By Gone are the days when you could find products with the help of a tool like Jungle Scout and jump straight to the manufacturing process. If you have a private label business on Amazon these days, chances are you’re exploring the “Not-so-saturated” markets to diversify your product line. Unfortunately, even the niches that have potential for growth are filled with identical products sold by highly reviewed brands at a price that has miniscule margins.
The question is do new and upcoming sellers stand a chance to differentiate their product from the rest of the competition and come out on top as a successful brand? Absolutely yes!
We are going to share with you five extremely effective ways to differentiate your product and end all competition on Amazon. On top of that there is a bonus tip that is currently trending amongst FBA sellers. If you use these as steps rather than individual techniques, you will get guaranteed success in your next product. Let’s say you found a product that is generating good sales for the sellers on page 1. Your goal is now to rank your product to the first page.
Here are the strategies you should use to differentiate the product:
- One/Two Star Rating
The best way to beat the competition is to look at the shortcomings of the competitor products. Pick some of the listings on the first page of the product and read comments on the low ratings (one/two stars). Most of the time people will point out a common issue with the product. Boom! That is your opportunity to improve the product and eliminate the commonly reported issues. Here are some of the ways to beat every competitor on Amazon.
Below are the ratings for a Dog bark deterrent which has over 2500 reviews. If you notice, 45% of the ratings are 1 star. This seller was one of the first that came out with a bark deterrent and ever since then many sellers have taken its market share by honing the product features to reduce customer complaints.
- Bundling
This technique has been out there before the advent of e-commerce businesses yet only a select few sellers take advantage of it. That’s because it needs a little extra work when sourcing a manufacturer. Bundling may require going through two different manufacturers, where one manufacturer sends the shipment to the other so that the bundle is packaged as one single product.
Yes it is slightly more work but once you have the process set in place, any new seller for that product will have to come up with a magic spell to take your place. Think about it this way – the higher the barrier to entry, the lesser the competition.
There are strict Amazon policies on how to bundle products but to summarize, if you bundle two items from the same category and they complement each other, your listing will be in compliance with the policies. Also, you will only have to get one UPC for the whole bundle (Consider it as an individual product as opposed to two or three separate products).
Great, so how do we bundle our products? Under each product, you will find a “Frequently bought together” section. The section lists items that are, as the name suggests, frequently bought together.
Take a look at this baby wedge as an example. Customers also buy a wedge pillow. If you bundle these two, you will most likely get the sales for all customers that want both for their baby.
Another way is to search for your product on search tools like Keyword Planner or Merchant Words. It will give you a list of other search terms that can be bundled with your product.
When sourcing your bundled product, contact large suppliers because they have a huge catalog of products and would be able to manufacture the whole bundle as opposed to one item.
- Listing Optimization
This one is a no brainer if you have been selling on Amazon for a while. The end goal of differentiation should be to cater to customer needs – What would convince them to buy your product?
If your listing has well-crafted photos, elegantly written features and descriptions, and strategically chosen backend keywords, there is no reason for your product to not get the level of attention expected. Ever wondered why many similar products have varying sales? Well it’s because one seller’s product usually has a far superior listing. The good thing about this option is that it can be done at any point in time.
Let’s take a look at two different dog leashes.
Which one will customers be more inclined to buy? Without a doubt, the second one because it has a great looking main image and lists knowledgeable features to entice customers.
If you would like to see a boost in your sales, you can get in touch with one of our Listing Optimization Experts at AMZ One Step. They will provide step by step guidance on the optimization services that can help your product(s) rise in ranking and show you exactly what reports to run on Amazon so you can track your boost after your listing is fully optimized.
- Reviews
We live in an era where E-commerce is slowly replacing the traditional brick and mortar business model but customers to this day face a fear of being deceived when shopping online. Even though refund policies have given customers a lot of confidence, they still like to get authentic and quality products.
Well how can you tell between a million similar listings?
If there are no popular brands for the product, reviews are the only way to tell those listings apart. You need to get at least 10 reviews to be noticed and it’s not easy. Not every sale leads to a review but you can use some tactics to improve your conversion rate.
There are tools that automatically send follow up emails to customers that purchase your product requesting for a review. Also, you can sign up for websites that flash your product in their deals section and the audience usually reviews those products.
On average 1% of the sales turn into reviews but with smart strategies, it can be bumped to 3%-5%. As long as you don’t ask a customer for a positive review, Amazon has no problem with soliciting reviews.
- Amazon in other countries
A great research method at everyone’s disposal is all the other amazon markets where you are not selling your product. If you only sell on amazon.com, search for your product in Canada, UK or other countries to get a sense of what the top sellers in those countries are doing to beat the competition. For example, European countries usually set the fashion trends so if your product is in clothing or accessories, you can get ideas from there and bring it to the Amazon market in the States.
This is not a strategy taught by FBA coaches or Amazon youtubers so take advantage of it before it becomes common practice.
Bonus Tip: E-books
Here is an extra tip that can really be the differentiating factor between you and your top competitors – Throw in a free E-book with your product. That’s right, customers love a personalized touch and an e-book that showcases your product’s features or gives a little background plus instructions on the different uses can make your listing appealing to the buyers.
It is also a great way to build an email list for review conversion. Simply ask the buyer to send their email id to receive a free copy.
Trust me these little things make all the difference in the Amazon world. You can find a freelancer to write the book for you for a one-time cost of $150 or less.
Now you’re ready to launch your next product and make it successful. These will be your guiding strategies to establish your brand. If you require assistance with listing optimization or have additional inquiries, feel free to contact us. You can also subscribe to our newsletter for blog content like this.
