After the pandemic, online marketplaces like Amazon have become popular with customers. They have made it easier to sell products online. As soon as the seller signs up, they have access to millions of customers. Unlike others, you can also successfully start an Amazon business.

Many beginners find the business starting process on Amazon daunting. Yet, it’s not as complicated as it seems.

Why is Amazon a Suitable Online-business Platform?

As a study claims, Amazon has 300+ million active customer accounts in 180+ countries. Moreover, they have 150+ million Prime members worldwide.

According to Pattern, in 2021, 83% of people bought their products from Amazon’s German site. These statistics show Amazon is very popular among sellers and customers worldwide.

In this article, you’ll have the complete guide to starting your business on Amazon. Follow the process to start a successful business.

Study the Market

Find products that you’re passionate about. Use the Amazon bestsellers list to study the market. You’ll know whether your products have a demand or not. Even if you start your business with one popular product, that would be enough!

Sometimes you might start a business with a product that’s not popular among customers. This happens due to the lack of market research.

Keep the product price between €15- €40 to have a decent profit. Another tip is keeping the product weight under 1 kg for lower shipping costs.

Source Your Products

Use the manufacturing marketplace to source your products. Websites to consider are:

• GlobalSources
• Alibaba
• DHGate
• JungleScout

Make sure the products are high-quality. You’ll always get sales if you provide your Amazon shoppers with top-notch products.

Look for a factory that has been producing your type of product for at least three years. Choose a supplier who is easy to communicate with and responds in a reasonable amount of time. 

Consider which supplier is taking a fair price for your products. Avoid factories that quote a much higher or lower price for your products.

Choose a Selling Plan

Before registering as a seller, choose between these two selling plans to start your business on Amazon:

• Individual
• Professional

The Individual plan is for the sellers who sell fewer than 40 items per month. It costs €0.99 per month. The Professional plan is suitable for selling more than 40 items a month and costs €39 each month. Amazon collects a referral fee on each sale for both of the plans. Though, the fee varies on the product category.

You can change the plans anytime you want.

Choose Your Selling Strategy

Choose a selling strategy to grow your business on Amazon. There are two strategies to approach:

• Reseller
• Brand Owner

Amazon resellers are people or companies that purchase products from suppliers. They resell the product on Amazon at a higher price. Amazon resellers don’t have any creative right to the product. They just resell the existing product to customers.

In contrast, brand owners manufacture their products. They gave creative rights to their products. So they’re responsible for reporting infringement. 

Knowing how to manage your brand and what to do during copyright violation claims is important. 

Check our article to learn about successful brand management.

Create an Amazon Seller Account

Before you start selling products, create an Amazon seller account with your business mail. The following information is needed when opening one:

• Business email address or Amazon customer account
• Internationally chargeable credit card
• Government ID
• Tax information
• Phone number
• Bank account information

Create a Dummy Listing

You just created your Amazon Seller account and are planning to order your first shipment! You’ve got to keep these things in mind:

Set up a dummy listing in your selected category with images of your product. Through this process, you’ll know whether your products got Amazon’s approval for sale or not.

Make sure your product isn’t patented. There are two types of patents:

• Design patent
• Utility patent

This research will save you money. You won’t be able to sell your product on Amazon if the product is patented. Your Product Listing will be “Put-On Hold,” and Amazon will suspend your account.

List Your First Product

After listing your first product, it’ll either match an existing listing or have a new listing. When you list your product, it’s available to both B2C and B2B customers. This enables you to reach more customers.

Though, listing products vary depending on the seller’s plan. A seller uses a professional seller account to list products in large batches with bulk uploading. Individual sellers list products one at a time.

Prepare a Launching and Ranking Strategy

There could be sellers selling the same products as yours. Launching involves how you’ll introduce your product on Amazon to stand out from competitors.

Make sure your product never goes past the third page of Amazon. Always maintain top spots on the first page. This helps to grow your business on Amazon. 

Through ranking, you increase the visibility of your product. It promotes your product to the first page of Amazon.

Set Product Listing Details

An Amazon product listing is a product page for each item you sell on Amazon. When the product listing for your business on Amazon is right, it enables search optimisation. Shoppers will be interested in buying your products. These product listings include:

• Product title: product listing can be up to 500 characters. It’s better to give enough information in the title. Capitalise the first letter of every word. Include the main keyword for the product. This helps Amazon shoppers to narrow down the findings. Don’t forget to include the brand, product name, colour, size, type, etc.

• Images: your Amazon product listing must have at least five quality images of the product. Include images that showcase the product’s size, multiple angles, and product packaging. Add 500 × 500 or 1,000 × 1,000 pixel images to increase listing quality. Include a video that shows how to use the product.

• Bullet Points: short, descriptive sentences highlighting key features and benefits. Use as many secondary keywords as possible.

• Description: give customers more information about the product. Write your product’s description from their perspective. Keywords also improve the chances of people finding your listing.

Attract Customers

The important thing you need to do is attract customers. There are several things you can do to attract customers to your business on Amazon.

• Provide fast shipping: it is essential to provide fast shipping. When your customers get fast delivery of products, they give positive reviews. Fast shipping increases the chance of customers returning.

• Advertise your offers: advertising on search results and product boost brand awareness. Running a deal or a coupon is another way to promote your products.

• Set competitive prices: customers shop for the best price. Analyse your business on Amazon and compare the prices of your competitors. It helps you set the best price.

Get Product Reviews and Ratings

Product reviews and ratings are essential elements of the product listing. It influences buying decisions. Get positive reviews and ratings to sell more on Amazon. You can also use social media platforms to request product reviews from users. Popular ones include Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

This process takes time. Always deliver high-quality products and maintain an excellent service to get good reviews.

Communicate with your customers about their orders. Test your procedures to ensure they are up to standard. Then read customer reviews, particularly the bad ones.

Bad reviews l help you improve and prevent a similar case from happening in the future.

Conclusion

Follow these steps to set your business on Amazon. You have to keep e improving your business to remain successful.

Be patient because it takes time to recover your initial investment. Always look for improvements to keep your business running. This way, your business model will provide a delightful experience for customers on Amazon.