How Luxury Brands Succeed on Amazon
While you might assume that Amazon is an online marketplace built primarily for lower-cost brands and products, the truth is that Amazon is less of a discount retailer and more of a convenience retailer. For luxury brands on Amazon to gain purchasing power in this high-traffic enterprise, there are Four Key Components to help them succeed:
- Text match relevancy
- Inventory
- Sales Velocity
- Price
Let’s break this down a bit.
Text Match Relevancy
This is the most important piece of the puzzle and relates to the quality of keywords utilized in your strategy. Luxury brands on Amazon must carefully select specific keywords that will increase visibility and search viability from an SEO perspective. From the titles, bullet points, description, and back-end keywords, it’s crucial to choose specific brand-related words. For example, “high concentration hyaluronic acid face cream” vs. “face cream” will increase your conversion rate and take ownership of a particular niche.
You can also “conquest” similar luxury brands that have a larger network of consumers, and bid on particular words to capture market share within that space. Additionally, if there are luxury brands similar to yours that do not sell on Amazon, you can utilize their keywords on the platform instead. Paid advertising and ASIN targeting ensure your words rank successfully. It also builds a relationship and relevancy between the purchase of your product and the search used to discover it.
Lastly, you must have full control of your distribution and product detail page. Registered with Amazon’s brand registry, and not have unauthorized third-party sellers of your product. All SKUs need to be Prime eligible as well, which is the gold standard for Amazon purchases.
Inventory
Simply put, your product has to be in stock so that customers can purchase it. It’s crucial to maintain a consistent inventory and track purchasing flow, to always stay relevant in the marketplace. Products that are out of stock will (obviously) not be as visible in the search engine, and will also be “penalized” depending on how long you’re out of stock.
Sales Velocity
As a luxury brand it’s vital to hone in on the user experience, as there is limited time to convince the customer that what you’re selling is not only worth it, but something they need to buy, particularly when they could find a cheaper substitute. Our expert account managers recommend at least five images and one video to showcase the benefits of your product. These images include:
- The main image with a pure, white background.
- One or two informational images highlighting the quality of the product
- Before and after photos if there is a performance element to your product.
- Lifestyle images put a face to your brand and offer a realistic experience of the product. If the product is more complex, an informational video under 30 seconds is helpful.
Majority of Amazon sales are placed on mobile devices. Because of this, imagery is a highly influential touchpoint for the consumer.
Post-purchase, Envision Horizons account managers curate a personalized email exchange with your company and the consumer. This ensures they understand how to properly use the product, receive the most value from it, and enhance the brand experience. Then, we request their review to further your product’s promotability and elevate its rating.
Price
Pricing must be strategic as the Amazon consumer is “action-oriented”. It’s beneficial to offer the occasional discount or promotion, particularly if Amazon invites you to participate in their “deal of the day.” While your product must be offered at a minimum of 30% off, it will boost your best-seller ranking, showcase you on one of Amazon’s most viewed pages, and acquire new, loyal customers.
Using these four key components, we’re confident that a luxury brand can not only succeed on Amazon, but thrive, and set a solid foundation for growth and expansion long into the future.
