Everything You Need to Know About Amazon Seller Account

5 Questions to Answer Before Registering Your Amazon Seller Account

As a new Amazon seller, you should be aware of how fast-paced and aggressive this market can be. With almost two million active sellers, Amazon is a cutthroat battle for each customer’s attention. You’ll need to be savvy in order to sell! Make sure that you have considered these five questions before you jump into Amazon’s marketplace. 

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How Will I Make My Product Appealing to Customers? 

Your product is the most vital part of your sale. When you create an Amazon professional seller account products are the only thing on the back of your head. It’s important to make sure that it is well-represented, as well as honestly represented. This leads to satisfied customers! 

• Have Professional Photos. You need quality pictures on your product listings. The best-case scenario is hiring a professional to take pictures for you. If you must do it yourself, use a clean, white background or cut out the background of the photo using photo-editing software. You need good lighting and high image resolution. Make sure to add more than one photo to your listing! Take photos from several angles to showcase the item.

Some examples of quality, white background photos on the first page of search results for “workout gear.”

• Keep up with stock! It’s not appealing to a customer when your product is out of stock or unavailable. It is tempting to reel in customers with the “Only One Left in Stock!” notification - but according to Amazon, if you are consistently low on stock, you hurt your chances to be a featured product. Additionally, Amazon can suspend your store if your product is out of stock when it sells.

To avoid this, you should use FBA or Amazon's fulfillment centers and ensure you have at least one month’s inventory in the warehouse at all times. You get to know about these features when you create a selling account with a valid billing address and become a member of Amazon's seller central. Shipping your product to Amazon first means they will help you keep track of what you have available, and send it out to your customers using Prime shipping. You can check out our handy guide on how to prepare your items for FBA here. 

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How Will I Optimize My Search Engine Results?

Optimizing search engine results is arguably one of the most important steps in the development of a successful Amazon store. Knowing what words customers are using in their search queries is vital to get your item on the first page of their search.

Did you know that in 2021, you can find over 10,000 variations of “disposable face masks” on Amazon? And yet, only a select handful of these ends up on the first page of a search. If you happen to be one of those products, however, you probably raked in a hefty profit during the past 18 months. The difference between the posts at the top of the list and the ones that barely get noticed, many times, is the proper use of SEO.

In order to optimize your search engine results, you need to think like a customer. In the description of your item, you must use as many applicable keywords as possible to cover every aspect of the product. To do this, you need to do keyword research and market research to understand who is looking for your product and how you can connect with them.

To do this, you need to max out every text field you have within your listing. That means the title, description, bullet list, alt text (where available), and even backend keywords need to be optimized to the max.

Utilizing these and our other tips on Search Engine Optimization, you can prepare yourself to compete against all other sellers on this busy marketplace. 

How Will I Keep My Prices Relevant?

This will be an ever-changing target, but you have to continually adjust to ensure your listing is hitting the mark.

Every item you sell will have hundreds (if not thousands) of competitor listings. To stay alive in e-commerce, you must consistently research and evaluate the market. As soon as you fall out of touch, your competitors have an edge! 

Use Amazon Match to get ahead of your competitors. This will allow you to compare prices and other factors, like shipping, item condition, and reviews. This keeps you one step ahead of your competition and enables you to accurately measure your market audience.

You can also use automatic pricing services that will do this work for you and adjust your prices in accordance with competitor deals/coupons. These will cost money, but do help in the long-term. 

How Will I Foster a Good Relationship With My Customers? 

We’ve talked about optimizing product photography, search engine results, and prices. Another important component for your Amazon store is knowing how to build a good relationship with your customers.

Your customers can make or break your success with their reviews. A one-star review is a big deal if you only have a handful of them, to begin with. Operating a successful Amazon store requires top-notch customer service - and a good strategy for acquiring positive reviews. 

Use the “Request a Review” button to gently remind your shoppers to review your product. This reminder may inspire them to leave a review - or it may inspire them to reach out to you for customer service. If your customers need service at any point, offer it in a timely, respectable manner. Sometimes this can earn you a quality review, even if they had an issue with the product. People rave over great customer service these days.

Do not buy reviews or utilize incentivized reviews. These can actually harm your listing. Organic reviews are your best bet.

You should be using FBA - which ensures that Amazon will take care of all returns for you. This is a great way to automate that process for yourself and satisfy your customers. 

Take the time to brainstorm any specific ways you can reach out to your customers to improve their experience with your product. For example, if you are selling a product that requires some assembly, can you add instructions or clarify the instructions in any way? Pay attention to negative reviews to learn how you can improve, while also reaching out to see if you can rectify problems as they come. All of this will help you to utilize your feedback wisely. 

How Will I Improve?

Even after you’ve been in the Amazon game for years, you will always need to adapt and improve. The tips above are just the beginning. You don't want to get beaten by other Amazon sellers or third-party sellers. Everything changes as the marketplace grow and adapts - and you will need to do so right along with them. This last question is one that you’ll need to continue answering as you progress and scale your business. No “magic formula” will remain functional forever. So if you’re ready to start selling on Amazon - be ready to learn, grow, and evolve with the platform. If you can handle that, you can handle selling on the world’s biggest e-commerce platform.

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