GIFT CARDS & ONGOING LOCKDOWNS

In a recent article on Forbes, Bobsled CEO Kiri Masters explained that Amazon.com gift cards were one of the Top 6 items sold during Prime Day 2020, a massive uptick from last year, meaning there is an abundance of gift cards out in the market that shoppers will be looking to redeem this Holiday season.

This is coupled with the fact that many shoppers will be forced to use online marketplaces rather than brick-and-mortar retail stores due to ongoing Covid lockdowns. Therefore, despite widespread economic uncertainty, we are anticipating huge sales across Turkey 5, and brands with effective marketing strategies are primed to do very well.

So don’t be surprised if results exceed expectations. Do everything in your power to prepare from an inventory management perspective so you stay in stock for the rest of Q4.

 

 

SET UP THE RIGHT PROMOS

Customers expect to be wowed with impressive deals on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Competition is fierce – you need to set up compelling offers to win clicks and sales from rival brands.

Based on Prime Day results, Prime Exclusive Deals (PEDs) and Coupons appeared to be the most effective promo tools for Bobsled clients.

 

💡 Check out Prime Day Recap & Q4 Predictions

 

STORE VERSIONS

The new ‘Store Versions’ feature allows you to create a Black Friday-themed storefront that would run for that day only, highlighting specific products with unique creative. Creating a Version does not resemble the typically lengthy Storefront approval process, so if you move quickly, you may be able to get something ready in time for Turkey 5.

 

 

 

Amazon has outlined the steps for creating a Store Version here.

 

💡 Check out Bobsled’s Turkey 5 Prep Guide

 

VIRTUAL BUNDLES

Virtual bundles allow brands using FBA to sell products together without having to ship pre-bundled inventory to Amazon, and the creation tool can be accessed under the ‘Brands’ section of your dashboard.

 

 

Above: Example of a whole milk and chocolate milk virtual bundle

 

Virtual bundles facilitate an easy way for brands to create unique ‘gift packs’, but set-up within Seller Central is not always seamless, so if you think it could help with your Turkey 5 performance, hustle and try to set one up asap!

💡 Check out Bobsled's Amazon Selling Guide For The Holidays

 

MONITOR PPC CLOSELY

Bobsled’s ad tech partner Pacvue released a very useful Turkey 5 2019 CPC Report. The key findings were as follows:

• Spending on Sponsored Product and Sponsored Brand ads jumped in 2019, peaking on Cyber Monday and Black Friday.
• CPC for Sponsored Brand ads increased more than for Sponsored Product ads in 2019.
• ACoS was best on Cyber Monday and Black Friday. For Sponsored Product ads, ACoS remains high even after Cyber Monday.

 

These general trends should give you some insight about how your advertising metrics will be impacted by ballooning traffic and clicks between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday.

Bobsled Advertising Director Stefan Jordev also has some advice about how to use Prime Day ad data.

“In terms of preparing for the five-day Black Friday to Cyber Monday shopping event, I would encourage brands to take their Prime Day ad spend and sales, multiply it by five, and factor this into their November advertising monthly budget and projections.”

 

 

 

NEED HELP WITH Q4 ON AMAZON?

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