Amazon is a growing digital channel for ecommerce brands, but when brands lose control on the marketplace it damages profitability for both their online business and their brick and mortar channels. Below are 8 signs to look for to see if your brand is out of control on Amazon.
8 SIGNS YOUR BRAND IS OUT OF CONTROL ON AMAZON
You can also download the cheat sheet here.
Sign #1: Lots of Sellers
Whether all of your sellers are authorized or not, they have the same access to update your product listing, image stack, and feature description—giving them equal power over your brand. Plus, they all want to win the Buy Box, forcing them to compete on the only thing that differentiates sellers of the same product: price. The more sellers your product has, the more vulnerable your listing and price become.
Sign #2: Poor Content
Your product title, image stack, bullet points, product description, and A+ Content are all part of your Amazon content. In short, your Amazon content is the information your customers use to decide the quality of your brand and whether or not to buy. Not maintaining control of your #1 conversion tool (images & bullets) on Amazon is a recipe for poor brand representation, confused customers, and lost sales.
Sign #3: Poor Reviews
Poor quality is not the only thing that causes poor reviews. Unauthorized sellers who have poor customer service, create misleading product listings, and send damaged products cause poor reviews that don’t accurately reflect your brand or product. Without control of your Amazon business, poor reviews can plague your listings, hurt customer trust in your brand, and result in lost sales.
Sign #4: Buy Box Suppression
Amazon is committed to providing the lowest price to its customers. So, when a product is listed for less elsewhere on the web, Amazon can suppress your product listing from the Buy Box according to their Marketplace Fair Pricing Policy. But price isn’t the only factor for the Buy Box, other influences include customer service, quality listings, and in-stock rate. Regardless of which factors you struggle with, not owning the Buy Box is a surefire way to squander sales.
Sign #5: Price Erosion
In order to win the Buy Box, rogue sellers are lowering the price of your product, stealing your sales, and diminishing your brand value. Then, to compete, the other sellers drop prices even more, creating a vicious race to the bottom and blocking everyone’s profits. Unfortunately, price erosion is easy to spot and hard to stop.
Sign #6: Stock Outs
Amazon can’t sell product it doesn’t have, so the platform makes staying in stock critical for maintaining organic rank, customer experience, Best Sellers Rank (BSR), and profitable sales. Unfortunately, Amazon may not place the same priority on your in-stock rate as you do. But, having true control of your Amazon business allows you to control inventory availability based on your forecasts.
Sign #7: Price Matching
Deep discounts on Amazon fuel price competition at retail locations. If your brand has lower prices online, you can keep retail partners happy by covering the cost of a price match. When consumers shop in-store but find a lower price online, the retailer sells your product at the lower price but charges you the difference between their listed price and the price-matched sale. So, when price matching becomes the norm, your brand ends up paying the bill.
Sign #8: Retail Partners Complain
Amazon is not in a vacuum—everything your brand does online affects your brick and mortar partners. Customers’ shopping in retail stores will check prices online before buying, and they will almost always choose the lower price. When Amazon wins on price, your retail partners can’t move product, and it hurts the retailer’s (and brand’s) profits. The stores may move your brand to a less ideal location or simply take it off the shelf altogether.
Get in Control with Pattern
Do these signs sound familiar? You’re not alone.
At Pattern, your marketplace accelerator, we understand how to eliminate the 8 signs and get your brand in control on Amazon.
