It’s the end of September, which means it’s basically Christmas!
OK, maybe not exactly. But it is the holiday season.
In the ecommerce world, the holiday season begins in October and goes through the end of December. It’s a busy few months with little free time, but some online businesses are able to bring in more than half their yearly income in these few short months.
So how can you get your Amazon store prepared for the holiday season? Let’s take a look at your main objectives over the next three months.
October: Keep an eye out for the hottest trends.
For the month of October, your main objective is to prepare for what you are going to buy. The late-summer sales are over and inventory is cleared out to make room for the up-and-coming must-have products for the holidays. Keep on top of these trends and start making lists for the products you want to carry. Toward the end of the month, you can start placing orders and taking advantage of in-store specials.
November: Cycle between shopping and shipping.
November is one of the busiest months of the year, especially because it has two of the biggest shopping holidays of the year: Black Friday and Cyber Monday. There’s also a sense of urgency in November because shoppers know that they have to grab popular products now, otherwise stock may run low and they may miss their opportunity. Expect to work hard cycling your days between shopping and shipping out product.
December: Filling orders.
For the month of December, you’ll most likely be spending a lot of time preparing Merchant Fulfilled items as well as sending items to Amazon FBA (fulfillment by Amazon). Since Amazon offers convenient and straightforward shipping options, you can expect to see a lot of rush orders just days before the holiday. But, some Amazon stores slow down a bit, enough to catch a full night’s rest at least.
Advertising Your Amazon Store
Now that you have a better idea as to what you can expect over the next few months and how you can prepare for it, let’s talk about how you can promote your store. While Amazon does offer an amazing platform for selling products, you still need to know how to effectively market your products and increase sales. After all, you will be selling your products next to your competitors and even Amazon itself. It’s not exactly easy!
Thankfully, Amazon has some tools to help you out with this. One in particular is their PPC-style advertising platform called Sponsored Products.
Sponsored Products
The purpose of Sponsored Products is to help people discover and buy your products. Sounds like a fair deal!
With Amazon’s pay-per-click platform, you only pay for clicks. This means that you’re not charged unless a customer clicks your ad. Even if they don’t make a purchase, the shopper is engaging with your ad and learning about your product.
The platform also gives you the ability to control your ad performance. Once you start a campaign, you can adjust your budget, choose your ad placement and bid on the keywords of your choice. With end-to-end metrics, it’s also easy to monitor your performance and make the necessary changes to reach new customers and sell more product.
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
The main benefits to Amazon’s Sponsored Products are similar to any PPC platform: automatic targeting, easy campaign setup and attractive budgeting options. But one element that is unique to Amazon is its FBA service.
With FBA, you can have Amazon pick, pack and ship your products, plus take care of all customer returns and customer service issues. It’s a great asset to have, particularly when you want to focus on growing your business.
When you list with FBA, your products are eligible for 2-day shipping (Prime members only). Your customers will appreciate this, especially with the impending holidays. Not to mention, it will build positive associations between you and holiday shoppers. And, you can continue making money right up through Christmas Eve!
Conclusion
If you were caught off guard by the holidays last year, don’t make the same mistake this year. The holiday shopping season is upon us, and now is the time to decide what you want to sell. By utilizing Amazon Sponsored Products, you can get your products in front of the right people and enjoy a more lucrative holiday season!
If you’re ready to start selling your products on Amazon, speak to an expert today!
