Introducing Common Mistakes by Envision Horizons
In the ever-changing world of e-commerce, navigating the world’s largest online marketplace can be confusing even for experienced Amazon sellers. That’s why Envision Horizons is excited to introduce the first episode of Common Mistakes. A new video series hosted by our founder, Laura Meyer.
In Episode 1 of Common Mistakes, we discuss the issue of having too large of a catalog on Amazon. For brands with large product selections, it is strategic to choose quality over quantity when it comes to catalog curation. We have recapped our CEO’s top five reasons why you should reconsider listing your entire catalog on Amazon or Walmart. Continue reading or watch the full video by clicking the image below!
Mistake 1: You’re saturating your consumer base and limiting your discovery
When building up your SEO on a marketplace like Amazon, it is essential to understand the flywheel effect. If you are selling multiple similar products, it is best to funnel all of your sales to the top-selling style. However, if you keep several similar types, you must ensure that it makes sense for them to live under the same parent ASIN.
This is because of how Amazon’s A9 algorithm works. An ASIN on Amazon receives a better Best Seller Rank (BSR) the more units it sells. For example, let’s consider two brands with 1000 customers a month. However, Brand A sells a single mascara style, and Brand B sells five mascara styles. Other factors excluded, eventually, Brand A will outperform Brand B. Brand A’s single mascara ASIN will have a better BSR and rank higher organically on Amazon.
Additionally, customer reviews will be consolidated, improving click-through rates from the search engine results page (SERP) to your listing. As a result, this will create an even more substantial flywheel effect.
Mistake 2: You’re giving your customers’ decision fatigue
Product detail pages where a listing has over 10 variations can be overwhelming for consumers. There is also customer fatigue from an Amazon storefront perspective when there are too many products that are similar. Leading to a drop-off in customer engagement and even loss of business to a competitor whose products are more straightforward. In conclusion, don’t bewilder your customers with too many choices.
Mistake 3: Not all of your SKUs are profitable on Amazon
It might seem obvious to not sell a product with a negative margin. Still, sometimes companies can get caught up in the top line sales number or have too many SKUs, resulting in difficulty keeping track of profitability by ASIN. This is why MyHorizons, the software solution built by the software team at Envision Horizons, has a tool that analyzes the profitability for every ASIN, making it easier to scrub your catalog of negative margin products.
If you have to compete for the buy box or agreements with other retailers, it is tough to increase product prices. Even with FBA’s small and light program, products under $10 are better off bundled or removed from your catalog. There are also situations where a category has become so commoditized that the list price hardly covers all Amazon fees. Avoid pointless races to the bottom as much as possible.
Mistake 4: You’re choosing quantity over quality
There are only so many hours in a day, ad dollars to spend, and warehouse storage space. There is a massive opportunity cost for trying to do too much at one time on Amazon. It is much better to go deeper into building a strategy for a single product than to try to put up a bunch of listings and see what sticks. An Amazon marketer’s time is wisely invested by focusing on one product and researching competitors, finding the best keywords to use, fine-tuning the visual storytelling and creative assets, and building out robust advertising utilizing all of Amazon’s new ad products. Taking the time to perfect your listing for one product will bring more benefits than listing 50 ASINs with lazy images and an overwhelming amount of SKUs to manage.
Our advice is to use your existing Amazon data (or data from your own DTC) to create an in-depth content calendar that you strictly follow, and try not to get distracted by other products or problems. It can also be beneficial to revisit your top sellers in-depth quarterly, or even monthly, to make sure they remain fresh and that you are never complacent. It is a common mistake for brands with hundreds of SKUs to get the majority of their sales from 3-5 products.
Mistake 5: You’re listing products that should remain on your DTC exclusively
Amazon is a giant search engine and building SEO within the A9 algorithm takes time. Because of this, products that are limited edition, part of a seasonal collection, and will be discontinued or have limited stock should not be sold on Amazon. Amazon is a channel that works best for evergreen products. We usually advise clients in the luxury fashion and beauty industry to keep their more exclusive or expensive products on their own website, using Amazon as a channel for brand awareness and for entry-level products that will sell much higher volume.
In Conclusion…
Less is more. Quality over quantity. If you have a lot of products on Amazon but your sales are stagnant, the solution is to not add more products to your catalog. Take a step back and focus on the products that have already shown promise. With a little love, optimization, and upper-funnel custom ad dollars, these products can become “best sellers” in their category.
Stay tuned for our next episode and blog recap of Common Mistakes by Envision Horizons.
