You have made up your mind about the product you want to sell on Amazon? Neat! Now you might want to check who can produce it. You have found several potential manufacturers? High five! You might want to send your specifications and arrange for samples next. Think about designs and branding. Keep transportation in mind! Oh, wait! We might be getting a little bit ahead of ourselves…
Did you make sure it is not just the product you want but the product your Amazon client wants? You did, didn’t you?
So, here is a checklist with some things you need to keep in mind when you are developing your Amazon product.
TIP 1: Quick delivery – they want your product and they want it now
You might be surprised to find this at the top but the majority of customer cases we deal with on a daily basis have to do with delivery. This includes product reviews, customer feedback, and customer support messages. Long gone are the days when every order took weeks to arrive.
Now that Amazon FBA allows next day delivery clients have less and less patience when it comes to shipping. It makes sense to choose self-fulfillment when you are just getting started on Amazon. This means saving on FBA taxes and luring clients with the promise of free delivery. However, you also run the risk of increasing your percentage of canceled, delayed or lost orders. The latter means bad reviews and bad customer feedback, which can hurt your product and compromise your business.
TIP 2: Good quality – make sure you deliver on your promises
Here we put the most obvious contender. We all know the high-end brands we like and the mass-market brands we go for. With every purchase, we expect to get the best quality for our cash. If the company disappoints, we either seek our rights or we stop buying from them. Amazon has made that easier than ever thanks to its customer-driven policy of returns, product ranks, and seller ratings.
Last year we worked with a smart home company who claimed the quality of their products as was on par with that of the leading companies in that niche. We started receiving customer complaints about the low quality of the app. They admitted that they were in such a hurry to finish it, they didn’t have time to test it properly. This was a crucial mistake as it lowered the product’s functionality!
TIP 3: Clear Instructions – make sure it is absolutely foolproof
Product manuals may seem like a waste of resources but you would be surprised how often Amazon clients complain about the lack of instructions or the inability to decode Chinglish guides. You may want to find out how to use your product on your own but this doesn’t mean your Amazon clients feel the same way. They will call you out on it if they struggle to assemble or use their product.
Make sure all the information about your product is out there – in the product listing and packaging. Clients are lazy and usually skim through the text. Make it accessible and easy to read. Stress and repeat your core points. Don’t leave any space for ambiguity because your clients will use it against you and rightfully so if they felt you led them on with false promises or inaccurate information.
TIP 4: Guarantee your client’s right – they will repay you with their loyalty
Big promises, especially from salesmen may annoy us to no end but here on Amazon, they can make a whole world of difference to Amazon clients. Most sellers underestimate the value of the 100% customer satisfaction guarantee as they think it may lead to scams. They can’t be further away from the truth. Amazon clients want to get a nice product. If they like it they would come back to you.
Unless you are a small craftsman shop in the neighborhood it takes more effort to stand out among other Amazon sellers and provide a more personal experience for the client. Especially since they don’t have any face-to-face contact with you. Adding a satisfaction guarantee means putting your client’s interests on the front, something your clients will appreciate and recommend to others.
TIP 5: Provide invoices – start by doing it manually then switch to automatic invoicing
Keeping your invoices in check is a good practice when it comes to running your Amazon account in any of the marketplaces! Amazon issues invoices for its own products as soon as the order is placed or dispatched. German clients, in particular, are meticulous when it comes to invoices. You can expect to get a fair amount of emails with invoice request so you should be ready to oblige.
There are a lot of automatic invoicing services out there but if you want to start lean you can issue invoices manually at first. Just make sure your accounting and invoicing records are clean and accurate. One last thing, if you intend to register for FBA and use Amazon’s warehouses you must apply for VAT. The process takes some time to complete so make sure to plan it ahead.
In conclusion, if you are an Amazon seller always make sure you have your client’s needs and interests at heart. They are not just buying a product from you, they are signing up for the whole experience.
If you worry that you are not up for the task yet you can drop us a line and we will check the best solution for your Amazon selling needs.