Five Elements of an Effective Amazon Listing

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2 Five Elements of an Effective Amazon Listing Five Elements of an Effective Amazon Listing For many consumers, Amazon is the go-to site when they start searching for products. In fact, nearly 61% of UK shoppers started their Christmas product search on Amazon last year compared with 50% on Google. 1 Shoppers are attracted to Amazon with its instant access to a massive selection of products (last year the company set a record with more than $2 billion items sold across 100 countries). 2 Customers also know that they can get guaranteed fast delivery, great customer service and safe payment options. As a retailer, you want to get a slice of the action, but how can you get noticed in Amazon s vast sea of competitors? The foundation for success on Amazon lies in the quality of your listings, which directly improves product visibility and conversion rates. To help you succeed on Amazon, we ve compiled the five elements of an effective Amazon listing that all retailers should know

3 Five Elements of an Effective Amazon Listing Keep Titles Short and Relevant Buyers are time-pressed and often browsing on mobile devices, so keep your titles short and sweet. Don t try to turn your titles into item descriptions leave that for the actual description. Aim to use 60 characters, but less is more so the shorter the better as long as you include your key search information. Amazon s algorithm uses a match score to promote the most relevant results, so make titles relevant. Try to think of the words your customers use to search for your items and use these keywords in the title in the same order buyers would logically use them. If you need some help, Amazon gives you recommendations about titles within category-specific style guides so you can look up the required format for your category. In general, the preferred order will be brand name, series, model, and then product. When thinking about keywords don t use subjective terms like best, don t make temporary statements (e.g. on sale now ) and don t misspell words on purpose. Do a listings audit regularly to ensure your titles are optimised. Start with your longest titles first. Identify ways to condense them while keeping their impact. You can also use our Data Transformation Engine to ensure your titles are built in the most effective way.

4 Five Elements of an Effective Amazon Listing Organise Your Products and Optimise Descriptions Just like in a traditional brick-and-mortar environment, you need to organise your products logically and strategically so buyers can find them. Amazon allows shoppers to search for groups of similar products using the Amazon browse structure. By selecting from a list of criteria, a shopper can view a list of products that fit their specific criteria. In order for your products to be visible when shoppers use the Amazon browse structure to locate a category or product, you will need to send the appropriate browse information for each product. Amazon allows you to do this through item type keyword values, which specify exactly what your item is. The value that goes into item type is picked from a spreadsheet Amazon provides called a Browse Tree Guide (BTG) and each product type has its own BTG. Make sure you re using the right item type so that your products are catalogued correctly otherwise you won t appear in the search results. Create an Impression with an Inviting Description Your product description is where you can invite browsers in and tempt them into completing their purchase. It takes time to list comprehensive information but it s essential because high-quality product information is the base for improving your discoverability and overall appeal on Amazon.

5 Five Elements of an Effective Amazon Listing A well-written description should address the needs of your target audience by creating a vivid impression of your products in their mind. Use sensory words to enable buyers to connect with your product, e.g. organic or velvety. The description is where you can add additional information and finer details such as shipping, size, weight, etc. You should also mention if the product has any accessories and how it will be packed. Remember to write about the benefits of buying your product rather than just explaining its features tell shoppers why they should want to buy it. Use keywords two to three times on the page but don t overdo it. Use Subheadings and Bullet Points The brain tends to process information in bite-sized chunks, so rather than writing an endless paragraph, use sub headers to break up the content and make it easier to scan quickly. Bullet points are good ways to present features. Amazon testing shows effective bullet points boost sales, so the more you use them the better the listing. Review your top-selling Amazon products and submit detailed bullet point information to optimise online sales. Follow these best practices for bullets: Highlight five stand-out features of your product Stay consistent across products Emphasise important information from the title and description Include important features (e.g. size) Begin bullets with a capital letter Write in fragments and don t end in punctuation Don t put prices in bullets or promotions

6 Five Elements of an Effective Amazon Listing Great Quality Images Are Essential Since your shopper can t hold or feel your products you need to make them come alive with great images. The primary or main image is the one that appears in search results. You re also allowed to use up to eight alternate views to supplement the main picture and you can use props in these to illustrate concepts such as how the product is used. Blurry shots and poor lighting are faux pas when listing on Amazon. You need to ensure images are focused, detailed and free of disallowed imagery such as watermarks or graphics. The picture needs to be an accurate representation of your product and it helps if you can supply a number of images highlighting products from different angles. Each photo should have a minimum pixel setting of 1000 and the background in each picture must be pure white to ensure that viewers can zoom in and see your products in more detail. At ChannelAdvisor we recommend going higher, to at least 1600 pixels. Want to take it a step further? In addition to static pictures, why not try linking to a video demo to highlight the different features of your product?

7 Five Elements of an Effective Amazon Listing Get Your Offer Right Price is one of the top purchase factors for online shoppers, so you need to keep abreast of how your competitors are pricing their products by doing competitor searches on top-selling products. To make your product listings more attractive, provide clear shipping information including delivery times and review shipping options regularly (offer free shipping on orders over a certain value, for instance, or free shipping for cheaper items).

8 Five Elements of an Effective Amazon Listing Pay Attention to Feedback Product review stars appear on your listing and will give the average rating for your product based on Amazon user reviews. Your feedback rating is one of the most important measures for buyers and will make the difference between whether they buy your product or move on. To be competitive you need to build up your feedback score by following Amazon best practices and giving customers the best buying experience possible. Always respond to queries promptly and alert buyers if you know there s going to be a problem (e.g. when delivery may take a little longer around holiday periods). Great feedback will help you win the Buy Box the Holy Grail for Amazon sellers but just one negative feedback score could take you further away from this prime objective. If sellers do leave negative feedback, try to work with them to resolve their overall shopping experience and troubleshoot issues or problems they experienced. Then, ask them if they will consider removing the feedback. Buyers have 60 days to remove their feedback. Is Amazon Already Suppressing Your Listings? Amazon will suppress listings if they don t meet the right standards. You must check regularly to review suppressed listings and address missing data. Ensure you ve classified your products with specific and relevant item type keywords, too. Act like a buyer browse for your products on Amazon to find attributes that are missing. Use the Amazon Selling Coach to help you identify suppressed listings and rectify any issues.

9 Five Elements of an Effective Amazon Listing EXTRA TIP Consider Using Amazon FBA Most retailers know about Fulfilment by Amazon, which helps you increase your online sales in the UK and internationally by giving you access to Amazon s world-class logistics resources; fast, free delivery options for your products; and trusted and acclaimed customer service in local language. FBA also gives you access to the nearly 50 million Amazon Prime members, who spend on average more than double the amount on Amazon per year as non-prime shoppers. 3 It s worth testing this programme, even just on your top-sellers, to see the results. FBA represents 40% of total worldwide Amazon marketplace units, and seven of the top 10 most successful UK marketplace sellers use FBA 4 so it s worth a try!

10 Five Elements of an Effective Amazon Listing What s Next? If you re interested in learning more about ChannelAdvisor, our integration with Amazon and how we can help you grow your business on global marketplaces, please contact us for more information at ukteam@channeladvisor.com. And for the latest e-commerce news and updates delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter, ECOMmunicator. Trust us. Be Seen. To learn more: Call US AU DE +49 (0) FR Visit ukteam@channeladvisor.com The global standard for e-commerce leaders. Copyright 2015 ChannelAdvisor Corporation. All rights reserved.