SHOULD YOU ENGAGE AN AMAZON CONSULTANT? Selling on Amazon is essential in today's market, but it's also a complicated process. You're an expert in your product, but maybe you're not as strong on Amazon, and we all know that the platform can be overwhelming.
We at Marknology are Amazon experts, and we can help you navigate the Amazon Marketplace and get your products in front of more potential customers.
Working with an Amazon consultant helps you minimize common mistakes and avoid violating Amazon’s Terms of Service, which will lead to your account being shut down. Other mistakes can cost you money, but getting shut down is the most expensive mistake you could make. It's easily avoided with the help of a consulting agency.
Here are the some of the benefits you'll enjoy when working with an Amazon consultant.
Smooth Startup
As the platform's grows, it's become more difficult to get started. Amazon’s rules have matured as more sellers have joined the marketplace, and they are stricter about who can sell, what products can be sold, and practices that sellers must follow.
Approval is required for several categories of inventory, including clothing, shoes, and handbags, as well as automotive items, and others. The categories that require approval are always expanding and getting approved isn't always easy.
An Amazon consultant will help you navigate all this and ensure that you're in compliance with all the regulations that apply to you. A good consultant should guarantee that your products successfully make it through Amazon's product compliance process. You'll be able to get your products listed quickly and start selling as soon as possible.
An Amazon consulting agency will usually get product compliance right on their first try, or if any problems arise, they can deal with them quickly. Sellers are often focused on their own marketing and building their sales rather than spending a lot of time understanding the marketplace policies, so they often make major listing mistakes, such as using logos and website links inappropriately. You can avoid those problems by working with a consultant.
The Right Account For You
While getting your product listings right is vital, before you can even get started with that, you need to set up your seller account. Amazon offers both Individual and Professional seller accounts. It can be a challenge to set up your account without violating Amazon's policies.
Do you understands the important differences?
Do you need FBA to compete?
Will you be selling enough to warrant a professional account?
Will an individual account end up costing you money?
Will the probable transition between individual account and professional account work for your selling category? (3rd party seller, artisans, private label owners, multi-channel retailers or manufacturers)
Working with a consultant will help you determine which account type you need and thus avoid unnecessary problems.
Accurate and Effective Product Listings
Your product listings are everything. Getting their content and formatting right is essential if you want to be a successful seller on Amazon. Getting your listings wrong will dramatically impact your profits.
You need good graphics, product photography, and text content in order to build a great product listing. An Amazon ecommerce consultant knows all the ins and outs of creating a great product listing that will get you the sales you're looking for, while still complying with Amazon's policies.
There are lots of things that sellers do that violate those policies, such as including your store URL in listings or using colored backgrounds or watermarks in images. These mistakes won't just impact your sales—they will get you a warning from Amazon and can even lead to your account being banned.
You are busy running your business and don't have time to learn all of Amazon's policies and how to create the best listings. Amazon consultants already have all this knowledge and can get you started on the right foot.
Dynamic Pricing Options
As competition in the ecommerce space grows, especially within Amazon, it's essential to have a flexible and dynamic pricing strategy. You'll miss out on opportunities if you stick with static pricing. Dynamic pricing reduces cart abandonment, and it also improves your search engine rankings. Again, working with a consultant will allow you to easily set up these options.
Easily Handle Reviews and Complaints
Amazon's policies are strict about reviews—you can't buy reviews or boost your ratings with dishonest reviews. But that doesn't mean you can't ask customers for their honest opinions.
Every seller, online or off, has had to deal with unhappy, often irrational or demanding customers. As always, it's important not to argue with them. On Amazon this can have some serious consequences.
It's inevitable that you'll get some one-star reviews that are unwarranted. Customers can be quick to leave a bad review when there isn't anything wrong with the product: “I accidentally ordered the wrong size and it didn't fit well. One star.” It's easy to get annoyed with these reviews and want to reply, but there's a right and wrong way to deal with these situations. The way you deal with unhappy customers will reflect on you as a brand. Potential customers will see any replies you make and make their decisions accordingly.
An Amazon consultant can help you set up review software that uses an autoresponder to communicate with your customers. This is a good way to build trust and loyalty. You can make all your reviews, both good and bad, work for you in the long run.
Overall, working with an Amazon consultant will help you avoid the common pitfalls that often catch new and veteran sellers unaware, as well as optimize your account and product listings to get the most out of your efforts. Hiring an Amazon consultant will help you be successful in the competitive Amazon Marketplace.