The holiday season is big business for Amazon sellers. Unfortunately, many sellers run into issues that prevent them from reaching their full potential during peak season. We’re reviewing common mistakes Amazon sellers make during the holidays…
1. Running into Pricing Issues
Running promotions during the holiday season is essential if you want to take advantage of all the additional traffic on Amazon and maximize sales. However, while implementing promotions you must also consider your margins. Understanding your profitability by ASIN is extremely important when deciding the ideal discount that will entice customers but still be profitable. Don’t make the mistake of running promotions that leave you with little to no profit.
Additionally, watch out for pricing issues that cause you to lose the buy box. If you’re selling your products for lower prices on other channels, Amazon’s algorithm will often times catch this and penalize you. Make sure you are aware of all the promotions you are running on other channels and adjust your Amazon pricing accordingly, or else risk losing the buy box and all the sales that come with it.
2. Not Running Promotions
It’s not too late to get in on the Black Friday/Cyber Monday action. Even if you’ve missed submitting Lightning Deals or other key promotion cut-offs, you can always run a coupon. Take advantage of the additional traffic on Amazon by offering a discount that will entice your customers and make your product stand out in the SERP. As mentioned above, make sure to consider your profitability after the discount.
3. Not Having Enough Inventory to Meet Demand
One of the most common Amazon seller mistakes during every peak sales event is mismanaging inventory. Inventory forecasting can be difficult, which is why we recommend using a tool like myHorizons to help. Make sure to also look at historical data to assist in building your forecast.
4. Not Planning for Supply Chain Issues
Amazon sellers should expect to see the same supply chain issues we have been seeing all during the holiday season. Make sure you’re aligned with your supplier about the additional inventory that you will need. Make sure to factor in longer freight and lead times. If you are worried your supplier can’t meet your needs, it might be worth getting a backup supplier.
5. Not Updating Your Listings
Now is a great time to optimize your listings before the holiday season. Take advantage of the additional traffic by ensuring you have compelling content that converts. Optimized copy and imagery are both essential to a successful listing. AB testing is key to finding the right main image. Consider investigating reviews and return reasons to make positive updates to your listing that will better set customer expectations. Also, consider experimenting with temporary updates for the holiday season. For example, you can add festive holiday accents to your A+ content, or update your storefront with a “Gifts” tab. Read more on listing optimization here.
6. Not Driving External Traffic to Amazon
If there’s one thing we’ve learned this past year, it’s that driving external traffic to Amazon is key. This holiday season, utilize influencer marketing (especially TikTok influencers) to drive sales TikTok has become a huge platform for eCommerce, check out our white paper on “How TikTok is Driving Amazon Sales”. Make sure you have a holiday media plan in place and get the word out to your followers know about all your best promotions. Have your social media team also utilize Amazon Posts.
7. Not Utilizing Bundles
Virtual Bundles are single-ASIN listings that allow brands to group together 2-5 complementary products to be sold together as a set. Bundles can be a very effective and profitable way to boost your sales. There are no additional costs or fees associated with creating or selling Virtual Bundles. We recommend using a tool such as the purchase combinations feature within myHorizons to identify which products in your catalog would do well in a bundle. Plan ahead and release your bundles a few weeks before the relevant holidays so that they have time to gain traction.
8. Not Expecting the Unexpected
Be prepared for fire drills during peak times. Make sure you have a system in place to address suppressions. Every hour a listing is suppressed immediately translates to lost revenue. At Envision Horizons, we have a team of former seller support representatives who provide 24 hours coverage resolving issues for our clients.
In Conclusion
Be prepared for fire drills during peak times. Make sure you have a system in place to address suppressions. Every hour a listing is suppressed immediately translates to lost revenue. At Envision Horizons, we have a team of former seller support representatives who provide 24 hours coverage resolving issues for our clients.
