Revstep https://revstep.com/us/ We're more than just an Amazon agency Mon, 22 Apr 2024 21:24:21 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.1 https://revstep.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/RevStep-Favicon-150x132.webp Revstep https://revstep.com/us/ 32 32 Inbound Placement Fees: What They Really Mean for Sellers https://revstep.com/us/inbound-placement-fees-what-they-really-mean-for-sellers/ Mon, 22 Apr 2024 21:24:21 +0000 https://revstep.com/?p=24717 It certainly feels like a sucker-punch. Of our roughly 60 clients, every one of them has been affected by the new inbound placement fees implemented on March 1, 2024. I was told once by an Amazon employee that, even though it sounds deceptive, the reality is that Amazon is going to make its cut one way or another. Amazon introduces fee structure changes every year and this one hurts sellers who sell high volume, resellers with slim margins, and other certain sellers who have small inexpensive items where every cent matters. What was the specific reason they increased fees on inbound shipping rather than in another way? They don’t want to be your warehouse. They want to be your fulfillment center – good coming in and going out quickly. Designed to streamline inventory management and warehouse operations, these fees put the pressure on all brands to make better inventory forecasts. This will also hopefully avoid the “low-inventory-level” fees, that that’s a discussion for another post.

What are Inbound Placement Fees?

Amazon’s new inbound placement fees are part of its broader initiative to enhance efficiency in its fulfillment centers. These fees apply to certain items that are received into Amazon’s fulfillment network. As of March 1st Amazon has 3 options for inbound placement, Minimal, Partial, and Amazon-optimized shipment splits. Amazon defines these options as follows;

Minimal shipment splits: You can send your inventory to the minimal number of inbound locations, generally to a single location, and we will spread inventory across our network on your behalf, for a fee. The fee may vary by inbound location—for example, there may be higher fees for shipments sent to locations in the West versus other parts of the country.

Partial or Amazon-optimized shipment splits: Send your inventory to multiple inbound locations yourself for a reduced or no fee. The reduced fees will depend on the number of shipments and inbound locations that you send your inventory to. For instance, if your shipping plan qualifies, you can select the inbound placement option to send your inventory to the optimal number of inbound locations recommended by Amazon, generally four or more locations, and pay no fee. If you select the placement option in which you send your inventory to a partial number of inbound locations, generally two or three, you will pay a reduced fee.

What do these options actually mean?

Essentially, sellers are charged for the placement of their inventory within Amazon’s warehouses. The Fees associated with shipments sent to a single location (Minimal shipment splits) and shipments sent to two or three locations (Partial shipment splits) vary based on the item size and unit weight and have two tiers Standard-size product fees and Large bulky-size product fees. Qualifying Amazon-optimized shipment splits sent to four+ locations have no fee.

However deceivingly simple that may seem at first glance, there are additional factors to consider that make planning for, and estimating these fees less clear. Creating shipments that have a combination of standard-size items, non-standard-size items, or special handling categories can result in Sellers having fewer inbound options to select from. Shipments with boxes that don’t all contain the same mix and quantities of SKUs may also have fewer options. Fees will vary depending on which region, West Coast, Central, or East Coast, the selected fulfillment center is in. The available options may also change based on shipment size, and overall demand. Inbound Defect Fees may be imposed for issues like shipments that are delivered to the wrong location, as well as deleted and abandoned shipments. And Sellers now have to plan for the logistical and financial implications of the split shipments.

Is it as bad as the forums make it seem?

Yes and no. The Inbound Placement Fees are one part of the overall Fee picture. Amazon will be decreasing FBA fulfillment fee rates by about $.20 for standard-sized and Large Bulky-sized products, reducing the non-peak monthly storage fees for standard-size products, rolling-out a lowered pricing structure for Amazon Vine, offering fulfillment fee discounts for eligible products in the SIPP program, and reducing referral fees for apparel products. They have also introduced a low-inventory-level fee and expanded the returns processing fee to apply to high return-rate products in all categories, excluding apparel and shoes.

While these changes feel more distinct, overall they seem to fall in line with the fee increases Sellers see each year. But it is clear from the chatter, Sellers are not happy with the implications and overall murky nature of the Inbound Placement Fee, and the harsh learning curve is being felt in the bottom line. 

For one seller, he saw an average of an additional $.27 per item to ship into Amazon. He was feeling some shipping sticker shock, but had to consider the $.20 discount in selling fees he received from Amazon recently. The net difference for him was $.07 ($.27-$.20=.$.07.) So at the end of the day (and at the end of your bottom line), it may not be as bad as it feels.

What can you do?

For existing sellers, we recommend going through several shipping workflows to see how each option affects your shipping rates. These fees can change depending on your category, if you ship full pallets, single parcel, or TL. You might also consider using Amazon Freight if you have enough volume heading into their warehouses. It’s can be the source of great savings! 

New sellers can take advantage of Amazon’s offer of $400 in credits that apply to the FBA inbound placement service fee. To get this credit, new sellers who create and send their first shipment to an Amazon fulfillment center within 90 days of listing their offer – will qualify for $400 in credits that apply to the FBA inbound placement service fee. In addition to sellers who list their first offer on or after March 1, 2024, new sellers who list their first offer between January 1, 2024, and March 1, 2024, are also eligible for this credit benefit when they use the FBA inbound placement service. More information can be found here.

While Amazon’s new inbound placement fees may initially pose challenges for sellers, they also present opportunities for optimization and efficiency improvement. By understanding the implications of these fees and implementing proactive strategies, sellers can navigate these changes effectively and continue to thrive in the competitive world of e-commerce.

]]> Start Mastering the Art of Amazon PPC https://revstep.com/us/start-mastering-the-art-of-amazon-ppc/ Fri, 15 Mar 2024 21:55:01 +0000 https://revstep.com/?p=24688 Hey there, fellow entrepreneurs and Amazon aficionados! Buckle up because we’re about to dive into the wild world of Amazon PPC advertising. And trust me, it’s a ride worth taking.

Picture this: You’re a small fish in the vast ocean of e-commerce, and Amazon is your ticket to making waves. But how do you stand out in this sea of sellers? Cue Amazon’s Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising – your secret weapon in the battle for visibility and sales domination.

Let’s talk numbers for a sec. Did you know that Amazon PPC has been on the rise like a SpaceX rocket? In recent years, it’s become the go-to strategy for sellers, offering a bang for your buck approach where you only pay when someone clicks on your ad. Talk about efficient spending!

Now, let’s break it down. Amazon PPC is all about bidding on keywords that are like golden tickets to your product listings. When someone searches for those keywords, Amazon’s super-smart algorithm decides which ads to show based on factors like bid amount and relevance. It’s like a high-stakes poker game, but with keywords instead of cards.

But hold onto your chimichangas, folks, because managing a PPC campaign ain’t no walk in the park. You’ve got keyword research, bid optimization, ad creative – it’s enough to make your head spin faster than a Deadpool sequel!

So, what’s the secret sauce to PPC success? Let me hit you with some stats:

  1. Keyword Research: Did you know that 86% of shoppers use search engines like Amazon to find products? That’s why finding the right keywords is like striking gold. You want high search volume and low competition to maximize your chances of getting seen.
  2. Bid Optimization: Ever heard of the 80/20 rule? Well, it applies here too. 20% of your keywords will drive 80% of your sales. So, finding the sweet spot for your bids is key to maximizing ROI.
  3. Ad Creative: Fun fact – visuals are processed 60,000 times faster than text. That’s why your ad creative needs to be as eye-catching as a Ryan Reynolds shirtless scene. Craft compelling copy and imagery that speaks to your audience and watch those clicks roll in.
  4. Targeting Options: With Amazon’s advanced targeting options, you can get laser-focused on your ideal customers faster than you can say “Green Lantern sequel.” Segmentation, product targeting – it’s like having a bullseye on every potential buyer.

But here’s the kicker – the game is always changing. Amazon’s algorithm is like a shape-shifting mutant, constantly evolving and keeping us on our toes. That’s why staying ahead of the curve is crucial. Keep your finger on the pulse, test new strategies, and embrace the power of analytics and automation.

If you’re still questioning the importance of mastering PPC, go ahead and chew on these statistics for a minute: 

  • Amazon PPC Growth:
  • Amazon PPC advertising spending is projected to reach $10 billion by 2025.
  • In 2023, Amazon PPC spending increased by 30% compared to the previous year.
  • Effectiveness of Amazon PPC:
  • Amazon PPC ads have an average click-through rate (CTR) of 0.3% to 0.5%.
  • Conversion rates for Amazon PPC ads range from 10% to 15%, higher than other e-commerce platforms.
  • Impact on Sales:
  • Sellers using Amazon PPC ads see an average sales increase of 50% within the first three months.
  • 64% of Amazon sellers say PPC advertising is essential for their success on the platform.
  • Popular Ad Formats:
  • Sponsored Products account for 88% of all Amazon PPC spending.
  • Sponsored Brands ads have an average click-through rate (CTR) of 0.4% to 0.6%.
  • Mobile Advertising:
  • Mobile devices account for 65% of all Amazon searches, making mobile PPC ads crucial for reaching customers on the go.
  • Amazon PPC ads on mobile devices have a 15% higher conversion rate compared to desktop ads.
  • Future Trends:
    • Machine learning and AI-driven PPC automation are expected to become increasingly prevalent, optimizing ad performance and targeting.
    • Video ads on Amazon are predicted to grow in popularity, offering sellers new opportunities to engage with customers.

So, my fellow sellers, it’s time to REV UP your Amazon sales like a souped-up motorbike. Master the art of Amazon PPC, and watch your business soar higher than a CGI superhero. The time is now, so go forth and conquer the e-commerce world!

]]> How does Remote Fulfillment with FBA Work? https://revstep.com/us/how-does-remote-fulfillment-with-fba-work/ https://revstep.com/us/how-does-remote-fulfillment-with-fba-work/#comments Mon, 12 Jul 2021 17:42:24 +0000 https://revstep.com/?p=13307

Our clients at Revstep often ask us about the best way to extend sales into Canada and Mexico. They wonder:

  • Can I fulfill from my US FBA stock to Canada or Mexico?
  • Can I keep my prime badge if I use my own fulfillment center in Canada?
  • What does it cost in duties and taxes when I ship inventory to Canada’s FBA fulfillment centers?
  • How much inventory should I send for starters?
  • Am I required to file sales tax in Canada or does Amazon do that for me like Amazon.com does?
  • What should I do with international returns?

These are good questions with real financial consequences! Until recently, Amazon required sellers to send inventory to Canadian or Mexican FBA FCs (Fulfillment Centers) to offer prime shipping in those countries. Sellers have the option of using a 3PL (3rd party logistics) to store and ship your product, but that most often excludes them from getting the “Prime Badge” starting out in the new country. Well, have no fear – REMOTE FULFILLMENT IS HERE!

Remote fulfillment in a nutshell is a program that allows sellers with inventory in US FBA fulfillment centers to sell eligible inventory to customers in Canada and Mexico without having to store inventory locally in those countries. North American professional selling accounts automatically have access to a unified account, which allows you to manage offers in US, Canada, and Mexico from a single interface. You’ve most likely seen the dropdown marketplace option at the top of your seller central account home screen that allows you to toggle between marketplaces.

 

Amazon Wants you to Get Your Feet Wet!

A while back I received a call from an Amazon agent that invited me to start selling in Brazil from the US with a program similar to the new Canada/Mexico FBA remote fulfilment program. Upon receiving a Brazilian order, I had to 3rd party mail my product to an Amazon partner fulfillment center in Florida which would then airship it to Brazil. Ultimately, the cost (and headache) of multiple legs of shipping made selling in Brazil a net zero operation. In addition, the Brazilian Real to USD exchange rate was unbearable to most Brazilian shoppers and has only gotten worse since the pandemic. As you can guess, we bagged the idea. The good news is that North American countries don’t have as big of an exchange rate disparity and Amazon is offering better shipping rates with full-service support, including dealing with returns in other countries. Amazon wants you to grow and tries hard to eliminate any barriers that keep you from expanding to new marketplaces. Their VAT and translation services, however, are sub-par in our opinion – you don’t need translations from English to new languages, you need keyword optimization built from scratch. For example, the word “stroller” in US listing might be translated as a Kinderwagen, a Spazierganger, or a Sportwagen. Amazon translates listings about as well as google translate does, which may or may not use the most common phrases in that country. What’s my point? Not all of Amazon services are effective, but they want to help you grow so they can grow. The remote fulfillment program is a productive service to get your feet wet in a new country.

 

What does FBA Remote Fulfillment Cost?

According to Amazon, “Remote Fulfillment sales incur higher fulfillment fees to account for the costs of cross-border fulfillment to Canada and Mexico. Remote Fulfillment fees apply year round and replace the standard fulfillment fees in Canada and Mexico. Standard US fulfillment fees apply for sales on Amazon.com. Referral fees are based on the marketplace where the item was bought.”

Here is the cost breakdown of cross-border remote fulfillment with FBA:

 

How does Amazon Manage Import Duties via Remote Fulfillment?

While prime customers get free shipping to Mexico (5 to 9 days) or Canada (7 to 12 days), they must pay the import duties; sellers are off the hook on collecting and paying these fees. Duties are not always straight-forward. Even Revstep, as a bonded importer, hires a customs broker to comb through thousands of HS Codes to determine the right duties to pay upon entry into the US.  Luckily Amazon simplifies this for you and charges the customer an estimated deposit for import duties and VAT on your behalf. As soon as the customer purchases the item, they assume ownership of it and therefore become the importer of record (the person responsible to pay the duties and taxes). Amazon adds the import fee to the amount the customer pays at checkout. At that time, the customer also authorizes international carriers to pay this amount to the Canadian or Mexican authorities on their behalf.

 

What to do with Canadian and Mexican returns?

Amazon offers a very basic answer that says the same FBA customer returns policy applies and the returned items will be sent directly back to the US like any normal US purchase. True cost is yet to be seen. We will update the blog when we have a clear answer.

 

Remote Fulfillment is a Good Idea!

In entrepreneurship we talk about the MVP – Minimum Viable Product. Amazon is offering sellers an opportunity to use their Minimum Viable Process. In a book I recently read, “The Lean Start-up”, Eric Ries describes an MVP as a version of a new product (or a process in this case) that allows managers to maximize learning about customers with the least effort and capital expense. So before you spend exorbitant money on a new idea, test the market and understand what kind of demand and sales opportunity there is. I believe remote fulfillment is the minimum viable process for sellers to enter a market because:

  1. It’s immediate – no need to reallocate inventory or waste processing time
  2. You still receive the prime badge
  3. It eliminates some of the immediate cost of selling internationally
  4. Amazon minimizes your effort by processing taxes, duties, and returns on your behalf.

If your products don’t sell well in the new marketplace or you don’t have enough margin baked into your price, you can just as easily turn them off as you turned them on. If the products do well in the new country, our recommendation is to send bulk inventory directly to that country’s Amazon FCs so you can both offer 2 day prime shipping instead of the delayed international prime shipping and also minimize the higher international FBA fee. So go one, give it a try and your product sales might surprise you!

]]> https://revstep.com/us/how-does-remote-fulfillment-with-fba-work/feed/ 1 Amazon Reimbursements and Reversals https://revstep.com/us/amazon-reimbursements-and-reversals/ Fri, 04 Jun 2021 17:45:40 +0000 https://revstep.com/?p=13294

Amazon Reimbursements and Reversals

I remember when I started my first amazon seller account and the excitement of that first reimbursement. I thought, “Hey, they can lose as many units as they want as long as I get paid for it!” However, knowing exactly what I was going to be paid was tricky! There can be grundles of missing, damaged, and unreturned items for which you don’t get reimbursed, or for which Amazon reverses the reimbursement. Say that ten times fast!

According to Forbes, Amazon ships over 2.5 billion packages every year. We recently took a virtual tour of one of the Amazon facilities and followed a package through 26 miles of conveyor belt tracks and auto-sorting machines held within one building. While this kind of mind-blowing logistical gymnastics is awesome, It’s easy to understand how a package can be damaged, stolen, or lost during the shipment process. Since some reimbursements slip through the cracks, let’s learn more about FBA reimbursement so we can understand what Amazon does to rectify lost or damaged product so you can recover as much money or product as possible. If you’re not frequently monitoring your Seller Central Account, you may miss out on these Amazon reimbursements. 

I have received loads of reimbursement emails recently and noticed that the jargon has changed slightly. You’re excited at first because it says “We have initiated a reimbursement” but continues “reimbursement reversal, or both due to recent activity…” So before you throw a party with all your reimbursement money, it makes sense to understand what a reimbursement reversal is and how that affects your payout. Here is the email that I seem to receive all too often:

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FBA Inventory Reimbursement Policy

If you utilize Amazon’s FBA services by sending in inventory to their warehouses and any of your inventory is lost or damaged at a facility or by a carrier, Amazon will replace the item or reimburse you for it. It may go without saying, but you won’t get these reimbursements if you self-fulfill because you control the flow of product soup to nuts, not Amazon. The following comes from seller central and outlines what makes your stock eligible for reimbursements:

  • The item is registered in FBA at the time it is lost or damaged.
  • The item complies with FBA product requirements and restrictionsand with FBA inventory requirements.
  • You have sent us the exact items and quantities stated in your shipping plan.
  • The item is not pending disposal or was not disposed of at your request or because we have exercised a right to do so.
  • The item is not defective and was not damaged by a customer.
  • Your selling account is in normal status when you file a claim for a lost or damaged item.

Calculating Reimbursement Value

The basics of reimbursements are simple, but keep in mind that you won’t receive the full retail value of the item. Amazon deducts their FBA and referral fee from the reimbursement amount. Retail price can fluctuate over time so should Amazon pay you for your December or April price point? Actually, they compare several price indicators to determine an estimated sale price. Here’s what they consider:

  • The median price at which you have sold the item on Amazon over the past 18 months
  • The median price at which other sellers have sold the same item on Amazon over the past 18 months
  • The current list price you have set for the same item on Amazon or the mean list price if you have multiple listings for the same item
  • The current list price for the same item from other sellers on Amazon

If these guidelines don’t produce enough information (i.e. you’ve only been selling for a month and you have no sales history), they will assign an estimated value based on the closest comparable product. There are other special cases where Amazon can calculate the reimbursement differently, but let’s not get too far into the weeds on this blog.

Reimbursement Reversals

Let’s get into what reimbursement reversals are. This occurs when Amazon takes back the reimbursement money they paid to your account and gives you the original inventory instead. This can happen for a couple reasons. If Amazon indicated some of your inventory was lost or damaged and then later finds the inventory as sellable, they may reverse, or take back, the reimbursement they gave you. Alternatively, perhaps a customer bought your item and then requested a refund. Amazon says that you will get a reimbursement if that customer doesn’t return the item within 45 days. However, we’ve seen that even after the 45 days, if the customer finally returns the product in new sellable condition, amazon will put the returned item back into your sellable inventory and take your reimbursement back. The Reimbursements report provides itemized details for all reimbursements, including those requested by you and those that are generated automatically.

Finding Those Elusive Reimbursements report

You can look at reimbursements two main reports. The first way to dig into reimbursements is in the payments report found here:

  1. In the Paymentsreport, click Transaction view.
  2. In Filter view by, select Other.
  3. In the Product Detailscolumn, search for Balance Adjustment or FBA Inventory Reimbursement.

While you can generate and download this report, it only comes in a txt file and is not as clear as this second option, which specifies the transactions better. Check this one out:

  1. In the Reports tab, click Fulfillment

2. On the left panel under Payments, click Show More

Picture4

3. The Show More dropdown will show Reimbursements

4. Go to the Download tab option and select your date range (I chose 30 days) and then download a CSV file of your reimbursements.

5. Open the CSV in your software of choice – I prefer Excel

You can see here that I have many reimbursements from customers not returning the goods on time or at all, labeled CustomerReturn. I’ve highlighted the Reimbursement_Reversals with the reason why it was a reversal in the far-right red box. In this case, the customer finally did return the unit after Amazon reimbursed my account so AMZ took their $12.75 back that they originally gave to me. Under the Reason column, two say Damaged_Warehouse. These are generally not reversed, but if a reimbursed unit has been lost and then found, it will trigger a reversal.

You can open cases if you see reimbursements that have not been paid out to your account, calling Amazon’s attention to an order number. There are also software services that you can purchase to comb through Amazon to find money you may have missed. We’ve seen some great things with Seller Locker finding thousands of dormant dollars for Amazon Sellers. Hope this blog helps you dig in and recover all the cash you are owed. You just might be surprised at what you can find!

]]> Easy Changes to Boost Your Ranking and Conversion on Amazon https://revstep.com/us/easy-changes-to-boost-your-ranking-and-conversion/ Thu, 22 Apr 2021 22:24:32 +0000 https://revstep.com/?p=13170

Easy Changes to Boost Your Ranking and Conversion on Amazon

Amazon sellers often wonder why their listings struggle after a successful launch, good reviews, and a healthy PPC budget. You might be in the same boat. Heck, you’ve been through all the YouTube videos explaining how to optimize listings and how best to manage the IPI score with smaller, quick inventory shipments.

But alas, your listing have slumped and you are spinning your wheels about how to get the listings back on track and rank better.

I’d like to suggest several small, but impactful ways you can tweak your listings to become as searchable as possible.

Easy Changes to Boost Your Ranking and Conversion

If I were to rank the value of your title and bullet points compared to your main image, I could make a case for the main image being the second most important component of the listing. Title and bullets contain a lot of copy that many consumers don’t care to read. However, they contribute to the searchability of the listing when packed with keywords. Once the customer has come across the listing, perhaps the main image is the next most important thing to attract a customer. What questions does your main pictures communicate? What questions do your images answer that the customer is wondering about?

Picture72

For example, if you are selling a glass water bottle to a mom, the first questions she might have could be:

  • Will it break easily? (i.e. it has a protective silicone sleeve, borosilicate glass doesn’t crack with extreme temp changes)
  • Is it safe for me and the environment? (i.e. Is it non-toxic, BPA-free, and eco-friendly)
  • What makes this different from other glass bottles? (i.e. bamboo lid, softer silicone, thicker glass – 3mm vs 2mm)
  • Will my kids like this? (i.e it comes in multiple sizes, has guarantee if broken in first 90 days, fits in any car cup holder)

A great way to communicate benefits while answering the potential questions this mom might have is to use simple infographics and to have explanatory photography (lifestyle use-cases at the pool or in car cup holder, for example.) I bolded the word “simple” when it comes to infographics because it can get messy fast. Just because you can put a bunch of words in your listing pictures, doesn’t mean you should.  Filling your image with words and descriptions is a turn-off, similar to slogging through bulky bullets.

With one of our tea infuser listing main images, we took and edited the main pictures with a nice white background and started selling, but it didn’t clearly communicate that the filter basket was removable or how it connected together. Sure, the listing wrote about it and other pictures showed it, but the main image didn’t answer some important questions. In response, we took individual shots of each component and aligned them to show how they all work together; our sales and ranking grew. Here’s our tweak:

Are You in the Right Category Browse Node?

Being in the right browse node can be a crucial detail that can affect your sales rank. Your browse node determines what products you are telling Amazon’s A-9 algorithm to compete against. If I was to choose the browse node of Sports & Outdoors -> Camping -> Tents,  Amazon’s Auto campaigns would apply your PPC dollars to keywords that customers looking for camping and tent equipment generally search. I don’t want to advertise a glass tea infuser to a customer looking for a 4-season backpacking tent because I would waste advertising money on keywords unrelated to water bottles, resulting in the advertising algorithm marking my listing as a poor-converting listing; ranking could subsequently drop.

Picture73

Some categories have very clear nodes, like sleeping bags. Others could straddle several categories, which give you a choice of how you want people to find your product based on its features and which competitors you want to go up against. One way to determine which category to enter is to search a popular competitor listing on Amazon.com. Scroll down about halfway to see which category the listing is in and try to find that category in the browse node tree in Seller Central. You can often see your competitor’s category under the “Product Information” section of a listing – found just before you reach the reviews section:

If you set up in the wrong category and want to change to a better fitting one, you can find an option to change the category when you edit your listings. Under “Vital Info” you can find the “Category” option and click “Edit” to choose a new one. Depending on the original category, you might find the category edit option in the tab labeled “More Details.”

Review Appropriate Keywords for Your Category

To be clear, you can rank a tea infuser in the tent category if consumers find it and start purchasing it there. Who knows, maybe people like drinking hot tea from a glass infuser in the woods to enhance nature’s vibe while singing Kum ba yah in their tent. I know I prefer to pack fresh eggs when I go car camping or even backpacking, and eggs are surely more breakable than a glass bottle! Anyway, you get the point – you will need to cater your keywords to the tent category shoppers which will differ from the keywords you would use in the Home & Kitchen category.

For example, keyword phrases like “glass camping tea infuser” could be appropriate for the tent category. But if you listed this tea infuser in the Home & Kitchen you might want to rank for search terms like “Dishwasher safe tea infuser”. Categories and Keywords are very important for ranking and sell-through.

Completely Fill Out Your Listing’s Backend

In the Manage Inventory section of Seller Central you can choose to edit any of your listings. When you click into a listing you will see two tabs that are always changing and updating due to Amazon’s ever-changing algorithm and listing requirements in their effort to stay relevant to their customers. It’s never enough to set and forget your listings and most of the updating can be done in the “More Details” and “Keyword” sections.

I see the “More Details” section as the ugly step-sister that never gets sufficient attention. Filling out EVERY part in this section is super important for helping people find your product as they refine their searching. A refinement funnel is found on the left side of the amazon search pages. It looks like this:

Picture77

If you haven’t filled out all the fields under “More Details”, you may miss out on finding the customers who know what they want and take the time to drill down using the filers.

As mentioned, different categories offer different fields for the keyword section in Seller Central and is always changing, so make sure you’re logging in frequently to make sure the listings are updated accordingly.

For example, Amazon recently eliminated the keyword section in many categories but added 5 additional bullets that are exhibited on the front end in exchange. So go check out your listings – it could help improve your ranking with a simple update.

Tweak or Tank

Eventually you may need to update your listings or Amazon can pull your ranking down. On a new account that we started managing recently had very old variation listings that were removed because they hadn’t been updated and were not compliant anymore. What was once a great account, now needs to be rebuilt to an extent! When I was growing up, I was told, “Don’t sweat the petty stuff and don’t pet the sweaty stuff.” We think you should sweat the seemingly petty stuff in the backend of Seller Central because the small details are not inconsequential and can make all the difference in ranking and sell-through.

]]> How Amazon Outlet Deals Can Help You Move Your Overstocked Products https://revstep.com/us/amazon-outlet-deals/ Thu, 15 Apr 2021 16:42:20 +0000 https://revstep.com/?p=13140

How Amazon Can Help You Move Your Overstocked Products

Over the last 4 years, I have developed some very good relationships with Chinese factory owners. They produce glass, clothes, electronics, metals, rugs, blankets, and more! Evert time I visit, we play basketball and their dream is to visit the United States to watch Lebron or Steph Curry.  So when I invited a few of them to come visit me in Salt Lake City, I planned a sweet itinerary that included snowmobiling, Yellowstone, a Jazz game, a Lakers game, and a gun range.

As if they hadn’t read the amazing planning or noticed the strings I pulled to pack all these events into a single trip, the first question they asked was “Will we have time to shop at the outlet stores?”  As it turns out, Covid ravaged the world and all their flights were cancelled and I was stuck going to the Jazz game and snowmobiling with my business partners instead. We were all disappointed!

I have never compared our local Park City Outlet shops to the outlets pages on Amazon. But guess what, the outlets are awesome and effective at helping you both clear out old or slow-moving inventory while improving your sale rank for eligible ASINs.

Your shopping behaviors may be different than mine – I like to get in get out with the item I’ve already researched. If you are looking for a go-to place for customers to shop for highly discounted, overstocked, and clearance brand and off-brand products, then you should look for the outlet store link on Amazon’s home page:

You’re right, it doesn’t say “Outlet Deals” but your outlet-eligible items will appear under the box with the title “Deals on overstock items” and the link “Shop Outlet” at the bottom.

How do Outlet Deals Work?

Want some good news? There are no additional fees for using Outlet – yay! Standard fulfillment and referral fees are still applied, however. To find out which of your ASINs are eligible for outlet deals, you can review them in the  Manage Excess Inventory tool and create deals to be featured on the Outlet page once approved by Amazon.  The Outlet store doesn’t allow you to choose just any ASIN you want to promote, but the ones Amazon deems are a good fit to help your inventory sell-through. They require a minimum 20% discount via the “Create Outlet Deal” option on the “Manage Excess Inventory” page.  

To participate, a seller account must have a rating of at least 3.5 stars and your ASINs must meet the following criteria to qualify for the Outlet program:

  • Have inventory in Amazon fulfillment centers for at least 90 days
  • Have more than 10 units of inventory on-hand
  • Have a sales history
  • Be in new condition
  • Have a product rating of at least 3 stars or no reviews
  • Not currently enrolled in Subscribe & Save
  • Not currently enrolled in another Deal promotion such as Lightning Deals
  • Not on Outlet deals in the past 60 days
  • Comply with Amazon’s customer product reviews policiesand price policies.

Even after being deemed eligible, amazon still reviews your Outlet request and may or may not approve the outlet deal.

You can stack coupons on top of the outlet deals, though it may not make sense unless you want to be super aggressive. Since you’re already discounting you should make sure you don’t accidentally have a coupon and an outlet deal running at the same time.

There are two different types of outlet titles. An “Outlet Deal” is a product that is marked down at least 30% and will be advertised for two weeks starting on the next deal cycle. An “Outlet Sale” is a discount lower than 30% and has a lower priority than the Outlet Deals. Don’t forget that Bezos loves low prices more than my Chinese factory owners love watching the NBA!

Keep in mind that the Outlet section of Amazon is not the same as the “Amazon Warehouse Deals.” They don’t sell used or refurbished items in the Outlets. These are all new and fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) sold by 3rd parry sellers.

Random Case Study

For a case study example, I clicked into page two of the sports and outdoors section of the Outlet pages and chose a random product to see if Outlets has helped. I chose a long jump rope with an original price of $12.99 and a sales rank of around 80,000.

An aggressive 50% discount should move more inventory, but you can find listings up to 70% off in Outlets. Seems like most of the listing I’ve seen are between 35% and 50% off. I was also curious how the deals are promoted outside of the Outlet pages and what a normal search result looks like when a consumer runs into that listing. To my surprise it came up with a red box advertisement that said “Limited time deal.” This made sense since the outlet deals are promoted for two-week period. I like that the red promo box grabs consumers’ attention as you can see here:

Picture65

So how are sales going since the jump rope started the Outlet deal? From the chart below, it looks like as soon as they were listed on the Outlet page with the new $6.50 price point, their sales rank dropped to around 18,000 down from 80,0000 – a drastic improvement! I’d say Outlet is producing the desired effects here.

Which Sellers Should Use Outlet?

If your IPI score is low and you’re having a hard time raising that number so your storage space limits don’t get reduced (if you don’t meet the sell-through with an IPI of 450, Amazon will shrink your eligible storage space), then you might consider Outlets. You should also keep tabs on those nasty short and long term storage fees (LTSF) that can add up on your portfolio’s sleepy products.

If your products qualify, you might want to experiment with this program to raise your keyword ranking or to re-launch a once-awesome selling item. Hope this helps as you think about what to do with your excess inventory. Please leave a comment or reach out to info@revstep.com if you have any questions we can help you with. Happy Selling!

]]> Amazon Pricing strategy https://revstep.com/us/amazon-pricing-strategy/ Fri, 09 Apr 2021 17:38:09 +0000 https://revstep.com/?p=13098

Amazon Pricing strategy

In a world of e-commerce competition on eBay, Amazon, Walmart and others, establishing a recognizable brand is paramount. Having worked in the retail buying offices at Kohl’s department stores from 2007-2010, I saw first-hand how important it was for brands to be awarded shelf-space. In those days Amazon was a smaller online store selling mostly books while most people were limited to the stores near their home to find quality consumer brands. Now customers access their favorite brands online first. With free shipping and a pandemic that has kept shoppers at home, online sales have soared.

Sellers hope that shoppers will recognize their online brand for the high quality, ergonomics, and the intricate details that they painstakingly combed through when developing it. Good quality should result in good sales and a pathway to establishing a long-term brand in a category. Unfortunately for new brands launching on Amazon, customers are looking at three things when making a purchase – main listing image, reviews, and price. Since shoppers are no longer confined to walking the isles of a store, the barrier to entering the same selling space and capturing a portion of shopper’s eyes is much lower than it was years ago. There might be thousands of competitors vying for the same shopper’s attention. Because it’s so easy to compare pricing between pages of similar products, Amazon sellers must have a pricing strategy that drives sales without eating all their margin.

A Note about Price Elasticity

Price elasticity of demand is an equation that weighs the sensitivity of quantity demanded when price changes. When price rises, demand falls for many goods. Demand falls for some products more than others when price goes up. For example, when price for potato chips goes up, demanded quantity goes down. But when price for something essential or rare goes up, demand doesn’t dip – like insulin for a diabetic; they will pay almost any price to get insulin when they need it. Insulin buyers are not price elastic (doesn’t matter the cost), most potato chip buyers are elastic (they won’t buy a $20 bag of chips.)  Knowing your target customers and their buying habits will help you know how high/low you can go before demand changes.

Cost-Plus Pricing: Know Your Cost

Before you apply a cost-plus pricing strategy (your cost + the margin you want on top), please consider if your product is differentiated or not. If it is differentiated, we don’t recommend using cost-plus pricing; you’re probably missing out on margin. If your product is essentially the same as your competitors and the only way to attract a buyer is by price, cost-plus pricing might be for you. When setting your pricing structure on Amazon (or any platform), you must have a firm grasp of what your costs are. These include production, labor, shipping, duties, advertising and marketing, Amazon fees, and those darn surprises that always seem to take another 10% off the top. As you grow, you can benefit from economies of scale, which lowers your cost per unit as it’s spread over more units. Here’s an example of cost-plus pricing:

  • Production cost: $3
  • Shipping: $2
  • Marketing: $5
  • Misc 10%: $1
  • Desired profit margin: $4
  • Your selling price: $15

This method can be a safe starting point for e-commerce beginners but beware that it’s often difficult to raise price once you’ve set the expectation with your target consumers.

Competitor-Based Pricing: Know Your Competition

If you put two similar products next to the other in an A/B test on Amazon, almost all customers will choose the lower priced product. You may have heard the term “race to the bottom” by competing on price to earn the buy box and higher sales. We don’t recommend trying to be the low-cost seller unless you truly have no added value or differentiation from other sellers in your category. Research your competitors’ prices and features relative to yours; you should know the low and high price boundaries. A basic way to price among your competition is to simply take the average of their prices as a comfortable starting point. This number is, on average, what customers are willing to pay for your product as compared to other similar items. For example:

  • Average selling price: $20
  • Your cost: $11
  • Potential Profit: $9

If you want to hit a homerun, keep your eye on the ball and count on your competition throwing you curveballs. Monitor them closely, don’t freak out and change your pricing every day, and know the general trends between several competitors so you can react carefully.

Value-add Pricing: Know your value

Your product rocks, right? Are you good at telling that story and showing people why your product is different than others’? Your pictures and descriptions are instrumental with this. If you need help, get an agency like Revstep to optimize the heck out of your listings. If you can effectively communicate your value to customers, you can charge more! Value-added pricing is a combination between cost and competitor-based strategies. Cost should always be considered when setting price!

Your “unique selling point” or USP – can be difficult to know sometimes. If you take your competitor-based price (the average competitor price), you’ll need to add a premium for the value benefit your product features. You might look for competitors in a new, but related, category that solve the same problem in a different way than your product does. What do they charge? You might be surprised what people are willing to pay to solve a problem in their life! For example, you sell rubber mats for indoor home gyms. All the competitor reviews say the rubber smells after months of use, but you have developed a non-smelly rubber. Standard competitors are selling rubber mats from $15-$25. While the average is $20, your product offers a premium experience so consider charging at or just below the highest priced product in the competitor price range – around $24. We find that pricing at or above the highest priced products in a category have slow sales if consumers can’t see the added value. Keep pricing within range, but signal that yours is better with price, pictures, and optimized descriptions. We  would recommend the following pricing with our example:

  • High price: $25
  • Value-based price: $24
  • Your cost: $11
  • Potential Profit: $13

Pricing is always a moving target based on customer demand and price elasticity (how much they are willing to bend to buy your product). You’ll know pretty quickly if customers can live happily without your added value product and higher price! This method requires testing price points over time and will probably swing depending on seasonality.

Other Pricing Considerations:

Consider dynamic pricing (think flexible pricing) when your competition price drops, you want to compete so you lower your price. If there are competitor stockouts or high demand, you raise your price. Using a repricing software could also be advantageous. Bundle pricing may be interesting if you have complementary products that are often sold together. You might save some money on the FBA shipping fee with one package rather than two. It’s a nice differentiator that also increases your average order value. Loss leader pricing can be tricky, but it can make sense in a variation listing that will grab attention with an interesting price range.  For example, if you sell leggings at $20 and one of the variations is listed at $9.99 (below your cost – the loss leader), the price will show up as $9.99-$20 which encourages consumers to visit the listing and potentially pay $20 even if they might not have originally been interested in paying that price. Here’s an example where 90% of the skus in this variation are $20.99 but the list price is from $13.99-$20.99:

Final Thoughts

A single pricing strategy is likely going to fall flat over the lifetime of your products. Most successful listings on Amazon have life cycles due to new competitors showing up and charging less, offer something newer and differentiated, listing new colors or materials or use-cases, etc. Your pricing efforts must change and adapt to the customer’s demand and their purchasing alternatives over time. You’ll catch on pretty quick as you monitor Amazon shopper’s reactions to each of your price changes and strategies. If you ever need help or consultation about Amazon pricing, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at www.revstep.com!

]]> Amazon Inventory – Should I Liquidate, Remove, or Dispose? https://revstep.com/us/amazon-inventory-should-i-liquidate-remove-or-dispose/ Mon, 29 Mar 2021 18:14:22 +0000 https://revstep.com/?p=12940

SHOULD I LIQUIDATE, REMOVE, OR DISPOSE OF MY EXCESS INVENTORY?

You love your amazon product and have no idea why it’s not selling. You invested your savings, marketed it to the best of your knowledge (but didn’t use Revstep to manage your AMZ account), and have hundreds or even thousands of units racking up expensive long-term storage fees. What should you do?

DISPOSAL ORDER

The last thing we want to do as business owners after sacrificing so much to present our product to customers on Amazon is to destroy our inventory. But as you might know, Amazon’s long-term storage fees (LTSFs) can get mighty expensive. Sometimes it’s better to stop losing money and destroy your inventory so you can live to see another Amazon day. LTSFs are like termites that eat the money tree you build your Amazon tree-house in. It’s dangerous to keep that tree; sometimes you need to clear the land and replant a new kind of money tree. What does this cost?

If you haven’t seen this chart before, it’s good to know what you’ll be paying Amazon just to throw away your over-stocked products. In a previous Amazon business we had over 2000 standard sized units of an abysmal boys legging product. They didn’t sell despite our best efforts, so we considered disposing of them. The disposal fee would have been 2000 * .30 = $600. It’s like a kick in the gut on top of the production and shipping cost to get them to Amazon! Keep this $600 fee in mind as we talk about recalling these same units.

REMOVAL ORDER

Send it back and re-list it later! This is probably the first thought you have when Amazon sell-through slows and your Inventory Performance Index (IPI score) is below the acceptable threshold. Amazon has steadily raised the sell-through requirement (IPI), which if you don’t meet, will result in less space available for inventory storage. If this score is mismanaged, inventory storage costs can become a financial albatross around your company’s neck.

In the case of my 2000 units, if recalled, they would come back to the office in 30-60 days in small shipments of 2-20 units per package. The returns are not organized by size or color and Amazon often shorts the return orders. You must be very detailed about receiving and organizing each package. This is not a problem if your quantity is small or each unit represents an expensive item. Our 2000 units were cheap and had many sizes and colors which represents a lot of time waiting for the return, organizing, and knowing when and how much to send back for another try! If it didn’t work the first time, you must think about why it will be different the second time in order for the removal order to make sense. The cost for removal is the same cost as disposal.

NEW OPTIONS FOR LIQUIDATION

If disposal feels like a waste and removal feels like a hassle, then you should consider Amazon liquidation. Amazon has negotiated with reliable liquidators to remove the hassle of reselling your overstocked units or items that can’t be sold as new. They will take care of liquidating your stock with a single click of a button. According to Seller Central, “By liquidating inventory, you recover a portion of your inventory cost (net recovery value) while avoiding the cost of monthly and long-term storage fees. The net recovery value should appear in your account within 60 days, and no later than 90 days, after your liquidation order is submitted.”

Instead of paying LSTFs and $600 to remove or dispose of my 2000 units, we could actually get paid something instead. I’m liking this new feature in seller central. I have seen mountains of clothing removal orders that never make it back into Amazon. On the other hand, I have seen 40 pallets of removal orders of a seasonal summer fan (one sku only) that was removed during winter and sent back in during the spring, which ended up making good profit despite the removal fees. There is not a single right answer for Amazon sellers struggling with excess or returned inventory. Let’s get into the cost of liquidation!

Amazon calculates a net recovery value for your products based on your average selling price (ASP) when considering the following factors:

  • Your sales history
  • The average FBA selling price on Amazon
  • The sales history of the specific ASIN

“Based on contracted rates, wholesale liquidators will purchase this inventory for a gross recovery value, which is about 5% to 10% of its ASP. Amazon will then deduct fees and pay you the net recovery value. Amazon imposes minimum ASP restrictions for product eligibility so that FBA Liquidations remains a positive transaction for sellers net of fees (see Product eligibility below).” – Amazon’s Seller Central website

Liquidators will give you a contracted purchase price and Amazon will deduct two separate fees from each item you liquidate.

  • Referral fee is between 15-17%. Yes, you still have to pay the referral fee!
  • Processing fee based on size and weight in the chart below.

Liquidation hurts so good. It is certainly better than getting poked in the eye with a sharp stick! Here is an example Amazon gives:

In my boy’s legging case, we could have discounted and have sold them at an average of $14. Mirroring this chart, we would get $14*7.5% = $1.05 – 17% = $87 – $.25 = Net Recovery Value of $.62.  While this sounds like a lousy return, let’s compare the cost associated with each option outlined here:

  • Disposal: 2000*$.30 = -$600
  • Removal: 2000*$.30= -$600 (plus re-listing and shipping expense)
  • Liquidation: 2000*$.62= +$1,240

We hope you never find yourself with low IPI scores and excess inventory. If you do, you need to think strategically about the future of the items in question. Do you want to keep promoting these items in the future? Are they seasonal and does it make sense to remove and send in during different seasons? Do you have the warehousing and organizational capacity to receive the units back and keep Amazon honest when they short you?   Can you improve your marketing strategy if you decide to recall the items back to your office?

Good luck selling out there and if you’re overwhelmed, please give us a call at Revstep so we can help you achieve your Amazon potential in North America and in Europe!

]]> Sponsored Product Ad Placement – How it Works https://revstep.com/us/sponsored-product-ad-placement-how-it-works/ Fri, 19 Mar 2021 20:55:24 +0000 https://revstep.com/?p=12912

How it Works

Amazon’s goal is to match the best product to the search terms you enter in the search bar. This increases the likelihood that you’ll buy something from their site. Ads are in the same boat as organic results in that Amazon is matching your ad group keywords (created as an Amazon PPC Sponsored Product Campaign) with the customer’s search term.  When you create an Amazon PPC Sponsored Product campaign, you’ll create Ad Groups in that campaign that you can assign product ASINs to. 

(ASINs are the Amazon Standard Identification Number – the unique identifier that represents your product)

With an Auto Campaign, Amazon is kind enough (kind…let’s not kid ourselves, everything Amazon does is about their ROI) to suggest keywords for your product. You can also help to choose these words based on your listing descriptions. When creating manual campaigns, you’ll be able to add keywords to that ad group that are relevant to your product and tell Amazon how much you’re willing to pay (your bid) if a user clicks on your product ad. Basically, if you’ve bid high enough customers will see your ad pop up at the top of a search page.

Target Types

In Amazon PPC, search terms are the most important interaction with the customer. Since we don’t communicate with consumers directly before they purchase, we must use what they are sharing as the most important information we have to reach them pre-purchase. We can talk about interacting with customers post purchase via emails and messages in another blog. It’s not possible to always advertise on a search term because you have to also consider keywords that you’re bidding on specifically. There are a few different types of keywords a campaign can bid on for clicks.

Auto Targets

Amazon helps you ease into PPC management by not requiring you to input the keywords they should bid on. The reason it’s called an automatic campaign is because the terms it will bid on is automatically populated by Amazon based on what keywords you have in your listing. This is a reason to be sure you are being accurate with the words that you use in your listing. If you fill your descriptions with non-relevant words, your auto campaigns will have less conversions because it will be advertising based on keywords that may not relate to what the customer is actually looking for.

With Auto Targets you set a maximum bid that you’re willing to pay and then let Amazon manage the bidding, placing, and matching search terms. Phew, that was easy! Wait, not so fast… Auto campaigns can be effective (if you have an optimized listing), but it’s hard to control at times because you’re authorizing Amazon to spend your PPC money on whatever keywords they deem relevant. While it’s on auto, you should not “set and forget” your automatic campaigns!  

Manual Targets

Manual Targets can require a tedious process of researching, sorting, negating, and promoting keywords into new campaigns, but they also have the most opportunity for optimizing your ads. Finding handfuls of relevant keywords with bids that maximize your ACOS (Advertising Cost of Sale), drive traffic, and convert into sales is the Amazon seller’s dream. There are different match types for keywords to help you achieve this goal. 

  • Exact Match Keyword – This is the most specific match type, and often has the highest CPC (cost per click) in the PPC space. These are the keywords that have proven to convert via other campaigns generally. You have promoted these out of auto campaigns and put them specifically in an exact campaign because these are the “exact” words or phrases customers use to find and buy your product. Phrase Match Keyword – This match type allows for additional words at the beginning or end of the search term, but requires the word or phrase used in the keyword to show up in the exact order somewhere in the search term. If we look at the term “Soft Leggings”, a phrase match could be “girl’s soft leggings”, or “soft leggings for girls. You see how the main keyword, “Soft leggings” doesn’t change?
  • Broad Match Keyword – This match type is the loosest type of keyword match of the search terms. It triggers on any combination of words in and around the keywords. Taking “Soft Leggings” again – those Keywords would fire on search terms like “soft girls leggings,” “leggings for girls that are soft,” or any other search term that has “soft” and “leggings” somewhere in it.    

Take Advantage of the Product Details Page

If you look at your campaign search terms and you come across an ASIN, you might be confused. Because no one is typing an ASIN number in the search bar. What this means is that your sponsored ad is being displayed on a competitor’s listing and stealing sales. BOOM! These product target ads show in the section of the product details page titled “Customers also bought these products” or “Products related to this item.” mentioned above.

  • Product Target – A Product Target is a specific product (represented as an ASIN in the campaign search term results) on whose product detail page you want your ad to show on. Similar to keywords, you bid to advertise on that ASIN and Amazon will promote your ad on that listing if you win the bid.
  • Category Target – This target type is broader because it shows your product ad on another detail page based on category instead of direct ASIN. For example, your “soft legging” product might show up on a search for “girl’s soft twirl dress” in the Clothing category.

Final Thoughts

In review, your listings need winning keywords that attract the right target customers (we don’t want to attract those types of buyers who won’t convert), drive sales, and make your brand more recognizable on Amazon. There are keyword mining programs such as Jungle Scout and Helium 10 that will help identify the most important keywords. Do your homework about what program works best for your purposes and good luck promoting your brand!

]]> Start Using Amazon PPC Program Now! https://revstep.com/us/start-using-amazon-ppc-program-now/ Fri, 19 Mar 2021 20:32:01 +0000 https://revstep.com/?p=12901

PPC (pay per click) on Amazon feels like a black box that takes your time and money. But is it working for you?

With the pandemic keeping people home and introducing e-commerce as a new way of shopping for EVERYTHING, there has been an incredible growth in online sales. Companies must stand out in the crowd in order to boost their rankings on Amazon. If you haven’t started your PPC marketing, it’s certainly time to get in gear.

Amazon is the place where brands are discovered and defined. More consumers in the US come to Amazon for market research than google. That’s a big deal! If consumers can’t find you because you’re not advertising, you are limiting your brand’s reach, visibility, and conversions. Let’s get cracking on how you can up your PPC game.

What is PPC?

Pay Per Click advertising is a way to get your product seen by a potential customer on an e-commerce page. You create an ad featuring your product and you bid for a spot on a webpage where a customer is searching. If the consumer clicks on the ad, you will immediately pay the bid amount (generally between $.50 and $1.50 per click on Amazon) and the customer will be taken to your listing or webpage.

Let’s check out the three Amazon PPC ad types.

Sponsored Products

Sponsored Product ads are the most common type of Amazon PPC ad to gain some momentum. It can also be the most affordable. SP ads display on the search results page on Amazon after someone has typed a specific term in the Amazon search bar. Sponsored products can be identified in the organic search results because they will have a “Sponsored” notification in them. (All Amazon PPC ads will have this notification)

There are organic search results that Amazon promotes to the front page. These promotions are based on the keywords within a listing that best relate to the terms that a consumer has typed in the search bar on amazon. However, while everyone wants to be at the very “Top of the search” position, you will always see one to several sponsored ads that put you at the top of the list before organic results are shown. Customers most commonly click on these sponsored listings first when considering purchases.

Other Sponsored Products are filtered in with organic search results through the remainder of the page listings (referred to as “Rest of Search” positions).  

Sponsored Product ads can also show up on competitor’s listing at the bottom ribbon of a detail product page and will usually be labeled “Products related to this item,” or “Customers also bought” – these are Product Target ads, a specific kind of Sponsored Product ad. 

Sponsored Brands

Don’t you wish you had filed that trademark about a year ago? Trademarks are required to be approved for Brand Registry on Amazon. Once you have that nicely submitted to the Brand team, you’ll be able to use Sponsored Brand Ads as banners across the top of the screen right under the search bar. These include your brand logo and several of your branded products that you want people to see.

There are many other placements for Sponsored Brand ads, but this one is primo, big time, unmistakable after a search.

Sponsored Display

Benefits for Brand Registered sellers include Sponsored Display ads, which are a more like what you would see on a normal website run by google adwords. They often appear below the buy-box (a great way to directly target your competitors) and on Amazon’s affiliate sites – like Google, Facebook, and even Netflix. 

So where will your ads show up and what will it cost you when a customer clicks your ad? We could talk for ages about this topic (strategies, best practices, tools, etc.), but you’re too busy managing your business to sit back and read blogs all day, right? See our Blog about Sponsored Ad Placement to learn how it works.

Final Thoughts

Is your interest piqued about Amazon PPC? PPC is clearly an important part of your Amazon sales strategy and this summary is just the tip of the iceberg. Even the most experienced brand owners and PPC managers have trouble keeping up on all the nuances of Amazon advertising. If you haven’t started your campaigns yet, the fun is about to begin!

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