How to Run and Grow Your Amazon Business (Monthly Masterpiece) 

Originally tagged as “Earth’s biggest bookstore,” the e-commerce giant Amazon has since become the world’s biggest place to buy and sell just about anything. In the digital marketplace, there’s simply no comparison to Amazon. With millions of customers each month, countless products, and over 2.5 million individual sellers, the Amazon marketplace has transformed the way we shop and sell.

Feel that second go by? Amazon just shipped 35 packages. There’s truly no comparison to the size, scope, and speed of the online marketplace developed by Amazon. What’s even better is that Amazon makes it quick and easy to pull up your own digital booth and join the party. You can join as an individual seller or through Amazon’s’ FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon). Either way, by choosing to sell your products on Amazon there’s the potential for millions of customers to see (and hopefully buy) your products. But how do you get started? In such a large marketplace, it can be intimidating to know how to jump in. This guide takes a look into a few aspects of the Amazon giant, including its rise and development, the advantages of using Amazon’s FBA, and some helpful tips on how to run and grown your Amazon business.

THE HISTORY OF AMAZON

Before you begin your own business boom, it’s interesting to consider the epic rise of Amazon, which began in 1995 when Jeff Bezos began selling books out of garage. Bezos initially envisioned Amazon as a bookseller because this product, he believed, was readily available, had a low unit cost, and there would always be a global demand for good books. He was right.

Despite Amazon’s success today, it took a little while for the online retailer to take off. It took about five years for the company to begin recording a profit, surviving the dot-com bubble burst in 2001 that wiped out so many new online entities. From there, however, Amazon never looked back. After the first decade of the 20th century, Amazon had 30,000 employees and recorded over 30 million in sales. By 2017, they grew to just over half a million employees around the world.

As Amazon continued to grow, Bezos looked for innovative ways to expand. To gain traction with physical, brick and mortar retailers, Amazon acquired the Whole Foods grocery chain in 2017. In 2019, they finalized their much-anticipated HQ2 headquarters to be constructed outside of Washington, D.C. This second headquarters will host another 25,000 employees with a 2.5-billion-dollar investment by the company.

As of 2018, Amazon accounted for almost half of all US online shopping. Who came in second place? It wasn’t even close as eBay ranked second with less than 7 percent of online sales. Each year, Amazon has only seen more and more success, and in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, their online sales have skyrocketed. It seems there’s nothing that can slow down Jeff Bezos and his online giant that started as a little bookstore in his garage.

The incomparable success of Amazon is just one reason why it’s the place to be if you’re looking to sell your products online. As the world’s largest digital marketplace, nowhere else can you find the scope, number of customers, or the data and tools to help you find success and turn a profit. But of course, simply joining the Amazon marketplace isn’t enough. With over 2.5 million individual sellers already competing in this online shopping mall, you need to determine strategies for success. How will you stand out above the rest? Read some of our tips below to help you run and grown your own Amazon business.

AMAZON’S FBA

One of the first decisions you’ll need to make as you run your business on Amazon is whether or not to sign up for Amazon’s FBA service. FBA, or Fulfillment by Amazon, charges sellers a fee in exchange for taking over the shipping and fulfillment needs. FBA can radically improve your experience as an Amazon seller by not dealing with the hassle of shipping, and instead, letting Amazon do what they do best. FBA can be a smart decision after you’ve established your business on Amazon and are looking to expand because, again, having Amazon handle your shipping, fulfillment, and customer services needs doesn’t come free.

REVIEWS

As humans, we’re social animals—there’s no getting around that. When a customer is on the verge of making a purchase, it’s often a positive review (or a few) that can make all the difference. To grow your Amazon business, accumulating as many product reviews as possible is critical to success. Amazon customers can easily get overwhelmed by the limitless number of products. What helps them finally make that decision of what to put in their buy box? Social proof. To gain reviews, try reaching out to customers following a purchase to ask for a review—you can also provide incentives. Remember, too, that a few less-than-positive reviews can also be beneficial. If a customer sees a few poor reviews mixed in with the good ones, it provides credibility to the product and you as a seller.

USE THE DATA

As the largest online marketplace, Amazon has generated oceans of e-commerce data. While, as a third-party seller, much of this data isn’t accessible, much of it still is. On Amazon, you can perform your own market research by tracking product rankings and top products in certain categories. You can also use data tools like Seller Mobile that offer a wide range of analytics and tools, including automated pricing, analytics reports, buyer/seller messaging, and much more.

GET TO KNOW AMAZON’S SEO

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is essential knowledge for anyone looking for success in the digital marketplace. SEO, at its core, is the practice of designing your website and using specific keywords to rank higher in an online (most commonly Google) search. Success on Amazon is all about visibility and successful SEO strategies will ensure your product ranks higher. Take the time to research how Amazon’s SEO works. Perform keyword research as they’re related to your products, including LSI keywords. Try to write long, descriptive product descriptions that not only market your product effectively but incorporate strong keywords.

MARKET YOURSELF

As a seller on Amazon, the Amazon marketplace is your primary platform. With millions of customers logging on each month, this is one of the greatest advantages of selling on Amazon—visibility. However, to further grow your own business you also want to look at ways you can utilize other platforms to enhance your Amazon business. First, you may want to start your own website (there are several free platforms, like WordPress, to help you do so). Selling on Amazon can help drive customers to your site. Additionally, consider using social media to your advantage to drive as many sets of eyeballs as possible to your content and products. Use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to interact with potential customers and expand your reach. You can also consider blogging as a way to create content and conversations with your customers.

TEST EVERYTHING

What’s the best way to measure your own success in the Amazon marketplace? Test everything. To determine what aspects of your products are successful, performing split-testing can be one effective method to find what works best. Don’t just split-test your products (although that’s a good idea), but split-test down to the smallest detail, including your images, headlines, ad platforms, product descriptions and titles. Remember to only make one change per split-test to show how the change performs against your control.

MORE THAN A BOX

If you’re not using Amazon’s FBA, you have a unique opportunity to make an impact on your customer following the purchase. While Amazon saves times and money on their efficient, uniformed brown boxes, they also miss out on the opportunity for creative packaging. Don’t forget, even delivery can be fun. To stand out after the purchase, consider ways to make your packaging unique and creative. Maybe even consider including a personalized note that informs them about the product and thanks them for buying through your store (this is also a great opportunity to ask for those sought-after customer reviews).

Since its founding in 1995 in a little garage outside of Seattle, Amazon has entirely transformed how people buy and sell products. With each consecutive year, Amazon makes up an even larger chunk of overall e-commerce sales. If you want to sell your products online and run and grow your own business, Amazon is the place to be. Whether joining as an individual seller or taking advantage of Amazon’s FBA, joining this digital marketplace provides unmatched opportunities to run a successful online business. Now, after reading this collection of tips and strategies, there’s only one question left: what products do you want to sell on Amazon?