I’ve been selling products on Amazon for 8-years and have become a top seller by focusing on a few key important factors. Creating a successful product listing on Amazon takes time and effort but if you work to constantly improve these 3 things I share below, your Amazon product will likely rise to the top of the ranks in its category.
1. Great Images
The first thing buyers see when they browse Amazon listings is the main image. The main image of your product listing is the most important part of the listing and you should put considerable effort into improving it. I learned how to become a competent product photographer and photoshop editor to make my images the best in my category. Let’s say, for example, you want to sell a chef knife on Amazon. You should start by searching “chef knife” and studying the top listings that appear for that keyword. Notice what the main images look like. You want to make your image similar in terms of the way the product is showcased because you know their technique works since they are best-sellers in the category. But you also want to find small ways to make your image even better than theirs. Maybe it can have better lightning, coloring, a more zoomed-in view, different orientation of the product, etc. So, it’s best to start by trying to copy the best-sellers’ image style but then over time, developing your own unique improvements to gain an advantage. Again, it will take time to learn the techniques of creating beautiful and effective main images but in my experience, this is a core skill you need to learn as an amazon seller and I’m happy I learned it instead of outsourcing it to someone else.
2. Plenty of Positive Reviews
After looking at the main image, a buyer is going to look at the product reviews. They’ll be looking for the number of reviews and star average. For example, if you search “chef knife” on Amazon and the top 3 listings have a 4.5 star average with 30,000 reviews each and the next 10 listings have 4.0 average with 5,000 reviews each, you’d be more likely to purchase one of those top 3 listings. A product listing with a large number of positive reviews sells much better – it gets more clicks and a higher conversion rate. So, you need to focus on actually fulfilling a great product to the buyers so that positive reviews organically develop. It’s against Amazon’s policies to offer an incentive to buyers for a positive review, so there is no way of getting around simply providing a great product. As of this writing, you are allowed to include a physical insert in your product packaging asking the buyer for an honest review and you can send 1 email to each order asking for an honest review. Look at the top listings in your category and notice how many reviews they have and what their star average is – this gives you an idea of what you’ll need to achieve to become a top seller in that category.
3. Competitive Price
A competitive price is so important because not only will it increase conversion rate and purchases, but Amazon’s algorithm will rank the product better which will gain your listing even more visibility. The issue with setting a low price, especially in today’s inflationary environment, is that it can put you in a difficult business situation. You need to know the exact cost of selling your product to Amazon – everything from cost of goods, labor, shipping, overhead, Amazon fees, etc. and price it above those costs by some percentage. That percentage will be your profit margin. A lot of sellers get themselves into trouble by thinking they will boost their listing’s rank by lowering their price only to later find out they’ve been losing money and can’t continue operating the business. So, make sure you’re pricing competitively but also making a profit. The best way to set a competitive price while still profiting is to make your business more efficient than your competitors. This includes sourcing from the lowest-cost suppliers, creating efficient systems so your employees are operating productively, etc. To do this right it takes several years and you’re never finished improving – but that’s the essence of business.
About the Author
John Accardi is the founder and CEO of cravebox.com and starcoursecap.com. CRAVEBOX assembles care packages and gift baskets to be sold online. STARCOURSE CAPITAL is a venture capital firm that invests in young e-commerce companies. John dropped out of a PhD program at Georgetown University in 2014 to start CRAVEBOX and he says it’s the best decision he ever made. He now runs the businesses out of North Wales, PA and also lives in Manhattan part-time. When John’s not working, he enjoys sailing, playing guitar, and spending time with family.
