How do you manage your Amazon store? What are your operational activities to make sure you keen an eye on your Amazon business and whether it’s growing and converting better?

In prior episodes we have discussed how to find and source a product. Now your product is on Amazon and selling really well, you are now at a stage where you need to manage the data on your sales.

What are the key metrics or measurement that you need to monitor on a weekly or daily basis?

Key Metrics

On a weekly basis I check these three metrics:

* – Sessions – the number of people who visited your page

* – Units Session Percentage – the conversion rate how many people bought your product

* – Units Ordered – shows how many units are being ordered

SESSIONS

This tells you how much traffics is seeing your listing.

Each week you check how many people are visiting listing and whether is it going up or going down. If you are getting high conversions but your sessions or traffic is low, then you might want to consider driving more traffic to your page. The easiest way to do this is by using the campaign manager, the advertising platform on amazon.

UNIT SESSION PERCENTAGE

If sessions tells you how many customers are coming in on your listing, the session percentage tells how many customers buys the product you are selling. A low unit session percentage means people are visiting your listing but only a few of them are buying.

With this in mind you might need to consider fixing your listings description to make it clearer what the products purpose is. Another cause could be, your images are not enticing enough to create conversions; it happened to me before where after updating my products images, the  conversion started to increase.

If  images and listing are great but your listing has a low number of reviews, then consider using an email auto responder, that can really help.

Sequencing emails and doing follow ups regarding the customers experience will not just help in stopping negative customer reviews but will also help getting more positive reviews.

UNITS ORDERED

This is the output of the above two metrics. A simple example is if the sessions are down and the conversion is down obviously the units ordered will also be down.

Checking this three metrics can be done easily through seller centrals business report, just tick in those three boxes corresponding to above metrics and review it each week.

OUTLINE FOR THE EPISODE

* [03:09] – Key Metrics

* [03:36] – Sessions

* [03:45] – Unit Percentage

* [11:00] – Units Ordered

If you want some help getting started, then I would love to help out. Please reach out to me so I can organize an Amazon  Selling Strategy Session  

Last Thursday, November 22, was the soft launch of Amazon Australia. This was the softest launch of any website I have seen. I couldn’t find 1 new product on the Amazon Australia site.

I signed up for an Amazon account and have my products approved. However when I checked it, my products can not visible (or any other products on Amazon Australia, except books and kindles) on their site.

AMAZON AUSTRALIA FEATURES

Amazon’s main feature is FBA or fulfillment by Amazon, where they store the product, dispatch, track and take care of most of customer enquirers. This is different from FBM or fulfillment by Merchant. In FBM Amazon lists your product, but you are the one responsible for dispatching and it’s not stored in Amazon’s warehouse.

Now this is a big deal with FBA, it is not available yet in Australia. Amazon really pushes it’s sellers to use FBA as they gets to own the customer experience, plus they make more commission on this model.

When I looked at my Australian seller central account it only has “manage inventory” which means that they aren’t offering the FBA yet.

Remembering what was discussed on the seller summit, the FBA presentation made didn’t have a big green tick next to FBA in Australia meaning it wasn’t a typo (which a few of us thought it was).

Another feature of Amazon is Campaign Manager.

This feature allows you to advertise your products within the Amazon platform for a fee. When you first launch your product this tool will help your product to get in the top rankings and really helps determine your best converting keywords.

However Seller Central for Amazon Australia accounts, this feature is not yet available/

Amazon also has this feature called Brand Registry. This allows you to use Enhanced Brand Content, that allows you to create much more powerful listings, instead of only text and description. This feature is also not yet available on Amazon

TOOLS EXTERNAL TO AMAZON

Tools external to Amazon such as email Automation tools, that allow you to automatically send follow ups email that improves your customer reviews haven’t been released yet.

The reason is Amazon just recently opens its door. I am assuming that very soon these providers will offer their service in Australia as well.

I highly recommend using this type of automation tool. It really helps in gaining more reviews and reduces the number of negative reviews.

Jumpsend or Snagshout are additional tools available for Amazon US that are also not yet in Australia. These services allows you to provide offers for your products at a discounted price, it helps with your sales velocity

I will be adding a link down below on how you can sign up to Amazon Australia.

I highly recommend for your guys to get on board Amazon is an awesome channels for expanding your sales.

OUTLINE OF THE EPISODE

[01:16] – Amazon Australia Features

[06:43] – Tools External to Amazon

Links mentioned in the show

https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/au_sell.html

If you want some help in getting started, then I would love to help out. Please reach out to me so I can organize an Amazon  Selling Strategy Session  

Last week I spoke with an Amazon specialist in graphic design to make sure that all my images were optimized. Today I will share with you the key points that I learnt that helps and how it helps with product conversion

PRODUCT IMAGES

It sounds obvious that the photos I used in my Amazon listing are taken professionally. However I noticed that a good amazon photo does not only need to be taken professionally it  also needs to be Amazon ready.

If you want your product images to be “Amazon ready” to maximize your conversion rates, then here are the must have’s:

* First image has to be on a plain white background (sounds obvious doesn’t it but Amazon can remove your initial image if you don’t follow this)

* It must be a high quality photo having at least 300 dpi and 2000 x 2000

* Use a few different lifestyle photo and product in use photo’s

LIFESTYLE IMAGES

The main purpose of having a lifestyle image is to educate your customers and buyers on how your products are used and generate excitement about the benefits that bring.

Some of the ways you can convey this with photography is lifestyle images that promote a conversion. A few techniques you can use are:

* Get the image to tells a story (maybe the life cycle of product from receiving to opening to using it)

* It shows how the product is being used

* An image that shows an emotional connection to the customer

* An image that connects motion with benefits in a photo (e.g. movement, running etc)

If you can find a professional photo studio that takes pictures and also photoshops them to create lifestyle images, then it makes it so much easier

BONUS IMAGES

Another way to promote conversion is to add bonus sales images. A bonus image is where you get a discount if buy 2 or more units. This images show the discounts a customer can get once they purchase two or more product.

Often there will be a picture with 2 products and 5% discount images, 3 products and 10% discount image and 4 or more products and 15% discount image.

Amazon loves this as increases the orders per customers which is a key metric they use in evaluating an listings performance

OUTLINE FOR THIS EPISODE

* [01:35] – Good Product Image

* [02:40] – Kinds of Lifestyle Photo

* [06:03] – Bonus Image

If you want some help getting started, then I would love to help out. Please reach out to me so I can organize an Amazon  Selling Strategy Session  

In this episode we are going to discuss is product patents, its importance and on how to do a patent search or check whether your product is patented or not.

IMPORTANCE OF A PATENT

Before you decide to start selling your product on Amazon, you have to make sure that there are no existing patents for it. Selling a product that is already patented can have your product being delisted and unable to be sold on Amazon.

Including a patent search as part of your process in finding a product, reduces the risk of being delisted.

I once experienced receiving an email from Amazon regarding a patent infringement. I had been selling this product for over 7 years and didn’t even know a patent existed…. It’s not a pleasant experience and highly recommend doing all the necessary steps to avoid it.

PATENT SEARCH

A way to avoid cases such as patent infringement and being delisted is to make sure that you spend time doing patent searches before selling your product on Amazon.

To start your patent search, visit uspto.gov.

Scroll down the website until your find search patent button where you can enter your keywords to search on

When adding your keywords try to use all possible search terms that can match against with your product.

Some patent search terms do not directly describe the product so you need to take your time to be really thorough

Once you find a relevant patent search, make sure you click on the image button to confirm if the product with the patent matches your product

OUTLINE OF THE EPISODE

[00:20] – Importance of Patent

[05:40] – Patent Search

If you want some help getting started, then I would love to help out. Please reach out to me so I can organize an Amazon  Selling Strategy Session  

Selling on Amazon has really changed since I started out in 2013. Back then you could just find profitable products, list them and sales would come in.

Now the market demands more and to be successful on Amazon, you need to build a brand. The reason a brand is so important now is competition is so much stronger now whereas 4 years ago, it took much less to stand out from the competition

IMPORTANCE OF A BRAND

Business realizes the importance of how Amazon is a friend and additional sales channel and not a competitor (and hence the massive move to sellers on the Amazon channel).  A recent survey said that 72% of businesses believe that Amazon will help their sales.

Building a brand is great if you want to have longevity and build raving fans. A brand really helps your business as it allows you to:

* – Charge a premium price

* – Build a presence outside amazon

* – Easier to exit or sell the business

* – Create a complimentary sales

If you are really serious in building your Amazon business, and want to scale it to a 6 or 7 figure business, you really need to consider building a brand

HOW TO BUILD A BRAND

In building your brand you first need to consider your niche something you would like to specialize in. Focus on something that you can be an expert in or something you love doing. A great way to start is to find what you’re passionate about and confirm Amazon has a demand for it.

Choosing a product that is in your niche makes it much easier for you to be an expert in that area and it will be much easier for you when you are testing your product.

Once you have chosen a product, you will need to add your brand to it.

The easiest way to do this is go to fiverr (fiverr.com) and find somebody who can build a logo and a product packaging that is quite cheap.

Once you have a great logo and packaging made, you share this with your supplier and now you have an awesome branded product!!!

BUILD SOCIAL ASSETS

Once you have decided on your brand, you need to focus on building in your social assets. Building social assets adds credibility for your brand and an avenue to build an email list.

In terms of social media asset you need for your Amazon brand, at a minimum you need to build a Facebook page.

The good news is it’s easy to build it, add content and share it. A Facebook page also allows you to start doing lead capture, build some ads with some coupons and start building your email list.

Other social media assets are:

* – Youtube

* – Twitter

* – Website

Now that you have your awesome product and social media assets are created, you are now ready to build in your list.

OUTLINE OF THE EPISODE

* [01:20] – Importance of a Brand

* [04:19] – How to build a brand

* [07:05] – Build Social Assets

If you want some help getting started, then I would love to help out. Please reach out to me so I can organize an Amazon  Selling Strategy Session  

Last Monday I had the opportunity to attend the Amazon Seller Summit in Australia. Amazon invited about 600 retailers, media and people on the Amazon game, to showcase what’s coming up and what Amazon are offering.

The question on everyone’s lips was “when will Amazon be launched in Australia” but they were tight lipped about giving out too information.  A few rumors were going around during the day, some said it will be before Christmas, some said maybe it will be black Friday.

All we know for certain is Amazon already has a in Dandenong and are very close to launching…

AMAZON: CUSTOMER FIRST

The session was led by Rocco Braeuniger, Amazon Australia’s country lead. Many were asking him when would Amazon be opening in Australia. He did not answer the question directly but said “it will be very very soon”.

The session with Rocco focused on how much amazon cares for its customers, bringing up some of the principles Amazon look at. This includes

* – Putting the customer first

* – Thinking big; and

* – Be innovative.

Those that are from US that shop with Amazon can testify on how amazon cares to its customer.

One of the great things discussed was Amazon culture. Rocco summarized it by saying that

* – Amazon is happy to fail,

* – they always try lots of products and projects that we may not even heard about

* – they never stop trying to find ways to best help the customer

* – one winning project such as Amazon Marketplace or Amazon Web Services can pay for the hundreds of failed projects

IMPACT TO RETAILERS

Another speaker present on the event was Fabio Bertola, Amazon’s Marketplace Manager. He discussed the details about FBA in Australia. With his discussion people found out how Amazon will impact the retailers (in a positive way), though did not go into too much details.

The topic of how to register was raised and Amazon in Australia is still only by invite, unlike other marketplaces where you can self service registration. For those lucky enough to attend the event, Amazon sent an sign up invitation and to my delight, I now have an Amazon Australia account (in addition to USA, UK and Canada)

The question now would be whether Amazon will be launched as FBA or whether it will be fulfillment by merchant.

The real key Amazon’s success is FBA which takes care of all the dispatch, the queries the fast delivery. During the presentation it was not clear if Amazon Australia would launch with FBA or FBM. In my Australian Amazon account, I do not have the option for FBA which is interesting……

Having Good Amazing Listing

The third speaker was an account manager who discussed what will make a good listing. Amazon recommends that you get a really wide and range of products. This is great for Amazon but not for the retailers

It will be great for Amazon as they will have a wide range of products on the site available but not great for the retailers as sending all your products on Amazon might cause a large amount for your working capital to be tied up

In my opinion it would be better to send in your winning product(s), create great listings, make sure they sell amazingly well, then scale them quickly to increase sales before widening your product range on Amazon.

WHAT I LEARNT

Amazon is the highest growth and highest traffic source of online retail shopping in USA. Approximately 42% of all USA online retail sales go via Amazon.

If you are in a retail business get really excited with what Amazon can do, it can really change the way you do business.

Attending this Amazon event was a great opportunity for me to meet people, share my experiences and network with people afterwards.

In my situation I have served around 75,000 customers via Amazon in the last few years and have never owned a bricks and mortar busin...

Today we get into the details on how to start an Amazon business and help you navigate which marketplace to start on and why FBA is an amazing solution to grow a new real business or expand an existing business.

BASICS OF FBA

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) means sending products to Amazon’s warehouse and when an order comes in Amazon will send the products to your customers. They will be the one in charge with customer support, product dispatch and tracking.

All you need to do is create a listing, send your products to Amazon’s warehouse and they will do the rest of the work for you. Every two weeks Amazon will be sending to you a bank deposit for all your sales.

Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM) may not be as common as FBA but is still sometimes use by sellers on Amazon. Sellers will be posting their listing on Amazon as well but instead of sending it to the Amazon warehouse, products may be kept at the merchants home and they will be the one in charge with the dispatch, customer support and its tracking. Amazon does not have a control with the products courier and its tracking.

Amazon vs. eBay

You may also think that Amazon is the same but eBay, however they are entirely different. I found eBay as more of a cowboy land with less controls as sellers are directly dealing with its customers. All sellers on eBay are actually storing their items at their own house or warehouse and when you buy they are the ones who send out. The downside of it will be, products can sometimes take many days before the eBay seller ships them out.

With Amazon FBA, products are already stored in their warehouse, the moment you purchase a product items will be shipped out within 24 hours.

Building a Brand

Basically to start your business in Amazon you have to find a great product, source it, improve it and create a listing. Competition is increasing and the model has changed where its essential to start building a brand.

Having a brand allows you to

* – charge a higher premium for your products

* – add your own packaging to products and a value to your products that differentiate them to the competition

* – makes it easier to sell your business as creates brand value

FINDING A MARKETPLACE

Amazon has warehouses across the globe from the USA, Canada, Europe, Germany, South America and soon in Australia. If you are living in a country where amazon has its marketplace, it is highly recommended to start selling there. The reason for this would be, you already know the laws and importing products is much easier. However if your country does not have a marketplace yet, you can start selling in the USA. USA is by far has the biggest amazon marketplace, population has a 5x more population compared to other marketplace.

PRODUCT SOURCING

In sourcing your product you can either source it from your home country or source it in China. When sourcing products in China the biggest marketplace to find suppliers would be alibaba.com

Alibaba is great to start off with; they have a wide range of products. However finding your products in Alibaba can be easier but it may also means a higher chance for other sellers to copy your product.

When you are done in negotiating and sourcing your products, make sure to add a Unique Product code (UPC). This UPC will serve your products ID number on the Amazon warehouse. This can either be added by your supplier or by Amazon. Amazon will most probably charged you 20 cents for doing it while cost can be cut to half if you will ask your manufacturer in China to do it for you.

FREIGHT OPTIONS

There are two ways in shipping your products it can be either air freight or sea shipping.

Air freight is recommended when you are just starting your business; it will deliver your product to Amazon quicker, but air freight is only suitable for small and lightweight products.

Today we kick off with my Amazon Australian story. From moving to New York, having my partner (now wife) become pregnant and the immediate change this caused to finding the smartest way to sell online through Amazon

START OF MY ONLINE CAREER

I find learning and taking action is the key for progress and happiness.

Years back I attended a 2 day course on how to sell online. It was one of those old style long copy style websites that don’t look great, but still sell well

After the course I found a product that was perfect to sell online and created a basic WordPress site and had my own online business

The issue was I didn’t have any video of the product working, and you really need an example of how the product worked

Once I made a video, sales went from 1 per month to 1 per week to a few a day. It felt great getting sales while I slept and I started learning more about SEO and blogging.

This started to really change my lifestyle as I was able to start travelling and still earn money and ended up taking 9 months off to travel around Central and South America.

THE HOLY GRAIL FOR AMAZON SUCCESS

Fast forward from my life story, I met this lovely lady who is now my wife, we travel to New York after getting hired by company who responded to a CV I post online.

We are having a great time living and working in New York and having a passive income at the same time. Life is great!

Until one day a huge order came in, have to get my wife to drop in the products in the post office however it is snowing that day and my wife is pregnant. My wife talk me to it, I have to find a way the baby and her health is the priority. That is when I found out about Amazon.

Amazon.com was a game changer and made a huge difference. It allow me to

* – Send products to Amazon and they will then ship it out for me

* – Automate the entire sales and customer service process

* – Get huge exposure to the Amazon customer base and increase sales by x5-x10 in a matter of week

The best way to build a real business and start building your passive income is via an Amazon FBA Business.

You can quickly build a 5 figure, into a 6 figure into a 7 figure income in a very manageable and controllable process.

Now Amazon is coming to Australia, I’m helping Australian businesses, entrepreneurs and people who want to start selling online, build successful Amazon businesses

OUTLINE FOR THIS EPISODE

[2:47] – Start of my online career 

[6:50] – Life is great selling online 

[8:02] – How selling on Amazon changed my life  

[10:00] – Finding the Holy Grail 

If you want some help getting started, then I would love to help out. Please reach out to me so I can organize an Amazon  Selling Strategy Session