Summer is almost here, which means July is just around the corner.
Aside from the Fourth of July and all the other reasons to be excited about summer, there’s another fun summer holiday that’s a cause for celebration: Amazon Prime Day.
Though no one yet knows for sure when it will occur – most experts think July 15th – Prime members all around the country will be ready. That’s because, once Prime Day rolls around, they’ll enjoy once-a-year deals akin to what most retailers offer on Black Friday. If last year’s Prime Day is anything to go by, those deals will be available for 36 hours, too.
That was long enough for sellers to offload more than 100 million products.
This isn’t just a big day for shoppers, either.
If your company isn’t also gearing up for Amazon Prime Day, you have less than two months to get going.
3 Reasons Your Company Needs an Amazon Prime Presence
If your company is like most, you already have a number of priorities that demand constant attention.
So, why make room for Amazon Prime Day on your list of things to do?
Here are three reasons.
1. Millions of Americans Are Already Amazon Prime Members
No matter what market you’re serving, there’s a good chance that a large percentage of your potential customers – maybe even the majority – have Amazon Prime memberships.
Currently, 51.3% of American households enjoy Amazon Prime memberships. That, despite the fact that the price went up to $119 back in May of 2018 from its original $79 in 2014 and then $99.
That’s more than 100 million members across the United States. If you’re not serving this marketplace, your competitors probably don’t miss you. Trying to beat them when they can offer two-day shipping is a losing battle.
2. Amazon Prime Has Changed Customer Expectations for Good
The reason it’s futile to fight competitors that serve Amazon Prime customers is because the promotion has changed commerce – not just e-commerce – in the U.S. for good. Because of the “Amazon Effect” even brick-and-mortar businesses have had to get creative to lure shoppers from their homes and into their stores.
One of the many challenges involved is making sure their inventories always have exactly what customers want. Otherwise, as they’re most likely Prime members, they’ll simply order it – perhaps at an even better price – and just wait two days for the products they wanted.
This goes double for online retailers. Brick-and-mortar businesses can still fend off the Amazon Effect because, as long as the price is right, some customers will still pay them a visit to make their purchases.
For a strictly online company, the question is simple: why would any customer wait more than two days for their new products to arrive when Prime makes that unnecessary?
Furthermore, if that wasn’t already enough, one-day shipping is on the horizon for Amazon Prime members.
3. Amazon Prime Members Spend More
Finally, accommodating Amazon-Prime shoppers isn’t just about taking advantage of Amazon Prime Day.
Instead, offering your products to these customers should result in an increase in sales that lasts throughout the rest of the year, too. That’s because Amazon Prime shoppers spend an average of $1,400 a year, whereas nonmembers only spend $600.
How to Prepare for Amazon Prime Day 2019
Not surprisingly, the 2018 Amazon Prime Day saw the most signups for the service than any other day in the company’s history.
So, while signing up to sell with Prime comes with all the aforementioned benefits, most companies would also be happy with their decision based on this one “holiday” alone.
However, this also means you need to do some planning to make the most of it.
1. Make Sure Your Inventory Is Ready for Record Numbers
Given the incredible amount of sales that happen during Prime Day, you’ll want to make sure your inventory is ready.
Remember: many people become Prime members – joining more than 100 million – just to make purchases on this big day. If you’ve never participated, you’ve probably never seen sales like this before. Better to have some inventory left over at the end of Prime Day than miss out on record numbers.
It’s not just Amazon, either. Increase your inventory for every channel you use because Prime Day causes a halo effect that often increases sales on other platforms, as well.
2. Get Your Coupons Ready
One of the easiest ways to stand out come Prime Day will be to offer potential customers coupons to enjoy lowered prices on select products. After all, this is a national holiday for shoppers who absolutely love bargains.
Aside from the drop in price, coupons are also great for visibility because they add the eye-catching orange “Coupon” tag to your products. These are especially helpful for Sponsored Products ads, which are already in a great position to pull more attention from shoppers.
Better still, Amazon offers a number of other ways for these savvy-shoppers to find your products once you tag them with coupons. Here are all the different places your couponed-products will show up with their discounted Prime-Day prices:
- Amazon Coupons page
- Brand store
- Offer Listing page
- Product pages
- Search results
- Shopping carts
- Sponsored Products ads
Keep in mind that your coupons are only going to be good for two days, so you need to time it perfectly. Set yourself a reminder starting on July 1st to continue checking for the beginning of Prime Day and to immediately activate your coupons.
3. Invest in Amazon Ads
Another simple way to find more shoppers on Prime Day is to either invest in Amazon ads or increase your investment leading up to the big day. Really get aggressive with your bidding because you can rest assured your competitors will.
Then, use dynamic bidding by choosing “up and down”, so Amazon will automatically increase your default bid whenever a click is most likely to mean a conversion.
You’ll also want to bid higher for placement at the “Top of Search.” That will gain you more impressions on your ads, which will allow you to bid lower for other ad placements.
Your Amazon ranking will never matter more than on Prime Day.
That’s because the more conversions you earn from just one sale will most likely go on to affect your future rankings. So, put your best foot forward on Prime Day, and you should see increased sales for weeks or even months to come.
Even after you set your bids, you need to keep an eye on your account come the big day. Because of the increased traffic, your otherwise well-planned campaign could run out of money long before the day is over.
4. Prioritize Your Most Popular Products
Prime Day may seem like a great time to finally move some of that stubborn inventory that just doesn’t seem to ever leave your shelves no matter what you do.
This is a mistake.
Instead, prioritize those products that already sell extremely well. They’re already going to see increased exposure on Prime Day, meaning you’ll have a great chance at record sales if you continue optimizing and promoting them.
With your less-impressively-performing products, you’re facing an uphill climb. Instead of spending money to level the odds on those products, spend it on your popular items to put the odds in your favor.
5. Work for Those Top Spots Now
If you’ve put off optimizing your listings in the past, now’s the time to take care of that. Consider investing in a keyword tool to secure those valuable top spots and check what’s working well for anyone ranking above you.
So, take the time to optimize your product pages, as well. Check each of your item’s titles, descriptions, bullets, and images.
Are they all up-to-date?
Is there room for improvement?
Do you have negative reviews that are hurting your conversions? See if you can’t have them removed or amended ASAP.
You still have time to make these kinds of profitable changes before Prime Day arrives.
Remember, though: your best-performing products deserve the most attention. You have the whole rest of the year to go back and fix whatever might keeping your “shelf-warmers” stuck in your warehouses. On this one day, the goal is to set records with your best products.
6. Take Full Advantage as a Vendor or Seller
If you’re a vendor or seller with a registered brand on Amazon, you have even more options for skyrocketing sales on Prime Day.
Aside from Amazon Brand Stores, you can leverage engaging visual content through A+ Content if you’re a vendor or Enhanced Brand Content if you’re a seller.
If you have Brand Registry, then you can utilize Sponsored Brands to corral customers to your brand-specific pages. This works best when you design specific landing pages for Prime Day and then tailor your store to show off which specials you’re running during this once-a-year shopping spree.
Don’t Wait Another Year to Take Advantage of Prime Day
Between record sales and the ripple effect they’ll have on your rankings, there is absolutely no reason to overlook the massive opportunity represented by Amazon Prime Day.
There’s still time to prepare, but you need to get started now. Once Prime Day starts, your preparation will either pay off or your lack thereof will cost you until next year.
