4 Amazon Selling Strategies That Work

The right Amazon selling strategies can take a brand-new business above and beyond the competition. Use these four methods to earn more and become eligible for the coveted Buy Box:

Last updated 9/21/2018.

1. Use a Loss Leader

Loss leaders are products sold at a loss (perhaps below cost, or perhaps just below acceptable margins). This popular retail strategy works especially well on Amazon.

You might think of this as the razors and razor blades strategy. For those who don’t know, most shaving supply companies sell the razors at a loss, but sell new blades for those razors at a hefty markup. Customers gladly buy the overpriced razor blades later, since they’re still cheaper than buying new razors. Bam—profit!

But how does this work for an Amazon seller?

A. Building Up a Seller Rating

It’s virtually impossible to sell anything until you have a high Amazon seller rating. Selling at a very low price will make customers less hesitant to buy from a new seller.

B. Showing Up in Search Results

If you're selling your own product rather than reselling, you have to worry about something most sellers don't: getting your product noticed on Amazon.

As we explain in "Selling Private Label on Amazon," you can't make sales until you've already made sales! Amazon puts new products at the bottom of search results and only raises their rankings if people start buying them.

Offering a price lower than any competing product makes yours a go-to for bargain hunters, giving you a chance to climb the search results and get noticed by shoppers with deeper pockets. Then you can raise your price.

Just keep in mind that this strategy may lead people to think the product isn’t worth the price you plan to charge later. Think twice if you’re trying to differentiate something based on quality or luxury.

C. Building Up Item Reviews

Another way loss leaders can help establish a new product is by giving it a chance to get reviewed. In particular, self-publishers using Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing often do quite well by using Free Book Promotions to garner attention before actually selling the book.

D. Getting Buyers to Your Seller Profile

Buyers who are interested in one of your products may like the other things you have to sell. You therefore want to get them to your profile, where they’ll see the rest of your selection.

Offering something for a loss can lead people to your profile for two main reasons:

1. They may click on the listing after seeing your low price. Then, even if they don’t want to buy that particular item, they may want to see if you have similar products they want more.
2. They may buy the item and then check your store for compatible accessories or other related items.

Above: A visitor can find your seller profile from various links, like the one shown above.

Below: This manufacturer’s storefront is designed to sell more to buyers interested in any one of their products.

Note that this only works if you can turn a profit once you get people to your seller profile. For example, if you sell a computer at a loss, make sure you sell related mice, mouse pads, keyboards, flash drives, laptop cases, and so on for hefty profits.

This mainly works for niche sellers. Sellers who offer a wide variety of unrelated products will have a tougher time succeeding with it.

2. Use Data-Driven Pricing

Too many sellers rely on instinct and opinion when setting prices. This often results in prices that are too high to sell or lower than they could be for optimal profits.

With prices on Amazon changing millions of times per day, it can be impossible for humans to crunch the numbers fast enough to set the ideal price. Using intelligent Amazon repricing software that makes automatic decisions based on big data can skyrocket your sales and profits.

3. Stick to High-Quality Products

Obviously, somebody has to sell cheaper products, and it’s often especially tempting to do so when using loss leaders. However, sticking to high-quality products usually gets much better results.

The reason for this? Customers are more likely to be satisfied with their purchases. That means fewer return requests and negative reviews.

Keeping return requests down will lower your losses and leave you with more time to focus on selling. And with a high Amazon seller rating, you’re much more likely to make sales. Say goodbye to loss leaders!

It’s also worth noting that Amazon’s customers aren’t particularly stingy. eBay is the home of serious bargain hunters; the average Amazon buyer cares much more about the quality of their experience and the product.

4. Prioritize Customer Service to Win the Buy Box

The Buy Box is Amazon’s Holy Grail and the end goal of most successful Amazon selling strategies. It’s commonly said that 90% of all Amazon sales are made through the Buy Box, and sellers who have won the Buy Box can often sell at prices 20% higher than their competitors. It’s as big a deal as having your website ranked #1 on Google.

Amazon uses a variety of metrics for determining who can win the Buy Box and never gives out exact numbers. But they boil down to the following: have a professional selling account, make enough sales, and treat your customers as well as possible.

Major factors include having a low Order Defect Rate (few chargebacks and A-to-z Guarantee claims and little negative feedback) and shipping on time. You can handle these the easy way or the hard way.

The Easy Way

Use Fulfillment by Amazon. They take care of the customer service, so you pretty much meet the Order Defect Rate requirement automatically. Your products also become eligible for Prime and get shipped promptly by Amazon, so all the shipping-related requirements are taken care of.

However, you do have to deal with all of the related FBA fees and a ton of other hurdles that make anyone ask, is Amazon FBA worth it? You’ll have more control over your own pricing, deal with way less paperwork, and can often make better profits by handling your own fulfillment. But that means you’ll have to reach the Buy Box...

The Hard Way

If you want control over all your expenses and still want to win the Buy Box, you'll need world-class customer service.

You’ll want to make sure your employees can answer your customers as efficiently as possible. Integrating Amazon with a helpdesk such as Freshdesk or Zendesk will make it easier both for your customer service team to answer customers quickly and for you to manage your team. Doing this will also allow your agents to answer support requests from eBay and your own website from a single screen, rather than forcing them to log in and out of different services.

Of course, all this infrastructure won’t win you the Buy Box if your team doesn’t know what great customer service means. Make sure everyone is devoted to making the customer as happy as possible.

For help with shipping on time, see if any advanced ecommerce shipping solutions can give you the edge you need.

Finally, when you have shipping on time locked down, apply for Seller Fulfilled Prime to boost your sales and compete with FBA sellers.

Summary

By using these four Amazon selling strategies to attract new customers and make them happy, you’ll set yourself on a course for the Buy Box. Price intelligently, serve your customers well, and take every opportunity to streamline your organization, and soon you’ll see your Amazon profits on the rise.