Post 2020 pandemic, buying patterns and customer expectations have changed.

After lockdown, consumers are now used to the ease of buying online, especially on Amazon,  making it even more important to stay ahead of the competition. With an increased amount of people working from home, Christmas shoppers are already on the ball, so this is the time to capture these crucial sales.

Don’t focus all your efforts on “Black Friday”

Many brands become overwhelmed with the Black Friday concept and focus all resources and efforts on one day. Amazon brands are using the whole week to capitalise on consumer buying behaviour so kick start your strategy now and keep it in place until at least a day or two after Cyber Monday to take advantage of the halo effect as we move into December. That being said, don’t overspend! Monitor your budgets closely and reduce where necessary.

Monitor your inventory

Don’t get caught up in the rush to sell sell sell and forget to check the basics such as ensuring you have enough inventory in stock to support the sales you are aiming to achieve so you don’t oversell. You must also ensure your inventory reflects your ad strategy, you don’t want wasted spend on out of stock products!

Get promotions in check

If you haven’t got a lightning deal set up already, you can make use of the several promos Amazon offers as well as run your own deals such as buy one get one free. Haven’t offered free shipping before? Why not use this as a strategy to stand out against your competitors. Also, don’t forget to increase bids or push budgets for products within your ad campaigns and push up-sell & cross-sell sales.

Create, structure & optimise Amazon Ad strategy

Focus your ad strategy on the few days surrounding the weekend to maximise profit. Ensure maximum conversions by optimising your ad campaigns regularly and increase bids on top-performing keywords. Don’t run out of budget during the busy periods and when increasing your ad budgets don’t just add significant budgets into your ads at the start of the weekend.

Try to encourage even spend: set an account-level budget, so you don’t overspend, then monitor & increase budgets regularly throughout the day. It’s key to reduce ad spend after the weekend too so that you don’t waste money and overspend post Black Friday & Cyber Monday. It’s about finding the right balance so you don’t lose the post-weekend purchasing buzz.  

Give your content a polish 

Obviously, the overall purpose of optimising your Amazon content on product listings is to be in line with the algorithm, however, we are constantly reminding brands that the other purpose of Amazon content is building consumer trust. If you put yourself in the shoes of a buyer and you are debating over two sellers, one has informative and engaging images, bullet points, A+ content and a store all reflecting the brand’s identity, over a brand with a few points and one main image, which brand would you choose? It’s a no brainer right?

It’s also crucial to make sure everything is in line with Amazon’s guidelines, for example, all main images are on a white background as you don’t want any listings suppressed over this period. We’re not suggesting you try to create an Amazon store or multiple A+ content if you don’t have it already, however you can ensure all Amazon product listings include relevant search terms, have fresh imagery and copy as well as updating any current A+ content and store design to help maintain shoppers’ attention and entice them to continue making purchases over the course of the holiday shopping season.

If you haven’t had the time to create an in-depth strategy for this year’s Black Friday & Cyber Monday, don’t panic! By leveraging these tips and tricks you will be able to achieve increased sales and revenue during the most critical sales days of the year!

Get in touch with us if you have any questions and we’ll be happy to help!