Shop Talk: Best Practices for Selling on Amazon

Q: "My company is looking into becoming a third-party seller on Amazon.com. I'd love to hear some best practices around this. Any ideas? Thanks!"
— Alison French, e-commerce product director, DJO Global

A: The key to success on Amazon is understanding and abiding by best practices to make sure your product listings aren't only found by shoppers, but also appeal to shoppers. Most importantly, learn how to optimize search terms, product descriptions, details, images and more to position your products to sell on Amazon.

Search Terms
When you're thinking about search terms for your products on Amazon, there are some crucial points to remember. First, Amazon's system already searches words in some of your product information, so you don't need to repeat the following:

• title;
• brand;
• designer;
• manufacturer; and
• manufacturer part number and standard product ID (UPC, EAN, GTIN).

Amazon doesn't search within bullet points and descriptions, so those are often words to consider.

Bullet Points and Product Descriptions
Testing done by Amazon reveals that well-crafted bullet points increase sales. When crafting your bullet points, highlight five key features you want shoppers to consider, such as dimensions, age appropriateness, ideal conditions for the product, skill level of the user, contents, country of origin, among other things.

Also, reiterate important information from the title and description, begin each bullet point with a capital letter and write sentence fragments without ending punctuation. While bullet points are more heavily relied upon by shoppers, the description is your opportunity to explain the product in detail and create a complete buying experience. Incorporating information about the feel, usage and benefits of your product can help mimic an in-
store experience.

Product Details
It's also important to pay attention when adding new products to Amazon. To increase the visibility and indexing of new products, include as much product information as possible (e.g., image, gender, item dimensions, etc.) within the recommended fields. Ultimately, you'll want to provide any and all relevant information that could potentially sway a visitor to buy. As a retailer, having a "better" listing will direct more traffic to your product and thus increase sales.

Images
Amazon has very specific requirements for product images. Here are two of the most important points to remember: one, the image must be a photo of the actual product for sale and two, it must be set on a 
white background.

Buy Box
Last but not least, 
location, location, location. Amazon's "Buy Box" increases a retailer's sales exponentially. Being selected for the Buy Box requires meeting certain conditions and offering competitive pricing. Factors in winning Buy Box placement include:

• low price;
• consistent availability;
• high volume;
• low refund rate;
• positive customer feedback; and
• minimal returns.

Jennifer Artabane is senior product manager at software and services provider ChannelAdvisor. Reach Jennifer at jennifer.artabane@channeladvisor.com.