INTRODUCTION
Retail eCommerce is a thriving market, with 42 percent of U.S. consumers purchasing products or services online, and Amazon is king. In fact, Amazon’s share of the online shopping market is close to 50 percent in the United States.
If you run a B2C business and are looking to sell your products or services online, it makes sense to join the 2 million sellers who have taken advantage of the platform so far.
Following are some tips on how your retail store or business can start selling products on Amazon.
HOW TO SET UP YOUR AMAZON ACCOUNT TO SELL PRODUCTS
To get started selling on Amazon, you must first register an account. There are two types of selling plans from which to choose–individual and professional. In most cases, your business will want the professional version, as it is ideal for selling more than 40 products per month, and it has a flat monthly subscription fee of $39.99.
You will need to submit your business name and address, a mobile telephone number, a chargeable credit card, a valid bank account
Be sure to review Amazon’s product categories before registering to ensure your products are eligible and to see if they need to be approved by Amazon before you can start selling on the platform.
For example, groceries, gourmet food and fine jewelry are among the categories that require approval. If your business specializes in one of these areas, you will need to complete the “Contact Us” form to request approval. It typically takes about three business days for Amazon to respond to your request via email.
HOW TO MAKE YOUR PRODUCT RANK HIGH IN AMAZON SEARCH RESULTS
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) helps your products appear higher in the Amazon search rankings. The higher your product appears in a search result, the more traffic (and sales) you will get. The title, price, product attributes, image, reviews and the Q&A portion are the key factors that determine your ranking.
Before you post a listing, research keywords that people are likely to use to search for that product. There are several free Amazon keyword tools, such as Keyword Tool Dominator or Sonar, you can use to identify the best words or terms to include in your product listing.
Include the most relevant and most searched keyword(s) in the product title and incorporate additional terms within the product attributes (bullet points) and description section to help boost your Amazon ranking.
Highlight the benefits of your product in the listing and include all necessary information potential buyers will want to know before making the purchase. Be sure to list the most important information first to optimize for those viewing the listing on a mobile device.
Product images are incredibly important for attracting potential buyers and generating clicks, which also helps increase your Amazon ranking. Include multiple high-resolution images in each listing, and remember to follow Amazon’s rules:
- The main product image must have a white background and only display the core product.
- The product must take up at least 85 percent of the image frame.
- Additional images may include elements like accessories and packaging, background and environments or demonstrative graphics with text.
Customer interaction also can improve your product ranking. For instance, you should monitor your listing for questions and provide detailed answers to fill in any missing information. You also may choose to add these details to the description, which will improve the overall content on the product page.
In addition, encourage customers to leave reviews for your product. Make sure to manage your reviews by responding regularly to comments (both good and bad). Of course, the more positive reviews your product receives, the better the rank on Amazon.
Additional techniques to optimize product ranking include filling in additional product information (e.g. material or weight) that can be filtered easily, using the Fulfilment By Amazon (FBA) shipping service, which many consumers prefer, and pricing your product competitively.