Editor’s Note: This week’s guest blog is from Devan Livaudais. He’s been a consultant with eGrowth Partners since 2018. Formerly he worked for a large 1P seller and knows exactly what Q4 means to a seller – so this one is short and sweet. Happy selling everyone! – Cynthia
‘Tis the season to get in trouble with Amazon! With the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays fast approaching, we fully expect Amazon to start taking pro-active measures that may put some sellers in jeopardy during the busiest shopping season of the year (as we’ve seen with the recent Linked Account mass takedown).
Here are some best practices and tips to keep Amazon from putting coal in your stocking this year:
Tip #1
TALK TO THE BUYER
Stay on top of all customer messages and returns. These can easily get overwhelming and normally peak after the holiday season. It is important to maintain excellent customer service and to adhere to Amazon’s Communications Guidelines even if you are feeling overwhelmed.
Tip #2
FEEDBACK
Quickly address and take note of negative feedback. In general, some negative feedback is normal (not all customers will be happy), but it is a good practice to keep your returns and negative reviews/complaints under 2%. Anything higher than 5% should alert you to evaluate operational procedures to confirm they are not negatively impacting your customers’ experiences. Every year we see sellers suspended for simple negative feedback, and it is avoidable.
Tip #3
TEMPERATURE CHECK
Check your Account Health dashboard multiple times throughout the day. Take note of any metrics that are above Amazon’s required thresholds and any “Voice of the Customer” messages.
Tip #4
RESPOND TO POLICY VIOLATIONS AND WARNINGS
Jump on all ASIN Policy Notifications IMMEDIATELY. ASIN suspensions are common and happen more often during peak selling seasons. Take every complaint and intellectual property notice seriously. They require a response.
Tip #5
AUDIT NOW
Make sure all your variations are set up properly. We are still seeing regular takedowns for “twister abuse,” “brushing” and “review manipulation,” due mostly to improper variations. Request from Seller Support your “All listings + Inventory” report so you can see the variations in one place and make corrections as needed.
In addition, start auditing your listings and making improvements to listing content, including images. The goal here is to draw in customers and quickly inform them to encourage a purchase.
Remember that customers’ attention spans dwindle quickly the further down the detail page they go. Your priorities here should be an informative, creative, compliant title, bullet points, and IMAGES. Infographics are an excellent way to educate customers in a way that keeps their attention. If you are the brand, you can add video which increases conversions.
We have a few weeks before Black Friday so get ready. This year Amazon is cracking down on product images that do not use the “Amazon White” background. See the Amazon Style Guide for specifics.
Tip #6
STOCK UP
Be sure to keep enough stock to support your sales volume. If you are primarily FBA, set up an FBM SKU to switch over to when your FBA stock is running out. You will lose sales ranking fast if you go out of stock even for a day or two. You also don’t want to cancel an order – ever – for lack of inventory. It hits your metrics hard.
Tip #7
DELIVER
Every year we see a slew of sellers taken down for performance issues. Either they did not ship fast enough or the carrier they used failed them. We see this particularly with USPS (United States Postal Service) and do not recommend them as a carrier.
If they deliver late, it’s on you.
USPS is also notoriously bad about tracking. Sellers often get notices days after a package has been delivered. Packages are not always scanned at every stage of delivery. Issues like this can get you suspended. We highly recommend working with a reliable carrier with guaranteed delivery.
Happy Holidays Selling !
During Q4 we are working 7 days a week including all holidays. We offer expedited services with a guaranteed turnaround of 24 hours (on our part – Amazon can’t be controlled).
In addition, our Amazon Account Management team can help you keep on top of your feedback, buyer messages, policy complaints, ASIN reinstatements and more.
Give us a call and ask about our Q4 Account Management and expedited reinstatement specials.
