Seven Steps to Making Your First Sale on Amazon Marketplace
The e-commerce industry is one of the most profitable and scalable industries that any intending business owner can venture into. Just like a retail business, you only need to have quality physical products that are instrumental to people, and then you are set to make money. Fortunately, companies like Amazon have helped create platforms that facilitate the operation of any business in the e-commerce industry, selling products to as many buyers as possible.
Amazon Marketplace as a Major Stakeholder in E-commerce
One must recognize the fact that the e-commerce sector has been dominated by Amazon. Amazon has surprisingly emerged as the top dog in this evolving industry, paving the way for hundreds of thousands of business owners across the world to establish a lucrative business in the e-commerce space and bag huge profits. There’s no denying that Amazon is a major player in the e-commerce industry, which is great news for anyone selling on Amazon’s web Marketplace.
If you are an intending business owner who is just starting in the Amazon marketplace, the one thing you would constantly ponder on is how to successfully make your first sale, and then repeat the same process as many times as possible. You need to learn this, to thrive and to match up with your competitors in the marketplace.
This article is a simple guide, to put you through the entire process of setting up your business on the Amazon marketplace and making your first sale.
Seven Steps to Make Your First Amazon Marketplace Sale
Step 1: Conduct Product Research
Usually, before a person starts a business, thorough market research must be conducted. This is a simple study that will help an individual to determine if the business he or she is about to venture into is scalable and sustainable. It is also great for determining if there’s an actual demand for the product.
This is something similar to the product research that you must do before selling anything on Amazon. You need to be able to determine the product that is best for your business. Examine your competitors’ businesses to know why they sell what they sell. Also understand their selling metrics, as this will give you insights into how you’d run your own business in the Amazon marketplace.
Step 2: Set up an Amazon Seller Account and Sign up for Amazon FBA
If you have already set up your Amazon seller account and signed up for Amazon FBA, then you can skip this step. But if you are yet to do so, you should consider the brief information below to get started.
Once you have completed the product research and decide on what to sell, the next step is to claim your own space in the Amazon marketplace and start. Setting up your Amazon seller account is a basic process that shouldn’t cause you much hassle. Simply visit Amazon’s official website and choose to sign up as a seller. You’d be immediately redirected to a different page, where you’d provide all the necessary information Amazon needs to validate you as a seller.
Once you’ve done that, sign up for the Amazon FBA service. “FBA”, an acronym for “Fulfillment By Amazon”, is the logistics arm of the Amazon Marketplace. The Amazon FBA offers you a package of benefits that will help you in your journey as a new seller in the Amazon marketplace.
Step 3: Direct Targeted Traffic to Your Store
Once you’ve become a seller on Amazon, the next and most important thing to do is to drive targeted traffic to your online store. As someone who’s just starting, you need to be visible to as many potential customers as possible—literally in their faces.
Pushing traffic immediately when you launch your business on the Amazon marketplace will enable you to understand what potential customers think about your brand. That is, you’d be able to decide if your prices need some adjustments or if your products are even desirable. Surprisingly, you could even make your first sale by doing this.
Step 4: Join Online Communities
Being a part of online communities is a great way to help your business grow, especially as a new seller on Amazon. You can make a significant difference in your business by simply pasting a link to your store on these spaces. Joining Facebook groups that are relevant to your industry will help. After you have connected with the community and created some sort of authenticity, you can post the link to your store and attract potential customers who may purchase your products.
Moreover, it’s not just about selling. You could also meet with your counterparts who have been in the business much longer. You can learn from them and use that knowledge to improve your business.
Step 5: Leverage your Personal Network
It’s not unethical to have some of your personal acquaintances patronize your business. As a matter of fact, that is how many Amazon sellers begin. The first set of sales come from personal connections. Don’t be shy to share your store on your personal social media accounts, attracting your friends to whatever you are selling. You can also confidently approach people in your offline network, informing them about your new venture as a seller on the Amazon marketplace.
Although the sales you generate from your personal connections are not enough to sustain your business, it is a great way to earn feedback on your new products and even get referrals on Amazon.
Step 6: Connect With Product Influencers/Bloggers
Connecting with bloggers is an amazing way to ensure sales in your business. All you need to do is make your product appear on big blogs that your potential buyers often read. This is usually not a difficult step to execute, but sometimes, it may require money. There are many successful bloggers out there that are willing to partner with you to drive quality traffic to your online store. For instance, if you can give your product to a blogger to get a product review in return. The product review published by the blogger could drive a crazy amount of traffic to your store, resulting in sales.
Step 7: Paid Ads
Using effective paid ads can transform your business from zero to hero. Many business owners in the e-commerce industry now rely on paid ads to attract a large number of paying customers. You could simply hire an ad expert or a digital marketer to help you run targeted ads on Facebook, Instagram, or Google. Thus, driving a large number of potential buyers to your store.
If your budget cannot accommodate an expert, you can easily learn how to run these paid ads yourself and enjoy the results. As long as your products are what your target audience needs, paid adverts will get you sales.
Conclusion
Making sales as a seller in the Amazon marketplace is dependent on a few factors, which include proper marketing, positioning, and presentation. If you are able to apply effective marketing tactics in a business that must have been well-positioned and presented, you wouldn’t find it very difficult to make sales. Try these steps and brace up for your first sale! All the best!
