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According to a 2015 BusinessWire report, Amazon’s Q4 last year was a record-breaking one. With more than three million customers joining Prime in the third week of December, Amazon managed to ship over 200 million more items for free in the 2015 holiday season and Prime Now had its busiest day ever on Christmas Eve—delivering its last order of the day at 11:59 p.m. to a customer in San Antonio, Texas.
Above: a report by Channel Advisor shows Amazon dominated the market share of the eCommerce industry in Q4/2015, by 51% compared with 49% disputed by other retailers
How can you capitalize on this holiday season, and specifically, on Amazon’s increasingly successful Q4?What should your brand focus on in the coming months? It’s simple.
1. INVENTORY
The data clearly shows that customers want Prime during the holiday season, so keeping a consistent, healthy FBA inventory is critical for making your own Q4 one for the record books. By increasing your inventory storage limits, getting your inbound shipping plans completed early (and we mean early—having your FBA products ready and shipped by September is ideal), and if possible, stickering your inventory with FNSKU labels, you will put yourself in the perfect position to stay far into the green throughout the last quarter of the year.
Why the FNSKU sticker, you ask? There are three good reasons for this. The first reason is cost. You are saving yourself money by utilizing this feature as Amazon only charges $0.20 per unit stickered. And whenever you’re able to save money, you’re making room for yourself to make more money. Second is efficiency. Your shipments with FNSKU stickers will be processed through Receiving at Fulfillment Centers more quickly, which will make your products ready for purchase sooner. And lastly, is control of error. We have experienced a few instances where Amazon has incorrectly stickered products for clients, which lead to the wrong products being shipped to customers. To avoid increased return rates, a negative hit to your seller performance numbers, and an all-around headache, try stickering in your own warehouse whenever you can.
2. PROMOTION
Increase traffic to your product pages by developing product promotion plans. Consider quantity discounts or cross-selling discounts with other items in your Amazon catalogue. Lightning Deals can also be a great way to bring visibility to your products and boost your overall performance in the coming months!
Related: Join our Facebook community, Amazon Channel Mastery for Brands, to receive immediate access to our free ‘2016 Amazon Holiday Seller Guide’ as well as the latest tips, strategies and trends from the Bobsled Marketing team.
3. SPONSORED PRODUCTS AD CAMPAIGNS
An efficient, targeted ads campaign is a strategic way to bring your products to the attention of customers and can help increase traffic and overall conversions. Keeping this in mind, it’s essential that your campaigns for new products are up and running two to three weeks before an event or holiday (Black Friday, Jewish Holidays, Christmas, etc.). You might even consider increasing your daily spend for specific campaigns if your analytics indicate that those campaigns are likely to attribute to your growth this holiday season.
In addition to having great imagery and visual content of your products online, maintaining the most relevant and strategic wording on your product pages will play a huge role in increasing your sales. Knowing this to be true makes it all the more necessary that you revisit backend keywords to ensure the highest volume search terms are included in your listings, and reevaluate your product titles to ensure they are keyword-rich and highlight your products as a great holiday gifts before the holiday season arrives.
While this can feel daunting, as it requires dedicated time and effort from you and your team, that’s what the experts are for. Services like Bobsled Marketing’s Amazon Sponsored Product Ads (PPC) Optimization Service give you the ability to focus on your many additional tasks at hand, while they focus directly on utilizing a comprehensive, data-driven strategy to create and manage your advertising campaigns. But whether you’re creating a targeted ads campaign on your own or working with an agency to assist you in your marketing strategy, having that strategy and implementing it effectively is crucial.
4. PRODUCT PAGE UPDATES
When customers land on your product pages, getting them to click ‘Add to Cart,’ can be one of the trickiest tasks of all. Inspire them to click that button by adding the most up-to-date information and images on your pages. Do you have holiday-specific images of your products? Are your bullet points eye catching? Do they communicate the value of your product as a gift this holiday season? If you answered no to any of these questions, think twice before choosing to begin the fourth quarter without making any updates to your product pages. These components all play key roles in driving up sales and ensuring that you have your most successful Q4 to date.
Above: a well-optimized product page showing demonstrating how this product is suitable as a gift for the Holiday season.
5. PRICING
Rounding out the list of “must-dos” is assessing the competitor landscape to see where your prices fall in relation to similar products. This is the final, essential piece of the puzzle and will give you the greatest insight about the quarter to come. By benchmarking your prices with your closest competitors - particularly during the holiday season - you maintain more knowledge about your particular market and a stronger sense of where you stand.
As Q4 approaches ever so quickly, remember that the more prepared you are for the holiday season, the more wonderful a season it will be!
Above: List of the most profitable days during the holiday season in the United States, Statista.com
Being strategic in your approach to the year’s final quarter will set you up for success now and well into the New Year. And while it’s possible to do it all on your own, utilizing the expert Amazon Optimization services of companies like Bobsled Marketing, will give you a clear “leg up” amongst your competitors and have you celebrating your successes all the way to the bank. In the spirit of the holiday season, allow us to help you—by maximizing your sales and revenues—while you help others by most effectively and efficiently sharing your products with the world!
Join our Private Facebook Group for Ecommerce Managers and Brand Owners, where we share more tips and strategies for boosting holiday sales, including our Holiday Calendar to help you plan promotions for the Q4.
