Selling on Amazon is becoming an increasingly lucrative endeavor – and as online shopping is only likely to expand even further, now is a great time to explore your Amazon seller options.
While the process is somewhat simple enough, you will need to put in some work and effort if you are hoping to compete with your fellow sellers on the platform. So let’s explore what it is you can do to create a thriving Amazon shop:
What is an Amazon FBA?
Let’s clear up something right away – how do you even sell on Amazon?
Amazon has set up their FBA program – which stands for Fulfillment by Amazon. This means your products will be stored at Amazon warehouses, and packaged and shipped by their staff. It gives you access to the widest shipping network on the planet, and it means you don’t have to worry about storage, packaging, and shipping.
As an FBA seller, you can also qualify for free shipping or Amazon Prime, which provides additional perks.
Choose Your Niche
You need to select a category of products to sell – you can, of course, go for more than one, but make sure you determine where your product will fit, and what kind of competition it will be facing. That way, you might uncover an undersold type of product that is in high demand, and be able to jump in with an offer. On the other hand, you might want to stay clear of the most competitive niches, at least as you are starting out.
Come Up with a Business Plan
First of all, you will need to have a plan – what it is you are looking to sell, to whom, at what price. How are you marketing your products, who is your competition, what is your unique sales proposal?
In order to make the right decisions later on, you should devote some time to coming up with a plan at the outset – that way, you will save yourself some valuable resources in the long run.
Identify Your Suppliers
If you are not selling your own products on Amazon, you will need to find suppliers with who you will be placing your orders. This can take some time to figure out, and some of the products you receive might not be of the quality you are hoping for. Make sure to always order samples before you commit to a supplier.
Take into account things like shipping charges and capacity of fulfillment as well, so you can ensure your inventory is keeping up with the demand.
Register an Account
Registering an account with Amazon might take some time, but they offer plenty of their own guidelines. So make sure you read through all of the requirements and policies, and only then start creating an account.
Create Your Product Listings
This is the step that should take up most of your time, and that you should devote the most attention to. After all, your product listings and their descriptions are what will attract your customers.
Make sure to read up on all the ways you can optimize your listings to ensure they are found by the right customers, and to offer as much detail as you can. Read up on how to write convincing sales copy, make sure your images are high quality, and keep updating your listings when you need to.
Use the Right Tools
When selling on Amazon, you will need to keep track of a lot of different things at once: product listings, reviews, prices, buyer questions, your competition, and so on.
If you were to do that manually, you would need to spend a lot of time online, and there will certainly come a point where this becomes impossible. The best solution here is to enlist the help of Amazon seller tools to take some of the load off you and automate the process as much as you can.
Make sure to always read the reviews of these tools first, as some will work much better than others.
Treat Your Customers with Care
Finally, you should always bear in mind that even though you are selling through Amazon, you still need to think of your customers first. Define your target audience as you would if you were selling via your own platform, speak their language in their words, thank them for their purchase, answer their questions, and acknowledge their reviews. After all, Amazon may be doing the shipping, but the products are ultimately coming from you.
Final thoughts
While becoming a top-rated Amazon seller will take some time, if you have the patience for it and if you do your research right, you can turn this revenue source into much more than a steady stream of income.
Do your very best to explore the market you are looking to enter, come up with a way to top your competitors, optimize your product listings well, and success will be within your reach.
Featured image credit: unsplash.com
Sarah Kaminski is a freelance writer and social media marketer. She works with a number of small businesses to build their brands through more engaging marketing and content.
