Showing posts with label selling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label selling. Show all posts
Friday, 1 November 2019
Thursday, 31 October 2019
What You Can Learn From The Evolution of Amazon
Starting as an online bookstore, Amazon.com has diversified its product lines to include movies, books, DVDs, video games, electronics, computer software, and much more. With an effective marketing plan in place, the company could leverage the use of e-commerce, and certain information technologies, to improve on the efficiency and effectiveness of their business model in an effort to remain the largest online retailer in America.
Please note that Amazon.com is extremely effective in using marketing mix to create new opportunities for the firm. The company's creative use of e-business and e-commerce continues to create new products and services that address the needs of businesses and consumers. Through the business-to-business (B2B) and the business-to-consumers (B2C) model, Amazon.com can cater to the needs of both parties.
Here is a listing of some of the products and services offered by Amazon.com for consumers and businesses:
1. Amazon.com's B2B model
Data storage and backup services for other firms (Amazon SimpleDB, S3)
Additional processing capabilities for other organizations (Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2)
Assists businesses with building an e-commerce website (Webstore by Amazon)
Advertising services on Amazon.com for other organizations
2. Amazon.com's B2C model
Sells books, movies, electronics, games, toys, software programs, and other consumer-based products online to global consumers daily.
Customers can pay for products and services online with PayPal and other online credit card merchants with ease and convenience, for a small monetary fee.
Personalized preferences based on previous purchases or searches (YourAmazon).
Providing additional details on all products and services to assists with convenience for the online shopping experience for all global customers.
In addition to creating new products and services for target markets, Amazon.com is also effective at using their channel of distribution to deliver these goods to consumers and businesses worldwide. For instance, Amazon.com has offices and distribution centers in the United States, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and even the United Kingdom. Further, the Internet has also enabled the firm to place their products and services at the right target markets with ease.
In fact, Amazon.com realized that the company could maximize on the use of the same channel of distributions to help other businesses. Therefore, Amazon.com has expanded its business model to let other retailers use its logistics and distribution services, along with giving independent software developers opportunities to buy processing power on its IT infrastructure so that they don't have to buy their own. By taking advantage of certain trends in the marketplace, Amazon.com continues expand, and assist businesses in achieving organizational goals. This is a very effective marketing strategy for the firm because the company could generate additional revenues from other businesses by allowing these entities to exchanges goods and services using the same resources that Amazon.com has acquired over the years.
With a variety of products and services available for businesses and consumers, Amazon.com continues to remain competitive because of dynamic pricing. Dynamic pricing is basically adjusting prices continually to meet the characteristics and needs of individual customers and situations. Rather than incorporating a fixed price policy, the firm realizes that the cost for the products and services offered by the firm must change periodically because of competitors. For example, Barnes and Noble introduced deep discounts of 30% on hard-covers and 20% on paperbacks, same as that of Amazon.com, to pose a direct threat to online sales. Responding to this, Amazon.com introduced price cuts of up to 40% on future best sellers and on selected titles. With this in mind, the pricing for goods and services at Amazon.com remains competitive because of the competition and threats facing the firm. Threats from reputable companies such as Barnes and Noble, eBay, and Walmart, all looking to acquire some of Amazon.com's market share.
Amazon.com has also developed several effective marketing strategies and tactics that aid in promoting products and services to customers. For instance, the firm can mine their databases to gauge a specific shopper's desires, measure his or her means, instantaneously tailor products to fit that shopper's behavior, and price products accordingly. The company would send e-mails to global customers with recommendations and promotions on certain products and services because Amazon.com is aware of the customer preferences based on past purchases. Customers have found this service to be very useful and do not mind the e-mails because of the accuracy of the promotions that are aligned with past purchases.
In addition, Amazon.com continues to be innovative in their marketing strategies and tactics. Rather than relying solely on the Internet for promoting products, Amazon.com is also capitalizing on acquisitions and partnerships with several key businesses around the globe. Here is a listing of some of the new opportunities Amazon.com has recently pursued after careful market analysis:
Joint venture with British retailer Marks and Spencer to sell its products and services online.
Collaboration with British Library to sell antique books to address the needs of the public sector.
Acquisition of China's largest online retailer, Joyo.com, to retail books, movies, toys, and music, at discounted prices.
Amazon.com continues to excel at promoting products and services. Rather than placing expensive ads to promote the goods and services, the firm relies strictly on strong partnerships, online ploys, and relentless declaration of quality to market itself. The strategic marketing mix employed by Amazon.com continues to be effective and profitable. The products, place, price, and promotions that are associated with Amazon.com's marketing plan has become an industry standard for online retailing.
Hopefully this post has provided you with additional information to succeed in your business endeavors similar to Amazon.com. As Thomas Edison wisely stated, "good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning." Through the firm's effective marketing mix, Amazon.com continues to have good fortune because of the consistent introduction of products and services that would assist businesses and customers worldwide.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7786998
Please note that Amazon.com is extremely effective in using marketing mix to create new opportunities for the firm. The company's creative use of e-business and e-commerce continues to create new products and services that address the needs of businesses and consumers. Through the business-to-business (B2B) and the business-to-consumers (B2C) model, Amazon.com can cater to the needs of both parties.
Here is a listing of some of the products and services offered by Amazon.com for consumers and businesses:
1. Amazon.com's B2B model
Data storage and backup services for other firms (Amazon SimpleDB, S3)
Additional processing capabilities for other organizations (Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud EC2)
Assists businesses with building an e-commerce website (Webstore by Amazon)
Advertising services on Amazon.com for other organizations
2. Amazon.com's B2C model
Sells books, movies, electronics, games, toys, software programs, and other consumer-based products online to global consumers daily.
Customers can pay for products and services online with PayPal and other online credit card merchants with ease and convenience, for a small monetary fee.
Personalized preferences based on previous purchases or searches (YourAmazon).
Providing additional details on all products and services to assists with convenience for the online shopping experience for all global customers.
In addition to creating new products and services for target markets, Amazon.com is also effective at using their channel of distribution to deliver these goods to consumers and businesses worldwide. For instance, Amazon.com has offices and distribution centers in the United States, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and even the United Kingdom. Further, the Internet has also enabled the firm to place their products and services at the right target markets with ease.
In fact, Amazon.com realized that the company could maximize on the use of the same channel of distributions to help other businesses. Therefore, Amazon.com has expanded its business model to let other retailers use its logistics and distribution services, along with giving independent software developers opportunities to buy processing power on its IT infrastructure so that they don't have to buy their own. By taking advantage of certain trends in the marketplace, Amazon.com continues expand, and assist businesses in achieving organizational goals. This is a very effective marketing strategy for the firm because the company could generate additional revenues from other businesses by allowing these entities to exchanges goods and services using the same resources that Amazon.com has acquired over the years.
With a variety of products and services available for businesses and consumers, Amazon.com continues to remain competitive because of dynamic pricing. Dynamic pricing is basically adjusting prices continually to meet the characteristics and needs of individual customers and situations. Rather than incorporating a fixed price policy, the firm realizes that the cost for the products and services offered by the firm must change periodically because of competitors. For example, Barnes and Noble introduced deep discounts of 30% on hard-covers and 20% on paperbacks, same as that of Amazon.com, to pose a direct threat to online sales. Responding to this, Amazon.com introduced price cuts of up to 40% on future best sellers and on selected titles. With this in mind, the pricing for goods and services at Amazon.com remains competitive because of the competition and threats facing the firm. Threats from reputable companies such as Barnes and Noble, eBay, and Walmart, all looking to acquire some of Amazon.com's market share.
Amazon.com has also developed several effective marketing strategies and tactics that aid in promoting products and services to customers. For instance, the firm can mine their databases to gauge a specific shopper's desires, measure his or her means, instantaneously tailor products to fit that shopper's behavior, and price products accordingly. The company would send e-mails to global customers with recommendations and promotions on certain products and services because Amazon.com is aware of the customer preferences based on past purchases. Customers have found this service to be very useful and do not mind the e-mails because of the accuracy of the promotions that are aligned with past purchases.
In addition, Amazon.com continues to be innovative in their marketing strategies and tactics. Rather than relying solely on the Internet for promoting products, Amazon.com is also capitalizing on acquisitions and partnerships with several key businesses around the globe. Here is a listing of some of the new opportunities Amazon.com has recently pursued after careful market analysis:
Joint venture with British retailer Marks and Spencer to sell its products and services online.
Collaboration with British Library to sell antique books to address the needs of the public sector.
Acquisition of China's largest online retailer, Joyo.com, to retail books, movies, toys, and music, at discounted prices.
Amazon.com continues to excel at promoting products and services. Rather than placing expensive ads to promote the goods and services, the firm relies strictly on strong partnerships, online ploys, and relentless declaration of quality to market itself. The strategic marketing mix employed by Amazon.com continues to be effective and profitable. The products, place, price, and promotions that are associated with Amazon.com's marketing plan has become an industry standard for online retailing.
Hopefully this post has provided you with additional information to succeed in your business endeavors similar to Amazon.com. As Thomas Edison wisely stated, "good fortune is what happens when opportunity meets with planning." Through the firm's effective marketing mix, Amazon.com continues to have good fortune because of the consistent introduction of products and services that would assist businesses and customers worldwide.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7786998
Wednesday, 30 October 2019
How To Make $10,000+ Per Month With Amazon FBA
Amazon FBA (Fulfilment By Amazon) is a business opportunity provided by Amazon to encourage business-owners to list their products in its marketplace.
The model works by Amazon providing users with the ability to send their products to its warehouse, and having them "fulfilled" by the retain giant (it sends them out) upon successful purchase.
The reason why Amazon would do this is partly to get free niche products which are both unique and valuable (you own the products - they just ship them for you), and partly to make use of their massive infrastructure (which they would be paying for anyway).
It also adds to their offering as a business, as it gives them an even more diverse array of products to add to their portfolio (which is pretty much their core competitive advantage).
The important thing to consider about the "FBA" model is that it is indicative of the new "digital" business culture that seems to have become even more prevalent after the 2008 crash. Rather than keeping large amounts of stock, overheads and a large team... companies have taken to the Internet & social media to find buyers & create lean enterprises.
Gone are the days when distributors determined the fate of products. Now, new businesses, entrepreneurs and everyday people are able to create $10,000+ a month income streams without even having to own any land. All the infrastructure, marketing and fulfilment is handled by a completely independent company (Amazon) - to which you just do the work of sourcing a successful product.
To determine if you'd like to gain advantage from this method of investment, I've created this tutorial to explain the process of utilizing Amazon FBA. Rather than trying to get by on scraps from a local market, the new "digital" realm with all its promise is one of the best ways to get your foot in the door of the new world of enterprise.
How It Works
All businesses work in the same way - buy/build a product, offer the product to a market and any "profit" you're able to make can either be used to live off, or reinvest into more/better products.
The problem for most people is two-fold: 1) they have no product 2) they have no access to a market.
Whilst both are legitimate problems - which would have been a significant drawback in a time without the "digital" medium - times have moved on to the point that barriers-to-entry are so low that you only really need to be able to invest several $1,000 to have the opportunity of selling to a global audience.
And despite the fact that the "Amazon" opportunity has existed for almost 10 years now (anyone can list products in its marketplace), the "FBA" model (which is truly hands-off) has only started to become popular in the past 24 months-or-so.
If you didn't go to business school, to briefly explain how to run a "successful" business, you basically need to be able provide a product/service to a large audience. You'd typically aim for around 30% net profit margin (after COGS & advertising costs). How you do this is up to you - the key is to buy low, sell high.
Now, just because the "digital" realm is large doesn't mean it's devoid of the way in which "markets" typically work. Competition is obviously a major force, as is the idea that because something is "easy", it can be replicated relatively simply by others (leading to an erosion of your profits).
Selling on Amazon typically works by providing access to products which people either don't have access to locally, or are able to obtain locally but with major restrictions (such as color/size issues), or with problems in reliability of supply. In other words, whilst the Amazon marketplace is vast - don't think you can outwit supply/demand.
The real trick with "digital" businesses is to provide access to unique products (typically made by yourself or your company) which are only available through you. These products have to be focused on providing a solution that most people have no idea about, and thus makes the proposition of buying it through the Internet legitimate.
Obviously, creating a "unique" product is 1,000x easier said-than-done - the trick with it is to work on solutions to your own problems. Work towards sharpening a skillset, which you're able to apply to a wider audience, from which you'll be able to identify "products" which can be created and offered as a means to simplify/solve problems you've experienced yourself.
Steps
To begin selling on Amazon, there are several steps to take:
Sign Up For Amazon Seller Account The first step is to get a "seller" account from Amazon. There are two types of seller account - "individual" and "professional". Individual is free and allows you to "list" items which already exist in the Amazon catalogue. You pay a small fee each time a product is sold. Professional costs $40/mo, and has no extra "per sale" fees (although other fees such as a stocking fee etc may apply). This is the only account which allows you to list new items in Amazon's catalogue.
Sign Up For GS1 This gives you the ability to *create* barcodes. They come in two formats - UPC (Universal Product Code) and EAN (European Article Number). Whilst these can be bought relatively cheaply ($10), Amazon, Google and eBay strongly recommend using GS1 for standardization. By using GS1, you're able to have your products recognized by the likes of Amazon. The downside is the cost, but it shouldn't really matter - we always recommend setting aside ~$500 for admin costs, of which this would definitely be one.
Create A Legal Company (Optional) If you're looking to set up a real FBA operation, you'll need a legal business (and bank account). Apart from giving Amazon the ability to open a business account, it allows you to better manage taxes (which are notoriously bad for investing your own money in a personal capacity). This is very easy to setup, but is only necessary if you want to actually deal with Amazon on an FBA basis only. If you want to just sell products on the system, you're welcome to do it under your own name.
Buy/Build Boxed Products You then need to get a set of boxed versions of the product. If you make the product yourself, you need to get them into standardized boxes. Because thre are so many ways to do this, we'll just say that you should look for a boxing/printing company to handle it for you. There are many capable ones. You must also follow Amazon's guidelines on what types of packaging they accept.
Send The Products To Amazon Once you have the boxed products, you need to send them to Amazon. This is arranged through the Amazon seller system, allowing you to pick a time when the products should receive at the Amazon warehouse. Again, due to the level of variation in the process, it's best to say that you should follow the Amazon guidelines in order to do this.
Start Selling This is the hardest part, which is explained below.
Selling The Products
The last step is to get the products sold. This is the hardest as you're almost entirely at the whim of the market (both Amazon's and any other market you may bring to the platform).
The trick to getting products bought from Amazon is effective marketing.
Marketing comes down to several points - the most notable being that you need to be able to firstly attract the attention of potential buyers and then build demand - giving them the opportunity to buy your product as a means to satisfy that demand.
Whilst there are many ways to do this, you must remember that if you're going to do it effectively, you need to be able to go out and market the product independently of whether it's going to be popular on Amazon. The less you need Amazon, the more likely it will be that you'll actually get people buying through the channel.
--
Finally, we must also point out that any sales you make must NOT be counted as pure profit.
Your profit ONLY comes after your other costs have been accounted for (such as the actual products themselves, boxes and marketing). It is a rookie mistake to think that the money you receive from Amazon will actually be your "take home" profit - it's not.
You need to accumulate your initial principle from the gross revenue and then decide what to do with any profits made (as mentioned - this comes in the form of either paying yourself, or putting back into better/more products).
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9870346
The model works by Amazon providing users with the ability to send their products to its warehouse, and having them "fulfilled" by the retain giant (it sends them out) upon successful purchase.
The reason why Amazon would do this is partly to get free niche products which are both unique and valuable (you own the products - they just ship them for you), and partly to make use of their massive infrastructure (which they would be paying for anyway).
It also adds to their offering as a business, as it gives them an even more diverse array of products to add to their portfolio (which is pretty much their core competitive advantage).
The important thing to consider about the "FBA" model is that it is indicative of the new "digital" business culture that seems to have become even more prevalent after the 2008 crash. Rather than keeping large amounts of stock, overheads and a large team... companies have taken to the Internet & social media to find buyers & create lean enterprises.
Gone are the days when distributors determined the fate of products. Now, new businesses, entrepreneurs and everyday people are able to create $10,000+ a month income streams without even having to own any land. All the infrastructure, marketing and fulfilment is handled by a completely independent company (Amazon) - to which you just do the work of sourcing a successful product.
To determine if you'd like to gain advantage from this method of investment, I've created this tutorial to explain the process of utilizing Amazon FBA. Rather than trying to get by on scraps from a local market, the new "digital" realm with all its promise is one of the best ways to get your foot in the door of the new world of enterprise.
How It Works
All businesses work in the same way - buy/build a product, offer the product to a market and any "profit" you're able to make can either be used to live off, or reinvest into more/better products.
The problem for most people is two-fold: 1) they have no product 2) they have no access to a market.
Whilst both are legitimate problems - which would have been a significant drawback in a time without the "digital" medium - times have moved on to the point that barriers-to-entry are so low that you only really need to be able to invest several $1,000 to have the opportunity of selling to a global audience.
And despite the fact that the "Amazon" opportunity has existed for almost 10 years now (anyone can list products in its marketplace), the "FBA" model (which is truly hands-off) has only started to become popular in the past 24 months-or-so.
If you didn't go to business school, to briefly explain how to run a "successful" business, you basically need to be able provide a product/service to a large audience. You'd typically aim for around 30% net profit margin (after COGS & advertising costs). How you do this is up to you - the key is to buy low, sell high.
Now, just because the "digital" realm is large doesn't mean it's devoid of the way in which "markets" typically work. Competition is obviously a major force, as is the idea that because something is "easy", it can be replicated relatively simply by others (leading to an erosion of your profits).
Selling on Amazon typically works by providing access to products which people either don't have access to locally, or are able to obtain locally but with major restrictions (such as color/size issues), or with problems in reliability of supply. In other words, whilst the Amazon marketplace is vast - don't think you can outwit supply/demand.
The real trick with "digital" businesses is to provide access to unique products (typically made by yourself or your company) which are only available through you. These products have to be focused on providing a solution that most people have no idea about, and thus makes the proposition of buying it through the Internet legitimate.
Obviously, creating a "unique" product is 1,000x easier said-than-done - the trick with it is to work on solutions to your own problems. Work towards sharpening a skillset, which you're able to apply to a wider audience, from which you'll be able to identify "products" which can be created and offered as a means to simplify/solve problems you've experienced yourself.
Steps
To begin selling on Amazon, there are several steps to take:
Sign Up For Amazon Seller Account The first step is to get a "seller" account from Amazon. There are two types of seller account - "individual" and "professional". Individual is free and allows you to "list" items which already exist in the Amazon catalogue. You pay a small fee each time a product is sold. Professional costs $40/mo, and has no extra "per sale" fees (although other fees such as a stocking fee etc may apply). This is the only account which allows you to list new items in Amazon's catalogue.
Sign Up For GS1 This gives you the ability to *create* barcodes. They come in two formats - UPC (Universal Product Code) and EAN (European Article Number). Whilst these can be bought relatively cheaply ($10), Amazon, Google and eBay strongly recommend using GS1 for standardization. By using GS1, you're able to have your products recognized by the likes of Amazon. The downside is the cost, but it shouldn't really matter - we always recommend setting aside ~$500 for admin costs, of which this would definitely be one.
Create A Legal Company (Optional) If you're looking to set up a real FBA operation, you'll need a legal business (and bank account). Apart from giving Amazon the ability to open a business account, it allows you to better manage taxes (which are notoriously bad for investing your own money in a personal capacity). This is very easy to setup, but is only necessary if you want to actually deal with Amazon on an FBA basis only. If you want to just sell products on the system, you're welcome to do it under your own name.
Buy/Build Boxed Products You then need to get a set of boxed versions of the product. If you make the product yourself, you need to get them into standardized boxes. Because thre are so many ways to do this, we'll just say that you should look for a boxing/printing company to handle it for you. There are many capable ones. You must also follow Amazon's guidelines on what types of packaging they accept.
Send The Products To Amazon Once you have the boxed products, you need to send them to Amazon. This is arranged through the Amazon seller system, allowing you to pick a time when the products should receive at the Amazon warehouse. Again, due to the level of variation in the process, it's best to say that you should follow the Amazon guidelines in order to do this.
Start Selling This is the hardest part, which is explained below.
Selling The Products
The last step is to get the products sold. This is the hardest as you're almost entirely at the whim of the market (both Amazon's and any other market you may bring to the platform).
The trick to getting products bought from Amazon is effective marketing.
Marketing comes down to several points - the most notable being that you need to be able to firstly attract the attention of potential buyers and then build demand - giving them the opportunity to buy your product as a means to satisfy that demand.
Whilst there are many ways to do this, you must remember that if you're going to do it effectively, you need to be able to go out and market the product independently of whether it's going to be popular on Amazon. The less you need Amazon, the more likely it will be that you'll actually get people buying through the channel.
--
Finally, we must also point out that any sales you make must NOT be counted as pure profit.
Your profit ONLY comes after your other costs have been accounted for (such as the actual products themselves, boxes and marketing). It is a rookie mistake to think that the money you receive from Amazon will actually be your "take home" profit - it's not.
You need to accumulate your initial principle from the gross revenue and then decide what to do with any profits made (as mentioned - this comes in the form of either paying yourself, or putting back into better/more products).
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9870346
Tuesday, 29 October 2019
Anne O'Dwyer | How I Began Writing & Publishing on Amazon
My first book was a collection or articles previously written that I combined into a book, basically to see if I could actually produce a book on Createspace a self publishing platform. I really am a technophobe but with a little help from Arty my trusted technical guy plus the help line at Createspace I achieved my first book.
As I hadn't had it professionally proof read and edited it was sprinkled with errors, but I had achieved my aim of writing and publishing a book. I made a little video to promote it on YouTube, set up a face book page and for the time being have left it languishing on Amazon with very little happening. A useful point to remember it is possible to redo both the cover and the contents when I'm ready to improve it. This is one of the advantages of self-publishing.
It all began with 2 years of sudden health problems which compromised my ability to walk for more than 100 yards without having to stop for breath. Needless to say this led me to indescribable depression. My life had changed it felt like overnight. Until then I had been a fit active pensioner working until the age of 75,but then disaster struck in two consecutive blows.
Apparently when trauma or debilitating illness occurs suddenly, which prevents you following your life plan, you are likely to suffer severe depression until you are able to create a new life plan for yourself. This certainly happened to me.
We had just bought a holiday home in Spain where we intended to spend the cold winter months plus a mobile home in the English countryside for the warm summer months when disaster struck. My first mistake was not learning the language, so anyone buying abroad, heed my warning and learn enough of their language to converse with the natives. Feeling so unwell I had no wish to return and the house was sold.
I wasn't until I developed my new interest that I began to feel human again. I now had something to get my teeth into. Writing has always been something I enjoyed although until recently it has been a dormant skill. So I have just finished my second book with several others at the planning stage and a new way of life has begun. Sadly I find Createspace has been swallowed up by Amazon, so for my new book I will have to fathom out the intricacies of the new system.
But I have learnt if you have a hidden talent or desire, don't wait for ill-health to hit you, make a decision to begin right now you will be so glad you did. You are never too old to begin something new; don't go to your grave wishing if only...
My New book is called: "Stress-Free Parenting", especially aimed at first time mums. It takes you from birth for the first 5 years, covering all the problem areas like potty, tantrums, an easy bedtime routine sibling jealousy, preparing for schooldays and much more. It is available on Amazon https://tinyurl.com/yywoyzkh it is free to read on Amazon prime- Enjoy!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10087288
As I hadn't had it professionally proof read and edited it was sprinkled with errors, but I had achieved my aim of writing and publishing a book. I made a little video to promote it on YouTube, set up a face book page and for the time being have left it languishing on Amazon with very little happening. A useful point to remember it is possible to redo both the cover and the contents when I'm ready to improve it. This is one of the advantages of self-publishing.
It all began with 2 years of sudden health problems which compromised my ability to walk for more than 100 yards without having to stop for breath. Needless to say this led me to indescribable depression. My life had changed it felt like overnight. Until then I had been a fit active pensioner working until the age of 75,but then disaster struck in two consecutive blows.
Apparently when trauma or debilitating illness occurs suddenly, which prevents you following your life plan, you are likely to suffer severe depression until you are able to create a new life plan for yourself. This certainly happened to me.
We had just bought a holiday home in Spain where we intended to spend the cold winter months plus a mobile home in the English countryside for the warm summer months when disaster struck. My first mistake was not learning the language, so anyone buying abroad, heed my warning and learn enough of their language to converse with the natives. Feeling so unwell I had no wish to return and the house was sold.
I wasn't until I developed my new interest that I began to feel human again. I now had something to get my teeth into. Writing has always been something I enjoyed although until recently it has been a dormant skill. So I have just finished my second book with several others at the planning stage and a new way of life has begun. Sadly I find Createspace has been swallowed up by Amazon, so for my new book I will have to fathom out the intricacies of the new system.
But I have learnt if you have a hidden talent or desire, don't wait for ill-health to hit you, make a decision to begin right now you will be so glad you did. You are never too old to begin something new; don't go to your grave wishing if only...
My New book is called: "Stress-Free Parenting", especially aimed at first time mums. It takes you from birth for the first 5 years, covering all the problem areas like potty, tantrums, an easy bedtime routine sibling jealousy, preparing for schooldays and much more. It is available on Amazon https://tinyurl.com/yywoyzkh it is free to read on Amazon prime- Enjoy!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/10087288
Monday, 28 October 2019
The Ultimate Guide to Selling on Amazon in 2019
You might think most consumers start their online shopping sessions with a visit to Google, but according to a poll conducted by NPR and Marist, Amazon is actually the most common starting point for online shoppers.
With 44% of shoppers starting on Amazon (which is 11% more than Google) and 40% of Americans buying products on the website at least once every month, Amazon has become the central hub for online shopping.
If you’re in the eCommerce industry, selling on Amazon is your best bet for maximizing your reach and, ultimately, your revenue. To help you set up shop on Amazon, we’ve created this ultimate guide that'll teach you how to list your products, set up your shipping options, promote your products, manage your reviews, and analyze your performance. Read on to learn how to sell on the eCommerce platform in 2019.
1. Figure out if the product you want to sell needs approval from Amazon.
On Amazon, there are 20 categories open to all sellers, so if you want to sell products under any of these categories, you don’t need approval from Amazon. However, there are 15 categories that do require approval from Amazon, so if you want to sell products under any of these categories, you need to apply for a Professional Selling Plan subscription.
Amazon limits the number of sellers in each of these categories because they want to maintain the quality of their products. So if you believe your products are up to par and want to sell them under these categories, you need to request approval from Amazon by filling out their application. Amazon will let you know if they’ve approved you or if they need additional information from you in up to three business days.
Here are two lists of Amazon’s product categories that are open to all sellers or require approval.
Product Categories Open to All Sellers
1. Amazon Device Accessories
2. Amazon Kindle
3. Baby Products
4. Beauty
5. Books
6. Camera & Photo
7. Cell Phones
8. Clothing & Accessories
9. Electronics
10. Handmade
11. Health & Personal Care
12. Home & Garden
13. Musical Instruments
14. Office Products
15. Outdoors
16. Software & Computer Games
17. Sports
18. Tools & Home Improvement
19. Toys & Games
20. Video Games & Video Game Consoles
Product Categories That Require Approval From Amazon
1. Automotive & Powersports
2. B2B Business Products
3. Collectible Coins
4. Fashion Jewelry
5. Fine Jewelry
6. Fine Art
7. Grocery & Gourmet Food
8. Industrial & Scientific
9. Luggage & Travel Accessories
10. Personal Computers
11. Professional Services
12. Shoes, Handbags, & Sunglasses
13. Sports Collectibles
14. Video, DVD, & Blu-Ray
15. Watches
2. Pick a selling plan that suits your business model.
Amazon offers two selling plans: the Individual Plan and Professional Plan.
If you choose the Individual Plan, you’ll pay Amazon $0.99 for every item you sell plus referral and variable closing fees. According to Amazon, the Individual Plan is best for sellers who sell less than 40 items per month.
If you choose the Professional Plan, you can sell an unlimited number of products while only paying Amazon a subscription fee of $39.99 plus referral and variable closing fees. According to Amazon, the Professional Plan is best for sellers who sell more than 40 items per month.
3. Register for a seller account and list your products.
To register for a seller account on Amazon, visit Amazon Seller Central and click the “Start selling” button. Amazon Seller Central is also where you’ll manage your selling account.
After you’ve created your account, you can start listing your products on Amazon. If you have the Individual Plan, you can add one product to the Amazon Marketplace catalog at a time. If you have the Professional Plan, you can add batches of products to the catalog.
Additionally, if you’re selling products that are already listed on Amazon, all you have to do is tell them the amount of product you plan to sell, the condition of your product, and its shipping options.
If you’re selling products that aren’t listed on Amazon yet, the process is a little more complicated. You have to tell them what each of your product’s universal product code (UPC) and stock keeping unit (SKU) is and then list each product’s features on Amazon, like its title, description, and price.
If you don’t know what a UPC is, it consists of a 12-digit numeric code and a barcode. The American branch of GS1, an organization that develops and maintains global business communication standards, assigns a permanent UPC to a product for its entire shelf life. So even if multiple retailers sell the product, it’ll still have the same UPC at each store. For example, every box of a certain brand’s blackberries will have the same UPC at every store they’re sold at.
A SKU is similar to a UPC, but it differs from it by being a distinct string of letters and numbers that helps retailers identify every product in their inventory and each product’s specific traits, like its manufacturer, brand, price, style, color, and size. Retailers create their own internal SKU codes to quickly and accurately pinpoint and track every single piece of inventory in their retail stores, e-commerce stores, catalogs, warehouses, and product fulfillment centers.
4. Set up your shipping options.
Even if you sell on Amazon, you’ll always have the option to ship products on your own. But Amazon offers a truly unique and advantageous shipping service for all their sellers that’s incredibly hard to pass up -- Fulfillment by Amazon. With Fulfillment by Amazon, all you have to do is send your inventory to an Amazon fulfillment center and they’ll store your products, package them, and ship them to your customers.
Signing up for Fulfillment by Amazon also makes your products eligible for Amazon Prime free two-day shipping, free shipping, and customer service and returns. Shipping costs are already included in your seller plan, so all you have to pay for is storage space and and a fee for each order Amazon fulfills.
5. Sell and promote your products.
After you’ve set up your shipping options, you’re ready to start selling on Amazon. To attract as many potential customers as possible, make sure to craft compelling product listings that have clear and concise titles, benefits-rich descriptions, and vivid pictures.
If you want to increase your products' visibility on Amazon, consider running sponsored product ads directly on the platform. These ads are pay per click and will be placed alongside people’s search results. Amazon also offers an automatic ad targeting tool, which leverages their search algorithm to suggest a list of potentially lucrative keywords that you can bid on and promote your products through.
Once people buy your products on Amazon, they’ll deposit payments into your bank account on a regular basis and send you a notification when they pay you.
6. Encourage reviews.
Reviews are crucial for driving sales on Amazon. The more reviews you have, the more credible and trustworthy customers will perceive your products to be. Fortunately, Amazon lets sellers send follow up emails to customers after they order one of their products and ask for product reviews. They even let you automate the process, but Amazon also requires you to follow a strict set of guidelines, which don’t allow you to include marketing messages, link to other websites, or ask for, demand, or incentivize positive reviews in these emails.
In 2016, Amazon banned incentivized reviews -- which were customer reviews given to brands in exchange for a free or discounted product as long as the reviewers revealed they received an incentive for their feedback. These incentives were artificially inflating brands’ average ratings, so Amazon decided they needed to level the playing field. With this in mind, don’t even think about trying to incentivize a positive review. Just send your customers emails that politely ask for a candid product review.
7. Analyze your performance.
On your Amazon Seller Central account, you’ll have access to a sales dashboard, which displays a snapshot of your orders for the day, quantity of units sold, the amount of sales you’ve generated for the day, and other metrics.
You’ll also have access to business reports that display metrics like sales by item, sales and orders by month, page views, brand performance, inventory in stock, and more.
Additionally, you’ll have access to a “Compare Sales” graph that can compare any day’s sales to each other, which helps you discover seasonal trends and patterns.
Finally, you’ll have access to a sales reporting tool that can pull any of your account’s metrics to produce a graphical representations of your sales data. This’ll help you truly grasp how your Amazon account is performing.
Article Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-sell-on-amazon
Originally published Jan 14, 2019 7:00:00 AM, updated September 09 2019
With 44% of shoppers starting on Amazon (which is 11% more than Google) and 40% of Americans buying products on the website at least once every month, Amazon has become the central hub for online shopping.
If you’re in the eCommerce industry, selling on Amazon is your best bet for maximizing your reach and, ultimately, your revenue. To help you set up shop on Amazon, we’ve created this ultimate guide that'll teach you how to list your products, set up your shipping options, promote your products, manage your reviews, and analyze your performance. Read on to learn how to sell on the eCommerce platform in 2019.
1. Figure out if the product you want to sell needs approval from Amazon.
On Amazon, there are 20 categories open to all sellers, so if you want to sell products under any of these categories, you don’t need approval from Amazon. However, there are 15 categories that do require approval from Amazon, so if you want to sell products under any of these categories, you need to apply for a Professional Selling Plan subscription.
Amazon limits the number of sellers in each of these categories because they want to maintain the quality of their products. So if you believe your products are up to par and want to sell them under these categories, you need to request approval from Amazon by filling out their application. Amazon will let you know if they’ve approved you or if they need additional information from you in up to three business days.
Here are two lists of Amazon’s product categories that are open to all sellers or require approval.
Product Categories Open to All Sellers
1. Amazon Device Accessories
2. Amazon Kindle
3. Baby Products
4. Beauty
5. Books
6. Camera & Photo
7. Cell Phones
8. Clothing & Accessories
9. Electronics
10. Handmade
11. Health & Personal Care
12. Home & Garden
13. Musical Instruments
14. Office Products
15. Outdoors
16. Software & Computer Games
17. Sports
18. Tools & Home Improvement
19. Toys & Games
20. Video Games & Video Game Consoles
Product Categories That Require Approval From Amazon
1. Automotive & Powersports
2. B2B Business Products
3. Collectible Coins
4. Fashion Jewelry
5. Fine Jewelry
6. Fine Art
7. Grocery & Gourmet Food
8. Industrial & Scientific
9. Luggage & Travel Accessories
10. Personal Computers
11. Professional Services
12. Shoes, Handbags, & Sunglasses
13. Sports Collectibles
14. Video, DVD, & Blu-Ray
15. Watches
2. Pick a selling plan that suits your business model.
Amazon offers two selling plans: the Individual Plan and Professional Plan.
If you choose the Individual Plan, you’ll pay Amazon $0.99 for every item you sell plus referral and variable closing fees. According to Amazon, the Individual Plan is best for sellers who sell less than 40 items per month.
If you choose the Professional Plan, you can sell an unlimited number of products while only paying Amazon a subscription fee of $39.99 plus referral and variable closing fees. According to Amazon, the Professional Plan is best for sellers who sell more than 40 items per month.
3. Register for a seller account and list your products.
To register for a seller account on Amazon, visit Amazon Seller Central and click the “Start selling” button. Amazon Seller Central is also where you’ll manage your selling account.
After you’ve created your account, you can start listing your products on Amazon. If you have the Individual Plan, you can add one product to the Amazon Marketplace catalog at a time. If you have the Professional Plan, you can add batches of products to the catalog.
Additionally, if you’re selling products that are already listed on Amazon, all you have to do is tell them the amount of product you plan to sell, the condition of your product, and its shipping options.
If you’re selling products that aren’t listed on Amazon yet, the process is a little more complicated. You have to tell them what each of your product’s universal product code (UPC) and stock keeping unit (SKU) is and then list each product’s features on Amazon, like its title, description, and price.
If you don’t know what a UPC is, it consists of a 12-digit numeric code and a barcode. The American branch of GS1, an organization that develops and maintains global business communication standards, assigns a permanent UPC to a product for its entire shelf life. So even if multiple retailers sell the product, it’ll still have the same UPC at each store. For example, every box of a certain brand’s blackberries will have the same UPC at every store they’re sold at.
A SKU is similar to a UPC, but it differs from it by being a distinct string of letters and numbers that helps retailers identify every product in their inventory and each product’s specific traits, like its manufacturer, brand, price, style, color, and size. Retailers create their own internal SKU codes to quickly and accurately pinpoint and track every single piece of inventory in their retail stores, e-commerce stores, catalogs, warehouses, and product fulfillment centers.
4. Set up your shipping options.
Even if you sell on Amazon, you’ll always have the option to ship products on your own. But Amazon offers a truly unique and advantageous shipping service for all their sellers that’s incredibly hard to pass up -- Fulfillment by Amazon. With Fulfillment by Amazon, all you have to do is send your inventory to an Amazon fulfillment center and they’ll store your products, package them, and ship them to your customers.
Signing up for Fulfillment by Amazon also makes your products eligible for Amazon Prime free two-day shipping, free shipping, and customer service and returns. Shipping costs are already included in your seller plan, so all you have to pay for is storage space and and a fee for each order Amazon fulfills.
5. Sell and promote your products.
After you’ve set up your shipping options, you’re ready to start selling on Amazon. To attract as many potential customers as possible, make sure to craft compelling product listings that have clear and concise titles, benefits-rich descriptions, and vivid pictures.
If you want to increase your products' visibility on Amazon, consider running sponsored product ads directly on the platform. These ads are pay per click and will be placed alongside people’s search results. Amazon also offers an automatic ad targeting tool, which leverages their search algorithm to suggest a list of potentially lucrative keywords that you can bid on and promote your products through.
Once people buy your products on Amazon, they’ll deposit payments into your bank account on a regular basis and send you a notification when they pay you.
6. Encourage reviews.
Reviews are crucial for driving sales on Amazon. The more reviews you have, the more credible and trustworthy customers will perceive your products to be. Fortunately, Amazon lets sellers send follow up emails to customers after they order one of their products and ask for product reviews. They even let you automate the process, but Amazon also requires you to follow a strict set of guidelines, which don’t allow you to include marketing messages, link to other websites, or ask for, demand, or incentivize positive reviews in these emails.
In 2016, Amazon banned incentivized reviews -- which were customer reviews given to brands in exchange for a free or discounted product as long as the reviewers revealed they received an incentive for their feedback. These incentives were artificially inflating brands’ average ratings, so Amazon decided they needed to level the playing field. With this in mind, don’t even think about trying to incentivize a positive review. Just send your customers emails that politely ask for a candid product review.
7. Analyze your performance.
On your Amazon Seller Central account, you’ll have access to a sales dashboard, which displays a snapshot of your orders for the day, quantity of units sold, the amount of sales you’ve generated for the day, and other metrics.
You’ll also have access to business reports that display metrics like sales by item, sales and orders by month, page views, brand performance, inventory in stock, and more.
Additionally, you’ll have access to a “Compare Sales” graph that can compare any day’s sales to each other, which helps you discover seasonal trends and patterns.
Finally, you’ll have access to a sales reporting tool that can pull any of your account’s metrics to produce a graphical representations of your sales data. This’ll help you truly grasp how your Amazon account is performing.
Article Source: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/how-to-sell-on-amazon
Originally published Jan 14, 2019 7:00:00 AM, updated September 09 2019
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