3 Private Label Resolutions to Make Selling on Amazon Easier in 2018

Many Amazon sellers saw changes in 2017 that made selling tougher than in previous years. Storage fees were increased, seller fees for media were increased by quite a bit, and the return policy which took effect in October made a lot of sellers unhappy. Despite these changes, however, Amazon remains a very viable option to make money as a Private Label seller. With 2017 coming to a close, now is a great time to reflect on your business; as you’re making your New Year’s Resolutions, don’t forget about your Amazon store! Here are 3 Private Label resolutions to make selling on Amazon easier in 2018.

Use the Right Packaging When Shipping

You need to make sure your products arrive at their destination in the same condition as when they last left your sight. It certainly doesn’t make selling easier if your products get damaged in transit! Provide enough packing so that if your box(es) were dropped, your products would be unharmed. Use bubble wrap or Kraft paper to pad your shipments. Take extra care if your products delicate, fragile, or very heavy. Please, don’t use packing peanuts! Amazon isn’t their biggest fan, and neither are most customers. They tend to make a huge mess once the box is opened—especially when cats are involved! Just check out curious Mr. Whiskers here:

Learn how to use the reports in Amazon’s Seller Central.

Amazon’s Seller Central (the place where you access your seller account) offers great business reports. From your Seller Central dashboard, hover over “Reports.” You’ll get a drop-down menu:

Each section of this menu has the different reports you can view, schedule, and run. Take some time and really get familiar with these reports, as they are powerful tools to use in running your business. For instance, you can navigate to Reports→Payments→Fee Preview to download and review the estimated fees for your FBA inventory:

Amazon has already collected and compiled this data for you, so take advantage of it! Properly utilizing reports will definitely keep you ahead of the game.

Take Advantage of Amazon’s Marketing Tools

Amazon has a wide variety of marketing tools available to marketplace sellers. Used correctly, these tools will get your products noticed and convert clicks into sales.

If you are a Private Label seller with a registered brand, then Amazon Enhanced Brand Content is available to you. Enhanced Brand Content allows you to spruce up your listings to really catch your buyers’ attention. Using Amazon’s provided templates, you can enhance your product page’s visual effect by adding extra images right into your description. You can add subheadings, paragraphs, bold, italics, underlined text, and bullet points to your description, which makes less boring and forgettable. You can also highlight your Brand Story, allowing your buyers to build a connection to your company, and encouraging repeat business. Enhanced Brand Content allows you to finely craft your product pages, which will set you apart from the competition.

Coupons and Promotions allow you to put your products on sale. Coupons must be digitally clipped by the buyer, with savings automatically applied at checkout, while Promotions are custom discount codes which must be entered during checkout for savings to be applied. Both will show on your product page, and Coupons show on search results. Coupons can also be targeted to a specific audience, e.g. only Prime customers. Both are great ways to increase visibility and drive sales.

Amazon’s PPC advertising is called Sponsored Products. With Sponsored Products, your products are displayed as ads at the top of (or within) search results, and on product detail pages. Your ads may also appear on both mobile and tablet browsers, and within the Amazon app. Sponsored Products is a great way to get you to page 1 of search results, especially if you are a new seller. Page 1 is where the sales live!

You can also create Lightning Deals. (We last talked about Lightning Deals during our blog post on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. You can check that out here.) Lightning Deals are time-sensitive offers which are indexed on the Amazon Deals page. Only Professional Sellers can create Lightning Deals, and even then, only with the products Amazon recommends. Recommendations change weekly, so check often by going to Advertising→Lightning Deals from your Seller Central account.

We want 2018 to be a great sales year for you, so make sure you stick to these resolutions to really rev up your business. If you need further advice, book a Take Action Call with us! It’s completely free to you. We’ve been in the Private Labeling business for thirty years, and we would love to help your business grow!