Finding success on Amazon isn’t as easy as it used to be. Now, there are more variables that sellers need to understand, like new terms of service and updates to their advertisement options. This is especially true if you’re launching a new product on Amazon. We’ve been around the block a few times and have learned the tricks. Here we outline some advice for a successful product launch.
Follow Amazon's terms of service
One of the worst-case scenarios for Amazon sellers is getting your account and listings suspended. To prevent this, the first step to a new product launch is ensuring all of Amazon’s rules are followed. Reading Amazon’s Selling Services Terms and Selling Policies are good places to start. These guides go over some of the rules that must be followed to stay on Amazon’s good side. Some of their most important guidelines include being completely honest and ethical with customers and limiting communication to Amazon’s official Buyer-Seller Messaging.
Stock up on inventory
Before launching a new product, brands should make sure there is enough of it in stock. But how much inventory is enough? Find the answer by estimating the expected sales volume. There are two main methods of doing this: analyzing your sales data and analyzing your competitor’s sales data. If it’s an existing product on your website or other marketplaces, then analyze your sales data and find out how much you’ve sold in recent history. You should also look at the sales of products that are similar to your new product.
The other method is to check out how much your competitors are selling. This can be done with the help of Helium 10’s free product research tool. They also have premium tools at a discounted price. It can be used to make daily sales, revenue and profitability estimates. Take note of competitive products and track how much they’ve sold.
Using past sales performance of your similar products and those of similar competitor’s products will help you to create a general sales forecast for your new product. With this info, try to narrow down a range of inventory you think you’ll need for 1-2 months of sales. Remember to track your inventory levels after launching! This will give you an even better understanding of how much inventory you’ll need in the future.
Get reviews ASAP
Shoppers are far more likely to buy products based on star ratings and reviews. They expect the popular items to be popular due to being higher-quality than unpopular items. Use this as an opportunity to make your new Amazon ASIN stand out by getting great reviews! There are dozens of ways to do this, but be careful of illegitimate and unethical methods of getting more reviews. The last thing you want is for Amazon to find out you’re buying unreliable reviews. Fortunately, Amazon makes it easy to get more ratings and reviews. The most straightforward and free method is by manually requesting reviews from your buyers. Find this option on “Order details” pages.
Another good alternative to third-party review services is Amazon’s official Early Reviewer Program. This program is one of the fastest and most affordable ways to receive legitimate reviews for your new listing. The enrollment cost is $60 and includes up to 5 reviews. Amazon does not allow enrolling in this program multiple times per listing.
Set realistic expectations
Very few brands experience instantaneous success. Growing a product past the launch phase requires a lot of time, hard work and dedicated resources. Brands that are launching a new product as an exclusive seller will need to focus on optimizing your listing. On the other hand, brands launching products that already have other sellers need to work on winning the buy box, which is easier with strong brand protection. Also, there are likely competitive sellers that have been selling the same or similar products for years, so your new listings will need time to build up momentum from sales and reviews. Fortunately, it is possible to focus on turning profits and simultaneously implement an expert growth strategy - and we can help.
If you want to learn how to create a competitive advantage, reach out to Blue Wheel today.
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