Traditionally, Amazon has been a place for third-party resellers to sell a mix of branded and unbranded goods. However, as Amazon establishes its dominance in the retail market, it is increasingly becoming a key sales channel for blue-chip brands.
Not only is it a profitable revenue stream, but it is also a way to protect the brand. Third-party resellers may not list the products in a way that reflects your brand values, or offer the right level of customer service.
Yet, Amazon is not always the easiest sales channel to manage. When the retail giant first decided to encourage third-party sellers onto the site, it envisaged an army of bedroom sellers and developed self-serve tools for them.
The legacy of that means that big brands now have to manage this massive channel using inappropriate tools developed for small scale operations.
Some of the biggest headaches blue-chip brands are likely to experience as a result include:
- Brand Registry – If someone else has registered your brand before you, then it’s a heck of a job to persuade Amazon that it’s rightfully yours. But that’s essential because unless you own the Brand Registry, you can’t control your listings or run profitable ad campaigns.
- Listings – there’s nothing worse than uploading information and then it appears on the live site in a completely different format to how it was planned.
- A+ Content – after spending time designing, writing copy and creating individual pages for each of your hundreds of products for Amazon can turn round and withhold approval.
- Raising cases – from querying why a listing is suppressed to rectifying a wrong title or image – anything you want Amazon to do has to be addressed by raising a case. Answers are often inconsistent, depending on who replies at the other end. It takes time and energy chasing Amazon on many many never-ending cases to get things looking how you want them.
- Chargebacks – the bane of any blue-chip selling on Vendor Central. Sometimes the slightest infringement is an excuse for a big bill from Amazon, for re-packing or re-labelling your products.
This is why so many blue-chip brands are now turning to specialist agencies like Optimizon. To help get the most of this vital sales channel.
How Optimizon can help
Whether you’re on Vendor or Seller, Optimizon can help sort out your brand registry, build your storefront and create keyword-rich content that converts.
We can take away that stress and energy by working with you to ensure we keep brand consistency.
With over 14 years of experience, we’ll suggest strategies to win the buy box and create promotions that get results. You’ll have your own account manager who understands your business goals, builds your campaigns and keeps you up to date with progress; so you don’t need to worry about any of the nitty-gritty. We’ll also get you great returns on your sponsored products or brand campaigns.
But above all, the emotional experience for your customers will mirror all the other ways in which your brand touches their lives.
