Tips to Boost Sales on Amazon.com

Most retailers are well aware of the enormous benefit of selling products on Amazon.com. Far and away the most dominant e-commerce site, Amazon reported net sales of $10.88 billion in the third quarter, a 44 percent increase vs. the same period last year. Amazon is simply the most powerful selling tool for any online retailer — and its influence just continues to grow.

Amazon provides local sellers a great way to connect with buyers all over the world. But there's certainly much more to generating revenue than simply dropping a product on Amazon and waiting for it to sell. Savvy sellers know that the retailer who wins the sale on Amazon is often the retailer who controls the “Buy Box.” The Buy Box is a blue dialog box on the right side of any Amazon product page that gives consumers a quick option to add an item to their cart. Since multiple sellers could be offering the same product on Amazon, controlling the Buy Box can significantly affect the number of sales earned.

So how do you win the Buy Box? Well, basically the same way you earn more sales. Amazon recognizes a strong seller portfolio and rewards them with the Buy Box. There are many factors contributing to a retailer’s good standing with Amazon. If you offer a lot of items on Amazon, it’s a good idea to invest in a professional to monitor your Amazon account. This will ensure you're following all of Amazon’s guidelines and customer service policies.

Pricing may be the most important aspect of Amazon you should be paying attention to. As with the rest of the retail industry, effective Amazon pricing is a tough mark to hit. Sellers must master the balancing act between generating the most revenue while offering the lowest prices to attract more buyers. Keep a close eye on the pricing of your competitors on Amazon. Competitive pricing (including shipping costs) is among the top criteria Amazon uses to determine who is the Buy Box retailer. Having the lowest sale price doesn’t guarantee the Buy Box, but it’s a big step towards it.

Of course, having to manually search your competitors’ pages can be a time-consuming process. That's why many retailers use software that tracks competitor pricing automatically. Programs such as Ability Channel Feed track your competitors’ pricing for each product they have on Amazon. This type of software monitors all of your Amazon products and lets you know if you can raise your price and still be the lowest priced or if you can lower your price and potentially win the Buy Box, helping you dominate sales for that product on Amazon.

Another big factor in winning the Buy Box is product availability. Make sure you always have stock available and your inventory is consistently updated on Amazon. This can be challenging if you have multiple outlets. Ensure that your inventory is up to date on Amazon by requiring that the software monitoring all of your product feeds through various outlets is integrated and updated frequently.

If you have the Buy Box and are earning quick sales, the last thing you want is to lose it because you didn’t have back-up stock ready. You also certainly don’t want a customer to order a product only to find out it's sold out. Have someone keep tabs on your account if you're ever away from work. Poor or slow service can quickly lead to negative feedback that will hurt your chances for both the Buy Box and future sales.

As you’ll quickly learn, Amazon is customer-centric to an almost fanatical degree. As an Amazon seller, you're expected to provide exceptional customer service at all times. This includes keeping up available inventory, avoiding canceled orders, quick delivery of products, and an even quicker response to questions or problems. Unresolved situations can greatly hurt your status in the Amazon community, so make sure to address negative feedback immediately.

Don’t forget to give out positive feedback to users you've worked with as well. The more interaction with both buyers and sellers, the better. Quality customer service will almost always come back to you either in the form of the Buy Box, positive ratings or both, all of which will boost sales.

And as a final tip, be patient. New sellers to Amazon have to gradually build up their ratings in order to qualify for the Buy Box and earn a larger customer base. By monitoring competitor pricing, keeping products in stock and earning positive feedback, however, sellers can improve their reputation quite easily. You might not get rich overnight, but the additional exposure you'll gain by being featured on an e-commerce giant like Amazon will pay for itself. Nearly every retailer who joins Amazon will see their website visits and conversions increase.

Overall, there's no real downside to selling your products on Amazon. The additional shelf space and increased brand recognition provide a great avenue for growth — not to mention the sales profits. With proper management of an account, retailers can quickly grow within the Amazon community, building a strong portfolio and even earning some Buy Boxes. Amazon may not be a new platform in the e-commerce space, but it’s one that simply works.

Diane Buzzeo is CEO and founder of Ability Commerce. Dianne can be reached at dianebuzzeo@abilitycommerce.com.