Making sure that products are ready for success on the Amazon platform takes a lot of work, and paying attention to the details counts. Here is a checklist to make sure your items have the best chance at success.
Key Takeaways
- Creating effective content that is key to grabbing the attention of shoppers and converting them to customers
- Ensure your products are in stock for shoppers to buy at all times
- Bring more shoppers to your product detail pages and generate interest in your products
- Convince considering shoppers to click that “buy” button
1 – Effective Content
The content of your detail pages serves several purposes. Primarily, it educates shoppers about a product, so they have all the information they need to make purchasing decisions. On top of that, Amazon’s A9 search algorithm learns from keywords in the content to show it in effective search results. Make sure these key aspects of your detail pages aim to do those things.
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- Strong title
A good title grabs the attention of shoppers and clearly communicates what the product is. The most critically identifying keyword should be in the title but be careful not stuff it with keywords to where it is unreadable. If a shopper can’t identify the product with a casual glance at the title, there is too much in it. The optimal length of titles maxes around 80 characters, depending on product type and category.
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- Bullets
The ideal number of bullets is 5, which is why Amazon provides that many places to include bullets in many of its tools. Use that space to highlight the most important features and their benefits in informative and keyword-rich phrases. Again, making it clear and easy to understand is essential, so filling the max allowable characters just gives shoppers more to read through. Be concise and informative. Staying between 80 and 150 characters is ideal.
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- Keywords
You, as the owner of the product, know the most about it. That knowledge can start you off on good keywords. Use Amazon Retail Analytics, Amazon Advertising, or other keyword generating services to find more high-value terms to include. Use the ones that are directly applicable to your product in the copy, then fit as many as you can in the back-end keywords, which is limited to 250 characters.
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- Images
Good images are an essential component of any proper detail page to convince shoppers to buy. While the primary image requires more strict formats, the rest are a bit more flexible. Follow the image guidelines that Amazon has provided so you can include high resolution images to show product details, its various uses, and highlight top features.
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- A+
Enhanced content can be optimized for mobile platforms and is ideal to showcase your product in a way over which you have more control than the rest of the detail page. You can also use A+ to crosslink with other products in your catalog, enhancing your brand as a whole.
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- Video
Do not underestimate the value of video, even if it is more labor intensive than other forms of communication. Show the product in real-world use so they can see themselves using it like those in the video.
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- Browse nodes
Making sure your items are categorized correctly is crucial for effective advertising and more. Many shoppers use browsing as a way to look for gifts or items when they aren’t exactly sure what they want.
2 – Get Products In Stock
Inventory levels can severely hinder the profit of your business and the success of a new product. If Amazon doesn’t have your products in their fulfillment centers, shoppers won’t be able to buy them. Out of stock issues limit the growth potential of your products and will increase the time needed to ramp the product. Vendors can solve this dilemma in several possible ways.
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- Vendor Manager
Sometimes, the direct approach is best. Contacting your vendor manager to negotiate a manual buy to add your products to Amazon’s inventory may help when the automatic system is not working for you. Be aware that this may not be available for most vendors. Developing good relationships with your partners at Amazon cannot be underestimated, since vendor managers prioritize their work for top vendors.
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- Born-to-Run
This tool helps new product in particular because they may not have any selling history. Request purchase orders for these items to put them in fulfillment centers and get them sold to show Amazon there is a demand. Any inventory not sold within a 10-week sell-through period will be returned at the vendor’s expense or charge you 25% of the cost of the unsold units.
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- Dropship
At times, it is appropriate to take matters into your own hands. The dropship or direct fulfillment option is an effective back-up system which allows you ensure your product is available to customers. When launching a new product, Amazon will not know how much to buy. Using dropship to ship directly to customers from your warehouses helps Amazon’s ordering system learn your product’s true demand.
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- Customer order
It may be possible to force Amazon to make a purchase order by generating demand yourself. Get someone you know to place an order so that Amazon must get it from you so they can fill the order.
3 – Increase Traffic
Having the best product in stock and effective detail pages might do very little if shoppers never see it. Effective ads will bring shoppers to your pages that are ready to buy your products.
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- Sponsored Products
Get your products to show up during searches and more with this advertising tool. Target through keywords and products.
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- Sponsored Brands
Generate interest in your entire catalog and your brand, driving traffic to detail pages or brand stores. Target through keywords and products.
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- Sponsored Display
Use custom images and messaging to grab the attention of your audience. Target through interest and products on and off Amazon
4 – Drive Conversion
Ensure that shoppers click that “buy” button and convert to customers with that extra incentive.
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- Customer Reviews
Shoppers will trust your product more if other customers have tried it and approve. More reviews and ratings add to your brand image and reliability. There are several ways to increase customer reviews available, including the Vine program which allows you to send your product to established Amazon reviews.
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- Promotions
Giving a deal to shoppers is a tried and true way of generating interest and purchases. While it might not boost revenue in the short run, it can increase the relevancy of your product on Amazon and have the “halo” effect of boosting sales even after the promotion ends.
If you check off everything on this list, you will be well on your way to a successful new product launch. For more on how to accomplish these tasks, contact a Navazon representative today to discover how we can help boost the success of your Amazon business.