That translates to selling over 175 million items purchased in a 2 day period across 18 countries.
It’s official: July is the new December for retailers and brands.
As if it wasn’t already enough that Amazon has revolutionized the way people read books, watch TV and shop online, now it has succeeded in transforming the entire retail calendar. Prime Day (a two-day only global shopping event exclusively for Prime members) has become known as “Black Friday in July” – and retailers are scrambling to compete. Now in its fifth year, Prime Day has grown so large that a record 250 retailers are offering their own sales in an effort to keep up. Target’s sale covers the same two days, and Walmart has promised bargain prices from Sunday to Wednesday – just to name a few. But, despite these valiant efforts, online shoppers spent more than 10 times as much money on Amazon as they did on Walmart and eBay combined.
One thing remains abundantly clear: now more than ever it’s crucial that emerging brands find their place within the Amazon ecosystem as “Black Friday in July” generates a whole new commerce peak to take advantage of. Brands both big and small need to start shifting their efforts from exclusively focusing on the traditional holiday shopping season (November – December) and build marketing strategies tailored for this new “holiday.” These additional marketing efforts (especially by emerging brands) should encapsulate Amazon, their own websites, as well as other retail partners. Here are a few ways you can position your brand so that you take advantage of all the new marketing opportunities now available to your brand:
• INVENTORY – Since most Amazon shoppers prefer to buy Prime-eligible products, it’s essential to have enough inventory at Amazon’s fulfillment centers. And if you’re a Seller Central user, this means shipping inventory to ‘FBA’ (Fulfilled By Amazon) well ahead of time.
• DIY ACCOUNTS – Use Amazon’s discount coupons on Prime Day. These are self-serve promotions that can be set up by any vendor or seller on Amazon. The coupons can be for a dollar amount or percentage-off, and the discount is funded by the merchant. This helps to entice more sales, both by offering shoppers a good discount, as well as differentiating the product listing in search results because of its eye-catching green badge.
• PRODUCT PRESENTATION – With this buying frenzy creating significantly more shopping traffic, product detail pages need to grab shoppers’ attention and clearly explain features & benefits. Examine everything on your product detail pages including keywords, imagery, bullet points and Enhanced Brand Content to ensure their listings are optimized.
• REVIEWS – Product pages with at least one review experience an average 354% increase in conversion rate and a 446% lift in revenue per visitor compared to those with no reviews, whether or not visitors engaged with the review content. Don’t have any reviews yet? A great way to collect some quickly is through sampling campaigns: offer loyal customers the opportunity to try out products in exchange for their honest feedback. Not only does it collect fresh content, which will boost search rankings, but it also builds loyalty with existing customers.
•DISPLAY ADS & PAID SEARCH – It’s difficult to cut through the chaos surrounding Prime Day, as consumers are bombarded with an avalanche of products. Fresh product page content will improve search rankings and help shoppers find your brand, but with discoverability proving difficult on a regular day, consider investing in paid search and display advertising in the weeks leading up to Prime Day. This will help give your brand that little extra push, which could make a big difference.
•PROMOTE PROMOTE PROMOTE – While there are so many deals vying for shoppers’ attention, brands should strategize how to get the word out through other channels. This is where brands who’ve built a large social media following or email list are able to get an advantage over competitors. It’s important to engage with current customers of your product, as well as prospective buyers, to make sure they’re aware you plan on participating in this event – and even give them a teaser of what’s to come.
• STRATEGIC INVESTMENT – Many brands use Prime Day as a way to boost awareness and product trials, not necessarily make profitable sales. The sale price is often so low that the product becomes a loss leader. However, brands can generate the product exposure they’re seeking, which often results in repeat buyers (at full price) during the official holiday season into November and December.
By planning ahead and budgeting accordingly, brands should be able to implement the above strategies in conjunction with comprehensive creative campaigns that enable Prime Day to benefit them instead of hinder them. As an agency working directly with Amazon, Giant Propeller helps clients set up their Amazon accounts and position them for growth within the marketplace. Additionally, we run campaigns on Amazon’s network enabling our content and ads to be seen across all Amazon properties on both web and mobile, including: Kindle, Firestick, Programmatic placements, Amazon SEO, and Buybox bidding optimization. And if you don’t know what any of that stuff is, then you DEFINITELY should hit us up 🙂
Yes, whether traditional brick & mortar retailers like it or not, this is Amazon’s world and we’re all just living in it. Rather than fight the current, we encourage emerging brands to go with the financial flow and embrace all of the new and exciting opportunities this provides. Once you position yourself properly in this brave new marketing world, the sky is truly the limit…
