While browsing through the website of the e-commerce giant, Amazon, have you ever wondered how the company diversifies in multiple product segments? I mean, you can find almost everything on Amazon, isn’t it? How do they do that?
Amazon does this through its marketplace. It has been reported that more than 300,000 US-based small and medium-sized retailers sell through the marketplace. It is the platform by which third-party sellers’ partner with Amazon to market and sell their products.
They leverage the product deliverability, supply chain and brand image of the e-commerce giant. Alternatively, Amazon has successfully provided a vast range of products and ensured customer satisfaction.
According to an article in Forbes, Jeff Bezos reportedly mentioned that third-party marketplace sellers contribute to more than half of all products being sold on their platforms worldwide.
Registering as a seller on Amazon is straightforward, but for several categories that requires additional product certifications and quality-controls, the task can be long and tedious. While the small and medium-sized businesses that largely make up the marketplace have been great for Amazon, there is no surety whether Amazon has been equally great for them.
The company has undoubtedly siphoned sales from retailers of all sorts and on the other hand, it has given many entrepreneurs the chance to reach a larger audience than they ever could have otherwise.
It is becoming increasingly challenging to be ‘found on Amazon’, as the platform is overflowing with a variety of products from marketers all over the world. Businesses are in a constant battle against counterfeits, illegal listing, unethical business practices and lower prices.
This is the reason you will find a numerous new sellers and manufacturers are building their own online shops. Using technology on the likes of Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce, these businesses are adopting Direct to Customer model or more popularly knows as D2C. It has its own benefits, and you reap the rewards without giving a cut to any marketplace.
However, the size of audience and reach available with Amazon is no joke and one must seriously consider what model works well for them.
Let us look at some basic requirements for being an Amazon Seller:
- Amazon seller central account
It’s the seller’s primary business account. Sellers manage their products, listings, order processing, inventory stock and returns per Amazon standards.
- Product listing
An Amazon product listing is the product page for each item you sell. It comprises information about the product such as its title, description, images and price. The right product description will enhance your chance of success as a seller on Amazon. However, if done incorrectly, it can lead to lesser sales, bad reviews and customer dissatisfaction. Another problem is the constant counterfeiting of your listings. As a business, you need to divert a lot of time on the website to avoid counterfeiting and ensure a unique listing.
- Brand creation
Despite having multiple ranges of products, one often prefers to buy from a known brand even at a slightly higher price. New sellers have to create brand awareness by providing quality products, affordable prices and efficient marketing. All this requires dedicated employees working on the platform.
- Customer Service
Be it retail or online stores, customers look for exceptional service and great products. They expect faster responses, continuous customer assistance and easy returns. Your customer wants 24/7 connectivity over texts, emails, calls and in the inquiry section.
- Reputation Management
They say it is not the product that sell, it is the sum of a product’s reviews that sell. As a business you must be on your toes to manage the reviews by stellar services and products. It includes not just the quality of a product but the total package, including the packaging, shipping time, delivery aspects, customer support and in some cases post sales services as well.
But all the hard work if planned well, pays off. You cannot deny Amazon is undisputed giant in the ecommerce arena and it has made life beautiful for a lot of sellers. Again, all it takes is a well-defined strategy, a fantastic product range and immaculate customer services providing the best-in-class customer experience.
If you have made it thus far in this article, it is safe to assume that either you have just become an Amazon seller or planning to be one. If that is the case, keep an eye on our next publication that deals with how, Amazon sellers can utilize a virtual assistant to ease their workflow.
And if the wait seems to much, we are just a click away. Please drop your questions in the comment section along with your email address and I will do my best to reach out.
