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Summer is winding down and believe it or not, back-to-school seasonal sales are right around the corner, bringing with it a significant opportunity for you to boost your sales. Second only to the holiday shopping season in terms of consumer spending, this annual shopping event is crucial for all retailers, entrepreneurs included.  

According to the National Retail Federation, families with children in elementary through high school planned to spend as much as $890 on school supplies this year—an increase of more than $25 from last year’s figure. College students and their families anticipated spending an average of $1,366 on college or university items.

That’s certainly enough to move the needle for any Amazon business. Here are steps you can take to put your own brand in the best position to succeed: 

Understanding Your Target Audience

To maximize your back-to-school sales, it’s critical to understand your target audience. The primary groups include:

1. Parents of K-12 students: This group seeks a wide range of products, from basic school supplies to clothing and electronics.
2. College students: This gold-mine category typically needs dorm room essentials, electronics, and textbooks.
3. Teachers and educators: Often overlooked, this group purchases classroom supplies and teaching materials.

Top Back-to-School Product Categories

Focusing on niche markets is essential to capturing the attention of back-to-school shoppers. By honing in on specific needs and interests, you can strategically target your audience and drive more sales. The most popular Amazon categories for back-to-school shopping include:

School Supplies

This category includes a wide range of essential items such as notebooks, pens, pencils, backpacks, binders, and planners. High-quality, durable products with unique designs appeal to both students and parents.

Electronics and Gadgets

For most students, technology has become a big part of the process of going to school. Items like laptops, tablets, headphones, and calculators are in high demand. Products that offer educational side benefits, like e-readers and software, also perform well during the back-to-school season.

Apparel and Footwear

Most of us can remember the thrill of picking out new clothing and shoes for school. It’s always a significant part of back-to-school shopping. Popular items include uniforms, casual wear, athletic wear, and accessories.

Dorm and Apartment Essentials

For college students, setting up a dorm room or apartment is a major task. In many cases, they’re starting from scratch. This category includes bedding, storage solutions, small kitchen appliances, and decor items. Because of the relatively small spaces, functional and space-saving products are particularly popular.

Health and Personal Care

Products that help kids (of all ages) to stay healthy are crucial, especially during the back-to-school period. Items such as hand sanitizers, face masks, vitamins, and personal care products see a surge in demand.

Books and Learning Materials

Textbooks, reference books, study guides, and educational toys are indispensable for students. You can capitalize on this category by offering a wide range of materials that cater to different grade levels and subjects.

Marketing Strategies for Back-to-School Success

1. Start early: Begin your Amazon marketing efforts in July to capture early shoppers and build awareness.
2. Analyze past performance: Review data from previous years to identify top-selling products, popular promotions, and peak shopping periods.
3. If possible, create a dedicated back-to-school product detail page (or Store): Showcase your relevant products and deals in one easy-to-find location.
4. Monitor your competitors: Keep an eye on your competitors’ offerings and pricing to ensure your deals remain competitive.
5. Offer competitive deals and promotions: Consider bundle discounts, or gift-with-purchase promotions to entice shoppers. 
6. Optimize for local searches: Many shoppers look for “back-to-school sales near me,” so make sure your local SEO is up to par.
7. Implement email marketing campaigns: Send targeted emails to your subscriber list, highlighting your back-to-school offerings and exclusive deals.
8. Leverage social media to push traffic to your Amazon page: Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok can help you to reach your target audience with engaging ad content.
9. Capitalize on user-generated content: Encourage customers to share photos of their back-to-school hauls on social media, using a branded hashtag.
10. Partner with influencers: Collaborate with popular parent bloggers, student influencers, or teacher accounts to showcase your products authentically.

Learn from Walmart: A Back-to-School Sales Pro

Have you added selling on Walmart to your overall ecommerce pipeline? Either way, it’s worth taking a closer look at how the brick-and-mortar giant has established itself as a leader in back-to-school sales. 

By leveraging its extensive product range, applying competitive pricing strategies, and strong marketing campaigns, they’ve been able to attract a large share of the market. 

Here’s why Amazon sellers should closely monitor Walmart’s strategies to help prepare for the back-to-school season:

Extensive Product Range and Competitive Pricing

Walmart’s extensive product selection, from school supplies to clothing and electronics, caters to a wide range of customer needs. Their competitive pricing strategies often set the benchmark for the industry, forcing competitors to follow suit.

Early Adoption of Trends

Walmart is known for quickly adapting to new trends and consumer preferences. During the back-to-school season, they often introduce innovative products and bundles that set new trends in the market. You can stay ahead of the curve by monitoring these introductions and incorporating similar trends into your listings.

Optimizing the Amazon Shopping Experience for Mobile

In 2024, buyers are busier than ever before.. As more consumers shop on the go using smartphones and tablets, optimizing your Amazon listings for mobile devices can significantly enhance your sales performance. 

These specific strategies aren’t just for mobile shoppers. They work just as well for shoppers on laptops. It’s just that with the smaller screen real estate available on mobile devices, their importance is multiplied 10X. 

Here’s how to achieve mobile-friendly optimization:

Optimize Product Titles:

• Keep titles short and to the point, ideally within 80 characters.
• Include the most important keywords and product information upfront.
• Avoid unnecessary words or filler.

High-Quality Images:

• Use clear, high-resolution images that showcase the product from multiple angles.
• Ensure the main image is attractive and zoomable.
• Include lifestyle images to help shoppers visualize the product in use.

Bullet Points and Descriptions:

• Write concise and easy-to-read bullet points highlighting key features and benefits.
• Use short paragraphs and break up text with headings in the product description.
• Emphasize the product’s value proposition clearly.

Mobile-Friendly Formatting:

• Ensure text is readable on smaller screens; avoid long blocks of text.
• Use bold and italics sparingly to draw attention to important information.
• Avoid excessive use of special characters or symbols.

A+ Content 

• Leverage A+ Content to provide a richer shopping experience with additional images and text.
• Use mobile-optimized images and layouts that load quickly and display correctly on mobile devices.

Backend Keywords:

• Use relevant and high-traffic keywords in the backend search terms to improve visibility.
• Include synonyms and related terms that mobile shoppers might use.

Consistent Brand Voice:

• Maintain a consistent and engaging brand voice throughout the listing.
• Align the tone and style with your target audience to build a strong brand connection.

Post-Purchase Strategies

Turning one-time shoppers into loyal Amazon customers is crucial for long-term success. Try to implement these post-purchase tactics:

1. Follow-up emails with additional product recommendations: Suggest complementary items based on their recent purchase.
2. Encourage reviews and testimonials: Amazon sellers can use the “Request a Review” button to request reviews and feedback from customers for their products. (Amazon only allows sellers to request feedback once. You can choose between the Amazon Request a Review feature or Buyer-Seller Messaging. Be sure not to request reviews with both
3. Offer loyalty programs for repeat customers: Implement a points system or exclusive discounts for returning shoppers.

The back-to-school season is not just about driving short-term sales. It’s a perfect opportunity to build lasting brand loyalty. By providing a superior product, a positive shopping experience, valuable content, and excellent customer service, you can turn back-to-school shoppers into year-round ecommerce customers.

If you want to do what increasing numbers of Amazon’s top sellers have done, reach out to the team at Canopy Management. 

What would adding 67% more organic sales mean for your brand?

Turns out that when you combine the massive experience of Canopy’s Amazon Experts with smart tools and tech, you get industry-leading results like this:

• 84% Average Year-Over-Year Profit Growth for Our Partners
• 2.7 Billion in Revenue Managed
• 99.1% Partner Retention Rate

Canopy Management is a full-service marketing agency for Amazon and Walmart 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