Starting an FBA business can be a great way to generate a very healthy income online.
Using Amazon’s platform and reaching millions of potential customers gives sellers the opportunity and infrastructure to grow a large business quickly and efficiently.
But, as with all business models, FBA does not come without problems.
This post will highlight 5 problems Amazon sellers face and how to deal with them to keep their business running like a well-oiled machine.
Adopting a problem-solving mindset
“The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude towards the problem.” – Captain Jack Sparrow.
Problem solving is a huge part of running any successful business. FBA sellers must be able to quickly diagnose problems and come up with creative solutions.
Whether it’s customer complaints, inventory shortages, or product returns, approaching every problem with a positive mindset and a willingness to find a way to work around the problem is vital. business success.
When facing problems with your Amazon FBA business, one thing to keep in mind is that your competitors are also facing the same problems. So the better you become at solving these problems, the greater advantage you will have over your competitors.
5 Amazon Seller Problems and How to Deal With Them
1. Cash flows
It’s common for Amazon sellers to face cash flow problems at the beginning of their business.
The cause of cash flow problems is usually that vendors don’t have access to/or allow enough working capital to replenish their inventory BEFORE it needs to be replenished.
The average time from depositing the inventory order to actually checking the products at Amazon FBA centers is about 60-70 days if you are traveling by sea. (The most efficient way to move inventory).
So with this in mind, sellers should make their second deposit with their manufacturers as soon as their first shipment lands on Amazon FBA in order to keep inventory stocked, keep selling, and maintain their listing rank.
How to Overcome Cash Flow Problems in Your Amazon Business
There are several options that sellers have to avoid cash flow problems.
- Find products that are cheaper to produce, so spread the newly created funds over two inventory orders.
- Negotiate better payment terms with your manufacturer (Typically, suppliers ask for a 30% deposit, with the following 70% to be paid when the shipment lands)
- Apply for a business loan to get more cash.
- Amazon Credit Loan – Amazon helps sellers finance their startup, which is paid back from the seller’s revenue. To get access to Amazon Lending, you must already be selling on Amazon.
2. Competition
Competition can be fierce when selling on Amazon.
There are over 8 million global sellers on Amazon, which is why it’s important to have a competitive edge over other sellers in the same product category.
Product saturation can sometimes be a problem, especially if you’re selling a product.
How to Deal with the Competition on Amazon
The best way to combat the competition on Amazon is to gain an edge over them by using strategies such as:
- Pricing Strategy – Use Amazon Repricer: tools to stay ahead of the competition. Amazon Repricers automates Amazon repricing to make sure you’re always on top of competing sellers.
- Product Differentiation – Make sure your product stands out from others by providing unique features or benefits.
- Look for early growth trends and get there first.
- Optimizing Product Listings – Make sure all relevant keywords are included in your listings, along with attractive visuals that grab customers’ attention and win clicks.
- Investing in Intellectual Property – Patents and trademarks will help you have exclusive rights to sell products, giving you the potential to make more profit or restrict other sellers from selling your product entirely.
3. Price wars
Amazon sellers can get into price wars, which can hurt profits for everyone involved.
Price wars on Amazon are the result of sellers trying to undercut each other to win sales.
This can lead to the elimination of profits, as price discounting affects the ability of sellers to make a reasonable profit margin.
How to deal with price wars on Amazon
The best way to avoid getting into price wars is to define your pricing strategy with the Amazon Repricer tool.
Repricer: will monitor competitors’ prices and automatically adjust yours to ensure you’re always competitive.
The tool will rise when the competitive environment allows, such as when competitors go out of stock and competition decreases. It also works when your competitors raise their prices.
It’s a great way to stay competitive on price without having to worry about it all the time because the tool works on automation.
4. Get customers to leave reviews
Since the new introduction of the Amazon A10 algorithm, Seller reputation has become one of the most important rating factors, meaning that getting positive reviews is even more important than with the A9.
Basically, the more positive reviews the more verified customers you can get on your product listings, the higher your product listing will be on page 1.
Since 2016, Amazon has made it difficult to contact customers and ask them to leave a positive review, as sellers heavily incentivized and influenced reviews with free product giveaways and other incentives.
How to get more reviews on Amazon
- Send personalized follow-up emails – Use AI automated toolsSimilar to eDesk, send follow-up emails to customers offering support for potential issues, then ask for feedback and provide a link to their product page.
- Product Listings – It is against Amazon’s terms and conditions to directly ask a customer for a 5-star product rating in a product listing. Sellers may still require a review, so create an eye-pleasing insert to be placed inside your product packaging for your customers to find.
- Family and Friends – Family and friends are still allowed the discount code and link to your product. You have no right to ask them for a positive opinion instead, but considering the fact that your loved ones will always support you, a positive opinion is inevitable. (Just don’t let them use the same wifi connection or IP address as yours to leave a review, as Amazon has access to these details and will flag the activity as suspicious.)
5. The list of products is not classified
Ranking products high in search terms is the ultimate goal of every marketer.
However, some sellers struggle to gain any traction with their Amazon organic rankings, and it usually boils down to these common mistakes:
- Poorly written product listing
- Not generating enough sales
- The product is extremely competitive
Here’s how to deal with the 3 mistakes listed above.
Optimize poorly written product listings on Amazon
A poorly written product listing on Amazon is missing relevant keywords in the product title, bullet points, and product description.
It will also have bad images that customers won’t have to click on.
In order for your product listing to be optimized and ranked on Amazon, it must satisfy the Amazon algorithm.
There are 3 main pillars that the Amazon algorithm takes into account when ranking products and they are:
- Click Through Rate (CTR)
- conversion rate
- product reviews.
The best scenario for an Amazon seller to satisfy the Amazon A10 algorithm is:
- A customer actively searches for a seller’s product using a primary, root keyword. (most prominent word(s) for the product).
- The customer buys the product immediately without leaving the product list.
- The customer then leaves a positive review of the product after receiving it.
How do marketers encourage this type of behavior from their customers?
Create high optimized Amazon product listing –
- Make sure the main product keyword is at the very beginning of the product title.
- Include relevant long-tail keywords in the title after the main keyword.
- Make sure the outlets sell the product by emphasizing the benefits of the product.
- Add all other relevant keywords to the product description.
- Use high-quality photos for your product images, with the main product image on a white background, and secondary images should show the product in use.
How to deal with no sales?
When a product first launches on Amazon, it will likely start its journey a few pages back in search terms, meaning customers are unlikely to ever find it.
The best way to generate early sales is to run PPC ads on the Amazon platform. By paying to have your product appear at the top of search terms, your listing will be visible to customers who are looking for it.
These are labeled as “sponsored” ads and look like this:
For this example, I’m searching for the keyword “Garlic Press”.
If I clicked on one of the sponsored listings and bought the product, that product listing would gain a sales rank and probably rank higher for the keyword “garlic press”.
How to deal with a highly competitive product that won’t sell
Unless you’re a seasoned Amazon seller and have well and truly mastered the art of PPC advertising, I’d avoid products in highly competitive categories altogether.
If you have already invested in a product that is competitive and hard to sell, I would recommend:
- Optimizing the product listing as best as possible, and running PPC ads to compete with organic classified listings.
- Don’t invest FBA course to improve your skills and access the best tips.
- Run PPC ads to unload inventory and start over with a less competitive product even if you break even.
- Sharp to lower the price break even
It’s really important to do market research before investing in any product to make sure there is enough demand to sell the number of units you need to meet your income goals. But also determining whether or not the product is too competitive and you will struggle to compete.
Conclusion
While Amazon FBA can be a great way to make money online, it’s important to consider the various issues that can arise and how best to address them.
When faced with problems in any business, you will gain knowledge and experience and over time you will be able to solve such problems more effectively.
Posted by Craig Adam, former construction worker turned multiple 6 figure e-commerce seller. The founder of craig-adam.com writes about e-commerce, Amazon FBA, entrepreneurship and Torfx.