JULY 2017CIOAPPLICATIONS.COM8LEO CASTRO, VP, PRODUCT MARKETING AND BRAND, BIGCOMMERCESELLING ON AMAZON WITHOUT THE GROWING PAINS ith more than 200 million active shoppers and over $100 billion in gross sales during in 2016, Amazon is by far the world's largest marketplace. In fact, according to BloomReach, in the U.S. 55 percent of all online product searches begin on Amazon, representing a huge opportunity for retailers looking to broaden their product visibility. For small businesses that have yet to begin selling on Amazon, often there is a reticence to begin selling in the marketplace due to the added burden of managing Amazon listings and orders. I get it. Meeting Amazon's high customer IN MYviewWservice standards and dealing with additional inventory can be taxing for small business owners, many of whom already feel as though they are being pulled in a hundred different directions. Keeping track of inventory and resolving shipping problems across multiple channels takes a lot of time to get right. So how do you capitalize on the world's largest marketplace without adding operational costs? It all comes down to strategy. Here are three tips on growing your business on Amazon without compromising: 1. Know YourMarketplaceSelling on Amazon is not like selling on your own website. Competition is much higher and sellers tend to win on price. Despite the tighter margins, competitive pricing can lead to greater sales volume, ultimately resulting in a higher ROI overall. Understanding differences between retail channels, and approaching each in a way that is best suited for its users, is key to succeeding on Amazon. Sellers also should not feel obligated to sell every product through every channel. The beauty of multichannel selling is that each channel can be tailored with a product offering that makes sense for that particular audience. For example, retailers may choose to sell high margin goods on Amazon, trading exposure for net profit while keeping lower margin inventory for their branded storefront.Retailers must also learn how to cope with ceding control over their own brand, marketing and promotions, all of which are limited when selling through another channel that you do not fully control. In some highly-competitive product categories, your unique branding and positioning may not be as apparent in a marketplace where the lowest price typically wins. If you have a unique, hard-to-find product, you might find those are best reserved for your own site. However, there may be other products in your catalog that are suited for Amazon's immense scale that will allow you to pull in new customers, then encourage repeat purchases through your product branding and customer service. Knowing how to best leverage the strengths of both Amazon and your own storefront will help you form the best strategies, and achieve maximum ROI, for each.2. Simplify InventoryManagementOr rather, find a reliable ecommerce platform or technology that can help you manage inventory at scale.Leo Castro
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