Category: Amazon Marketing

Businesses must make a critical choice when it comes to selling products on Amazon: should they opt to be a seller or a vendor? Entrepreneurs frequently struggle with this decision and consider the advantages and disadvantages of each course of action. Making an informed choice that is in line with their corporate aims and business goals requires an understanding of the differences between these two jobs. We will examine the essential distinctions, benefits, and things to keep in mind when deciding whether to become an Amazon vendor or seller in this blog, offering insightful information to assist businesses in making this crucial decision.

Who Is an Amazon Vendor?

An Amazon vendor, also known as a first-party seller, assumes the role of a manufacturer, wholesaler, or distributor when selling on Amazon. With Amazon vendor central, you sell your products directly to Amazon rather than to the end consumer. It resembles a wholesale relationship, similar to selling to physical stores like Walmart or Tesco. Amazon vendor services act as the customer in this arrangement.

Amazon vendor services include managing inventory, customer service, and after-sales support. They decide how much inventory to purchase based on their estimation of product demand and issue purchase orders accordingly. Amazon vendor services can set the retail price and modify content on the product pages. Although vendors provide content to Amazon, the final decision rests with Amazon.

How Does One Recognize a Vendor or Seller on Amazon?

To differentiate between vendors and other sellers on Amazon, you can look for products dispatched and sold directly by Amazon on the product detail page. It indicates a vendor relationship where Amazon owns and sells the product.

Why Should You Become A Vendor?

The question often arises as to why businesses choose to be vendors. By becoming a vendor, you enter into a wholesale relationship where Amazon purchases inventory in quantity rather than single units. It means Amazon vendor services place purchase orders for larger volumes, such as pallets or cartons, making it economically viable for your business.

It's significant to note that Amazon follows a "little and often" approach, frequently placing smaller orders rather than stocking large quantities for extended periods. Amazon vendor services operate fulfillment centers where goods are quickly processed and shipped out. Thus, expect smaller but more frequent purchase orders from Amazon as a vendor.

Advantages of Being A Vendor

1. Inventory Management

Being a vendor has its advantages, primarily because Amazon vendor services take care of inventory management. You don't have to worry about determining how much inventory to send to Amazon as a vendor since they handle the ordering process. In most cases, Amazon vendor services provide a forecast for your inventory needs, although its accuracy may vary if your sales fluctuate significantly. However, if you participate in specific programs like Amazon Fresh or Amazon Prime Now, which often originate from the vendor side, you may receive invitations that serve as incentives.

2. Competing for the Buy Box

Another reason businesses become vendors is that they don't have to compete for the buy box. Amazon vendor services handle that on their behalf, eliminating the need to adjust pricing and engage in strategies to win the buy box. In the past, these additional features and advantages made businesses more inclined to become vendors. However, with the availability of Seller Central for brand owners with registered trademarks, the playing field has become more even. Seller Central provides access to similar tools and features, creating a level playing field for sellers and vendors.

What Is the Role of a Seller on Amazon?

As a seller on Amazon, third-party (3P), you take on more responsibilities compared to being a vendor. You are responsible for managing your inventory and customer service. However, if you choose Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), Amazon will handle inventory management and customer service on your behalf. But even with FBA, you must determine how much inventory to send to Amazon's fulfillment centers.

Advantages of Being a Seller

1. Control Over Pricing

When a business chooses between becoming a vendor or a seller, it may consider its existing setup. Some companies have both wholesale and direct-to-consumer arrangements. One reason a business might choose to be a seller instead of a vendor is to have control over pricing. As a vendor, Amazon sets retail prices, which some companies may not prefer or trust. They view Amazon vendor services as their customer rather than the end consumer.

2. Contact with Customers

Becoming a seller allows direct contact with the end consumer on Amazon. While Amazon's terms of service restrict contacting customers, you still have more visibility and communication options compared to being a vendor.

What Is the Hybrid Approach?

It means you have access to Seller Central and Vendor Central accounts and must manage your assortment between the two platforms strategically.

This hybrid approach requires careful consideration. It's not simply a matter of opening a seller account and mirroring your vendor account. It would help if you strategized which products to sell as a seller and which to sell through Amazon vendor services.

For example, you may choose to nurture new products and accelerate sales on the seller side before transitioning them to the vendor side at a later stage. A hybrid approach involves thoughtful planning and cannot be achieved quickly, typically with more than six months or a year to establish.

Points to Ponder Over While Choosing Between Being a Seller and a Vendor

• Special Tools: It's important to note that specific tools and features previously exclusive to Amazon vendor services have become available to sellers and vice versa. For instance, in the past, vendors had to pay for plus content, but now it's free for sellers. These changes in availability can impact the decision-making process.
• Economical Viability: Some sellers have experienced increased business by transitioning to being a vendor. They have seen larger orders, albeit not massive bulk orders, than they received as sellers. Shipping in packs once a week to Amazon instead of individual orders has proven to be more cost-effective for some businesses.
• Listing Changes: As disruptions can occur, it's crucial to be cautious when switching from a seller to a vendor. Product images, titles, and optimized product pages from the seller account may change when under Amazon vendor services, which can create challenges.
• Backup Strategy: If you decide to become a vendor, timing is essential. Starting with new products or listings not already on the seller account, such as multi-packs or unique offerings, can help you become familiar with the platform before fully committing. It's advisable to have a backup strategy in case of any unforeseen difficulties during the transition.
• Administrative Tasks: Remember that obtaining an Amazon vendor services account requires an invitation from Amazon. However, working with agencies or freelancers who have connections with Amazon's business development team might open up opportunities for such conversations.

Additionally, it's important to note that being a vendor involves significant administrative tasks, including managing purchase orders, shipment notifications, shipping labels, invoices, and accounting. If your resources are already stretched thin as a seller, you should carefully evaluate doubling the workload as a vendor.

Conclusion

When deciding between being a seller or a vendor on Amazon, it's crucial to evaluate your business goals, resources, and preferences carefully. Ultimately, choosing between being a seller and a vendor depends on your business needs and objectives.

Consider factors such as the availability of tools and features, advertising potential, the economic viability of shipping options, and the impact on existing product listings. Timing and strategic planning are critical to a successful transition, and it's essential to have a backup strategy in case of any challenges.

When faced with the choice between becoming an Amazon seller or vendor, seeking guidance from experts or agencies who are well-versed in Amazon's platform can be highly advantageous. These professionals can provide valuable insights into Amazon vendor central management and Amazon seller central services, helping you navigate the decision-making process and determine the best approach for your business.

Consulting with experienced experts, such as those from Vserve Amazon Listing Services can ensure that you receive specialized advice tailored to your specific needs, maximizing your chances of success on Amazon.

This blog is inspired by the video ‘Amazon Vendor Central vs Seller Central or Hybrid? Differences, Pros and Cons’ by ‘Orange Klik.’

Because of the enormous amount of traffic on the eCommerce platform, Amazon is a great place for sellers to showcase their products in front of their target audience. With such massive traffic, the competition on the forum is also huge. How can Amazon sellers beat and boost their product sales in this competitive marketplace?

Many Amazon sellers have succeeded on Amazon getting their products in front of the right audience and converting sales. If they can do it, then you can do it too. All you have to do is follow the best practices that boost your ranking, reachability, and conversion rate.

Here we bring the top 8 Amazon marketing experts' advice to help sellers increase their sales on Amazon and become successful as Amazon sellers.

1. Optimize Your Amazon Product Listing for SEO

It is not easy to get the attention of your potential customers and encourage them to purchase your products. By optimizing your product listing for Amazon SEO, you can ensure a higher ranking of your listing that can result in higher visibility and a higher click-through rate. Optimize your product listing for relevant keywords and mention product details aptly. Consider various aspects of your product listing, including product title, bullet points, product images, and product description, while optimizing the listing for Amazon SEO. However, while optimizing for Amazon, do not ignore Google because everything in your product listing can also be listed on Google. The leading search engine is a huge source of Amazon traffic.

2. Follow Amazon's Product Guidelines

It is important to always adhere to Amazon's product guidelines when creating and optimizing your product listing. If your product listing doesn't comply with the guidelines, Amazon may penalize your listing or ban your seller's account. This is why it becomes essential to get the services of Amazon experts who understand the guidelines and adhere to them while optimizing your product listing for Amazon and Google. With trusted and experienced experts, you don't need to worry about the consequences of not complying with the guidelines.

3. Use Amazon's Branding Tools

Amazon provides several beneficial tools to Amazon sellers that they can use to boost their product visibility and sales. However, sellers must register themselves with Amazon Brand Registry to use these features. After registering with Amazon Brand Registry, sellers can add A+ content to their listing. The quality is only available for brand owners, and it can help sellers stand out from the competition. The brand dashboard is another brand-exclusive feature that allows sellers to avail opportunities to boost relevant traffic, customer experience, and conversion. Brands also access features like Amazon attribution, Amazon Renewed, Amazon storefronts, and other features.

4. Leverage Amazon Ads

Using sponsored ads is a great way to increase sales on Amazon. It can help drive relevant traffic to your product listing and boost your brand visibility. To start advertising your products on Amazon, you must choose the products to promote and decide your advertising budget. According to AdBadger.com, the average cost per click on Amazon is $0.89, and the average conversion rate is 36.67 conversions per user per day. Amazon provides multiple options to sellers for placing ads, including Sponsored Ads, Product Display Ads, and Headline Search Ads.

5. Get More Reviews

Product reviews have a significant influence on purchasing decisions of your customers. As many as 80% of online customers consider product reviews for deciding whether or not to buy a product online. For many Amazon sellers, convincing customers to give their thoughts is challenging. This is why some sellers started to incentivize customers to provide reviews. However, this is against Amazon's policies, and Amazon can remove such listings. Sellers need to develop an effective review management strategy to increase product sales. Amazon sellers can hire Amazon listing optimization experts to help them get genuine reviews from verified Amazon users.

6. Check and Track Competition

To become a successful Amazon seller, tracking what your competitors are doing in the marketplace is essential. Analyzing your competitors is a great way to know what you might be missing or what your potential customers may be looking for. Sellers can use the following four tools to track their competition:

• SEMRush: Use this marketing tool to collect information on relevant keywords and track how the competitors' products rank on Amazon for those keywords.
• Ahrefs: This tool allows sellers to analyze the product listing most successfully for a particular keyword.
• Moat: Moat can be used to check and track competitor ads and how much money they invest in a particular ad type. This will help you analyze how the competitors target your potential customers and how successful they are in their campaigns.
• Price tracking tools: As product pricing is an essential factor that potential customers may consider while buying a product, it becomes crucial for Amazon sellers to track when the competitors change their product pricing. Several excellent price tracking tools allow sellers to keep track of the prices of all competitors' product listings.

7. Add Backend keywords

Amazon product listing optimization services doesn't just include adding keywords to the product title, bullet points, and description. Sellers can use the backend keyword feature. These keywords can be added to Amazon Seller Central Management and are called Search terms. Amazon uses these keywords to rank product listings for relevant searches. This will result in better product visibility and more sales. Amazon allows sellers to add up to 125 words in backend keywords.

8. Win Buy Box

Winning Amazon Buy Box for your product is the best strategy to increase product sales. When an Amazon seller wins the Buy box, at least 80% of all the deals are redirected to that seller, as most buyers don't even look at other sellers' products. Buyers just click on "Add to Cart," and the seller who owns the Buy Box wins the sale. To win the Amazon buy box, sellers need to follow the following strategies:

• Ensuring that the product is never out of stock
• Responding to customer queries within 24 hours
• Keeping a competitive product pricing
• Using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
• Sticking to the shipping guidelines
• Reducing the defective products

Winning Amazon Buy Box for a particular product is an ongoing strategy, and sellers need to keep the listing optimized and track the competitors' pricing to keep the Buy Box for longer.

Conclusion

Every Amazon seller aims to boost their product sales using different marketing strategies, and there are several ways to achieve this. Following the suggestions mentioned above from Amazon marketplace experts will help Amazon sellers increase their sales but also help them improve brand awareness and achieve higher customer satisfaction.

From optimizing the product listing with the right keywords to continuously monitoring competitors' listing and pricing, staying ahead of the competition is the key to success as an Amazon seller. Managing all this can be difficult, but putting all the hard work into this can be worth it as it will help increase brand awareness and product sales.

As the largest e-commerce site in North America and among the most successful brands worldwide, Amazon offers a great platform for business owners to enhance their popularity. 

Statistics indicate that Amazon ships around 1.6 million packages every day. Amazon websites recorded 213 million visitors in the US alone in July 2020. 

There are many benefits of marketing your products on Amazon. Yet, business owners often struggle with making the most out of Amazon for their business. Data indicates that of the 9.1 million sellers on Amazon, about 2.3 million are presently active. Many of them report having issues getting their products to rank in the initial search engine results pages (SERPs).

Sellers can make the most out of Amazon SEO by reconstructing their marketing strategies. For instance, using Amazon sponsored products and Amazon sponsored ads, a business owner can build brand awareness and inform a buyer’s decision-making process. To enable businesses to gain more out of selling their products on Amazon, we shall explore seven powerful Amazon marketing strategies.

How does Amazon rank its products?

The A10 algorithm of Amazon is different from that of another search engine; consequently, you need to implement certain specific tactics for boosting your Amazon SEO rank.

Amazon prioritizes customer behavior, and this is revealed in terms of a customer’s product browsing preferences and purchase history. Elements that influence the order in which you see products on Amazon include:

• Pricing information.
• Customer reviews.
• Type of images/videos on display.
• Seller’s responsiveness to all inquiries.

These are some factors that you need to consider for Amazon search engine optimization. 

7 powerful Amazon marketing strategies to boost your business revenue

Write compelling product descriptions

Though your product descriptions do not directly affect the ranking, they impact visibility since they are indexed. Your product description is your opportunity to sell your brand and product in a way that gently encourages a customer. Talk about what makes your product unique and what benefits it provides to your customer.

Ensure that your product description is clear and compelling. You can incorporate some keywords and add a strong call-to-action for the conclusion. In addition, you can utilize some backend search terms for your keywords which can help boost your product’s search engine ranking on Amazon. Vserve product description writing services can help you gain a competitive edge in the Amazon market with product content that sells.

Incorporate high-resolution pictures

When you post information about any product online, it is vital to provide relevant information about your customer. Photographs and videos are important elements that help to generate conversions for a business. Ensure that your photos and videos are of high resolution. 

In Amazon, users can use the zoom-in feature to observe a product more closely. If, upon zooming in, a user finds a low-quality photo or a photo that shows something defective, it will immediately drive them away. Make sure that you are spending enough time taking high quality photos of your products before posting them online. If you need expert support to edit and enhance your product images, Vserve is here to help! You can get our image editing services for as low as $10/hour.