3 Things I've Learned from 6 Months on Amazon

In 2020, Amazon is one of the most important companies in the US for both consumers and brands. If you sell consumer packaged goods, there's a strong chance that you can benefit from the platform.

Like anything else, to make the most impact you need to set things up correctly from Day 1. Here are 3 concepts I've learned through selling on Amazon for 6 months:

1.) If You Want to Win, Play Amazon's Game

You have to follow the rules- it's as simple as that. You may think you can cut corners with advertising claims, listing optimization, etc.... but you can't. Amazon is really good at what they do & they've gotten more strict with their rules. Play their game, and with a good product, you'll win.

"Playing their game" means getting over the initial learning curve, but none of it is rocket science. You just have to do the research and test it out.

2.) Make Sure Your Products Are Prime

As of 2019, 62% of American households have Amazon Prime. Free 2-day shipping is now the standard, and a good portion of Prime shoppers filter for Prime products exclusively. I highly recommend using Amazon's FBA program, as this will give you a larger audience.

If you have the means, you can also use seller-fulfilled Prime, which allows you to be Prime without using Amazon FBA and incurring the additional fees. However, be warned: you MUST be able to fulfill 2-day shipping, nationwide, or your account will suffer.

3.) You Have to Grow Within Your Means (or you'll BURN cash)

Amazon's algorithm is tricky. If you play it right, over time they will begin to reward your advertising efforts. However, if you try to force yourself into growing early on by throwing tons of $$ into ads/keywords, you are going to burn tons of cash.

You need to balance ads with organic growth (organic sales & searches, product reviews, etc) to get the best ROI & ACoS.