Amazon Sellers Blog

If you’re serious about building your brand and your business on Amazon, then let’s talk about getting brand registered! If you’d rather watch the video instead then click the link and video below!  If you’re investing hours upon hours of your time, energy, and money into building your brand and products, then you need to protect this work by becoming brand registered with Amazon. So let’s talk about exactly what brand registry is and how you can easily obtain it. At the very end I’m also going to give you a blue-print that will help walk you through the steps that you’ll need to brainstorm in order to come up with the perfect brand name and logo for your business. So what exactly is brand registry and why should you want it?  There are 2 MAJOR benefits to becoming brand registered: #1 Peace of Mind With brand registry you’ll have protection from other sellers trying to sell counterfeits of your products, and from people trying to hijack your listings. You will be able to prove to Amazon that you are the brand owner, and other sellers will receive an IP alert for selling your products, which will hurt their account health.  You’ll also have legal action that you can take to stop counterfeiters. If need be Amazon will refer cases to law enforcement, undertake investigations, and pursue litigation to seize the counterfeit products. Lastly, other sellers can't change or edit your listings .. no one at all will be able to touch or alter them in any way. #2 Enhancement Features Once you obtain brand registry you will get access to A+ brand content. This is a major win for you, your listings, and your storefront.  With this you’ll get enhanced brand content, brand analytics for scaling, and you’ll REALLY be able to improve your plain listings to sectioned and professional looking ones. Both your listings and storefront will be able to have videos, banners, headers, a Q & A section, call to actions,  and a slideshow of photos. These enhancement features will REALLY help to gain trust with potential customers, and convert them over to buyers!  A+ brand content will also give you access to better ads, and display ads that will come up right at the top of searches when potential customers search for your keywords. You’ll also be able to post video ads, and even be able to go live on Amazon and demonstrate your products! Vine reviews - Last but not least, you’ll be eligible for the Vine program. This program allows you to get up to 30 very detailed reviews which will help to convert more customers. After all, people trust the word of other people! Having 30 well-written and very detailed reviews for your products will most certainly help to gain trust in future potential buyers, and convert them over to customers! What Do You Need Before You Can Get Brand Registered?  An Active or Pending Trademark Your trademark can either be a text-based mark, or an image-based mark. Because a text-based mark only consists of letters and is generic, I would recommend for you to go with an image-based trademark. These have complexity to them and are much easier to trademark than a single word (think Nike brand with the swoosh logo). Having a more enriched trademark will make it much more likely to get your trademark approved. Branded Products Or Packaging Next you’ll need your trade mark (that is either approved, or pending approval) to be visible on your products or your packaging. If you choose to only have your trademark on your packaging, then it must be a fixed part of your packaging. Meaning it can’t just be a sticker that you applied yourself. Your trademark must actually be printed directly onto your packaging. How Can You Obtain a Trademark? Once you’ve come up with your brand name and logo to trademark, you’ll first need to make sure that it is available for use by searching the database at USPTO.gov. If your trademark is available, next you’ll need to file the trademark application. 3 Ways To File a Trademark Application: #1 Self Apply Right on the USPTO.gov website you can fill out and file the application all on your own. Which will definitely be the cheapest way to get a trademark, but there is no guarantee that your trademark will be approved.  #2 Hired Help If you would rather hire someone to file your application for a competitive price, then head to either Fiverr or Upwork. #3 Amazon’s IP Accelerator Services This is the method that I would recommend most. These services are offered by Amazon and can be pulled up at brandservices.amazon.com/ipaccelerator. With this approach you’ll have access to law firms that Amazon has already vetted. They’ve negotiated pricing with these firms, and you’ll have a guarantee that comes along with your purchase that you’re hiring someone who knows exactly what they’re doing. Along with filing your trademark, they can even help you with researching potential brand names and logos. You also won’t have to worry about waiting upward of a year before your trademark gets approved before you can take advantage of the services and protections. You’ll immediately have access to all of Amazon’s brand registry benefits as soon as your application gets approved. Now that you have your trademark registered and your branded products or packaging, next you can apply for brand registry with Amazon. A couple of points to note:  You can enroll more than one brand on Amazon, but you have to enroll one brand at a time and fill out an application separately for each.  You also have to get registered in each country separately that you want to sell your products in. The trademark owner has to enroll the brand (not an authorized agent) To access the brand registry application go to brandservices.amazon.com. Here’s what you’ll be required to answer on the application (Don’t worry, it’s pretty short and sweet!) First you’ll need to input the brand name, and it must match exactly how you registered it! If you have an image-based mark then you will need to upload a copy of the image exactly as it appears on the trademark records Next you’ll need to input the trademark registration number that is provided by the intellectual property office  If the trademark is pending then use the application number provided by the IP office  You’ll need to list all of the categories that you want to sell your brand in The application will then ask if you have a UPC, EAN, or GTIN barcode for your products. Everything sold on Amazon has to have a barcode, so if you’re manufacturing and private labeling your products then you’ll need to purchase barcodes from gs1.org  Finally you’ll be asked if you are a manufacturer or do you distribute to others After You Submit Your Application: Once you submit your application, now you just need to wait for Amazon to verify that you are the actual rights owner of the trademark. To do this Amazon will reach out to a contact that meets their requirements, and that contact will be provided with a code that they’ll have to send back to Amazon. If you’re struggling to come up with the perfect brand name and logo to trademark, then take out a pen and a piece of paper and walk through this guide to do some soul searching! Think about and jot down your responses to each of these prompts: Who are you as a person and what do you want to accomplish? What do you want to accomplish through your brand? What do you want your brand to represent? Define who your audience is and understand what will be meaningful to your buyers To do this switch gears and look at it from a buyer’s perspective: What do you want in a brand and wish a brand could be? Model your brand based on what you’d expect and like to see from other successful brands Look at the competition in your niche- determine what they are doing right, and what they are doing wrong What voice/tone does your brand convey? Serious, sarcastic, funny, health driven?  How can you and your brand stand out amongst the competition?  Be sure to design a logo that is very clean and professional looking to gain trust with customers Colors also convey trust and send a message- think deeply about which color or colors you will use in your design  When thinking about your logo, ask yourself what message it conveys to the customer  Hopefully this guide has served as a useful tool for you in developing your trademark, and applying for your application and brand registry with Amazon!  

If you have an Amazon Seller Account that you need to manage, then you have to download the Amazon Seller App! Navigating through your account using a laptop or desktop computer can be a daunting task, but the layout of the app makes this process much easier and more simplified.  Keep reading to learn the ins and outs of the app and how to smoothly navigate through the most useful features. Or if you’d prefer, you can watch the video below!    Sales Graph The first thing that you’ll see when you load the app is this bar graph that lays out all of your product sales. You can even hit the drop-down and filter this to see the weekly view, monthly view, or year to date view. You can check in on your product sales at any time to see how much you’ve sold daily, and even compare your performance percentage to the previous month’s performance.  Add Products / Product Research Directly below the bar graph you will see a button that says “Add a Product”. This feature will be especially useful to you if you are an arbitrage seller. While you are in stores trying to find profitable products, you will use this feature to scan the products. You can either type the product manually into the search bar at the top, or you can hit the camera button and take a picture of the product or it’s UPC code. Sometimes scanning a picture of the product doesn’t always bring it up in the catalog. If this happens, don’t give up. Try typing the product in manually next. If this still doesn’t bring up a result for your product, this is when you’ll need to go into Amazon.com. Search for the item and see exactly how it’s being listed. The App is very picky, and will only bring up search results if you search them exactly like they’re listed in the catalog.  You can also get product leads here. Right beneath the search bar you will see “Top Sellers”, where you can search each category to see what’s selling the best. The “Movers and Shakers” and “Hot New Releases” will also give you good leads on products that are performing well. You’ll want to run some searches on these products and see if you can source them low enough to make a profit off of. Which brings us to the next feature of the app, the profit calculator. Selling Eligibility / Profit Calculator Now that you’ve found the product in the app, you’ll next need to know if you can sell this product or not. If you notice that there is a lock with “Request Approval” next to it, this means you currently aren’t eligible to sell this brand. You will want to click on the lock and click “request approval”. If you get approved to sell the brand then it will say “Congratulations!”. However, if the item still remains gated for you then you’ll know so because an application will pop up telling you to submit an invoice in order to sell this product. Once you’re approved to sell the product you will notice a green check mark below “Selling Eligibility”. Now you’re good to go! Check the product’s rank and reviews to make sure that this product is worth the investment. I typically like to stay within the top 2% for rank (below 180,000 for the beauty category). This product rank does fall within that range, and the 61 reviews with 4 stars isn’t bad either! Next you will want to click right below the “New” tab where it says the low price offer. This will bring up the profit calculator. First choose your fulfillment method of either Seller Fulfilled or Amazon Fulfilled. Now you can see what the low selling price is. You can change this if you want to sell this product for a different price. Directly below this you can see the estimated fees that Amazon will collect from you every time that you sell this product. Next input your shipping charges (for FBA .30 per pound is pretty typical), and then the cost you’re paying to purchase the item. Now you can quickly calculate if this item will bring you any profits! Payments Under the bar graph on the homefront of the app you will also see a button called “payments”. Here is where you will be able to see all of the funds that are available to you. You can even click on “All Statements” and you can view specific statements for each separate week. Amazon sets up a date to initiate your funds to your account each month. However, if you want the funds now that are available to you, you can always click the “Pay Me” button on the bottom and they will instantly start to initiate your funds to you.  Scroll down a bit, and here is where you can see a breakdown of all of the transactions and fees for the statement period. You’ll also notice in red an “Account Level Reserve”. This is money that is in fact owed to you, but Amazon is choosing to set it aside in a reserve for now, that you don’t have access to. This is mainly to ensure that if a customer initiates a refund on the product, there will be money set aside for Amazon to reimburse them. As a new seller you will notice that Amazon keeps quite a big chunk of your product sales and holds them in the reserve. But as you prove to Amazon that you are a good seller, and you keep good seller metrics, then you will notice that Amazon will keep less and less in the reserve and initiate more of it to you.  Account Health The next really useful tab under the bar graph is “Account Health”. This is where you will be able to see any product policy compliance complaints or violations that you have received. These can include listing violations, safety and customer complaints, and intellectual property complaints. Too many complaints and violations received, and Amazon will shut down your account (probably indefinitely). So it’s a great plan to keep track of how many complaints you’re receiving, and do your very best to not receive any at all! Manage FBA Shipments The last helpful section under the bar graph is located all the way at the bottom, “Manage FBA Shipments”. Here is where you can see exactly where your shipments are, and how close they are to being processed into your seller account. You can see which ones are still in transit being shipped, which are in receiving, and which ones have been fully received and closed. This is where you’ll be able to check in on your SKUS and have an up-to-date account of when your products are checked-in, and if there are any discrepancies in the number of SKUS you sent in vs. the number of SKUS Amazon has claimed to have received.  Manage Inventory and Orders Now head to the top of the main page. Right beside your country’s flag you will see a hamburger symbol (three horizontal lines). Click this and the first useful place to head is the “Inventory” tab. Here you will be able to see all of the ASINS you have listed in your account. You can filter them on the bottom to sort them into which ones are active or inactive. If you click on any product you will see a ton of useful information such as your current price, fees, the current lowest price, and what the buy box price is at. You can also see if your price is competitive enough to be buy box eligible, and you can even click on competitive offers to see all of the other sellers on this listing, and what they have the product price set to. If your inventory isn’t selling, you may need to adjust your pricing. If you scroll down to the bottom of this same page you will see a profit calculator. This will let you rework your numbers to make sure that the price you want to lower your product to, still makes a profit for you in the end.  You can also hit the tabs beside your pricing to see your inventory (how many specific units you have in stock), the catalog (this will take you into the Amazon listing), and your sales (specifically how many units you sold on any given day).  The last super useful feature on the app that I use under the hamburger tab is the “Manage Orders”. If you come here you will be able to see all of the orders you have fulfilled. You can check out the SKU number, unit price, and the shipping service used. You can also see the status of the transaction, and see if it is pending or if the payment has been fully completed.  I hope that this guide has been helpful to you in figuring out how to easily manage your Amazon account and your inventory using the Amazon Seller App. If you have any additional questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section below. 

What could an extra 20K each month do for you? What if I told you that this can be totally achievable!!! There is an untapped abundance of profit to be made by selling in Amazon’s Small and Light program. Keep reading to learn how to do this, or simply click the video below to watch how. Most Amazon sellers steer away from selling products that are light if they are listed for under $10. With the vast variety of FBA fees (referral fee, fulfillment fee, storage fee) this can leave little to no room to make a profit. But did you know that there is a way to decrease the amount that you are paying in fees? What is the Small & Light Program: Quite simply, this program is a way to decrease shipping prices for Amazon, while also decreasing the fees that you pay per item to Amazon (it’s a win-win!). If you have an item that falls within the qualifications, then you can apply this product to be in the small and light program, rather than the regular FBA program. To have your item approved for S&L it must meet the following requirements: Be in new condition Measure 18 x 14 x 8 inches or less Priced at $8 or less Weighs no more than 3 pounds Is not restricted, or FBA prohibited Is not an adult product Is not temperature sensitive (like chocolate) If your item checks all of these boxes, then you can go into your Amazon Seller account, pull up the Small & Light product enrollment page, and enter the MSKU (not the ASIN) for your products!  Benefits of the S&L Program: There are 5 major benefits to using this program: Reduce your fulfillment costs- this will help to improve your margins FBA Eligibility- Your items will STILL come with all of the FBA program benefits of fulfillment and customer service. Your offers will also compete just as equally against the other FBA offers of this same item that are not in the S&L program. Which means you won’t have to jeopardize your share of the buy-box.  There is no minimum purchase or add-on item features. The products are still Prime eligible for all of the Amazon buyers with Prime accounts. Quickly scale your business upward How it Works: Let’s say for example you find a 2 lb. item that you want to list for $7 that is non-apparel, and a non-dangerous good. The typical FBA seller will run this item through a profit calculator and the most common fees they will see will total $5.14. Now this doesn’t leave a lot or room to figure in actually sourcing the item and factoring in shipping costs. When all is said and done, this item will show little to no profit at all on most sales calculators. But this SAME item, enrolled in the Small & Light program, would only incur a total fee amount of $4.21 (rather than $5.14). Now this may not seem like a significant difference, but where there may have been zero profit before, this will give you more wiggle room and now you might see at least $1 profit to be made. If you can source this product for $1 from a wholesale distributor, then that would be an ROI of 100%! Now if this item sells 200 units per month, that is $200 profit that you can make on this one item alone! And because nearly ALL of the other sellers will be seeing this as a non-profitable item, the competition should be low!  Which Profit Calculator Should You be Using? I mention that most profit calculators (Amazon’s included!) don’t factor in small and light fees, only FBA fees. BUT ProfitGuru’s Profit Calculator is one that actually does!  How to Find Products & Brands to Sell: From ProfitGuru’s brand tab, you can set advantance filters to find brands that are already selling really well on Amazon, and that have a large variety of products available. Once you have established a wholesale account with a brand or distributor then you can ask for their catalog of products. Hopefully this catalog will be FILLED with tens of thousands of products. Running each one manually through Amazon, and then through the PG profit calculator would take an eternity! But luckily, you don’t have to go through this tedious and time-consuming process. You can instead pop that catalog right into the Bulk Analysis section in ProfitGuru, and it will very quickly scan each product and let you know which ones are profitable! Some good filters to set are: sales rank less than 100,000 (this will help to filter out products that aren’t selling very well), profit from $1, and ROI from 50%. Save Prep Time & Minimize Risks: In most cases amazon allows commingling on these items, so the manufacture barcode is used rather than the FNSKU. Meaning there’s no prep work for you!  Simply receive the order from the supplier, list it in your Amazon account, then send it into the Amazon warehouse! If they don’t require a FNSKU to be put onto the items, then you don’t even need to open the box! This method is also way less riskier than the regular wholesale model. What happens a lot in the wholesale model is sellers start to compete and drop the prices lower and lower until the item no longer is profitable. With S&L this doesn’t happen as often, and when it does in most cases you can at least break even. Now go out there, enroll those products into the S&L program, and start tapping into that profit! Happy Sourcing!  

If you sell on Amazon, then seeing the dreaded “Access Restricted- You Must Apply for Approval” message is something that you are probably all too familiar with. This can serve as a huge barrier when you’re ready to start diversifying the products, categories, and brands that you want to sell. But the good news is, getting ungated (approved without restrictions) to sell in new categories and subcategories is actually pretty easy to accomplish. Let’s cover exactly how to easily do this! OR if you’d just like to watch the video, click the link below to head to our new YouTube channel. Why does Amazon gate certain categories, subcategories, brands, and products? Amazon started this process of gating and ungating in August of 2016. Really, this is Amazon’s way to protect their platform from having counterfeit items being sold and purchased. Many large brands (like Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour) will be gated to protect the quality of the products,and ensure only select and respectable sellers are able to sell these brands. Essentially sellers have to go through this hassle of ungating to prove themselves as a good seller, and to protect customers from the potential of purchasing fraudulent products.  You’ll know if you are gated because when you look up an item with your Amazon Seller Central App or using your PC, it will come up as “restricted” or “request approval”. How can I get ungated? There are 4 simple methods that you can use to easily get ungated. The simplest method is absolutely free, but does require some time and patience on your part; and that is the method of being auto ungated. Method 1: Auto Ungated You’ll notice that as a new seller, there will not be a large variety of categories and brands that are not available for you to sell in. But as you prove yourself as a respectable seller, you will be auto ungated more and more! Whenever you are prompted to “request approval” to sell an item, ALWAYS click the request button! If the next screen pops up and says “Congratulations! Your application has been approved based on your performance history”, then you have just been auto ungated! This means that you do not have to do any additional steps to sell in this category or brand. The more that you sell and build up good seller metrics (have less than <2% in negative reviews, returns, and late shipments if you’re a fulfilled by merchant seller) then the more likely that you will be auto ungated! However, if your application is not auto approved, then the next screen will bring up a selling application, similar to the one that you see below.  And this brings us to the second method of getting ungated, making purchases. Method 2: Making Purchases For this method your first obstacle will be finding a good wholesale distributor to work with. It is super important that you order the items from a wholesale distributor, rather than a store name like Target or Walmart. The difference is, the wholesale distributor will provide you with a detailed and finalized invoice (this is crucial to getting ungated). ProfitGuru makes it super easy to find thousands of wholesale distributors that are willing to work with Amazon sellers!  The other crucial component to this method is ordering the right quantity. The secret number is ten. After you find a category, subcategory, brand, or product that you want to get ungated in, and you’ve also found a wholesale supplier to purchase the items from, you will need to order ten of that same item.  Once you have the items in hand and the finalized invoice, then it’s smooth sailing from here. Take clear photographs of all ten items together (from all side angles, front and back), and save the invoice as an uncustomizable PDF file. Upload the documents and submit for approval.  Method 3: Opening an Amazon Business Account Another option is to open up an Amazon business account. Now this is separate from your regular purchasing account, or your selling account. This is a specific business account. Once you’ve opened up a business account, you can then go on Amazon and follow the same steps as the method above! Find a product that falls into the brand or category that you want to get ungated in, and then order at least 10 of that product from Amazon. Once you’ve received the items, take the pictures and upload the invoice! Method 4: Hiring an Ungating Service If all else fails, you can indeed pay an ungating service to get you ungated. But be careful here, not all services are created equal. We would definitely recommend that you do your research before you invest in hiring a service. Be sure to read reviews, and ensure that they are a respectable ungating service provider before you hire them!  How Long Will it Take for my Application to be Approved? This question is difficult to answer with certainty. It could take as little as a few hours, upward to a few weeks. It really depends on the time of year that you are submitting the application. If it is a busy time for Amazon, it will take longer for them to fully review the application and make a decision.  The Entire Umbrella of a Category Will NOT be Unrestricted Once you become approved to sell within a category, you’ve only removed one layer of chains. For example, if you get approved in “health and beauty” there will still be subcategories like “topicals”, and brands like “Burts Bees” that will still be gated for you. In this case, you will have to repeat the ungating steps for each subcategory and brand within the original category that you got ungated in. Extra Tips to Getting your Application Approved: Be sure that the invoice is a finalized invoice, and that it shows that the goods have been paid for! The invoice must also be saved as a version that cannot be edited. Down in the “optional comments” field at the bottom of the application, include your distributor’s contact information. It’s also helpful to type something like, “ I purchased ________ from _________ who is an authorized distributor of __________. I have included their contact information. Please feel free to reach out to them to verify.”  If your application is not approved on the first try, keep reapplying! Sometimes the application may be received by a bot. This bot may overlook something, and reject the application. If there are any suggestions as to what you need to fix on the application, then do so. Otherwise, just keep resubmitting the application in hopes that it goes to an actual person who will then approve it.  Get ungated in several categories or brands on the same invoice! You can purchase, for example, ten of a food item in the “grocery and gourmet food” category as well as ten toy items in the “toys” category. Use this same invoice and submit it to get ungated in both categories! 

Have you been wanting to get started with selling on Amazon, but you’re not really sure how to start? I can 100% relate to this feeling. Odds are that you probably already buy products online from Amazon. The platform receives over 2 billion website visitors monthly, and ~1 billion is retail sales daily.  But did you know that over half of these sales come from 3rd party sellers? Whether you want to sell wholesale, private-label, or arbitrage products, there’s room for everyone to jump on board on the Amazon platform! So if you’re ready to take the first step in starting a successful Amazon reselling business, then keep reading to learn exactly how to successfully set up your seller account. Or check out this video for a step-by-step guide. 10 EASY STEPS TO OPENING UP AN AMAZON SELLER ACCOUNT Click here to take you to the seller application Step 1: Choosing your account type The first thing you’ll need to decide is which of the two account types you’d like to open. You can choose between an individual plan, or a professional plan. But don’t fret over which one to choose because you aren’t locked into this plan. At any time, if you’d like to change your account type you are able to easily do so.  Professional Plan: This plan will cost you $39.99/monthly. However, it is the plan that we will recommend that you go with! This is the ideal plan for a number of reasons. The first reason is you will be eligible for the Amazon FBA (fulfilled by Amazon) program. With this program you will send your inventory into Amazon for them to store in their warehouses, ship to the customers, and even handle all of the customer service. If this isn’t enough to sell you on this plan you’ll also be opened up to more categories that you can list and sell in. Additionally, if you plan on running any campaigns on your products, you’ll only be able to do so with the professional plan. Individual Plan:  This plan will not cost you a monthly fee, however it will charge you .99  for each item that you sell. Some quick math will tell you that if you plan on selling over 40 items each month anyways, then the Professional plan is a no-brainer.  Step 2: Email and Mobile # The first thing that you’ll need is a valid email address. If you already have an Amazon account set up, then you could use this same email. However, if you’d prefer to keep pleasure and business separate, then this is the time to set up an email account specifically for your business.  Next you’ll be asked to input your mobile phone number. Amazon will immediately send you a OTP (one time pin) that you’ll need to enter.  Step 3: Business Location and Business Type First you will choose the country in which your business is located. Next, from the drop-down box you’ll choose your business type.  State-owned business Publicly-owned business Privately-owned business Charity None, I am an individual If you’re confused by these options, then you’re probably going to go with the “None, I am an individual” option. This business type is for those who want to sell wholesale, or arbitrage items. Arbitrage is simply the art of taking advantage of price differences across markets. You’re finding items for lower, and reselling them for higher (think buy low, sell high!)  The other option that you may fall under is the “Privately-owned business”. This is for individuals who plan to private label items. This means you’re finding manufacturers to produce generic items, that you will then put your own label and brand on.  The other options are less-likely to apply to you. If your company is state-owned or a charity then you will choose those options. The publicly owned or listed business just means it is a giant company.  Step 4: Company Registration Now you’ll need to enter in your EIN (employer identification number). This is a 9-digit number that is assigned for your business by the IRS. If you don’t have an EIN you can apply and receive one in minutes by going to IRS.gov. You may also choose to use your social security number here instead.  Next you’ll enter your business address and phone number. If you don’t have a separate location where you run your business, then it is completely fine to use your residential address and personal phone number.  Step 5: Seller Info Here you will enter in your citizenship, country of birth, date of birth, residential address, and phone number.  Step 6: Payment Info For this step you’ll need to have a valid bank account number. If you are outside of the USA, you can set up a bank account at websites like payoneer.com. You may choose to use your personal bank account credentials here, but we would recommend that you set up a business banking account. It is just going to make your life a lot easier in the long-run to keep all of your business finances together in one place. You can take your LLC, or DBA paperwork right to your local bank to set up a business account.  From the drop-down box choose your financial institution’s name. If you don’t see it listed, then scroll all the way down and choose “other” to type in your financial institution. Now you’ll need to enter in your routing and bank account numbers. This is so that Amazon knows where to pay you your money (cha-ching).  Step 7: Billing Info For this step you’ll be asked to enter in a credit card. It is super important here that you do not use a debit card, prepaid card, or anything else other than a credit card. Amazon needs this card on file so that they can collect any charges from you that you may incur. Typically this is your account fees and FBA fees.  Step 8: Store Name Now it’s time for some fun! What will you choose to name your storefront? Now don’t get stuck here for too long… the name that you choose can be changed at any time. But some ideas to think about when choosing your store’s name. If you have a specific brand, your store’s name does not need to be the same name as your brand. Generally it’s a great idea to choose a name that is broad and generic. Especially if you plan to sell across a lot of different categories. Unless you’re only coming to Amazon to sell one specific item, then you might choose to make that item your store’s name. Or, if you are only staying in one specific niche then you may want to incorporate that into your name. For example, if you only plan to sell pet supplies, then you might want your name to specifically mention pet supplies.  On this same page you will be prompted to answer some “yes/no” questions.  UPCs are universal product codes. These are the barcodes that come on every product that you buy from anywhere. If you are selling arbitrage then all of your products will already have UPC codes on them. However, if you plan to private label then you will need to purchase UPC codes for all of your products from GS1.org. Next you’re asked if you are the manufacturer or brand owner. This again will apply to you if you private label.  For the trademark section, you don’t need to have any special trademarks for your business. However if you private label, then you might want to consider getting yourself a trademark. You’ll also be able to enter any diversity certifications on this page that you may have (women-owned business, veteran, etc.).  Step 9: Upload Documents For this final step you will need a valid passport or driver’s license. Be sure that when you upload these photos that they are crystal clear and not grainy looking at all. If there is any question in the clarity, then Amazon will not accept these documents after reviewing them and you’ll need to take new photos, which will significantly hold up the process.  If your bank was not automatically verified, then you’ll also be prompted to upload a bank statement. Again, make sure that the statement is crystal clear if you’re taking a photograph. It is best to log in to your bank account online, and download a pdf of your most recent transactions to upload instead. Now go ahead and submit your application!! Step 10: Additional Documents and Verification Call Sometimes Amazon may ask you for a utility , or send you a code in the mail to verify your residency. You’ll lastly need to sign up for a verification phone call with Amazon. Don’t worry too much here, the call is super fast, easy, and painless. In total, it takes roughly 10 minutes so long as you’ve uploaded everything correctly. A representative from Amazon will get on a video call with you to verify your documents. They will also ask you to hold up your identification so that they can see the ID matches your face, and you are who you say you are.  And that’s it!! Congratulations on taking the first step in growing your profitable Amazon business. E-commerce is growing exponentially at an increasing pace. There’s no better time than right now to take advantage of this growing opportunity! If you have any more questions about how to open up your Amazon Selling Account, let us know in the comments!

Have you ever wondered why prices for the same product can vary widely across e-commerce platforms? That’s because third-party sellers use online arbitrage and retail arbitrage to make a nice profit using the internet.  Know the Difference Between Online Arbitrage and Retail Arbitrage Online arbitrage is the practice of purchasing products from one online marketplace, usually at a low cost, and then reselling them on another online marketplace at a higher price point. Retail arbitrage involves buying a product at a discounted price from a physical store, then reselling it for a higher price to make a profit. Given the way people buy and sell products, we speak of retail arbitrage and online arbitrage mostly with regard to Amazon, as it’s the largest online retailer in the world. Online arbitrage and retail arbitrage both offer an easy way to make a profit. Even novices can join, thanks to the Fulfilled By Amazon (FBA) and similar programs, which offer in-depth guidance in handling orders. Before we go into detail about these methods, let’s take a look at the various kinds of Amazon sellers. How can you tell the difference between each seller type? It boils down to two factors: Product source - where the sellers originally bought the item Manufacturing process - the way a product is made Seller Types on Amazon Liquidators or overstockers are sellers who buy liquidation and overstock, then simply list out the products on Amazon for resale. Generic private labelers initially purchase unbranded goods directly from manufacturers. Then, these sellers customize the items with their own branding, logo, and packaging styles before putting them on Amazon for sale.   Wholesale resellers establish accounts with reputable brands and buy products in large volumes at bulk pricing. Normally, wholesale resellers sell products on Amazon with a control on prices and in adherence to the brand’s own rules.    Brand builders or creatives are people who design and curate their own products, then use Amazon as a platform to reach interested buyers. Product designers are individuals who typically produce printed clothing and other customized merchandise and use Amazon’s print-on-demand merchandise market platform (Merch by Amazon) to resell them to a niche target audience.   Retail Arbitrage – Everything You Need to Know Retail arbitrage is a popular technique for online resellers. This more traditional approach is reminiscent of a treasure hunt, as it involves going to brick and mortar stores and combing through their stocks for low-priced items.  You would need: A lot of patience  A keen eye for quality Research skills Organizational skills Number skills How Retail Arbitrage Works Imagine you find a toy that sells for $15 in your local big-box store. An identical item sells for $20 on Amazon. With retail arbitrage, you can purchase the toy from the physical store at a lower price, then sell it online. You get to pocket the difference, minus Amazon’s fees and shipping costs.  Retail Arbitrage Process  Research and Sourcing The best way to purchase discounted products from a retail store is to collect promo codes and coupons. In order to get hold of these little things, you need to pore over sales ads in newspapers and on websites.   Check out clearance racks and out-of-season piles for better deals. Resellers use a scanner to read barcodes on products and shelves, trying to find the best bet.  Most grocery or retail stores are packed with a large number of shoppers, so this may take some time. After you have identified the best prices, you need to actually buy the products. That may involve standing in a long line at the billing counter.  Don’t forget to remove the original price tags from the items. Shipping After wrapping and packing the items, spend time jotting down listings for shipments, get down to printing labels, and applying the labels to the items.  Next, pack the items neatly in boxes. Make sure that the items fit the standards of Amazon packaging.   Finally, transport the boxes via UPS and wait for the packages to arrive at Amazon warehouses. Benefits of Retail Arbitrage With minimal capital, retail arbitrageurs can start a business quickly and make a considerable amount of money on Amazon or eBay. Retail arbitrageurs can purchase items without having to wait on the shipping or manufacturing of inventory to reach Amazon FBA warehouses. As soon as they can procure the inventory, these resellers can immediately list items for sale on Amazon. Limitations of Retail Arbitrage However, retail arbitrage has disadvantages that can hold you back from achieving immediate and long-term business goals.  It requires a lot of time, effort, and travel.  Buying in bulk means you would need a lot of storage space. Stocks in your preferred stores may be limited or unavailable.  The process can be frustrating and repetitive.  Retail arbitrage can be challenging to scale and automate. Online Arbitrage – A Better Option?  While retail arbitrage and online arbitrage have the same goal — to earn a profit by selling merchandise online — the processes involved have a key difference. Retail arbitrage requires you to visit physical stores to purchase products, which you then sell online. In contrast, the whole process of online arbitrage is done using the internet. With just a few clicks, you can order items for reselling and have them shipped to your home or third-party packaging companies. You may not even have to handle the products in person. Simply buy inventory from retailer websites from the comfort of your home or office. Since everything is done online, you can even outsource parts of the process and scale your business. Online arbitrage may prove to be a less stressful method for you. After all, you won’t need to visit brick-and-mortar stores, clip coupons, or hold a scanner. What are the other advantages of this approach? Benefits of Online Arbitrage It involves less risk for sellers as they won’t need to purchase in bulk. Online arbitrage enables you to resell branded products minus overhead expenses (e.g., storage space, transportation costs).  Frees up time as this method does not require your physical presence. Allows sellers to access a more diverse range of products.  Stock quantities are higher online, so you have a larger inventory. You can take advantage of existing online listings that rank high in terms of sales.    You can accumulate reward points if you use your credit card to purchase items. Redeem them to win other perks in the future. Gives you the opportunity to work with third-party companies in tax-free states. Online stores are often stacked with astonishingly rapid shipping plans, so your products will hit Amazon warehouses faster. Limitations of Online Arbitrage Given the fact that you are not sourcing your products from a wholesaler or manufacturer, you end up paying more than the market price for products. This means that you make a profit, but the profit margin is smaller.  Amazon already has the best deals and offers products at the cheapest prices. As a result, it’s difficult to find cheaper products anywhere else. Searching for the optimum product can be a neverending ordeal.  Since you make smaller profits with online arbitrage, it’s often tough to gather funds to buy bulk inventory. This means that growing your business becomes that much tougher. Best Online Arbitrage Tools and Software Is online arbitrage worth the effort? Yes. But to earn a hefty profit, you need to scale and automate your business with the right tools.  This way, you can focus on the more significant aspects of your business and avoid burning out. Here are some of the software and tools that can help you succeed at online arbitrage. You can also use them for part of the process of retail arbitrage. Product Sourcing Tools The best way to find products that meet the criteria for an online selling business is to use software that is compatible with Amazon’s FBA product sourcing.   Product sourcing tools are an absolute necessity because:  They help you discover profitable products that are in high demand.  They help you determine which products feature minimal risk, easy sources, and fast shipping. They help you figure out which products are seasonal and which products can be sold all year round. Top 2 Product Sourcing Tools Tactical Arbitrage - Tactical Arbitrage is a trusted software that can help you source the best products for your Online Arbitrage business with ease and minimum effort.  It offers sellers thousands of online retail marketplaces that are totally easy to find. This product sourcing tool features a well-developed algorithm that can, within a matter of seconds, determine and measure factors like product discounts, Amazon FBA fees, shipping expenditures, profit margins and ROI.  “I’ve been with TA since the beginning – it started off strong and has grown more powerful than I ever thought possible. ” - Dan from Mallarco. SourceMogul - With Source Mogul you can beat your competition, stay on top of your Online Arbitrage game, scan over 20 million products per month, and source the right products for your business by using detailed and accurate graphs and estimates.  “Wow, SourceMogul has been a huge time saver when trying to source products for resale.” - Mike from the United States.  Price and Rank History Tools Price and rank history tools are software that can help you understand the overall performance of your selling product over a period of time. You will get data in the form of graphs and statistics. They highlight which products have sold the most in the past and which products have a good potential market value.  Here’s why you need price and rank history tools:  To help set realistic price-related expectations and performance standards  To help lessen manual labor  To help your products overall performance  Top 2 Price and Rank History Tools ProfitGuru Sales Estimator -  The Sales Estimator is your go-to seller tool for detailed price history charts, rank history graphs and price drops. ProfitGuru lets you check a product’s monthly sales volume using its ASIN. In addition to the sales estimate, you’ll see the number of sellers so you know the level of competition you’re facing. "One thing I especially like is their Historical Data feature. I don’t have to download anything and I can get all the data I need to make better decisions when sourcing my private-label products." - Christine P. Keepa -  Detailed Price History charts for over 1.5 billion Amazon products.  “I am impressed with the number of features of this 'little' extension. You can get all kinds of information about price variation of the products that you are watching with graphs and even tracking alerts notifications!” - Anonymous  Repricing Tools Repricing tools are designed for Amazon sellers who wish to generate more sales and gain higher profits. If you want your online business to grow exponentially, understanding the need for repricing tools and using the best ones is crucial to your success. Here’s why you need repricing tools: They analyze multiple market factors, which help determine the appropriate dollar value of resold items. This process can significantly boost sales.  Automated repricing software automatically updates prices on product listings. This feature can keep a seller up-to-date with price differences and the evolving nature of Amazon’s product listings and trends. Top 2 Repricing Tools Bqool - Bqool is a repricing tool, packed with aggressive, intelligent, and performance-centric AI powered strategies that cater to your business needs with efficiency. It offers to evaluate your profits and ROI, then strategically schedule repricing for heightened profits. Plus, it’s easy to set up. “BQool is top when accomplishing repricing and customer service automation tasks and winning the all-important Buy Box.” - Jorge Saldaña Alegre, Owner Feedvisor - Feedvisor boasts of a state-of-the-art patented pricing technology that spots your competition in terms of product repricing and develops prices to meet your business goals.  “Feedvisor has become an indispensable component to our Amazon advertising strategy. Their platform and expert team have enabled us to increase market share and optimize our presence on Amazon, and we are very impressed with the consistent results we have seen across our clicks, conversions, sales, and ACoS. The predictive reporting and automated optimizations allow us to always stay one step ahead of our competitors while increasing our operational efficiency beyond human capabilities.”  -Adam Shaffer | EVP, General Manager, Chief Marketing Officer | Omni-Channel Distribution Dropship Automation Tools Dropship automation tools ease the process of managing e-commerce activities. They can make your business profitable and sustainable.  Here’s why you need dropship automation tools:  They help you manage your orders in an organized and stress-free fashion.  They help you mitigate risks.  They help you tactically administer sales from multiple channels. Top 2 Dropship Automation Tools Inventory Source - This Dropship Automation Tool is the oldest in the business. Inventory Source automates every process a dropshipper carries out, from uploading product information on a current website to automatically updating product details provided by the suppliers.  “Inventory Source is the linchpin between our ERP and our 3PL Warehouse. Having experts in this space that had worked with the complexities of 3PL order management certainly helped us achieve our goal of automating the order loop.” - Luke Droulez, Parachute Home Printful - Printful offers a wide range services that are useful to a dropshipper. From monitoring orders to selecting products, Printful automates every step of the process. “Starting an online store with Printful was a hassle-free process. The strong support system was very useful in setting up the store. A wide range of products from Printful has helped Fresh Films to showcase the unique designs at its full potential.” - Rohit, Fresh Films  Main Takeaway Retail and online arbitrage make it possible to earn a profit by reselling products online. That is, as long as you have a well-laid out plan and an organized system in place. Otherwise, these methods may not be as lucrative as you hope. Given its convenience and scalability, online arbitrage offers more potential for profit.   

How has the pandemic affected you? If the company you worked for was forced to close down or reduce your working hours, then you need to find an alternative source of income. These days, landing a second job may not be all that easy. But with the entire populace in quarantine, a new opportunity has opened up. Online shopping has increased exponentially and people today are shopping more on e-commerce platforms than ever before.  One of the easiest ways to do it is by becoming an eBay seller. You can start right away. Read on to find out how. Product Research Made Simple Start with the white elephants in your home. Scour your garage, open your old boxes of memorabilia, look in every nook and cranny of your attic. If you can find collectibles, trendy items, and branded goods from bygone eras, chances are, there’s an eBay shopper ready and eager to pay for them. An easy way to start is to scour your garage, open your old boxes of memorabilia, look in every nook and cranny of your attic When you’ve run out of used stuff to sell, you will have gotten your feet wet on the hows and whys of eBay, ready for the big guns of new and branded products. Start Small, Progress to Medium, Graduate to Large Selling what you already have means zero investment in products and 100% profits. You can now use your earnings to purchase items and expand your business. Here are the different ways you can do that on eBay: Continue Offering Used Goods If you find that you are good at unearthing priceless antiques, why not make it a permanent thing? Many top eBay sellers began as hobbyists until they found it lucrative enough to be an additional income stream or even a main source of livelihood. Reach out to your family, friends, and neighbors. Offer to buy their collectibles at garage sale prices, or volunteer to search for the items in exchange for getting them for free. When you’ve exhausted your nearby sources, it’s time to visit thrift stores. Look for designer clothing, toys, board games, video games, media players, TV remotes, and books. These have a captured market on eBay. Just make sure they are all in good and working condition. Shop Wholesale, Resell at Retail Clearance sale products, particularly toys and electronics, have a high resale value on eBay. Visit Walmart, Target, bargain basements, or similar depots that focus on low prices. Visit Walmart, Target, bargain basements, or similar depots that focus on low prices While at the store, scan the barcodes of your selected items using the eBay phone app to check their sale potential. Then, calculate your estimated profits using the Salecalc app. You don’t need to add shipping costs as you may charge your customers an additional fee for it. You can then purchase the products in bulk and list them on eBay. This process is called Retail Arbitrage. Private Labeling Thanks to technology, you can now source products overseas that are offered at much lower prices. Online marketplaces, such as Alibaba and IndiaMart, cater to wholesale buyers. The best part is, you can brand these goods your way. While this may be a longer process than other options, your ROI will be worth the effort in the long run. Also, you can build your brand on the side while selling your store-bought items. What does private labeling involve? Coming up with a brand name, designing a logo and packaging, sourcing and selecting products, and shipping from the source country to your doorstep. All these are done online and may be outsourced. Ensure Profitability Adding your overhead expenses to your mark-up would not be enough to grow your business. You must also top up with the seller fees charged by eBay. While signing up as an eBay seller is free, the platform needs to make money (of course), and it does so through insertion fees. This is what you pay each time you list an item, even in duplicate listings, and even if your item is not sold. An eBay seller is granted up to 200 free listings per month. Beyond this, you must pay 35 cents per listing. This fee applies to most products, with a few exceptions. In addition, eBay charges a referral fee of up to 12.35% of the total price of your product, including shipping. The percentage depends on the category and can go as low as 4.35% for some categories. Factor in Demand and Pricing How can you determine the sales potential of your private-labeled products when you have no barcodes to scan and upload to the eBay app? You guessed it. There’s also an eBay app for that! It’s called Terapeak, a tool that tells you the supply, demand, and pricing trends on the platform. It’s free with a Basic, Premium, Anchor, or Enterprise eBay Store subscription. Down to Brass Tacks: How to Become an eBay Seller Now that you know your business model options and the various ways you could find products to sell on eBay, let’s go through the process of how you can officially become a seller on this marketplace. Create Your Account The first step is signing up for a free subscription. You can upgrade later on to an eBay Store paid plan if you wish to do this full-time. Just like with any membership, you will be asked to fill out your personal information, the most important of which is your choice of payment method(s). This is your bank account (checking, credit card, or debit card) where you will receive payments from customers and from which you will send seller fee payments to eBay. With the platform’s Managed Payments tool, your customers’ payments are forwarded directly to your bank account. You may also opt for automatic deduction of seller fees from each transaction (recommended) instead of manually doing it monthly. Craft Your Listings Now you’re ready to list your products. This may be done in minutes, literally, on a computer or smartphone, but it is advisable to take your time. Give your products a competitive edge by making your listings stand out from your competition and by taking advantage of all the elements available. eBay allows sellers to upload up to 12 images per product. Make sure to take very clear high-resolution photos under excellent lighting and from every possible angle, including the packaging and labels. Next, compose a well-written product description highlighting features and focusing on their benefits.  Then, fill out the product specs carefully. Double-check if the dimensions, weight, colors, and other attributes are correct. Pay attention to your returns, replacements, and money-back guarantees. And finally, choose your pricing. Buy It Now locks in an item’s price, while Auction opens it up for bidding. Also, make it clear if shipping is included in the sales price or added on checkout. Take Care of Fulfillment and Shipping Unlike Amazon, eBay does not provide fulfillment and shipping. But don’t worry, you won’t be left out in the cold. You can purchase shipping labels on the platform, enter the weight and dimensions of your product, provide the ship-to address of your customers, and then print them out. If you wish, you may pack your items in advance so that when a sale comes in, all you need to do is purchase, print, and stick the label. You’ll be ready to take the package to or request pickup from FedEx, UPS, or USPS in minutes. Once done, do not forget to mark the order as shipped so your customer will know when to expect the delivery. eBay also offers its sellers the option to ship internationally. You can find this option in the Delivery section of your account. The Global Shipping Program accepts parcels in their domestic shipping center, where they are processed through customs and shipped to their respective destination countries. Mind Your Customer Service Going through your product preparation meticulously before shipping is preferable over handling complaints – or worse, negative feedback – post-delivery. Here are some steps you can take to avoid the latter: Create accurate listings, from the images and product description to the specs and shipping costs add-on Pack your products tightly with protective wrapping and ensure they go out in durable packaging Ship out orders the same day you receive them, or the next day at the latest Offer a 30-day return policy, or even 60 days if possible Respond to customers’ messages asap or within 24 hours Promote Your Products If you are an Above Standard or Top Rated seller with recent sales activity, then you can advertise your eBay listings on the platform. Simply tick the Sell It Faster option at the bottom of the summary page, and set your ad rate based on the percentage of the final sale price that you’re willing to pay to eBay. They will match your rate with the corresponding promotion, including placing your listing on top of the search results. The great thing about advertising on the eBay platform is that charges apply only on sold items, and not on the frequency of your ad placement. Conclusion When the economy is unstable, it’s always wise to have a Plan B that you can fall back on to cover your daily expenses. Being an eBay seller is an attractive alternative you must explore. It doesn’t require a starting capital, and you can get up and running in a day. And if you put in the work, it may even turn out to be your Plan A.  

If you’ve ever clicked on one of Amazon's bestsellers or Amazon's Choice, the first thing you’ll notice is that beautiful custom designed product display page with tons of pictures, videos and engaging content. You don’t get to bestseller status without going all out on design but that’s just half of the picture when it comes to registering your brand with Amazon.  Custom designed product display page on Amazon Amazon is a great tool today to increase sales online. However, there are still many problems that sellers might run into which can hinder how effectively they’re able to market their products. This includes unalterable product listings and not being able to modify details of other products under your brand.  This is where Amazon’s brand registry comes in. Registering your brand with Amazon allows you to gain complete control over your product listings. Visit Amazon Brand Registry Page What Is the Amazon Brand Registry? Brand Registry allows brand owners / authorized sellers to have greater control over their brand and enjoy enhanced reporting tools for better analysis. The Amazon Brand Registry allows verified brand owners access to enhanced reporting tools while also allowing them more control over their brands across the platform. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that brands registered under this program enjoy special privileges. Though the primary aim is to safeguard your copyright interests, enrolling in brand registry opens up a suite of tools you can use to better market your product, such as A+ content features, exclusive advertising opportunities and more.  Why Is It Important to Register Your Brand with Amazon? Today there are over 350,000 brands registered with Amazon. Let’s look at another set of stats. About 2.5 million counterfeit sellers were stopped before they made a single listing and over 6 billion suspected fraudulent listings were permanently blocked in 2019 alone. If you are a seller on Amazon it’s possible you may encounter infringement issues, especially if your product is successful. Fortunately, the Amazon Brand Registry provides a specialized brand of security. This protects your products from being imitated by other sellers, necessary if you’re planning to expand your E-Commerce operations.  This is why brand registry is incredibly useful when you have multiple retailers selling your product. You can control the way your items are listed and the information displayed on each page to ensure it is updated and accurate. It saves a lot of time otherwise wasted in communicating with all your retailers and lets you conveniently edit your product information. Benefits of The Brand Registry Program Registering your brand has benefits that go beyond security from infringement. Here are some of the features (up to date) of the registry program. 1. Enhanced Brand Content Enhanced Brand Content or A+ content features allow you to add more detailed and custom-designed product description on your product display page. The full set of features includes rich text, images, videos, comparisons or backlinks to variant products also being sold by your brand.  This allows you to create content that accurately represents your brand, highlighting the features that make your products special. You can also grow your brand awareness with ads.  Better still, Amazon also lets you create your own multi-page store within their website in order to drive more customers to your store. Amazon Brand Store Amazon’s brand-new offering-- Brand Story, lets you showcase your brand’s story to your customer. 2021 is all about highlighting your brand on Amazon. It's about continually taking steps to ensure that your buyers become repeat buyers.  2. Protect Your Brand As we discussed earlier, the main purpose of brand registry is to protect your products from being copied and sold. Amazon is an enormously competitive marketplace so you’ll be surprised at just how often this sort of thing actually happens. But by registering your brand only you get to decide who can and cannot sell your products. Amazon’s search and report tools make it significantly easy to conduct global scale searches for cases of potential infringement and report them. You can simply report any unauthorized seller to Amazon Brand Registry and appropriate action will be taken against the seller upon submission of proof.  This ensures that you can save your listing from sellers who randomly take away your buy box by selling counterfeits at half the price of YOUR listing. 3. More Control Over Your Product Listings Regular Amazon sellers are confined or restricted by its strict algorithmic requisites, ending up with very little creative liberty over how their products are marketed.  The registry program, however, loosens these restrictions, allowing sellers complete control over the following aspects of their product display page: Title Product Description Images Enhanced Brand Content  Anyone who’s sold on Amazon knows how important it is to be able to change the product listing. Whether you want to split test, add converting keywords into your content or improve your images, it is essential to be able to control and change your product listing.  4. Amazon Brand Analytics Sellers looking to expand their e-Commerce cannot do so without accurate data and reporting on customer experience. Amazon's brand registry provides a tool that helps you learn more about your customers through behavior data reports. This will help you make informed and strategic marketing decisions.  Brand Analytics offers you the following reports: Amazon Search Terms Report Item Comparison Report Alternate Purchase Report Market Basket Report Repeat Purchase Behavior Report Each of these reports have their own merits and they can really help you understand customer behavior for your products on Amazon. This, in turn, helps you improve your offer, thereby boosting conversions.  5. Create Comprehensive Ad Campaigns Like we said, Amazon is a highly competitive marketplace so you need to do everything you can to stand out. Building brand awareness is key and using Amazon's sponsored brand features. Brand Registry opens up that all important Headline Search Ad and the excitingly new Product Targeting Ad.  HSA The Headline Search Ad lets you show up at the top spot for a particular keyword. And since the majority of the sellers don’t have brand registry, your ACOS is drastically lower. Sellers experience anything between 20 - 35% lower ACOS when using an HSA instead of a Sponsored Ad.   The ideal strategy would be to use a combination of both.  Headline Search Ad Example PRODUCT TARGETING AD  2020 was all about ‘ethically’ stealing sales from your competitors. Ads that showed up right below your competitors Buy Box were all the rage. If you weren’t showing up, you were losing out on a number of low-cost sales.  This year, the focus has shifted to Product Targeting Ads-- the newest update in the world of PPC. A huge Beta update, Product Targeting or Product Attribute Targeting allows you to build a specifically targeted campaign based on specific attributes of the target product. Sounds complicated? Let’s break this down for you. Which Amazon seller wouldn’t want their ads to appear on the ASIN pages and the category search results of other sellers? Sounds exciting right? Product Targeting allows for refined targeting options so you can display ads for your products alongside other ASINs, brands, or categories, taking away a considerable percentage of sales from them. Brand reports even tell you who these competitors are! The plus side? You start to rank on competitor keywords and end up being shown in the Also Purchased section. This helps boost overall sales.  Product Targeting Ad Example How to Register Your Brand? Enrolling your brand in Amazon's Brand Registry is a simple and straightforward process. Before you enroll however you need to make sure your brand meets Amazons eligibility requirements, which can be found on this page. The main thing you need is an image-based trademark or registered text. At the moment however, Amazon accepts trademarks issued only by the following few countries: United States Brazil Canada Mexico Australia India Japan France Germany Italy Spain United Kingdom European Union  The first thing you need to do is find out what your local trademark requirements and procedures are and get to work on it. Once you’ve met the eligibility requirements you can simply provide your trademark brand name and number in Seller Central and you’re ready to start reaping the benefits of Brand Registration once approved. How Much Does It Cost to Get Amazon Brand Registry? Registering your brand on Amazon is free. You do, however, need to register a trademark before you can apply for brand registry. This registration costs about $300 - $500. Fees vary depending on the class of protection for your trademark.   

Selling on Amazon may be a lucrative business, but success is guaranteed only if you’re willing to invest time learning the ropes and working hard at maintaining your inventory and product listings. Fortunately, Amazon sellers today are in a much better position than those who started a decade ago. Technological advances and Amazon’s steady growth into a global retail giant resulted in a thriving community of third-party providers offering business support. From product research and inventory management to advertising and accounting systems, as they say, there’s an app for that. However, many software vendors package their services in a misleading manner. So, sellers have no choice but to go through a trial-and-error process, trying out one app after another until they hit the jackpot. We know. We’ve been there, done that. And our journey has led us to curate a list of reliable providers that effectively support every aspect of an Amazon business. If you’re looking for services that will make your life as a seller much simpler, and your road to success much shorter, then this list is for you. Whether you’re just starting out or have been at it for months, you can save a lot of time and money by using these best Amazon Seller tools in 2021. And for your convenience, we have organized our selection according to the type of services they provide. Product Research and Scouting Forget everything you’ve learned at university or from your brick-and-mortar store about researching and scouting for the best products to sell. Amazon has revolutionized the rules of retail selling and in all the good ways possible. AS AN AMAZON SELLER, YOUR CUSTOMER BASE IS NO LONGER LIMITED TO A FIVE-MILE RADIUS. Since you can ship your goods to anywhere in the country, the national population is your target market. And if you allow Amazon to take care of your fulfillment, you can even join its marketplaces in other parts of the world. In the same manner, your sources are not restricted to local suppliers any more. Importing to Amazon’s warehouses is now an online transaction and shipments can take as short as a couple of weeks. In this scenario, you need Amazon product hunting tools to determine the right products that appeal to as many Amazon shoppers as possible. Below are our recommendations. ProfitGuru With various ways of searching for products guaranteed to sell on Amazon, ProfitGuru offers the most value for your investment. It is your best tool for wholesale research. By providing data on the performance of competing products on Amazon based on their respective ASINs, ProfitGuru allows you to glean the potential of your own items to sell on the platform. This Amazon product research tool is very helpful for newbie sellers. You can use it to find brands in categories where competition is not stiff and whose products are not carried either by the brand owners themselves or by Amazon. Your next step would be to either contact the owners directly and offer to sell their goods or to search for suppliers that already do. ProfitGuru is already popular among wholesale sellers because it provides supplier information on popular brands. This saves you the effort of going through a vetting process with various vendors. And for private labeling prospects, the Listing Quality Score of ProfitGuru is extremely beneficial. It helps you spot promising products by comparing the performance of different brands on certain specified parameters. You might be surprised at how many of them achieve high sales despite their average-looking listings. Cost: $39 per month Visit ProfitGuru JungleScout The most widely used product research tool among professional Amazon sellers, Jungle Scout has developed proprietary Amazon product analysis algorithms that give you a host of information on any product or niche on the platform. These include estimated profitability, consumer demand, the competitive landscape, and even seasonality. For brand builders focused on private labeling, Jungle Scout can help locate global suppliers and manufactures of top brands. Their facts and figures are reliably harvested from the Customs Import Trade Data. Jungle Scout boasts a robust suite of other Amazon-specific tools as well, such as Keyword Scout, which helps sellers create listings and PPC campaigns with keywords that make them visible in search results. However, their monthly subscription is not cheap, and many of their features are not very useful. Cost: $69 per month Visit JungleScout Helium10 Probably the second largest suite of tools for Amazon sellers, Helium10 may not be worth the monthly subscription if you intend to use it for product research alone. In fact, the strength of this software lies in its powerful proprietary algorithm for listing optimization. With the Magnet tool, you can harvest high-volume keywords to optimize your listing and create both automated and manual PPC campaigns. Using the Frankenstein tool, you will be able to rank those keywords according to their relevance to your product. For product research, Helium10 guides you from the general level of BlackBox where you can scan millions of products through various categories and niches, to the medium level of Trendster which provides demand, seasonality, and sales trends of any product, down to the specific level of X-Ray that shows in-depth information such as pricing and revenue estimates. Cost: $97 per month Visit Helium10 SupplySpy For product research combined with profit computation, SupplySpy offers its users a Bulk Analysis and Profit Calculator tool, which is extremely useful for wholesale Amazon sellers who purchase products in bulk. The process is straightforward as well. You simply upload files of your supplier’s price lists and the tool will calculate your potential profits on Amazon, factoring in all costs and expenses such as shipping, FBA fees, and referral charges. In addition, the Bundle Builder of SupplySpy offers the opportunity to scout for products that can be sold in bundles at high profits on Amazon. Cost: $19 per month Visit SupplySpy Profit Bandit Essentially a barcode scanner for retail arbitrage, Profit Bandit supplies pricing information on any given product in less than five seconds. It uses Amazon’s Application Programming Interface (API) to provide real-time data including a product’s Buy Box price. You can also check whether Amazon sells the same item. When you scan the barcode of any product, the tool accurately computes your profit on Amazon after FBA fees and shipping costs. Plus, it notifies you if the item falls under a restricted category. Cost: $9.99 per month Profit Bandit ScoutIQ ScoutIQ was developed primarily for Amazon sellers of new and used books, though you can also use it to scout for other profitable products to sell on the platform, whether by FBA or through FBM. With a proprietary algorithm that analyzes and organizes large amounts of data, ScoutIQ enables you to review historical sales of any book. This way, you can determine which titles have the profit potential on Amazon. The best feature of this tool is its downloadable database, which allows you to access information even without an internet connection. Cost: from $14 per month Visit ScoutIQ Listing Optimization and Product Launch To ensure sales on the Amazon platform, launching your product and optimizing your listing according to the unique behaviors of the Amazon community is a must. In the past year, the number of Amazon shoppers increased dramatically due to the pandemic that forced people to stay indoors and shop online. In particular, the Boomers who used to habitually patronize physical stores had no choice but to purchase their essentials and non-essentials on the internet.  SALES ON AMAZON ARE BOOMING AND THERE’S NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME THAN NOW TO GET ON THE PLATFORM You can consider employing some of these Amazon Seller tools in 2021 that have also evolved with the numerous changes on the Amazon platform. MerchantWords One of the older Amazon keyword research tools, MerchantWords has been providing sellers with keywords for listing optimization since 2012. Their extensive data are based specifically on Amazon shoppers, not on search engine trends or PPC ads.  You can use its API, designed for listing advisors and volume sellers, to optimize your listings. In addition, MerchantWords shows you the accurate shopping trends of Amazon visitors through proprietary algorithms created by its Data Science team. Cost: $29 per month Visit MerchantWords ZonBlast Created by the company SixLeaf, ZonBlast is a tool dedicated to product launches on the Amazon platform through targeted promotions. You can use it to create campaigns, and then leave it alone to manage them and monitor rebates. Promotions are essentially discounts or giveaways that you offer when launching a product. Ideally, they drive traffic to your listings, and consequently, boost sales. These elements combine to push your listings to page one, making them more visible in search results. This, in turn, increases your organic traffic and sales. In addition to fully automated promotions, ZonBlast also provides ways to create short URLs for Amazon product pages. Compared to the long URLs assigned by Amazon’s A9 algorithm, shorter ones not only increase brand awareness but also facilitate ease of use by shoppers.  Cost: $47 per month Visit ZonBlast ZonJump ZonJump is another product launch software that helps drive traffic to Amazon product listings. It works on a unique strategy of boosting the ranking of any product on specific keywords. Rather than focusing on the Amazon platform, this tool works on external traffic and redirects it to Amazon listings. Using highly targeted ads aimed at users of Google and Facebook, among others, ZonJump entices your potential buyers with coupons. However, you should note that your success in using this tool relies heavily on your listing’s optimization. Cost: Per Coupon Pricing ZonJump Viral Launch Viral Launch offers a wide range of tools that help Amazon sellers grow their FBA business, including listing optimization and product launch services. With an automated keyword research tool, it helps you select the best keywords to optimize your listing. You can also use the software to track the performance of your keywords and improve your strategy where necessary. If you wish to automate your PPC campaigns, Viral Launch will make it possible with their Kinetic tool. Alternatively, with its product-targeting suggestions, suggested bids, and ad rank tracking features, you may opt for manual campaign management. Cost: from $50 per month Visit Viral Launch Sellerapp With its Amazon analytics tools and processing algorithms, sellerapp delivers listing optimization, keyword research, search rank tracking, and product research, all in one place. Their strength lies in growing sales and finding business opportunities based on large amounts of data collected from global market trends. This software provides a thorough evaluation of your existing Amazon product listing so that you can take steps to improve its optimization leading to an increase in visibility and a boost in conversions. The keyword research tool of sellerapp helps you find keywords that rank high in search results as well as those that are trending and utilized by best sellers. You can use the targeted and converting keywords in both your listing and your ad campaigns. After optimization, sellerapp’s tools will help you monitor the search rank of the keywords you’ve selected, and even flag negative search terms, in real-time. This way, you can assess their individual performances over any specific period, and then use the software to assist you in making improvements, if necessary. As for product launches, sellerapp offers automated ad campaigns that increase conversions and reduce both ads spend and ACoS. The software also provides accounting and inventory services, plus alerts on hijacking, Buy Box pricing, and negative reviews. Cost: from $99 per month Visit Sellerapp Ecomdash Listing Tool For Amazon sellers who focus on bulk listings, EcomDash provides a way to launch multiple products with speed and accuracy. The bulk upload feature of its Bulk Listing tool has the ability to format multiple listings simultaneously. You can then conveniently export them to Amazon. Even if your products are listed under different categories, EcomDash can still list them quickly using its Multi-Channel Listing tool. And you don’t have to worry about info errors. Keep in mind that this software is essentially a tool for managing bulk listings. It doesn’t optimize them, nor does it create or manage ad campaigns for product launches. This means you would need to engage the services of another vendor for these purposes. However, EcomDash also offers inventory management for multiple online marketplaces and web stores, including Shopify, eBay, and WooCommerce. They can sync all your inventory across the board, including variations and bundled items. And since we’re already on the topic of inventory management, let’s hop on to the options available on the market today. Cost: from $60 per month Visit Ecomdash Listing Tool Inventory Management Among the existing Amazon Seller tools in 2021 dedicated to inventory management, we tried out a lot.  TO MAXIMIZE EFFICIENCY CHOOSE THE RIGHT INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE; ONE THAT ALIGNS WITH YOUR AMAZON FBA Sadly, none of the tools we tested were anything that is close to good. It seems that most of these tools are built by non-Amazon sellers because they are not intuitive to sellers’ needs. And while a few do understand Amazon, they either still lack some features or are poorly made. With that said, we found two (the best in the lot) which could help you manage your inventory: RestockPro If you’re running a wholesale Amazon business, RestockPro is the best available tool for managing your inventory. It keeps your inventory up to date through real-time tracking of inbound and outbound shipments. The software also assists you with timely reorders to ensure that your products will not go out of stock. This is crucial for your sales because the moment your product becomes unavailable on the Amazon platform, it loses its ranking, and it might take time to recover. Reorders to your suppliers can be done on RestockPro as well. You can use their template or create a customized reorder form. The tool automatically checks the information you’ve entered for accuracy and then ensures the on-time arrival of your shipments. All of the above are ideal scenarios. In reality, when we used RestockPro for our wholesale business on Amazon, we found it expensive for the below-average rate of our experience. Their interface is outdated, the software was slow, and they often went down due to technical issues. Plus, it did not support bundling from different suppliers, and it didn’t integrate with other marketplaces either.  Cost: from $99.99 per month Visit RestockPro Forcastly Forcastly is a predictive software that has the ability to forecast product demand accurately and just within seconds. If you are a private label Amazon seller using FBA, then Forcastly is the inventory management tool that suits your needs. It works well for stocks shipped directly from suppliers to Amazon’s warehouses. But when we tested it on large amounts of products, we were not satisfied with its performance, particularly the laborious updating of the numbers. Also, it does not support bundles and kits. On the positive side, this software was acquired by JungleScout, which tells you that its services are reliable. Cost: from $80 per month Visit Forcastly Advertising and PPC The uniqueness of the Amazon marketplace extends to marketing and advertising. Simply put, what works in all other e-commerce stores, and even in search engines like Google, wouldn’t fly on the Amazon platform. ADVERTISING ON AMAZON IS DRIVEN BY ITS A9 ALGORITHM This determines the visibility and ranking of each product in every category and niche. Therefore, promoting your products to Amazon shoppers needs the expertise provided by apps built around this algorithm. These are the top four software we found to do the job efficiently: Seller Labs The Seller Labs software helps Amazon sellers automate ad campaigns with its smart PPC algorithm. Using the Ignite tool, you get to enjoy PPC management on autopilot while optimizing your campaigns and maximizing your ad spend. Seller Labs also offers other services to support an Amazon FBA business, including a keyword research tool and an automated buyer-seller messaging tool. Cost: from $49 per month Visit Seller Labs Profit Whales For automation of existing and new ad campaigns, Profit Whales offers a PPC Creation and Optimization Software. The tool seamlessly connects to your Amazon Seller Central account to harvest data from your search term reports, ASINs and categories, and then merges the information with data from third-party sources. Using these statistics, the Zero to Hero tool then creates optimized campaigns based on high-ranking keywords. Cost: from $69 per month Visit Profit Whales Sellics With its AI-based predictive solutions, Sellics allows sellers to fully automate their ads on the Amazon platform while maximizing sales, increasing conversions, and reducing ACoS. The user-friendly software can be used by both Amazon Sellers and Vendors. Alternatively, you may opt for a semi- or fully-customized campaign where you set the rules according to your specific preferences, including keyword harvesting, ad scheduling, placement targeting, and dynamic bidding. You should also check out the free PPC Grader tool that the company offers to everyone, even non-Sellics clients. It analyzes the performance of your current PPC campaigns and provides a detailed report on your ad spend and CPC performance. Through this report, you can discover the strengths of your campaigns and maximize them to increase revenue and ROI. You will also learn new optimization techniques to further improve your advertising efforts. Cost: from $99 per month Visit Sellics AiHello Manage your ads, increase your revenue and reduce your ad spend using the AutoPilot tool of AiHello. It not only oversees your keywords and campaigns but also increases your revenues and maintains low ad costs by constantly adjusting bids, adding high performing search terms, and optimizing costs of ads. As an AiHello user, you can view AutoPilot’s bidding history for all the products on your dashboard. The tool sets up your bids and ACoS so you don’t have to. Cost: from $39 per month Visit AiHello Automated Pricing Unlike Walmart, which controls pricing and favors the lowest rates within its physical and online stores, Amazon encourages its sellers to dictate their own prices. BEING COMPETITIVE IN PRICING AND CONTINUOUS MONITORING OF PRICES ARE THE KEY CHALLENGES SELLERS FACE ON THE AMAZON PLATFORM Thus, in order to stay price-competitive, you need to employ Amazon Seller tools in 2021 that are able to automate your product pricing based on your business rules. Doing so also saves you the time and effort which you can divert to growing your enterprise instead. You can study the apps below and choose the one that best fits your business model. Bqool The Repricing Central tool of Bqool is an automated Amazon seller analytics software solution that you can use to win the Amazon Buy Box. At the same time, it guarantees the accuracy of a product’s prices and maintains healthy profit margins with the Profit Calculator feature, which factors in all fees and costs. While Bqool offers automation of your repricing, it also allows you to customize your strategies. You can select your competitors and create a unique plan based on their metrics, including item status and condition, feedback ratings, and fulfillment method. Cost: from $25 per month Visit Bqool Informed.co Automate your price changes and maximize your profits with the repricing tools of Informed.co. This software increases your chances of winning and keeping the Amazon Buy Box with its Get the Buy Box repricing strategy algorithm. For private label listings, Informed.co’s Sales Velocity Algorithm helps you achieve any specific targeted sales velocity. This is done by crafting unique and customized pricing strategies that focus on your most relevant competitors. More than making your life simple with a no-brainer repricing setup, Informed.co provides reports and analytics to help you adjust your strategies accordingly. Cost: from $49 per month Visit Informed.co Repricelt If you prefer to customize your price management rather than give free rein to a pricing automation tool, then RepriceIT is perfect for you. You can configure and control the automated inventory repricing attributes to keep your products’ prices competitive. The software’s intuitive engine will then evaluate your competition and proceed with repricing according to your rules. And with its RepriceIT Now! feature, it allows you to reprice your inventory anytime even if you’ve already set up your automated repricing. RepriceIT works for all types of products, including media, and is fully compatible with Amazon’s FBA. It also offers Amazon Buy Box pricing options. We tried using RepriceIT and found that while it works for both small Amazon businesses and large-scale sellers, it also lacks some essential features like filtering options. However, it’s the best choice in terms of monthly cost, and they offer a free trial as well. Cost: from $9.95 per month Visit Repricelt RepricerExpress Another automated repricing solution, RepricerExpress is ideal for Amazon sellers on FBA and those who are Buy Box eligible. It not only offers repricing templates but also allows customization on attributes like competitors, item condition, seller ratings and feedback, and scheduling. Wholesale Amazon sellers will appreciate the tool’s user dashboard which displays real-time pricing data of all products at once. Analyze different aspects by using filters such as minimum and maximum prices, top sellers, and last price changes. RepricerExpress is also a good option for sellers with active listings in different Amazon marketplaces because it includes an automatic daily currency rates feature. Cost: from $99 per month Visit RepricerExpress Accounting and Tax Yes, even online merchants are subject to taxes. The good news is that, as an Amazon seller, you don’t need to hire an in-house accountant to take care of your finances. You got it – there’s an app for that. Keep in mind, though, that you still need a CPA come tax time to look through your books and journals, and to ensure your numbers are balanced. However, you can cut down on accountant fees if you use any of the accounting software below right at the start of the year. A2X Seamlessly integrate your QuickBooks or Xero accounting system with your Amazon Seller account via the A2X software. Your monthly sales data is imported in an abridged format, but you still get a detailed journal that contains the cost of goods sold. This way, you have a clear and accurate picture of your sales margins in your P&L. A2X also harvests all your transactions, including sales, commissions, refunds, FBA fees, and adjustments. With this integration, you can be assured that the sales and fees posted in your accounting books are consistent with the figures in your bank account. The numbers posted by A2X are accurately reconciled with your Amazon payouts, which are reflected in your monthly balance sheet. Cost: from $19 per month Visit A2X Taxomate Taxomate provides a complete suite of accounting tools for both automatic and customized management of your Amazon business’ financials. The software is compatible with both QuickBooks Online and Xero accounting. All transactions in your Amazon Seller account can be automatically synced to either of the two software. With Taxomate, you eliminate the need for manual entries and reconciliation of sales data against your Amazon deposits. It also tracks the cost of goods sold and sends it to your accounting software in an abridged statement. Taxomate is a very affordable automated accounting option for both newbie and veteran Amazon sellers. You will be able to monitor your inventory valuation on a monthly or annual basis. Cost: from $14 per month Visit Taxomate SellerBench Need help with recovering your Amazon reimbursements? SellerBench provides that specific service. Many FBA sellers have been on the receiving end of Amazon’s storage errors. These include lost and damaged inventory, inbound shipment, and inventory reconciliation discrepancies, and incorrect FBA fees, refunds, and returns. The case managers at SellerBench offer their expertise in locating these unpaid but reimbursable items and assist sellers in the steps they can take to recover the money they lost. Cost: 25% of successful reimbursements Visit SellerBench Conclusion Okay, that was a long list. We won’t claim that it’s a complete and comprehensive one, but we have hands-on experience to back each one of them. They are the best options available on the market today, and you will definitely benefit from their services, especially those that allow you to automate tasks, frees up your time, and eliminates the need to hire extra hands. Finding the Amazon Seller tools in 2021 that best fit your business model won’t be easy. But the effort you invest in completing your own suite of apps will surely pay off for the long term. One of the most valuable learnings we gained from being Amazon sellers ourselves is the advantage of choosing a software that does more than one job. For instance, if you can research for products, optimize your listings, and create your ad campaigns in one place, then you will be able to raise the bar of efficiency in running your business seamlessly.

Almost all businesses have moved online. While this has been true for some time now, the global pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns have resulted in dramatic changes in the way most people shop, with more and more customers buying online. Learning how to close leads online has become an essential skill for most business owners today.  Going by statistics alone, Amazon is the current world leader among e-commerce platforms. Roughly 55% customers first check the price of a product on Amazon.  Not only does Amazon allow you to market to your customers, but through its Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service, it also manages storage and delivery logistics for you at a reasonable cut. In 2017, Amazon shipped over 5 billion items worldwide. The Covid-19 pandemic has been the most unprecedented and unpredictable event in recent human history. For merchants, it has meant learning to adapt and adjust business strategies in the face of a new reality. To acclimatize to the changing world, the e-Commerce giant adopted a number of far-reaching changes, especially in FBA. Some so severe that they redefined the way countless sellers do business. Recent Changes to Seller Fulfillment  2020 marks the end of 25 years for the world’s biggest e-commerce giant. The growth Amazon has witnessed in the last decade alone has been the result of their outstanding delivery when it comes to performing all forms of fulfillment services.  Delivery is Amazon’s most integral function. It’s the foundation stone on which their entire business was built. Given the pandemic induced demand-surge, many changes have been implemented to improve the efficiency of the fulfillment part of their services. Some examples of the recent changes implemented by Amazon include: Introduction of live streaming on-site by a qualified host to give buyers virtual tours of new places and connect them to sellers so they can shop from home. Sellers with Seller Fulfilled Prime must offer nationwide delivery coverage for all of their standard-sized products. New policy on dietary supplements being sold on Amazon, which requires them to have passed certain checks and certifications.  New and improved brand tools for registered brands, such as sponsored ads, brand stories, Amazon posts, and much more. Increased security and stringent action against counterfeiters and unauthorized retailers on the market. Predictions for the Near Future From all these changes, we can glean that Amazon is hell-bent on creating more than just a marketplace for buyers and sellers. As we head towards the future, we might start to see Amazon as more of a business utopia with strict rules, which everyone hopes ensures fair play and promotes equality of opportunity. Given Amazon’s current trajectory, we forecast the following changes to FBA in the not-so-distant future: Improved Brand Marketing Strategies and Tracking Amazon has always been a staunch supporter of brand building. It has continuously encouraged sellers to grow their business by private labeling and then establishing a solid reputation for the brands they create. This effort has been evident in the tools they produced specifically for increasing brand equity across the platform: Video in Sponsored Brands, Over-the-Top (OTT) Video Advertising, Sponsored Brands Custom Image, and Amazon Posts. These avenues are dynamic opportunities for sellers to tell their brand story.  Meanwhile, Amazon introduced New-to-Brand metrics to enable sellers to track the impact of their marketing endeavors on their sales. This tracking metric is not yet available for the aforementioned tools, but we expect it to include those strategies in 2021. It’s perfectly aligned with the company’s commitment to supporting brand building through content marketing. Storefronts can also expect increased traffic with additional options for self-service advertising, such as targeting new shoppers with Detail Pages and Sponsored Displays. New-to-Category visitors have already been rolled out on DSP, and it’s highly likely that specific categories will follow. However, storefront metrics like clickpathing, brand following, and page insights should be enhanced with additional customer engagement and store traffic metrics. These will make it easier for brands to target first-time visitors. Heightened Security and Additional Video Options on Brand Registry Registered brands currently enjoying the exclusive perks of Brand Stories via A+ Content, a.k.a. Enhanced Brand Content (EBC), will see more improvements in 2021, particularly in being able to add video content. Currently, the Amazon Live program already offers live streaming exclusively to sellers registered in the Amazon Brand Registry. These video feeds can be viewed on Amazon’s homepage and on their brand’s product listings. Source: amazon.com This promotional tool is free to registered sellers. Here, they can demonstrate their products, just like on home TV shopping shows, only better. On Amazon Live, a seller can interact with the audience via live chat. With regard to security, while registered brands already benefit from Amazon’s protection against enterprising sellers, “gating” remains a hurdle for small brands. Earning the right to gate their own brands is something sellers can look forward to in 2021. Expansion of Advertising Options Amazon Advertising is a whole suite of solutions with a wide range catering to all types of sellers across the board. The company keeps on adding to the list while existing ones are periodically upgraded. Sponsored Brand and DSP ads are projected to be refined with tighter targeting parameters. Based on Amazon’s history of rolling out new advertising features, these will most probably be released in the beta format first. Amazon Sponsored Brand Ad Example Sellers who take advantage of the test version will be ahead of the pack when the changes become official. It increases their chances of landing on page one in search results. In addition, Amazon seems to be exploring the browsing territory, which is currently dominated by Google and Facebook. Amazon Posts, for instance, are already appearing in shopping feeds on the Amazon app and mobile web. While it’s still in beta format, Amazon Posts already shows promise as an effective tool for capturing organic traffic and increasing brand awareness. It allows sellers to feature a product’s image, logo, text, category, and profile banner with links that redirect to its Amazon product page. In its relentless pursuit to be present in every advertising medium that technology can offer, Amazon introduced its Over-the-Top (OTT) video advertising in early 2020. These ads are played on Fire TV (also an Amazon device, of course), which tracks audiences’ demographics, behaviors, and interests. Already, OTT is better than YouTube. Ads are on full screen and viewers don’t have the option to skip them. OTT is expected to add more features to help brands target their markets more accurately and get more mileage on their ad spend. More Robust Fulfillment Systems Shipping restrictions due to pandemic-related lockdowns greatly affected major couriers in 2020. But not Amazon. Because of its increased investment in various fulfillment channels, it was able to carry out last-mile delivery which the others were simply not equipped to do. Not that it was a perfect year for the company. On the contrary, it was beset with challenges of delivery delays and maxed out warehousing capacity. But this year, Amazon just might revive its Multi-Channel Fulfillment program, wherein sellers may avail of FBA to ship their goods to their customers off Amazon. It’s also possible that the Seller Fulfilled Prime program will face tighter restrictions. It was already tough last year. It may even be totally closed and sellers using SFP could be required to use FBA. However, this comes with a silver lining – Amazon might just recruit them as satellite fulfillment facilities. Integration of Amazon Fresh As a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Amazon Fresh currently sits on a separate platform. But some significant movements in 2020 indicate that the company is gearing up to offer a seamless shopping experience between the two. First, Amazon opened its own supermarkets, probably in an attempt to compete with Walmart and Instacart, which dominated the online grocery shopping segment last year. Second, the company invested in SpartanNash, a wholesaler and distributor of grocery items. This stake effectively provides Amazon direct access to a steady supply. And with the improvements to its fulfillment capabilities, as discussed above, a more efficient system for grocery delivery cannot be far behind. The development bodes well for many sellers who also want to extend their brand reach and venture into fresh produce. Conclusion Now that consumers have discovered the ease and convenience of shopping online, many experts believe that the increased number of online shoppers will not plateau, even post-pandemic. Before the quarantines, lockdowns, and closing of physical stores, Amazon found it difficult to win the Boomers over. But they are now on board, adding another big swath of the population to the e-commerce giant’s roster of regular customers. Along with the more than 150 million Prime members from other age brackets, this demographic is anticipated to continue browsing and purchasing on Amazon. Sellers can consider it a new target market, as are the work-from-home residents who are likely to continue with their current work arrangement. As a business, it is essential to be on Amazon-- and to do that, you need to try and stay up to date with the latest developments there. 2020 has seen a lot of them. Going forward, expect to see a drastic shift in both business and consumer attitude and behavior.  

Shopping in physical stores has been pushed to the brink of demise as a result of the recent COVID-19 outbreak. While online shopping only seems like a temporary measure, we believe it is here to stay even after the pandemic subsides. After all, it is a lot more convenient, and it saves time and money. As a seller, what this means for you is that unless your business has a digital presence, it doesn’t exist at all. And right now, it so happens that Walmart is the perfect place to establish, re-establish or expand your eCommerce store. Over 74% of all first time online purchases took place on Walmart in 2020. Combined desktop and mobile visits to Walmart.com from May 2019 to September 2020 Walmart has always been a retail giant. Its eCommerce wing has hardly attracted sellers and the might of Amazon and the ease of eBay have been all too prevalent. However, with a 94% spike in sales in the year 2020, Walmart.com has been attracting eCommerce sellers by the dozen. In May 2020, Walmart.com had 438.5 million visits from shoppers, a huge increment up from 294.5 million visitors in February of the same year. If you’re planning on jumping the bandwagon this year, here are some things you’ll need to know. Selling on Walmart in 2021 Let’s talk numbers first. Walmart is expected to grow by 44%. By comparison, Amazon is expected to grow by 1%. Sure, the numbers speak for themselves when it comes to Amazon, but if you’re looking for lesser competition, faster rankings, and an easier selling strategy, Walmart is where you need to be.  Let's be realistic though. Walmart is no Amazon. They may be similar, but Walmart is still decades behind Amazon. Don’t expect to be successful deploying the same Amazon strategies, or the same product positioning.  Don’t dive into the marketplace expecting the same revenues. You will come out disappointed. Instead, discover what works for the marketplace and take advantage of the fact that Walmart is still a gated community. Sellers need to go through a screening process. This makes competition lesser than what you’ve seen on Amazon.  In Walmart’s own words, they want sellers that -  Fulfill orders quickly and efficiently Deliver unparalleled customer service Sell unique products  Offer the best pricing possible  What’s New at Walmart? To keep up with the times, Walmart has been experimenting with new offerings of its own. The most groundbreaking announcement has been that of Walmart’s Fulfillment Service offering cheaper, faster, and guaranteed delivery. Taking a leap out of Amazon’s playbook, Walmart is now trying to keep all its newfound traffic with the lure of free 2-day delivery.  Other upgrades include Post Purchase Quality for feedback, Message Alert for effective communication with buyers, and a Listing Quality Dashboard.  How Much Can I Sell on Walmart? Be realistic. You’re not going to surpass your Amazon sales by selling on Walmart. Walmart does not let 15 different listings of the same product sell alongside either. It will probably give you 15 - 20% of the revenue you make selling on Amazon. But is that all you can expect from the marketplace?  No!  If your product suits the Walmart customer, and you manage to successfully rank your product on Page 1, you can expect close to 40 - 50% of your Amazon sales. Will every seller who joins Walmart get to this magical number?  Absolutely not.  Walmart may be the next big thing, it may have much lesser competition than Amazon, but it still needs a great deal of work. And a lot of strategies to get to where Amazon is at.  How Can I Become a Successful Seller? It’s important to note that Walmart is not like other e-commerce stores. It is most certainly not like Amazon. You cannot directly copy your listings on Amazon to Walmart, as the former imports listings utilizing a different setup.  Moreover, when you add your product on Walmart, make sure you optimize your product page for Walmart. Not doing so will hurt your rankings, which in turn will hurt sales. Walmart makes you fight for the buy box too, but it's not always about the price. 2-day shipping, lower cart abandonment rates, and seller rating also affect your buy box. Here are a few more tips that can help you dominate Walmart.  Focus on that Product Display Page Like any other marketplace, Walmart wants to ensure a fantastic customer experience. Quality listings, clear images, and detailed and accurate product pages go a long way in ensuring a happy customer.  You need a more informative product page. The better your page, the higher the conversion. Did you know that optimized product pages with high-quality images and infographics can increase conversion by up to 2%? Use the Listing Quality Dashboard to understand how you can stay ahead of the competition. Walmart product listing Convenience Trumps Price Walmart prides itself on low prices and greater variety. Keep in mind, however, that buyers on Walmart tend to prefer convenience over price.  This means that a buyer cares more about your shipping speed, the quality of your product listing, and the ease of buying your products.   Low prices don’t necessarily convert into more sales. And even if they do, are they more profitable? If you’ve ever gone down the Black Friday discount route, you know that more discounts do not always equal more profits.  66% of buyers choose retailers based on convenience. Make the process as seamless as possible. Have clear policies in place. Add stunning visuals and infographics. Enroll for 2-day deliveries.  Focus on How to Sell, Not Where to Sell It's no longer about Walmart, Amazon, eBay, Shopify, Etsy. You need to think of all eCommerce channels in the same light. Build a marketing strategy that addresses all channels.  Use traditional Pay Per Click ads in each marketplace you’re a part of, but don’t forget traditional marketing solutions such as email marketing or modern marketing tactics such as Facebook advertising, influencer marketing, and Tik Tok advertising.  Present a strong presence across platforms so that your audience can connect with your brand every time they’re online irrespective of the channel they’re online on. What is it Like to Deal with Seller Support on Walmart? If you’ve sold on Amazon, you probably know that it's easier to talk to your wall than seller support. You realize that you probably have a better chance of explaining something to a 2-year-old than getting your message across to the executive on the other side. Amazon really knows how to frustrate its sellers to no end.  Walmart isn't any better. Hardly anything ever gets accomplished talking to support. We’re still split up about who’s worse.  Let us know in the comments below if you make up your mind.  Hardly anything ever gets accomplished talking to Walmart's support from our experience Should I Really Be Selling on Walmart? Short answer. Yes.  Walmart isn’t that new kid on the block that will probably get lost in front of the giants. Yes, it's no Amazon, but it has enough clout to make a difference. Its customers include medium to high-income individuals between the ages of 23 - 38.  That’s always a good thing.  Walmart wants the lowest price online, but it doesn't force you to drop your price till you end up making nothing. You don’t need to compete with 100 sellers selling the same thing.  Is it worth selling on Walmart? Yes.  Is it easy? No.