Amazon’s marketplace is huge and a major part of online consumer culture. Sales figures from 2017 showed $177.9 billion. So, it no surprise that Amazon is the investment market’s favorite bet for long-term dominance in sales, even compared to Walmart’s future sales predictions.

With the Amazon benefits that make their Amazon Prime account so popular, it is clear why customers prefer buying from the Amazon marketplace rather than any others. Amazon can offer a unique and successful platform for product sellers.

For these reasons, it can be a no-brainer for a small business to start selling on Amazon. Here are a few of the things you should know before you decide to become a seller on Amazon.

Selling on Amazon Can Develop Your Digital Marketing Strategy

When you are a small business, it is essential that you have a decent marketing strategy in place to help you become more visible to potential customers. However, this can often require a lot of time and a big financial investment, which is something you may not have access to if you are only a small business.

While a digital marketing strategy can be developed by using social media such as Instagram and the use of blog articles, selling on Amazon is one of best contributions you can add to your digital marketing strategy. By becoming an official seller on Amazon, you will be able to benefit from their algorithm that gives your products priority when customers search for the products you are selling.

Is Your Customer Service Good Enough?

One of the reasons behind the massive success that Amazon has achieved is due to its reputation. Amazon is a strong believer in the motto “it’s all about the customer” so their customer service is one of the strongest aspects of their business. Therefore, it is important to them that their sellers also have a strong customer service procedure.

Amazon has a very high standard of expectations for their sellers and they state that sellers need to have responded to customer inquiries within 24 hours. Amazon does take this very seriously and you can face having your visibility reduced or even have Amazon issues penalties against you for failing to respond within a satisfactory amount of time.

Assess Your Delivery Options

Customers often decide to use Amazon because they are well known for their quick delivery times. Therefore, if you want your small business to fit well within the Amazon marketplace, it is important that your delivery options are up to speed. This can include having faster delivery options that may be at an extra cost, but also cheaper delivery options that will take a little bit longer. Organizing delivery is often the last point of contact you have with a buyer before the sale is completed. Therefore, if you do not have good delivery options, this can make a buyer decide against buying from you and instead of going elsewhere.

You should check out delivery comparison websites and assess who are the best delivery providers and how much they will cost. By arranging your own delivery options, you can decide which company is best suited to the needs of the customer you are currently selling to. It may also be possible for you to negotiate discounts for multiple delivery carriers.

Consider Using Fulfilment by Amazon

Fulfillment by Amazon (often referred to as FBA) is an additional service provided by Amazon that allows you to ship your products directly to an Amazon warehouse, where they will sort out your packaging, delivery, and any return issues for your buyers. This is often a great option for small businesses that don’t have the manpower to be able to carry out many orders at one time.

Often, businesses decide to use the FBA services as it enables them time to develop their small business in other ways. For example, if you were more interested in the product development aspects of your business, this would mean you wouldn’t have to employ staff to package and send off your orders, as Amazon would do this for you.

However, FBA does not come for free and there are additional costs associated with it. But, a major benefit of using the FBA service is that Amazon customers are aware of the perks associated with FBA sellers. A customer that is deliberating over a purchase may be more inclined to go ahead with their order if they see that the product is fulfilled by Amazon. FBA also gives Prime customers free delivery, which may increase your number of sales significantly.

It is important that you research whether FBA will save you money. There have been some claims that Amazon errors can cost a company money. Common errors include lost inventory, damaged goods, and destroyed goods, so make sure that you recoup money using an FBA reimbursement service.  

Increase Your Feedback Score

Online shopping and the increase in online sales is all based on trust between the buyer and seller. One of the easiest ways to show potential customers that you are a trusted and reliable seller is through your feedback score attributed to you by previous buyers. Amazon’s feedback facility is a very popular way for customers to assess how trustworthy and effective a seller is before they go ahead with their purchase. Therefore, it is essential that you build up good feedback stores for your business in order to encourage new customers to buy from you.

You can do this by asking your customers to leave feedback on your page after they have been sent their product. However, it is extremely important that you respond to any negative feedback you may receive and make it clear that you deal with any issue that your customers may have quickly and effectively.

As a small business, you should try not to feel overwhelmed when considering selling on Amazon and use this as an opportunity to expand your business. Expansion through becoming an Amazon seller does not require a huge influx of staff or considerable extra financial investment. Instead, it involves developing your already existing business by making it more online customer friendly.