on the sidebar to tailor it according to your preferences. 
• Schedule your Amazon explore session – Find a time that works with your schedule—and the time change (if applicable)—and reserve your spot. If you need to cancel or reschedule, be sure to do so at least 24 hours prior to your event. 
• Arrive on time – Remember, you and your guide are live. So, don’t forget to be courteous and arrive on time in order to take full advantage of the allotted time. Join via your computer or laptop. Amazon Explore is not currently available on mobile devices. 
• Immerse yourself and enjoy – Come prepared with questions and topics of interest so that your guide can tailor the experience to your liking. As with any sort of international trip, it’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the local area before “arriving” so that you’re privy to any unexpected cultural norms or clashes. 

How Much Does Amazon Explore Cost? 

You won’t need to pay for airfare, of course, but most Amazon Explore experiences come at a cost. Just as you would expect to pay an entry fee for a museum in France or for a guided scuba diving session in Hawaii, you’ll also need to plan to pay for virtual events on this platform. 

Most sessions last around 30 minutes to an hour and range in cost from under $25 to over $75. A visit to a ceramics shop in Italy, for example, may only cost around $10 whereas an exploration of the ancient ruins of Pompeii could cost around $85. Luckily, Amazon Explore makes it easy to filter your search by things like price, duration, average rating, and location. 

Top-Rated Travel Destinations with Amazon Explore

With so many destinations, it can be hard to know where to start. If you’re in need of some travel inspiration, take a look at these top-rated Amazon Explore experiences that travelers have been raving about.

• Interact with the local fauna in Costa at the Toucan Rescue Ranch 
  • $27.30 for a 50-minute session

• Enchanting Rialto—a walk through Venice’s street markets
  • $76 for a 60-minute session 

• Learn Japanese through live music 
  • $36 dollars for a 30-minute session 

• Take a ride through the Hong Kong harbor on a traditional sampan 
  • $62 for a 50-minute session

Everything Else you Should Know About Amazon Explore

Before you take off on your next globetrotting adventure, read through these last few details to be sure your experience is a hit. 

With Amazon Explore:

• Your session is one-on-one. You won’t have to share the time with big groups, so you’ll have your guide’s undivided attention. 
• You can look for the camera icon at the bottom of your screen. Just like you do when you’re on vacation, take a picture and store it later to revisit your exciting travel memories. 
• Make sure you are equipped with a working microphone. Consider doing a quick audio test before your session so you can be sure your host will hear you loudly and clearly. 
• Check your internet speed before you sign on to your event. In order to avoid any sort of bothersome lags, make sure you’ve got a connection speed of 5mbps or higher. 
• Your hosts are highly knowledgeable and English-speaking. So, you won’t have to worry about anything getting lost in translation. 
• The events are never pre-recorded. Whenever you book a session, you’ll always be able to connect with a guide who is live with you on the other end of the call. 
• You can give an experience as a gift. If you know someone who would love a virtual exchange of culture, consider purchasing an Amazon Explore gift card so that your globetrotting friend or family member can use it however they please. 

How to Use Amazon Explore for Your Business

If you’d like to reverse the roles, consider using Amazon Explore as a unique way of approaching your business goals. Instead of being the traveler, establish yourself as a host in order to reach your audience in new ways and get your products and services in front of new faces. 

Here’s a quick look at how your shop, service, or skill can benefit from using Amazon Explore:

• Expand your reach – If visibility is your primary focus, take your small shop out of your local neighborhood and across the country. You’ll be able to reach higher levels of brand recognition and increase your opportunities of making conversions. 
• Build relationships that last – By connecting with your audience one-on-one, you’re able to address their concerns and go into detail about the value your products or services can provide. 
• Enjoy a flexible schedule – Whether you’re a teacher, artisan, or service provider, with Amazon Explore you can set your own schedule to best suit your lifestyle and daily routine. 

Explore New Marketing Strategies with Power Digital

For an expert-led experience that walks you through the complex world of marketing strategy, choose Power Digital as your trusted guide. Whether you’re curious about incorporating Amazon Explore into your business plan or running a targeted campaign using one of the Amazon Advertising tools, we can help you to define your goals and design a course of action that allows you to reach them. 

Our services aren’t just limited to Amazon Marketing, however. We also specialize in:

• SEO
• Content Marketing
• Influencer Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Web Development

Join clients like Dropbox, Zola, Casper, and Daily Harvest who have trusted our expertise to help them evolve and grow into their full potential. See how we can shape your professional journey today. 

For more on other available Amazon features, check out our resources answering: Is Amazon FBA worth it? What is Amazon Marketing Cloud? What is AWS? Or maybe you’re wondering how to get a UPC code for Amazon? Our digital marketing experts have you covered at Power Digital Marketing. 

Sources: 

1. Business Insider. Amazon Explore Virtual Travel Review.  https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-explore-virtual-travel-review
2. The Washington Post. You can now add virtual travel to your Amazon shopping cart. https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2020/09/30/amazon-explore-virtual-tours/

The post What is Amazon Explore? appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

If you’ve made the exciting step to sell your products on Amazon, you will quickly realize that you need to buy and use an Amazon UPC number for your products.

UPC stands for universal product code and is a type of barcode number for products. The initial process for obtaining them can be somewhat complex and confusing, so we’ve created this complete guide to creating a UPC code for Amazon once and for all.

What is a UPC Code?

So, you just learned that a UPC stands for universal product code and is a type of barcode number for product identification, but what does it consist of? Generally, a UPC code contains two key components:

1. A unique number
2. A machine-readable barcode

As their name suggests, UPC codes are anywhere there are products. You’ve likely seen them many times on products that you have purchased in grocery stores and retail spaces. Generally, there are three types of UPC codes that you need to be aware of:¹

• UPC-A – UPC-A codes have 12 total digits, with the first six digits being your company’s unique prefix.
• UPC-E – UPC-E codes can have up to 12 total digits but they can also have fewer. The first six digits are still your company’s unique prefix.
• GTINs – GTINs are global trade numbers, gaining more popularity in recent years. The standard 12-digit UPC is a GTIN-12. 

In fact, UPC codes originated within grocery stores, where the codes streamlined the logistical process of:

• Managing inventory
• Stocking shelves
• Checking out

Why Do You Need UPC Codes for Amazon?

With UPC codes, a wide range of brands and products became easily identifiable. Now, companies like Amazon rely on UPC codes to keep track of products as they move through complex global supply chains. They also help prevent any Amazon listing and accompanying confusion.¹

Amazon Marketplace sells over 350 million products, a logistical feat that would certainly be impossible without the magic of UPC codes.² 

If your business sells products from an already established vendor or manufacturer, they will likely provide you with UPC codes. However, if you make your own products or sell a private label product, you will need to obtain UPC codes for each new product that you want to list on Amazon. 

Certain sellers have exceptions—you will need to make an Amazon Seller account before you can access this information. However, most likely you will need to purchase Amazon UPC codes, which we will cover next.¹

Step-by-Step Guide to Buy UPC Codes for Amazon

This process will highlight how to get a UPC Code for Amazon. When first purchasing Amazon UPC codes, the initial process can often be complex. As such, we’ve outlined the following steps:¹

1. Register as an Amazon Seller with Amazon Marketplace
2. Navigate to Amazon Seller Central and confirm that you do indeed need UPC codes.
3. Once you’ve confirmed that you need UPC codes, you have two options: Register with GS1 US or purchase existing UPC codes

Option #1: Register with GS1 US

GS1 sounds like some sort of alien prefix, but it actually refers to the non-profit organization responsible for global information standards for business communication. Its goal is to optimize the global supply chain and prevent problems before they occur.

Different companies have their own GS1 branches—GS1 US is the United States’ GS1 entity. As such, if your business is based in the states, you will need to register with GS1 US to purchase UPCs and acquire your business’ six-digit prefix.¹

Step #1: Apply for GS1 Membership and Obtain a UPC Prefix License

Before anything else, you need to apply for membership with GS1. Then, you can fill out their company prefix application. You’ll recall that your UPC prefix is the first six digits of the UPC number, which connects the Amazon product to your company.

These prefixes are complex beasts. You can barcode your prefix onto as little as 10 unique products or as many as 100,000 individual products. However, you will need a UPC barcode for each product variation, which includes differences in:

• Sizes 
• Colors

Before you start the application process, confirm the prefix capacity-or the number of products that need barcode labels -you will need them currently or in the future. GS1 US provides a free barcode estimator tool to help you complete this step accurately.

Once you know your needs, the prefix application will only take a few minutes to complete. Once you choose your prefix capacity, you can then complete your purchase.

GS1 US provides the following pricing breakdown:³ 

• 1-10 products needing a barcode – Initial Fee: $250; Annual Renewal Fee: $50
• 1-100 products needing a barcode – Initial Fee: $750; Annual Renewal Fee: $150
• For 1-1,000 products needing a barcode – Initial Fee: $2,500; Annual Renewal Fee: $500
• For 1-10,000 products needing a barcode – Initial Fee: $6,500; Annual Renewal Fee: $1,300
• For 1-100,000 products needing a barcode – Initial Fee: $10,500; Annual Renewal Fee: $2,100

If your product falls under the umbrella of the healthcare industry, you may also be required by the FDA to use an assigned NDC (National Drug Code) or NHRIC (National Health Related Items Code) instead of a GS1 company prefix. You can contact the FDA if you think this is applicable to your situation. If so, the GS1 has a capacity of 1-100,000 and charges:³

• Initial Fee – $2,100
• Annual Renewal Fee – $2,100

As of November 2020, the GS1 US also allows businesses to license individual UPCs, which are those GTINs available for $30 each without an additional renewal fee.¹

Step #2: Input Your Product Information

After you have submitted your prefix license application, GS1 will provide you with a list of available UPCs. To add product information to the codes, you will need to visit the online GS1 US Data Hub. There, you can:

• Input product details
• Activate UPCs

Here are the specific steps to complete this process:

1. Log into the GS1 US Data Hub.
2. Find the global navigation menu and choose “Product.”
3. Go to “Manage Products” and open up the “Create Product” screen. 

Once you’ve made your way to the “Create Product” page, GS1 will ask: “Is this item variable measure?” Basically, this question asks whether or not the product comes in different sizes or colors, for example. If your products do have variance, check the box accordingly. Next, you will input:

• The product description
• The brand name
• The SKU

After you click save, find the “Assign GTIN from Reserved” button to choose which of the provided UPCs you want to assign to this product that you have added. There is also an auto-assign function.

Your last step will be to change the product’s status. Select “in use” for every product that now has an activated UPC code. 

Congratulations! You can now sell your products on Amazon Marketplace.¹

Option #2: Purchase Existing UPCs

Not every company has the budget or patience to go through the GS1 application process. As a result, there are several online companies that license a UPC using another business’s prefix that they can then sell to other businesses that are on a budget.

The cost can be as low as $12 for a single UPC or about $40 for 10. Despite the initial savings, this avenue isn’t foolproof. Based on data provided by Nationwide Barcode, 8 percent of their customers are unable to use the UPCs that they have purchased.

Why? Nationwide Barcode isn’t entirely transparent, claiming that while their UPCs work in general, they might not work for certain sellers. Additionally, Amazon may add extra hoops to jump through that make it easier, in the end, to purchase through GS1 U.S.¹

For businesses that are on a budget but are worried about potential logistical issues with purchasing second hand UPCs, individual UPCs through GS1 might be a better fit.

 At $30 per UPC, this option is slightly more expensive, but you will have the peace of mind that your UPC is guaranteed to be functional

Additionally, many businesses turn to Amazon because they are hoping to grow their business. In these situations, the bundled pricing GS1 offers may be more beneficial in the long run, unless your business plans to carry less than 10 products.

More Resources from Amazon

Whether you decide to purchase your UPCs from GS1 or a secondary seller like Nationwide Barcode, there are some other essential resources that Amazon offers its sellers. These include:

• Amazon FBA – For $39.99 per month plus selling fees, Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon program will take care of your entire fulfillment process from storage to shipping and even returns.⁴ 
• Amazon Seller University – Amazon provides a comprehensive catalog of educational resources to help its sellers understand how to succeed within the Amazon Marketplace ecosystem.⁵ 
• Amazon Business – Amazon Business offers exclusive pricing, flexible payment, expedited shipping, and more for the products businesses need to thrive.

Supercharge Your E-Commerce Efforts with PDM

The initial process of obtaining your UPC codes, whether you use GS1 or a secondary seller, can seem tedious. However, recall the vital importance of these barcodes for inventory management, product identification, and more. Without them, Amazon’s global supply chain might very well collapse.

At the end of the day, these UPC codes are a necessary part of doing business and will allow you to grow and sell your products through Amazon’s network of more than 300 million users. 

If you’re looking to grow your business with more than just UPC Codes, Power Digital Marketing can help you elevate your brand’s presence and customize a digital market strategy to help you gain buyers, sell products, and retain customers. 

Learn more today on other available Amazon features. Wondering is Amazon FBA worth it? What is Amazon Explore or Amazon Marketing Cloud? Our digital marketing agency has you covered. 

Sources: 

1. Practical Ecommerce. How to Obtain UPCs for Selling on Amazon. https://www.practicalecommerce.com/how-to-obtain-upcs-for-selling-on-amazon 
2. Retail Touchpoints. How Many Products Does Amazon Carry? https://retailtouchpoints.com/resources/how-many-products-does-amazon-carry 
3. GS1 US. GS1 Company Prefix. https://my.gs1us.org/product/1024/gs1-company-prefix 
4. Amazon. Fulfillment by Amazon. https://sell.amazon.com/fulfillment-by-amazon.html 
5. Amazon. Seller University. https://sell.amazon.com/learn.html 

The post How to Get a UPC Code for Amazon appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

The program works with its affiliates to monetize their online traffic in return for Amazon product placements. 

In an online marketplace booming in commission-based product promotions, there’s no question why Amazon is at its helm-they’re the product pros. For answers to questions like “what is affiliate marketing?“, “how does the Amazon affiliate program work?” or “how to start affiliate marketing?” Our guide will show you everything you need to know concerning affiliate management.

How to Qualify For Amazon’s Affiliate Program

Qualifying for the Amazon affiliate program is actually quite simple. An affiliate-to-be only needs an online platform—that is a website, video channel, social media page, or blog—to advertise and promote any Amazon product to qualify for the program.

If you already have an Amazon account, you’ll need to log in before signing up for the Amazon affiliate product program. After indicating that you want to create an affiliate account, Amazon will ask for the URL of your website, social media page, or platform. Then, you’ll have to inform Amazon of the following:

• How you will direct traffic to your website
• How many monthly visitors your platform receives
• Why you want to join Amazon’s affiliate program

After filling out the appropriate information, Amazon will ask for your tax information and preferred payment method. 

Then, you’re in. Amazon will send over a welcome email, and your journey as an Amazon affiliate with the Amazon influencer program will have begun.

How the Amazon Affiliate Program Works

Essentially, Amazon Associates is a referral program. The affiliate marketers within the program advertise Amazon products and services of their choice on their website or video channel.

When a viewer of the website or video clicks on an Amazon affiliate link and purchases the Amazon affiliate product, the affiliates receive a percentage of the sale. The percentage is largely dependent on the type of product the customer purchases.

Affiliate Link

After signing up with the Amazon Associates program, you will need to generate an Amazon affiliate link. The Amazon link can be placed on your website or within a video description to prompt viewers to view your recommended product within Amazon’s marketplace

Amazon also uses this special link to track the number of visitors directed from your website or channel. The number of visitors will be calculated to determine your affiliate commission. If you’re a blogger using WordPress, Amazon also offers a plugin for Amazon affiliates that can be easily added to your website.

Commissions

The Amazon Associates program operates using a standard commission income through Amazon affiliate links. A list of eligible product categories and their fixed commission rates are found on the Operating Agreement, which includes but is not limited to:¹

• • Luxury Beauty – 10% 
  • Music and Videos – 5%
  • Books, Kitchen, and Automotive – 4.5%
  • PC, DVD, and Blue-Ray – 2.5%

• Televisions and Digital Video Games – 2%
• Amazon Fresh, Physical Video Games, Game Consoles, Grocery, Personal Care – 1%

The Amazon Associate program also offers a variety of “Bounty” and “Bonus” events to receive additional sources of affiliate income. Bounty Events include:

• Creation of an Amazon baby or wedding registry – $3
• A subscription to Prime Video – $2.50
• Creation of an Amazon Business Account – $15
• Registration for Amazon Music Free Trial – $3
• Registration for Audible Plus Free Trial – $5

There are also two Amazon Bonus Events, which also operate with fixed dollar amounts:

• First purchase of Amazon Fresh products – $3
• First purchase of Pet food and supplies – $3

Various products and income and categories exist. It’s recommended that Amazon affiliates make themselves aware of each category, as some are not eligible for commission (such as Audible AudioBook and Audible Premium). Each product link can generate income through affiliate sales.

Conversion Rate

The fixed commission rate isn’t the only factor that’s considered when calculating an Amazon Affiliate earnings on each affiliate product. Amazon also uses something called a conversion rate.

The conversion rate is calculated by determining what percentage of total visitors to your website actually follow the affiliate link and make a purchase within the Amazon marketplace. For example, if your website receives a total of 100 visitors, but only one person follows the affiliate link to make a purchase, the conversion rate is 1. The more users who make a purchase, the higher your conversion rate and the better your affiliate commission. 

Additional Commission Opportunities

Not only can Amazon Associates earn a percentage of purchases made using the affiliate link, but they also receive a percentage of all the purchases made by the consumer within a 24-hour window after following the link to the marketplace. 

However, once the 24-hour period ends, the affiliate will no longer receive a percentage of future purchases made by the same consumer. 

If a consumer follows an affiliate link, adds the product to their Amazon shopping cart, and closes the window before making a purchase, there’s still a chance that the Amazon Associate will receive some commission—just as long as it’s added to the cart within the 24-hour window and bought before the shopping cart expires. This takes 90 days.

How to Get Paid as an Amazon Associate

Amazon Associates are paid on a monthly basis. Most often payments are made two months following the purchase date. So, if the customer purchased a new planting pot in January, the Amazon Associate will receive payment no later than late March. Amazon provides three payment options, including:

1. Direct deposit – Amazon Associates must provide Amazon with their banking information. From there, Amazon will deposit the commission once an affiliate earns a minimum of $10. 
2. Check – Affiliates must provide Amazon with a mailing address. The company will then send the check once the affiliate earns $100. There’s also a $15 check processing fee.
3. Amazon gift card – Amazon will also send Amazon gift cards to the affiliate’s email account once the affiliate earns $10.

In some cases, Amazon Associates won’t receive earnings for certain purchases if:

• The order was canceled before it shipped
• The order is yet to be shipped
• The affiliate system marked the product as ineligible for commission

In most cases, Amazon prefers that affiliates only refer customers with who they don’t have a pre-existing relationship with. As such, it’s generally frowned upon for an affiliate to refer a close friend or family member to their affiliate link.² 

Pros of the Amazon Associate Program

The Amazon affiliate marketing program offers content creators a viable way to earn online revenue with a simple click of a button and swipe of a credit card. As such there are many benefits to becoming an Amazon Associate:

• Easy to join – Signing up for the Amazon Associate program is relatively easy. All you have to do is notify Amazon that you’re interested in the program and share personal information regarding your website URL, banking details, and reasons for joining.
• Trusted retailer – Amazon is a relatively trusted retailer. As such, website visitors are more likely to follow the affiliate link and buy themselves a new pair of shoes. You can also trust you’ll be treated fairly as an Amazon Associate.
• Many products – The Amazon marketplace is bountiful. There’s plenty of local and global products to choose from and promote on your platform. 
• Additional commission – As stated, Amazon affiliates can earn commissions from each purchase made by the customer within a 24-hour period after following the affiliate link. Because of the way Amazon is structured, it’s very likely that the customer will add more than one product to their cart, meaning more commission for the affiliate. 

While the Amazon Associate program provides profitable earnings, there are also a few disadvantages to consider when determining whether the Amazon affiliate program is the best affiliate marketing program for you.

Cons of the Amazon Associate Program

When it comes to the disadvantages of the Amazon affiliate program, pay special attention to the fine print:

• Commission rates – When compared to other affiliate marketing programs, Amazon’s commission rates are relatively low. The highest commission rate stands at 10% for luxury beauty products, while the lowest stands at 1%. Unless you’re diverting a large percentage of your audience to the marketplace, it may be difficult to accumulate cash quickly.
• Amazon Associates Program Program Operating Agreement – Amazon’s Operating Agreement is constantly updated. As such, if affiliates don’t check the agreement regularly, they may be unaware of significant changes made to the program.
• Payment Options – Because the Amazon marketplace does not use PayPal, it may be inconvenient for overseas affiliates who use PayPal as their primary payment tool.

While the Amazon Associates program has a few drawbacks, it’s still a great way to earn online revenue relatively effortlessly. Amazon is a treasure trove of marketing opportunities—one you might want to hitch your wagon to. 

Become an Affiliate with Power Digital Marketing

While the Amazon affiliate marketing program offers an expansive, worldwide platform for affiliate marketers, the size of the company offers little in the realm of personal support or guidance. The Amazon affiliate program is also a great opportunity for influencers and content creators to get creative with affiliate or Amazon influencer program links.

Interested in other partnerships? Learn more about what is a Twitch affiliate and other programs offered. 

If you’re looking for a personal touch, Power Digital Marketing is here to help. Our team provides affiliate marketers with the tools and guidance to succeed. We offer full-service affiliate marketing management, in which we supervise your platform and affiliate relationships. We also provide ongoing consultations to ensure your affiliate marketing services are continuously growing and earning—that’s our guarantee. 

Sources: 

1. Amazon Associates. Operating Agreement Statement. https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/node/topic/GRXPHT8U84RAYDXZ 
2. Amazon Associates. Payment Schedule. https://affiliate-program.amazon.com/help/node/topic/G63DR893K4DH55XZ 

The post What is the Amazon Affiliate Program appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.

Since its inaugural day in 2015, Amazon Prime Day has grown in leaps and bounds, with sales on Amazon far outpacing Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. 

You read that right. Combined. 

Every year Amazon Prime Day has grown. And from a digital marketing agency to market analysts, everyone expects this to be the biggest year yet. Whether you are a part of the Amazon Launchpad, Amazon Fresh, or any other retailer, how can you prepare your marketing strategy for this massive opportunity? Our guide has you covered. 

What Is Amazon Prime Day?

Amazon Prime Day Sale began on July 15th, 2015, to commemorate Amazon’s twentieth anniversary. This year, it’s set to be a two-day event lasting from June 21st through the 22nd. 

The 48-hour affair provides an Amazon prime member a Prime Day deal with a host of major discounts across all product categories, including apple watch, kindle, fire tablet, laptop deals, and even a  Lightning Deal, which is an extremely limited time offer special. 

To say that it’s a big day for sales would be to undersell it dramatically. 

Here’s a snapshot of recent numbers: 

• Third-party sellers—most of which are small and medium-sized businesses—surpassed $3.5 billion in sales on Prime Day—a nearly 60% year-over-year increase.¹ 
• 75% of consumers in the US, UK, and Europe planned their Prime Day shopping event in advance, researching potential purchases and looking for a sneak peek or early access to the coming deals ahead of the Prime Day event². 
• Advertisers in 2020 saw 250% higher purchase rates when using multi-channel campaigns compared to single-channel campaigns.³

While there are several strategies you can employ to prepare for Amazon Prime Day, our first piece of advice is simple—take advantage of the increased traffic across all channels in the days and weeks leading up to and into Prime Day. 

It’s a massive opportunity to convert new customers and re-target old ones.  

Prime Day Cross-Channel Best Practices 

Whether your brand is Amazon-only, solely D2C (direct to consumer), or any combination of the two, we recommend a cross-channel methodology that uses the best of both worlds. Here are some best practices you can follow for any of those routes: 

On-Amazon Strategy

For starters, it pays to prepare. Plan in advance for the big day. Typically, it’s wise to launch your marketing campaign 2-3 weeks before Prime Day. That way, would-be customers have time to hear about the message and get excited. Also, be sure to have every new piece of ad copy reference the impending sale. 

As the big day approaches, closely monitor your CPC (cost per click) and CPM (cost per one thousand impressions) figures. In all likelihood, the CPCs/CPMs will increase as users start planning for their Prime Day shopping. Simultaneously, conversions may decrease as consumers are holding off on any purchases until the big day. 

Prepare for the Rush

In preparation for the increased demand, it’s important that you raise bids on your target keywords leading up to Prime Day. This will let you get in front of increased “planning” traffic as well as event traffic when costs and sales will inevitably skyrocket. 

Monitor your campaign closely throughout the two-day event so that you can allocate your standby budget if needed. After all, you don’t want to run out of budget halfway through the event, losing sales and killing momentum because of it. 

Once the event is finished, be wary of the Prime Day hangover, leaving bidding costs high, without the same opportunity to convert.    

Deeper Discounts = Differentiation & Bigger Wins

Typically, deals throughout the year will tend to be 10%-20%. For this, you’ll likely need to offer even better savings to stand out from all of the noise. If your budget can afford it, we recommend coupons and deals ranging from 25%-30%.

To ensure large sales, you can incite savings at a certain price point (i.e., 25% off when you spend over $100).

How to Utilize Display Campaigns

Display campaigns should have a much longer lead time than Search campaigns. Considering nearly three quarters of shoppers plan their purchases in advance, prospecting campaigns should launch 2-3 weeks ahead of the holiday to position your brand in front of new users. For that, consider using expanded In-Market and Lifestyle targeting campaigns to introduce your brand and capture new audiences.

In the days leading up to Prime Day, focus your efforts on retargeting campaigns as a way of continuously nurturing new users who are already in the planning phase. 

Finally, remember that the lead-out from Prime Day is just as critical as the day itself. After it’s over, your retargeting pools will be some of the largest of the year, allowing you to capitalize on any users who didn’t convert during the holiday. 

Continue nurturing your lapsed purchasers via retargeting as well as past purchaser targeting for brands like consumables and consumer-packaged goods.

Utilize advanced Amazon Strategies

To truly maximize the effectiveness of Prime Day, consider leveraging tools outside of those recommended above to create even more buzz around your brand and its products. Consider the following avenues: 

• Amazon posts
• Amazon live
• Amazon influencer
• Amazon associates
• Brand store addition/customization
• Featured products
• Extended and early deals
• Father’s Day features
• OTT
• Audio ads

D2C and Amazon Strategy 

The party isn’t only on the Amazon marketplace! In recent years, ecommerce across the board has seen a Prime Day “bump” and market analysts expect this trend will only be amplified as shopper awareness and retailer participation grow each year. To maximize Prime Day for both Amazon and D2C, follow these best practices:

• Utilize Amazon Attribution – Amazon Attribution is a free tool you can use to grow your business and optimize your marketing. Be sure to set it up in advance to better measure the effectiveness of your cross-channel to Amazon campaigns.
• Apply amazon deals – You can promote deals on products you also sell on Amazon by adding a “Shop this product on Amazon” or an “Amazon Add to Cart button” on the site in order to send traffic back to the marketplace.
• Match discounts on D2C – Offer to match any deals you’re putting on Amazon to your website. Amazon will automatically price-match across the web, so anything you put on your website must be matched on the Amazon marketplace (though tempting, don’t offer a better deal on your site compared to Amazon).
• Shift spend to Amazon – If you have finite spend to leverage during the Prime Day lead-up and event, consider shifting incremental dollars to your Amazon ad spend since traffic will be most concentrated on the site. 
• Link to Amazon – Remember, ads should lead back to Amazon and ad copy should reference Prime Day.

D2C-Only 

If you’re focused on direct to customer sales, your first task is to add discounts to your website. 87% of US shoppers agree that a discount offer will most strongly motivate them to complete a transaction after adding an item to their cart.⁴

But what if you can’t afford to drop prices? 

If there are no discounts in the works, it may be smart to reduce ad budgets during the event so as to avoid paying premiums for traffic that’s unlikely to convert. You don’t need to rush this process. Let the data dictate it. Monitor the numbers closely to determine the best course of action. 

Generally speaking, the Prime Day event results in increased traffic and conversion across all eCommerce sites. So it likely won’t limit traffic. 

If you do plan on offering discounts, be sure to utilize your Prime Day ads in a clever way and to play them on or around the day itself since consumer awareness is closely tied to the shopping holiday. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: Don’t use any Amazon trademarks (Prime Day, Prime, etc.) in marketing if they’re not leading directly to Amazon.com.

Take an Omnichannel Amazon Marketing Approach With Power Digital 

In the lead up to and in the wake of Amazon Prime Day, you can create a seamless and integrated shopping experience for customers from the very first touch point. To maximize your campaign’s effectiveness, you need to take an omnichannel approach. 

By utilizing all of your channels, you can create a unified messaging experience that’s aligned with your end goals. This cross-channel marketing strategy can be leveraged to improve the customer experience and build relationships through every channel and touchpoint. 

But what areas should you focus on? 

For Amazon Prime Day, we recommend that you focus on the following strategies: 

• Email campaigns – According to Amazon internal data from Prime Day 2020, Prime Day email campaigns outperformed the average add-to-cart rate across all campaigns by 2.0x. Additionally, they outperformed the average purchase rate across all campaigns by 2.1x.
• Paid search – According to Amazon internal data from Prime Day 2020, Prime Day paid search campaigns outperformed the average detail page view rate across all campaigns by 1.7x.
• Paid social – Social media is one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal. And around Prime Day, you can’t simply rely on organic traffic. Instead, by leveraging user data, paid social, and influencer marketing, you can target ready-to-buy consumers on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. 
• SMS – Few channels are as effective at reaching customers as SMS, much more so than email or other types of campaigns. With text message marketing averaging a 97% read rate and 45% of campaigns generating ROI, it’s easy to see why SMS is one of the most coveted marketing channels available.⁵ 
• PR and Affiliate Marketing – By partnering with the right team, you can gain access to strategic partners, media organizations, and content creators that can push positive messaging on your brand’s behalf.
• Customized content – Finally, it’s important that your blog posts, landing pages, and website copy are tailored to Amazon Prime Day sales and optimized according to Amazon’s algorithm. What works for Google SEO may not have the same impact as Amazon SEO. You need a team that can help you build custom content that aligns with the platform you’re pursuing. 

This is where Power Digital comes in. As the leading digital marketing team that provides Amazon marketing services, we have the expertise, experience, strategies, relationships, and infrastructure necessary to boost your brand’s performance. 

Whether it’s creating specific campaigns for Amazon or enacting a comprehensive marketing strategy, we know what it takes to stand out every day, including Prime Day. 

Want to see what we can do for you? Reach out now, before the big day arrives. 

Sources:

1. Amazon Press Center. Amazon Prime Day 2020 Marked the Two Biggest Days Ever for Small & Medium Businesses in Amazon’s Stores Worldwide. https://press.aboutamazon.com/news-releases/news-release-details/amazon-prime-day-2020-marked-two-biggest-days-ever-small-medium
2. McKinsey. The Amazon Prime Day Effect: Consumer Anticipation and Excitement Grows in 2019. https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/solutions/periscope/our-insights/surveys/the-amazon-prime-day-effect-consumer-anticipation-and-excitement-grows-in-2019
3. Omnisend. The 2020 Marketing Automation Statistics Report. https://www.omnisend.com/resources/reports/omnichannel-marketing-automation-statistics-2020/
4. eMarketer. Types of Messages that Will Most Strongly Motivate US Internet Users to Complete a Transaction after Placing a Product in their Digital Cart.
5. Business. Text Message Marketing: The Ultimate Mobile Engagement Tool. https://www.business.com/articles/text-message-marketing-benefits/
6. https://www.emarketer.com/chart/232000/types-of-messages-that-will-most-strongly-motivate-us-internet-users-complete-transaction-after-placing-product-their-digital-cart-oct-2019-of-respondents 

The post How to Successfully Market For Amazon Prime Day appeared first on Power Digital Marketing.