This article also appeared as a guest post on Small Business First.
Amazon launching into Australia is a big deal in the retail world and for months there’s been hundreds of news article about how it’s going to kill a lot of brands in Australia.
On one side these articles are right – department stores and supermarkets that sell other peoples brands, like Harvey Norman for example, are going to face increased competition and margin pressure.
On the other side, however, is the brands themselves, and far from signalling the death of these brands, Amazon’s launch is a big opportunity, similar to the early days of Search Engine Optimisation.
Read on to find out why and to learn the 7 key tactics brands should focus on to take advantage of this opportunity.
Lets Start With An Example
Let me start with an example of a small Australian brand based in Perth that is starting to dominate its big competitors over in the US using the tactics I’ll run you through shortly.
You’ve probably never heard of them but the brand name “Sh*t the Bed Hot Sauce” is pretty memorable. Despite being relatively unknown they’ve managed to optimise their way to being one of the top ranked and best-selling hot sauces on Amazon with revenue already at $8,000 per day and growing fast. They’ve done this despite having the most expensive product and being based in another country. Pretty impressive stuff!
So How Does This All Work?
Amazon Marketplace for those who don’t know is a service which thousands of Australian businesses have already signed up for and which allows brands to list their products alongside Amazon’s for a small fee and sell direct to consumers. The brand can then either organise shipping, returns and customer service themselves or they can take part in Fulfilment by Amazon – a service that will launch soon in Australia which will allow companies to ship their items in bulk direct to Amazon and for a fee have them take care of everything.
The opportunity to outperform big brands that would generally dominate lies in the fact that Amazon uses advanced algorithms with thousands of data points to determine which products to rank in search results and categories. This ensures they show customers the most relevant products, which are priced correctly and are likely to deliver the best customer experience. Like SEO, these rankings can be optimised, allowing smaller brands with the right strategy to outrank bigger ones and therefore get more traffic and sales.
How Do I Get Started?
If you implement your Amazon strategy correctly you’ll be able to compete with the big brands who have outbid you for supermarket and department store shelves for years.
To get started firstly you need to signup for Amazon Marketplace and be approved as a seller.
Once you’ve been approved and can start listing products, click here to view the 7 key things you should focus on to maximise the sales you generate.
With persistence and a bit of creativity, it could grow to be one of your biggest digital marketing channels. Just don’t forget to keep optimising and innovating, as those big brands may catch you up eventually, and just like the supermarkets, Amazon will one day launch its own private labels in each category.
>>> Click Here To Read Part 2 & Learn The 7 Ways To Maximise Your Amazon Success
