Top Execution Strategies For Small Business Owners Selling on Amazon

In the digital age of e-commerce, small business owners have always tussled back and forth in their minds about how they could go head to head with the online giant, Amazon. Sure, Amazon is technically a competitor, as far as selling online is concerned, but if you think about it, Amazon is on a much larger playing field than small businesses… To start out as a budding entrepreneur with “beating” Amazon as a primary focus, you’re setting yourself up for failure before you can even get started…

For far too long, businesses always competed with each other for sales, never considering what type of success could be achieved by joining forces… Well, amazon.com  has completely changed the meaning of strategic partnerships, and ultimately, breathed new life into the saying “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!”

Amazon is not only its own e-commerce platform, but it’s also a platform that small business owners can utilize to sell their products on in addition to having their own business website. 

That’s the power of partnerships… 

All this time, small business owners have been out to “beat” Amazon, when the reality is that Amazon is actually a great resource for small business owners to increase their own business sales.

As of May of 2020, statista.com tells us that amazon.com had more than 2.5 billion visitors to its site via mobile devices and desktops combined, and it accounts for nearly 50% of all growth in retail. The more impressive part is that this rapid growth in sales is projected to go all the way through 2023! 

It’s no wonder why businesses want to hop on board the train of success that the site provides to small business owners. The only thing about selling on Amazon is that you can’t go into it blindly.

Lots of business owners tend to think that if they become a merchant and post their products, their customers will start to automatically increase. That’s not the case at all… The only way that selling on Amazon will work in your favor is if you go into it with strategies for success.

This means that you’re going to have to consider strategies on everything from writing winning product descriptions and optimizing for search to devising strategies for finding Amazon products to sell and simply figuring out how to give your customers a satisfying and unique shopping experience… Nonetheless, the overall end goal is to boost sales.

If you can execute the following strategies, you will not only become a successful Amazon merchant, but your business will have just as much as a shot at success as any other small business utilizing the site.

Top Execution Strategies to Achieve Success Selling on Amazon

Determine if your Amazon Merchant Account will financially benefit your business

To start selling on Amazon, it will cost you $39.99 a month with other additional selling fees, of course, but the key here is to make sure that your monthly subscription will be beneficial to your business.

Amazon recommends looking at it like this… If you’re going to sell more than 40 items per month, then your $39.99 monthly subscription will be well worth your investment; anything below that, or if you’re just starting with a limited budget, probably won’t be as beneficial.

Give your customers a unique and satisfying shopping experience

Aside from increased sales being your end goal, giving your customers a unique and satisfying shopping experience is also an end goal, which in turn, drives sales! There isn’t a “secret formula,” per se, to create an ideal shopping experience for your customers, but there are things you can do to build trust in your brand and create a strong reputation that will make you stand out from your competitors within Amazon.

  • Sharing your story is a great way to “humanize” your brand and connect with your target audience on a deeper level.  
  • You also want to be completely honest with your customers and share what the product is made of, where it comes from, and your shipping and refund policies. Your customers should never feel unsure about any information about your company or products.
  • Personally connecting with your customers is also a great way to give them a unique shopping experience, simply by making them feel special. Sending “thank you” emails after purchases and engaging on social media will contribute to the type of shopping experience they have.

Encourage customer reviews

Lots of small business owners love reviews, but hate the bad ones… Well, good or bad, reviews are essential to the success of your business; they tell you what you’re doing well and what you need to work on. One bad review doesn’t have to ruin your business, but not resolving the issue certainly can.

Some of the best ways to encourage customers to leave reviews are to encourage through follow-up emails, social media, and you can even leave a friendly note in the packaging for customers to leave a review on your listing page.

Create phenomenal product descriptions

Although people love shopping online, they’re still pretty skeptical about getting what they paid for, so it’s a safe bet that before customers add anything to their shopping cart, they’ve reviewed the product description dozens of times. 

To put their minds at ease and get more people buying your products, make sure you’re writing impeccable product descriptions that match the product photos to a tee… Any type of discrepancies between product descriptions and photos will prove to be disastrous to your bottom line.

Optimize your product listing for search

Optimizing products to show within Amazon’s search engine is going to play a vital role in the success of your business. You’ll want to look for relevant keywords pertaining to your products, but be sure to keep track of the performance of your products before you start changing product listing keywords. 

If you’re not sure where to start, there are SEO experts with knowledge on SEO as it pertains to Amazon.

 

Adam Hansen
 

Adam is a part time journalist, entrepreneur, investor and father.