4 Ways Your Brand Can Motivate Amazon Shoppers to Click 'Add to Cart'

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 45 percent of brands didn’t sell their products on Amazon.com. But if the e-commerce giant’s expected second quarter net sales are any indicator, the tide is turning.

Amazon’s net sales are projected to increase by 7 percent from Q1 to Q2 this year, an indicator that many brands have flocked to the marketplace to continue doing business remotely while working under stay-at-home orders. Additionally, brands that were previously hesitant to sell their products on Amazon jumped on board and made the site a focal point of their business.

Although many states are allowing retailers to reopen, shoppers won’t return to brick-and-mortar stores overnight. Many consumers are still rightfully concerned about public health, while others have grown accustomed to the conveniences of online shopping. This consumer shift has made digital growth vital for all brands to succeed moving forward, including those that were averse to selling on Amazon before the pandemic.

Here are four ways you can differentiate your brand from competitors on Amazon and other online marketplaces in today’s e-commerce environment:

1. Leverage software for growth. If you aren’t using software to drive your online growth, you will lose to competitors that do. Digital-first companies are 64 percent more likely to achieve their business goals than their peers. Today’s marketplace offers a wide range of sales and marketing technology products (more than 8,000, in fact) that can help your brand improve important online business functions. Evaluate potential areas of improvement, including inventory management, marketing automation and cost recovery.
2. Optimize your brand representation. If you work with multiple online sellers, pay close attention to how each one represents your brand. Negative practices like pricing wars, brand placement next to inappropriate content or ads, and the presence of counterfeit products are indicators of a poor partnership. Make sure to research each online seller, read reviews, and source brand testimonials to properly gauge its reputation. The online marketplace your brand is selling on is akin to your in-store display case — each product should be carefully vetted and aesthetically presented.
3. Watch for knockoff products and cheap competitors. The way products are presented to buyers on Amazon and other online marketplaces, such as Walmart and Google, changes daily. Competitors have a hand in these changes — they constantly monitor online trends, including your sales and popularity on online marketplaces, and react accordingly. Therefore, if your product sells well on Amazon, it's highly likely that lower-priced and lower-quality products from competitors will start appearing next to your listing. Ensure your product attracts buyers by making your listing look polished and professional. To stand out, invest in professional photography for your online marketplace listings and consider adding video content, if possible. Additionally, write your product description and bullet points to be search engine optimized, intelligible and compelling to buyers. Investing in your listing will separate your product from lower-grade competitors, no matter how many enter your market.
4. Consult experts. Selling in today’s online marketplace is an ever-evolving challenge that can be difficult for your in-house staff to keep up with. Instead of pushing your team to stay on top of every single online growth tactic, consider working with a partner for additional expertise. Many agencies and consultants literally have hundreds of experts in their organization exclusively dedicated to online growth strategies, and can help you craft an appropriate plan for your brand. Ideally, you’ll want to identify a partner that can seamlessly provide all services under one roof.

With so many brands competing for Amazon sales, the online marketplace can seem intimidating. Rather than fixate on your competitors, spend time focusing on what you can control to accelerate online growth and differentiate your brand from the competition.

Kunal Chopra is the CEO at etailz, online marketplace experts that drive brands' success and rapid revenue growth on Amazon.com, eBay, Walmart, and beyond.