Starting a business can be terrifying, especially if you intend to do it on one of the biggest online marketplaces in the world. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs do not pursue their business goals even before starting because of this. Even though Amazon has millions of customers worldwide that you should benefit from, the competition you will face is not that easy to conquer.
However, you can still manage to start your Amazon business as long as you have the right tools and mindset. Moreover, you can take advantage of the tips and tricks that Amazon experts and successful sellers provide. You can see them by reading their blogs, watching their content, or having one-on-one consultations.
With that said, you will learn ten proven ideas for starting your Amazon business and leading it to success in this article. Read on further to know more about it!
1. Do market research
Whether you already have a website or customer base outside of Amazon, you can still run your business in this marketplace. You can even gain more customers than you anticipate, considering that Amazon has over 2 billion monthly site visitors.
As mentioned above, expect to face a lot of competitors depending on the niche you want to pursue on Amazon. So before making any crucial decisions, you must first research who your competitors are and their sales records. It would also help to identify the practices and strategies they have used to boost their sales.
Moreover, you should also track their growth and watch their actions and data over time. In this way, you can have a clearer picture of the market you are about to enter. Then, if you think that the market is stable, you can proceed to the next steps.
2. Find profitable products
You might still be asking yourself, “what product should I sell on Amazon?” This question might not come easily to beginners, but doing market research will already help you determine the products you will sell on Amazon.
You will also know which business model to use once you have identified these products. For example, if you want to use dropshipping, you will see a lot of competitors doing the same thing on Amazon, which makes iit more difficult for you to gain customers and win the Buy Box. But if you choose this method, you can try various marketing strategies to promote your products well, like using Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads and collaborating with influencers.
Another way to think of profitable products is by looking for “pain points” or daily problems that do not have a solution yet. However, this can be risky because you are just starting, and customers are not sure whether they can trust you or not.
But with whichever business model and products you choose to sell, you must be willing to take risks and learn how to grow your business under various circumstances.
3. Source products and suppliers
After finding the best things to sell on Amazon FBA, you can look for reliable suppliers or manufacturers. If you plan to use the dropshipping or wholesale model, you can search for suppliers through Google, trade shows, LinkedIn, private manufacturers, or Facebook groups.
As a beginner, you might not know all the available suppliers and their work ethics. Therefore, it would be best to ask other sellers whether they are on Amazon or not. You can also seek help from Amazon consultants who have worked with several suppliers in the past. Their insights on this situation can help you make an informed decision.
If you want someone to produce a product that you developed yourself, you can look for a company to manufacture it. Then, ensure that they can produce high-quality items by supervising their manufacturing process. Lastly, it’s important that you communicate well with them to constantly to establish a harmonious relationship with your suppliers.
4. Set up your Amazon seller account
Creating a seller account is the first step in setting up your ecommerce business on Amazon. If you already have an account as a buyer, it would be best to create a new one for your business. But before it, you must first distinguish which plan you will use, whether Individual or Professional.
For an Individual seller account, you must pay $0.99 per item you sell. On the other hand, you will be charged $39.99 per month for a Professional account. Whichever plan you choose depends on the number of items you offer in your store. But you can still change your plan if you are still unsure about which one to choose.
In creating your account, you must submit various requirements, such as phone number, tax information, and government-issued national ID. You will also need a working credit card, bank account, and routing numbers.
5. Create and optimize your product listings
A product listing is needed to ensure that your customers can see and buy your products. You must access your Amazon Seller Central account to create one. It has different parts, like product title, bulleted features, description, images, and A+ content for registered brands.
If the product you sell is already available on Amazon, you need to search for it using the product identifier or Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN). But if it is a new one, you must provide all the necessary information mentioned above.
However, it would be difficult for customers to see your product listings if you do not rank high on the search engine results page (SERP). So to increase your product visibility on Amazon, you must optimize the listing using search engine optimization (SEO) strategies.
These strategies include finding the right keywords, incorporating them into your listings, and uploading high-quality images to meet the criteria of Amazon’s A10 algorithm. If you need help optimizing your product listings, it would also be beneficial to work with Amazon SEO experts.
6. Run ads
Optimizing your product listing helps bring in new customers to purchase from you. However, it might not be enough, especially since you are still new to the Amazon marketplace.
To remedy this situation, Amazon has provided another incredible feature: PPC ads. It has three types: Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Displays. Whichever type you use will allow you to put up your products and brands as advertisements inside or outside the Amazon marketplace.
Amazon PPC is a great tool that experienced and first-time sellers can use to reach more customers. However, it would also be best to look for agencies offering PPC services to help you find the right keywords and save money from overspending on ads.
7. Monitor sales and inventory levels
Amazon’s Seller Central is a helpful tool dedicated to sellers like you. Besides creating product listings or running PPC ads, you can also use this to monitor your sales and inventory levels.
This dashboard shows your sales levels and can generate business reports about customer returns, promotions, completed orders, replacements, and more. Moreover, it can provide valuable information about trends and upcoming events to help you prepare your stocks beforehand. This way, you will not incur opportunity or sunken costs, which can be detrimental to a new business.
By analyzing the reports generated, you can better plan your next actions, especially during holidays and high seasons. But unless you are willing to learn the hard way by making mistakes, it would be best to leave monitoring tasks to an Amazon account manager.
8. Provide great customer service
If you want your buyers to refrain from returning items and enjoy their purchases, you should prioritize excellent customer service. It includes answering their questions, handling their concerns and complaints, packaging their items well, and delivering their goods quickly.
Even though this part of an Amazon business is challenging, you must spend time learning what your customers expect from you and try to deliver your promises to them. However, consider availing yourself of Amazon FBA services if you do not have time to spend on logistics and customer service.
9. Get reviews
It will not be easy for you to get reviews as soon as you start selling on Amazon. At this point, customers still do not have a reference whether you provide excellent services or not, so they might not trust you enough to buy your products.
Because of this, Amazon provided an avenue for new Amazon sellers to receive feedback through the Amazon Vine program. Whether you have signed up for Brand Registry or not, you can still join this program as long as you meet their requirements.
Once you sign up for this, Amazon will ask their chosen reviewers to leave unbiased comments about their overall shopping experience with your brand.
10. Stay constantly updated with Amazon’s policies
Amazon constantly releases updates on its policies to keep the marketplace as orderly as possible. As a new seller, you might not find enough time to read all the policies, including the updates. However, you are still expected to know these to operate well on Amazon and not get your account suspended.
Key Takeaway
In conclusion, starting an amazon business can be daunting to first-time sellers because of the features and guidelines that come with it. But you can still manage to do it through preparation, including doing market research, finding profitable products, and sourcing suppliers.
In addition, you should choose the right plan for your account, optimize your listings, run ads, and monitor your sales and inventory. Lastly, it would be best to strive to provide excellent customer service, get reviews, and stay updated with Amazon policies.
If you think all of these are overwhelming for you to do on your own, consider hiring an Amazon account manager or seek professional services so that you do not have to search for “how to protect my brand on Amazon” anymore.
AUTHOR’S BIO:
Jayce is the managing director of Seller Interactive, an Amazon advertising agency committed to building brands on Amazon. His content marketing expertise has led him to work with brands such as Toyota and GoDaddy, producing content that has reached over 20M views in a month. He is ready to assist D2C brands by offering services in Amazon suspension to PPC management.
