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Recent eCommerce reports continue to send shockwaves through the United States’ business world. An annual report by Edge/Ascential indicates that Amazon will overtake Walmart to become the largest retailer in the United States by 2024, adding more than $294 billion in U.S. sales between 2021 and 2026. 

The report goes on to predict that by 2026, the top three retailers in the United States will be Amazon, Walmart and Costco, with 14.9%, 12.7% and 4.4% of the retailer market share, respectively.

What does that have to do with you selling on Amazon? 

Sure, that’s great news for Amazon, but why should Amazon sellers care? It’s because of what’s hidden just under the surface; the role that sellers themselves have had in this tidal wave of change. 

Amazon has consistently capitalized on its strength as a digital-first platform and has done so with the help of three powerful eCommerce levers. These same three pillars have also been behind the incredible growth that Amazon third-party-sales have experienced over the last 36 months. 

The following three foundational Amazon strategies are so lucrative that they should serve as guideposts for aspirational Amazon sellers in 2023. 

• Prime Membership (and Shipping)
• Multiple Sales Strategies 
• Amazon’s PPC Advertising Platform 

Prime Shipping for Everyone

Amazon’s decision to revolutionize the online shopping industry with Prime shipping raised the bar so far that the rest of the industry has had a hard time keeping pace. 

Before Amazon’s Prime shipping became the norm, waiting impatiently for days and weeks for products to arrive was one of the biggest barriers to buying things online. Today, a full 75% of customers now expect free shipping on all orders, and 63% say delivery speed is an important factor in their purchasing decisions.

Now, Amazon is using their massive eCommerce footprint to help entrepreneurs and small businesses that AREN’T EVEN SELLING ON AMAZON’S MARKETPLACE. 

Amazon’s release of Buy with Prime allows small businesses selling merchandise on their own website to take advantage of one of the principal benefits of Amazon’s fantastic fulfillment service. 

Amazon decided to capitalize on the power of Amazon Prime’s 150 million subscribers by expanding Prime shipping to businesses selling OFF of Amazon’s marketplace. 

With that one gesture, Amazon is indicating a willingness to share with Direct to Consumer (DTC) small businesses one of the biggest eCommerce levers at its disposal. 

Shoppers love speedy shipping. This is a no-brainer for online sellers looking to catch a ride on the “Prime” train. 

Building Repeat Business with Amazon’s Multiple-Sales Strategies

Average Order Value (AOV) is a crucial eCommerce metric that measures the total amount of money every customer spends per transaction. It makes sense. As long as a shopper already has their credit card out, why not make sure that they’re buying more than one item at a time. 

There are two ways that Amazon has made multiple sales a foundational pillar of their business model, Amazon’s “Frequently Bought Together” recommendations, and Amazon’s Virtual Bundles.  

By taking advantage of their huge data modeling capabilities that make the Amazon FBT and “Virtual Bundling” possible, sellers can exponentially grow their sales without breaking a sweat. 

Amazon’s “Frequently Bought Together” Recommendations 

When it comes to upselling, Amazon takes great advantage of their proprietary data. Amazon has the technological power and the marketplace position to be able to influence the eCommerce balance scale with a weighty marketplace finger. One way that they do that is through harvesting customer data.

Amazon uses its algorithms to determine what their customers are most inclined to purchase. Why not take advantage of that data yourself? 

By capitalizing on Amazon’s “Frequently Bought Together” feature on the Amazon listing page, Amazon sellers can tap into that hard-to-find data. Typically composed of two or three items, Amazon’s Frequently Bought Together recommendations are found just below the main product in a searched-for Amazon listing. 

Finding that next big Amazon product is always on the horizon for third-party-sellers. Why not stand on Amazon’s giant shoulders and use their invaluable data to help you come up with a complementary product to boost your total add-to-cart bottom line?

Amazon Virtual Bundles 

Phone case and screen protector, ring light and expandable laptop stand, some things just go together. Why not sell them together? 

Amazon “bundles” have long consisted of multiple single items that can each be identified by a unique ASIN/UPC and then sold together as a single offering. 

Savvy Amazon sellers take advantage of a relatively new way that Amazon allows sellers to bundle their products called, “Amazon Virtual Bundles.” 

The Virtual Product Bundles Tool for FBA lets brand owners create ‘virtual’ bundles made up of two to five complementary ASINs which are purchased together from a single detail page. This allows brand owners to offer bundles without packaging items together or changing FBA inbound inventory.

When a customer orders your Virtual Product Bundle from the product details page, Amazon ships the separate items from your inventory. 

Amazon has built the tool and created the platform, it’s up to you to dig into the data, and do the research. Then, use that data to build your own bundles to multiply your sales. We’re all busy these days. Use Virtual Bundles to prevent your buyers from having to navigate to another page to finish their shopping. 

Amazon Advertising – Good for You, Better for Amazon 

Pay per Click (PPC) is a form of online advertising in which advertisers “bid” for ads then pay a fee when someone clicks on the ad. 

Where Amazon’s PPC advertising platform really shines is with its ability to allow sellers a peek behind the curtain. By taking advantage of Amazon’s recommendations, eCommerce sellers are able to build an advertising strategy on top of Amazon’s powerful algorithms. It’s like being handed the answers to an important test before you sit down with a sharpened number two pencil. 

Just as importantly, once you’ve selected the proper keywords, not only will you be targeting people deliberately looking to buy your product, Amazon will direct business to your (virtual) doorstep free of charge. Taking advantage of Amazon’s PPC advertising platform just ups the ante. 

Use “Targeting” to Increase Relevancy and Reduce Ad Spend

As I mentioned earlier, Amazon’s biggest (and most lucrative) lever is the enormous amount of data that they collect from their shoppers every minute of the day. Having the ability to piggyback on that data is a “hack” you need to take advantage of. As eCommerce advertising becomes more competitive, “targeting” will help you get the upper hand. 

Targeting uses keywords and products to show your ads on search and detail pages to relevant shoppers. Using Sponsored Products automatic targeting, Amazon sellers can target their ads directly at their prospective buyers using the billions of data points collected by Amazon. 

There are many different ways that artificial intelligence can help today’s online sellers increase their sales. But, they all depend on your ability to capture data. That’s something that  Amazon might do better than anyone else. With AI becoming more clever every day, Amazon’s recommendations are better than ever. 

With these three strategies, Amazon has already carved out an effective trail for sellers that are paying close attention. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel. Amazon’s ability to harvest crucial first-party data has been a game changer.

It’s time to use that data to make it a difference maker for your own eCommerce business. 

Amazon PPC Agency = Head Start

If you really want to speed up the process, reach out to a leading Amazon PPC Agency such as Canopy Management to help you optimize your advertising campaign. An Amazon PPC Agency has the experience and technical expertise that allows you to increase product visibility, boost sales, and save money at the same time. 

As an Amazon seller, you probably know how important sales velocity is. After you’ve launched your Amazon product, Amazon PPC advertising might be the very best way to re-energize a product in need of a lift. 

An Amazon Agency will give you a big head start. The rest is up to you. 

How Canopy Management Can Help

Canopy Management is a full-service marketing agency for Walmart and Amazon sellers. Our team consists of former Amazonians, multi-million dollar sellers, and award-winning experts. When you consider the many ways that Canopy Management can help you grow your business, you’ll see why selling on Amazon is much easier “under the Canopy.”

• Strategic Growth Planning
• Listing Copywriting Optimization
• Listing Photography
• Product Videography
• Advertising Management
• Customer Service
• Demand Side Platform (Amazon DSP)
• Amazon Posts
• Full Service Management
• Amazon Review Aggregation