This blog is a guest blog provided by our partner, SellerApp.
About the Author
Arishekar N, the Head of Marketing at SellerApp, specializes in digital marketing and website keyword optimization for search engines. His expertise includes enhancing the organic ranking of web pages on search engines with innovative SEO strategies and online promotions.
The most awaited shopping season for Amazon sellers is Q4 from October to December, with the buzz lasting even up until January.
The potential for record-breaking sales is most substantial during these months. It can be attributed to the number of festivities that typically occur from Thanksgiving, the infamous Black Friday sale in November - to New Year’s Eve in December.
However, Q4 can be overwhelming, and you might not even realize that you are underprepared until it’s too late. But fear not!
Here are some strategies to stay on track and increase your Amazon sales in Q4.
It Pays to be Organized
Before and during Q4, it is essential to be exceptionally organized if you want your entire season to run smoothly. For novice sellers: SellerApp’s features like Keyword Research can help you with your keyword strategies.
For a more in-depth perspective, check out this post for all the nitty-gritty on better organizing and preparing beforehand for the highly anticipated holiday season.
Set Goals
Focus on what you expect to earn or accomplish and take steps towards ensuring that you have a backup plan in case your strategies for the previous Q4 didn’t work.
If you are unsure of how to go about it, have a look at SellerApp’s dynamic sales-boosting tool. It helps you save time and improve your product listing quality, and you can find the most profitable products that will generate maximum sales.
Stay within budget
Ensure that you formulate a plan and stick to the budget.
Operational costs may increase due to an increase in shipping costs and other miscellaneous factors during this busy season.
It is important to stay within budget while also ensuring that you gain maximum profit. Tools exist for monitoring your ad spend to cut down on things you may be over-spending on and estimate your exact yield without manually doing any of it.
Advertisements
Whether it is sponsored ads, display ads, or video ads, it is vital to focus on the importance of keywords and use them effectively in your ad campaigns.
To reach your target ACoS and reduce any wasteful spending on ads, advertising tools and other marketing and sales resources like PPC Optimization Tool and Keyword Tracker assist with bid optimization, identifying and eliminating underperforming keywords.
Some tools even give you insights on ROAS and negative keywords along with metrics like CPC, CTR, and conversion rate.
New and trending products
Q4 is a crucial and great time to test the waters for new, innovative, or interesting products. Your competitors will be doing the same or introducing better quality products of the same category to thrive in the competitive atmosphere.
Pricing and advertising strategies also play a significant role during the holiday season. Therefore, it is important to direct your efforts towards items with the highest potential for success to stay ahead of the game. A new product will sell depending on its practical value or if it solves a specific problem or is visually and aesthetically pleasing. You can use SellerApp’s Product Ideas and Product Research tools to discover products that you think will appease your target audience.
Product Bundling
Several complementary or similar products combined into one package and labeled “Frequently Bought Together” is an important facet of selling and purchasing on Amazon. Bundling leads to an increase in your sales since customers view it as a more economical practice in online shopping.
Bundling leads to impulse buying as customers feel like they’re getting an excellent bargain, leading them to buy more than they usually would, thus increasing average sales and revenue.
To be a successful seller this Q4, it is essential to be well-versed with the strategy of bundling complementary products into a single listing so that customers do not have to go through several listings to find each individual product.
Stocking Up
Stocking up sufficiently for Q4 is more important than you may think. Inventory is an aspect that tends to get overlooked along with ascertaining what products need to be restocked because sellers sometimes fail to factor in the actual projected sales for products.
While considering delivery time, shipping costs, etc., planning and preparing in advance is vital to the process. While it is important to stock up and make sure you have enough to meet the expected high demands, one must also be mindful of overstocking.
Every product’s projected life cycle and market value should be taken into consideration while stocking up. Read this post to learn about the best ways to optimize your inventory during this Q4.
Exclusivity
The content of your advertisements matters! People will engage with advertisements that use good clarity pictures and cover a 360-degree view of the product.
They must also have descriptions and copy that are eye-catching, concise and with good grammar. Making advertisements seem exclusive goes hand in hand with increasing prices as well. Amazon sellers can get away with higher pricing since Q4 comprises the holiday season when people are ready to buy expensive products as gifts.
At a time like this, the more exclusive a product seems and stands out, the more it appeals to people, thus resulting in increased sales and revenue. Implement business alerts to set pricing alerts on your competitor’s products.
Feedback and reviews
It is paramount for Amazon sellers to consider customer feedback and reviews - as feedback ratings directly contribute to conversions.
To increase your sales, analyze the reviews that customers have already provided for products that they have purchased from you.
One of the most basic precautions is to ensure the product title and description are befitting its features to avoid any misinformation that could lead to negative reviews.
Amazon policies, terms of service, and rules
Complying with Amazon’s policies can take you a long way. If you want to increase your sales, it is essential to follow Amazon’s guidelines.
Amazon awards the Buy Box only to quality sellers. The Buy Box is vital, considering 80-90% of sales are filtered through it. To win the Buy Box fair and square, sellers must comply with the terms of service.
Some policy violations include:
- Asking customers to take down negative reviews
- Offering monetary or other kinds of compensation and incentives in exchange for reviews
- Explicitly asking for positive reviews, so it is best to steer clear of such malpractices.
Conclusion
It is said that 50% of annual sales are done in this quarter which is why Q4 is of cardinal importance. With the right strategies, tools and diligent work, you will be well on your way to earning that profit you’ve waited all year for.