Become a successful seller when you put your customer first and avoid these common Amazon errors.
Amazon’s assets are Amazon Sellers. In the seller central tab, it provides extensive selling policies and best practices for their suppliers to follow when selling on Amazon (can be searched when signed-in). Throughout their selling journey, both new and experienced Amazon FBA sellers make mistakes. Some errors are minor, while others can cost you thousands of dollars, resulting in the collapse of your firm, which no one wants!
In any case, if you are a new Amazon seller, you may make some costly blunders that most sellers make without even realizing it. Amazon has made it simple for people to quit their boring office jobs and work for themselves. Thousands of people have been encouraged to try their hand at running an Amazon business and earning six figures.
If you’re one of them, you should be aware of some of the common blunders made by new Amazon sellers. It’s easy to make these mistakes because there’s a lot of fine language that sellers must read before starting on the marketplace.
To easily navigate to the different sections of the guide, use the links below.
10 Common Amazon Errors & How to Fix Them
- Picking an over-saturated niche
- Not paying attention to customer service
- Lack of effort in preparing Amazon product listing
- Overly-priced shipping options
- Failure to fulfill orders on time
- Product launch done incorrectly
- Asking for customer reviews
- Not understanding tax liabilities
- Inventory mismanagement
- Not Having a PPC Strategy
10 Common Amazon Errors & How to Fix Them
1. Picking an over-saturated niche
Instead, they naively choose a niche and items that they believe are viable for their firm, but which turn out to be excessively successful. A large number of well-established competitors is one of the key reasons behind this.
When you’re starting from the ground up, it’ll be challenging to compete with players who have been in business for years and have tens of thousands of dollars in income. As a result, it is a blunder that you should avoid at all costs.
Similarly, you should steer clear of products with a difficult-to-distinguish unique selling point. This will only complicate your audience’s understanding of what your product is all about.
2. Not paying attention to customer service
Customer service is a fundamental element of every organization. The same may be said for the Amazon marketplace. According to Gartner, more than 60% of customers choose a good customer experience above a low price while shopping.
In reality, multiple Amazon seller data confirm that one of the few criteria that will decide the success of your business is your ability to deliver excellent customer care. You don’t have to worry about customer care if you sell your products on Amazon through FBA because Amazon will handle it for you.
If you’re filling orders, on the other hand, you’ll need to be ready to deal with any complications that arise quickly and efficiently. Time is of the essence in this situation, and your ability to address difficulties quickly will impress your consumers. If you don’t solve their problems, they’ll go to your competitors in pursuit of a better customer service experience.
3. Lack of effort in preparing Amazon product listing
The majority of your Amazon product listing is sales material. When a buyer arrives at your listing page, he or she will decide whether or not to buy your product based on the information you present.
People will notice a shoddy job right away, and your chances of achieving a conversion will be slim. Pixelated and low-quality photographs, bad product descriptions, a lack of keyword optimization, a lack of features and benefits, and, most significantly, a lack of focus on how the buyer will benefit from the product are all classic tell-tale symptoms.
A fantastic, intriguing product listing, on the other hand, will sell your things like hotcakes. You must also ensure that the information you submit here is accurate and precise. Amazon’s principal goal is to give a world-class purchasing experience to its customers, and if your listing does not meet that standard, you will have a difficult time attracting visitors. On the flip side, a strong listing sets you up for conversions.
4. Overly-priced shipping options
Shipping costs are one of the most important elements that impact a customer’s choice to purchase a goods. According to Forbes, more than 80% of online shoppers are hesitant to purchase a product that comes with significant shipping expenses. As a result, before you begin, double-check that you’ve estimated your margins with shipping expenses in mind. You can acquire quotes from many logistics partners to evaluate which one best suits your business for the best delivery prices. You can also go with FBA because their shipping prices are much lower and they come with a lot of perks. Some of these benefits include Amazon Prime shipping eligibility, faster delivery rates, and having Amazon handle customer assistance.
Learn more: Amazon Labeling & Logistics: 8 Steps You Need to Take When Shipping Your Products
5. Failure to fulfill orders on time
Customers like it when their orders arrive quickly. In general, people choose products that are delivered within 1-2 working days over those that have a longer shipping period. After all, who doesn’t prefer placing an order for something today and having it delivered to their home the next day?
If you want to go ahead of your competitors on Amazon, one of the greatest ways to do so is to offer fast shipping. However, you must be certain that you can keep your word and deliver purchases on time; otherwise, customers may leave you unfavorable reviews, which will have a substantial influence on your Amazon visibility and sales. Alternatively, you can have your orders fulfilled through FBA, which is known for being prompt, efficient, and speedy.
6. Product launch done incorrectly
The appropriate technique to launch your products on Amazon is just as important as any of the other procedures that come before it. It’s not enough to just prepare your product listing, launch your things, and then sit back and wait for Amazon to take care of the rest. In reality, your work is only beginning. Throughout the process, you must be proactive and do everything necessary to get your products to page one of Amazon’s search results.
It’s a lengthy process that includes stages like creating an Amazon Sponsored Products campaign, advertising your items on social media platforms with discounts, promotions, and freebies, and having a properly optimized listing with the relevant keywords for higher search results exposure. You should also consider obtaining early evaluations and sales in order to get your product off the ground. You should also keep track of the performance of your products and relevant keywords on a regular basis, and adjust your methods accordingly for better results.
7. Asking for customer reviews
One of the most typical blunders made by Amazon sellers is asking their customers, friends, family, and relatives to submit product evaluations. It should be avoided at all costs because directly asking for reviews, let alone requesting good feedback, is against Amazon’s regulations. Customers should be free to offer feedback, favorable or bad, and their decision to submit genuine reviews should not be swayed in any manner, according to Amazon.
It also means not giving clients any incentives or freebies in exchange for feedback. If you do any of these things, Amazon may take action against your account. Instead, you can join the Amazon Early Reviewer Program, which is a great method to get early reviews at a low fee. You should also make it a point to collect consumer feedback and take their suggestions into consideration when looking to improve your firm.
8. Not understanding tax liabilities
While selling their products on Amazon, merchants must consider a variety of sales tax duties. It is highly dependent on the states in which the company is situated, as well as state nexus, commercial operations, and policies. It is critical that you are informed of your Amazon tax obligations so that you are not caught off guard later. You must understand the concepts of tax collection, filing, and remittance, as well as when they are required. Throughout your business, make sure your books are in order and that there are no discrepancies.
9. Inventory mismanagement
As an Amazon seller, you must always ensure that your products are never out of stock, as this could result in a big drop in rankings. You will lose potential sales to your top competitors if this happens. If these arguments aren’t enough to persuade you, consider the fact that having a product in stock helps with Amazon SEO. As a result, you should make it a practise to keep check of your inventory levels on a regular basis. Use smart inventory management software to keep track of how many units you have in stock and make sure you refill it in a timely manner to keep your listings ranking high.
10. Not Having a PPC Strategy
Despite the fact that Amazon Sponsored Product Campaigns are a wonderful approach to increase the visibility of your listing, a lack of basic knowledge in this area could drastically harm your chances. Before you go into the exciting world of Amazon marketing, there are several aspects of PPC that you should examine. You should also be conversant with optimization tactics so that you can make appropriate changes to your campaigns for better outcomes. If you launch an ad campaign without first thoroughly understanding it, you risk losing money and receiving little in return. It’s critical to keep your ad spending under control so that your margins and overall profitability don’t suffer.
FREE calculator: What should my Amazon PPC Budget Be?
Final Thoughts
Always put your consumer first to prevent making any mistakes and to become a successful Amazon seller! That is the most important rule in the Amazon internet business. Hopefully, you’ve grasped the common blunders discussed in this post and how to prevent them when running an Amazon business. Learning more about Amazon’s rules and regulations, as well as employing the correct tools to run your business, will help you run it smoothly. Although there are numerous faults that sellers make when establishing a business, never take any action in a hurry or under stress in order to prevent making mistakes!