What are your thoughts on Amazon in 2017? What’s coming? And what do we need to do to prepare for it?

It’s no surprise to anyone that sales with Amazon in 2017 will get more complicated. There is more competition. It will probably weed out those that aren’t committed and aren't willing to invest the time and money needed. It’s going to get more sophisticated. The person just throwing something up on Amazon probably isn’t going to make it. The ones that put in the effort, and work to make sure it’s a good product to sell will excel.

We’re going to need better listings now on Amazon that there is enhanced brand content. More people will start using that making it more difficult for those who don’t.

Email follow-up sequences will become more important. They’ve always been important, but now that they are the only real way to get reviews, they are that much more important.

Inventory management will become more important. It’s not secret that Amazon’s distribution centers are bursting at the seams. That can’t really hold more products. So we will likely see stricter inventory control. Whether that’s higher storage fees, or they don’t allow to send in shipments on products that they already have a lot of inventory for.

It’s seems obvious hearing that, but I didn’t really think about it. A couple months ago we were trying to ship products to Amazon. We were warned against sending new products until after the holidays. And it’s fantastic that you were able to talk to Amazon lawyers. It’s reassuring to know that JumpSend is sound and don’t have to worry about getting flagged or banned for using it. I’m definitely going to use it with my next launch.

Watch Greg Mercer on Amazon in 2017 - Part 5 of 5