Every seller wants recognition for the popularity of their products on Amazon - and these days, they can achieve that through the Best Seller Badge.
The Best Seller Badge is the shiny orange ribbon that makes you feel like you’ve won the lottery. You can easily find it on the Best Seller page, split up into various categories on Amazon. It displays the best-selling product for that department, and in each, it lists up to 100 listings. It seems like a pretty great way to be discovered, right? This feat is ideal for somebody who is looking for a gift or wants to see the new trending items. Like most things on Amazon, there’s work to be done to win this title (keep in mind, they are refreshed by the hour). Keep reading to see if there's value for this badge in your category.
Multiple components go into getting rewarded with the Best Seller Badge, but ultimately, it relies on one key factor, and that’s sales velocity in the correct category. But take a few steps back for a sec - before you get to see your sales climb, there’s preliminary work to be done, and that is a happy, healthy, optimized Amazon Product Listing.
Choose the right category
People don’t search for milk and eggs in the footwear department and shouldn’t find your product in the wrong category either. Selecting the correct placement for your ASIN is extremely important, as this badge is awarded to the best selling item within its class - so it needs to make sense. Keep in mind that it’s more challenging to compete in broader categories (Electronics) than in more specific categories (Portable Audio & Video).
Optimize your listings
Like always, optimizing your listings is key to gaining visibility, ranking higher, and being favored by Amazon’s algorithm. Simply put, optimizing your listings makes it so that it can be found among the sea of other products and reveal itself with the right queries. So, strategic keywords, clear images, and thorough descriptions are how to get started. Utilizing additional marketing features on Amazon could also be the game changers for you, such as A+ Content or Storefronts.
Promotions and PPC
Make use of promotions and discounts while advertising it on Amazon. People will likely take advantage of a good deal when they see one, so heavily promoting your promotions could contribute to your strategy of winning the Best Seller badge.
Remember, these badge earners are evaluated by the hour, so sales velocity is essential. Maintain the highest sales in your category and keep your badge, however, drop your sales, and you may just lose it.
Now you may say that this process is too grueling for only 1 hour of recognition; however, it’s probably better to consider it from this perspective... All the factors mentioned above are already standard practice when maintaining your seller listings, so the badge is the cherry on top. By the end of it, you’ll have an improved, optimized listing and set up for Amazon success.
THIS WEEK'S BITES
NEW ON AMAZON
Amazon is improving the shopper experience yet again, and we are here for it.
Amazon Brand Storefront brings people another step closer to the traditional shopping experience in a digital e-commerce world. In the past, sellers were limited to straightforward, boring listing pages and 'storefronts' with no real opportunity to define their brand. Fast forward to today, and we are presented with creative options to promote, represent and strengthen your brand on Amazon - and that's huge.
In an incredibly diverse and competitive marketplace, standing out is one of the most important things you can do, and the storefront allows you to do this. With a selection of exciting layouts, creative freedom, and an advantage over all the sellers who have not yet taken this opportunity, why wouldn't you do it? Amazon Branded Storefronts use to be reserved exclusively for wholesale vendors; however, it's now open to third-party sellers. The reason for this is probably part of Amazon's promise to invest in brands and focus on officially registered products (cracking down on counterfeits).
What's in it for you as a Seller?
Smaller brands have a better opportunity to be showcased.
If you're ever managed a smaller brand on Amazon, you've likely faced the nuances of not being able to really promote what you were selling on Amazon. The guidelines for the product page limit you from the creativity that is your brand. With Amazon Brand Storefront, you can better demonstrate the essence of what you are selling and better differentiate yourself from your competitors.
Update seasonal messaging and promotions
Holidays are coming up? How about a season that your product thrives in? If you want to communicate this type of messaging to your customers, you can use Amazon Brand Storefront for this exact reason. Whether it is a banner that expresses 'Back to School shopping is just around the corner' or that 'Halloween costumes are on sale,' this is one of the best creative ways to do so.
The number of repeat purchases has increased.
Establishing your brand on Amazon can help increase trust between you as the seller and your potential customers. The importance of brand connection and recognition is enormous when you're competing, so with Amazon Brand Storefront, you help develop this relationship, increasing the number of repeat purchases.
Sold yet?
Obviously, this would be a fantastic feature to take advantage of, but are you even eligible? Amazon Brand Storefront is open to third-party sellers now, but you still need to have these checked off:
Once these are all in place, you're good to go!
TRENDS TO FOLLOW
Reviews, reviews, reviews - that's always the big question for selling on Amazon. If you haven't heard of it yet, Amazon has a feature called Amazon Vine, a tool to help sellers get reviews on new or struggling ASINs. Basically, it is an incentive initiative that allows eligible reviewers to review new products.
It works for sellers by enrolling your product in the Amazon Vine Program and waiting until a reviewer selects it to review. These reviewers are called Vine Voices, and to review products, they first receive them free of charge. Now you might be wondering how these Vine Voices are selected in the first place and what makes them a good judge of your product - and that's a legitimate concern. However, fear not, Vine Voices are vetted by Amazon and selected based on the quality of their reviews and how helpful they are.
So, suppose you put your product up for this program. If so, you should be confident that it can stand up to the tests of a professional Amazon reviewer because you better believe they are going to leave something extensive.
Are you eligible for the Amazon Vine Program?
What are the benefits of enrolling?
ACTIONABLE ADVICE
We all know by now that Amazon loves their customers and will cater the entire shopping experience around how the shopper feels and acts on this platform - so why wouldn’t you do the same? The importance of customer service on Amazon is crucial. Taking advantage of all the opportunities to differentiate yourself on this platform is enormous, and exceptional customer service goes a long way. Take care of your customers through responsiveness and communication, assist with inquiries or concerns, and provide them with an overall great brand experience.