Whether you are starting your brand from scratch or have previously been selling purely on your own website, an additional marketplace that you simply cannot ignore is Amazon. This is because Amazon is the world’s largest online selling platform, extending to around 20 different countries and reaching over 310 million active users across the globe. No matter how you slice it, this is an astronomical number of potential customers to be turning your back on and an awful lot of money to be leaving on the table. 

As nice as it would be, not all of those 310 million people will be interested in the niche that you cover or the products that you supply. It does, however, give you a neon-bright hint as to why you need to look closer at using more online selling platforms. If you want to make the move, though, you’ll need to make sure you have all your ducks in a row before you take your first step – and these four key areas will give you ample food for thought.

#1 Coping with increased demand 

As you will be selling on a platform with so many potential customers ready and waiting to purchase, you are going to have to make sure you can cope with the increased demand. This may mean being able to negotiate better rates with your current supplier, or if they cannot fulfill the new and growing quota, looking elsewhere for a replacement supplier or calling extra ones on standby.

What you don’t want to do is leave this important task to the last minute or rest on your haunches to see ‘how business goes’. Not being able to supply your new customers on sites such as Amazon will only get you negative feedback, which will still damage your business further as a result. 

#2 Where to store additional stock 

Even for the quickest of turnaround times, you are still going to need somewhere to store your stock while it waits to be sold and shipped. This could mean renting additional storage facilities to those you currently have or moving to a larger warehouse entirely when you think the time is right. 

However, you have another option ahead of you, and that is to make use of Amazon’s FBA service. This is where Amazon will store your stock, pack it, and even send it out directly to your customers as and when they place an order. In this, though, you will have to ensure your products are ones that they cater to, as Amazon does not accept some products for this service. 

This rules out the need for a warehouse of your own and the products (and employees) to pick and pack your orders for you. You will have to take into consideration that there will be a charge for Amazon to perform these tasks for you, and you need to work out whether this facility is viable to you and your business before proceeding. 

#3 Dealing with customers’ inquiries, issues, and feedback 

Regardless of whether you are opting for Amazon’s FBA service or choosing to stay hands-on with your business yourself, you are going to have to jump through hoops for your customers. This means being able to assist them any time of the day (or night). The faster, more accurate, and more reliable your answers are, the better feedback you will receive and the happier your customers will be. Sites such as Amazon thrive on their feedback scores, and the more negative feedback you get, the fewer customers you will attract.

There is, of course, nothing stopping you from hiring employees to answer emails, questions, or messages from potential customers to free up your own time, or of course, if you do not want to employ staff of your own, you can opt to use the services of Amazon experts to manage your reputation for you.

#4 Launching your brand the right way 

When it comes to launching your brand on Amazon, there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. Going it completely on your own may well be cheaper, but it may not provide the boost in sales you were hoping for, nor provide potential customers with the right impression of your business or your products. Amazon has over 9.7 million sellers worldwide, and with every niche being stuffed with products, you are going to need some help getting yours seen by the right people in order to make sales. 

Using the services of an established and dedicated Amazon agency, you will find that potential customers will be able to find your products more easily. They can help you make your listings look more professional and aid you with finding the right price to sell your products at. This can all be very hard to do on your own, not to mention time-consuming. 

So, to wrap it all up

Although you may be tempted to just jump onto Amazon and set up a selling account in order to get the ball rolling nice and quickly, you will find that there is a more savvy and more profitable way to go about it. You need to make sure the structure that you have in place for your products is scalable and that you will be able to cope with the growing demand – regardless of how fast it accelerates. This will mean speaking to your supplier and maybe getting another one or two onboard as a failsafe. You will also need to make provisions for your additional stock, so regardless of how fast the turnaround time is you will not find yourself overly cramped or overwhelmed. 

In order to launch your products on Amazon successfully and get the best response that you can, you should seriously consider hiring the services of an Amazon agency. This is because they will help you every step of the way, and even if you wish them to, manage your reputation for you to keep your customers happy and coming back time and time again.