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Hello Amazon Seller,
Happy Halloween!
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This email may contain affiliate links which means we may earn referral fees if you make a purchase through our links, without any additional cost to you.
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Toymaker Mattel says price rise has not hit demand
Higher prices in the run-up to Christmas have not dulled people's appetites for toys, Barbie maker Mattel has said.
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The toy giant raised prices after soaring shipping and raw materials costs.
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The toymaker said its third-quarter sales grew 8% to $1.8bn, and that it expected a strong Christmas.
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Mattel is working hard to get toys on shelves amid supply disruptions, chief executive Ynon Kreiz told the BBC.
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Businesses around the world have been dealing with big increases in shipping costs as Covid disrupts ports and containers back up. "We were impacted by global supply chain disruptions [in the third quarter]," he said. "But we worked through them."
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The rising cost of resin for Mattel's plastic toys also meant price rises for consumers, Mr. Kreiz said, although he declined to say how much Mattel toys had gone up by.
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Amazon badly misses on earnings and revenue, gives disappointing fourth-quarter guidance
Amazon shares dropped more than 4% in extended trading on Thursday after the company reported weaker-than-expected results for the third quarter and delivered disappointing guidance for the critical holiday period.
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Earnings: $6.12 vs $8.92 per share expected, according to analysts surveyed by Refinitiv
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Revenue: $110.81 billion vs $111.6 billion expected, according to analysts surveyed by Refinitiv
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Amazon is reckoning with decelerating sales growth as consumers go back to physical stores and the company faces supply chain challenges. Revenue in the third quarter rose 15%, down from 37% growth in the same period a year ago.
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Highlights from Amazon’s biggest online conference, Amazon Accelerate 2021
Ecomcrew has done an amazing job of reporting on everything that came out of Amazon Accelerate conference a week or so ago. In the online event, Amazon announced a range of new tools, programs, and services to help brands build relationships with customers and increase their sales and profitability. Ecomcrew highlights everything so well and in an entertaining fashion.
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Important Date Change!
In a previous announcement, Amazon said to make sure that your inventory arrives at fulfillment centers by December 11 for Christmas. They have updated this date to December 2 to help better ensure that you have enough stock available for your most popular products.
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Sidenote: If you're in a highly seasonal industry like toys then I feel for you. Sending in 1000s of units in November to meet the December 2nd deadline with very little sales data to work from is fraught with risk. My immediate advice is to consider a backup FBM solution.
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Boost Your Amazon Rankings In Less Than 7-Days!
Why go live with your Amazon product without setting it up to exceed expectations? If you’re launching a product or are not seeing results on a live product, then this 7-day challenge will give you techniques that are guaranteed to invigorate any listing.
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Follow along as you learn how to:
• Find the best keywords for your product
• Optimize your listing copy
• Setup a winning PPC campaign
• Optimize for maximum reviews
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Sourcing from China for Amazon – A Go-To Manual for FBA Sellers
Check out this blog to help you source high-quality products at competitive rates. You’ll get a comprehensive A-Z manual about how to source products from China for Amazon.
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Sidenote: Go ahead and take a look at this blog post. It really has a lot of great information and not just for China.
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FedEx plans to raise rates the most in a decade
FedEx plans to raise its delivery rates in 2022 by the most in at least a decade as the courier shoulders rising costs in what it called a “challenging operating environment.”
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The average cost of package delivery will rise 5.9% at both the Express and Ground units beginning on Jan. 3, FedEx said in a statement. Rate increases in the freight business range from 5.9% to 7.9%, depending on the delivery zone, the company said. A fuel surcharge at all three units will kick in on Nov. 1.
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“These changes reflect incremental costs associated with the challenging operating environment while enabling FedEx to continue investing in service enhancement, fleet maintenance, technology innovations, and other areas to serve customers more effectively and efficiently,” FedEx said.
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Black Friday - Cyber Monday Dates
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Black Friday will be on Nov. 26.
Cyber Monday will be on Nov. 29
For as long as I can remember, Amazon’s Black Friday sale has always been a week-long event and this year is expected to be no different! Be on the lookout for the sale to kick off on the Friday before Thanksgiving and end on Black Friday itself, or while in-stock supplies last. Amazon typically puts out a press release a few days before the event (if they follow the same sales schedule then the press release will come on or around Monday, November 15, 2021).
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Estimated BF sale start date: Friday, November 19, 2021. That’s a full week before Black Friday.
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Estimated BF sale end date: The end of day on Black Friday, November 26, 2021, or while in-stock supplies last.
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Note: these dates are still preliminary estimates based on last year’s sales schedule.
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Cyber Monday is expected to go from November 29 through Dec. 5.
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Sidenote: Who are we kidding? Amazon has had a deal page up since October 4th.
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Here is a link to an excellent article from SellerEngine about all of this.
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Podcast: Top Facebook Marketing Strategies For Amazon Sellers
Join Bradley and another Freedom Ticket 3.0 instructor, Manuel Suarez, as they talk about unemployment in the economic meltdown in 2008, getting into eCommerce, and now leading one of the biggest social media marketing agencies.
Plus some very juicy strategies on how to do marketing for your brand – whether it would be on Facebook, your own website, or on other platforms.
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In episode 290 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Bradley and Manuel discuss:
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- 2:00 – How Manuel Got Started On Amazon
- 5:00 – The Many Opportunities Online Involving Content
- 8:00 – Scaling His E-commerce Business By 300%
- 10:00 – Creating Content That Connects To Your Target Market
- 17:00 – Adjusting Your Marketing Efforts To Fit Your Target Customers
- 19:00 – What’s The First Platform Outside Amazon That You Should Build On?
- 26:00 – The Advantages Of Having Your Own Website For Your Product
- 29:00 – Focus On Lead Generation!
- 32:30 – Check out Manuel’s Freedom Ticket 3.0 Module
- 35:30 – How To Contact Manuel
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How to Handle Amazon A-to-A Guarantee Claims
The Amazon A-to-z Guarantee ensures a consistent experience for Amazon shoppers, whether their order is fulfilled by Amazon or a selling partner. In essence, it protects Amazon shoppers when they buy items that are sold and fulfilled by a third-party seller. If a buyer is not satisfied with the delivery time or the condition of an item you sell, they can contact Amazon to report the issue.
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But it can get complicated and there are rules to follow. Below is an excellent link to an article from EComEngine that sheds light on this issue and how to handle claims.
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Understanding Amazon SAFE-T Claim Policies
Amazon recognizes that sometimes a refund is provided in error and the seller shouldn’t be stuck with that cost. When that happens, you can open a SAFE-T (Seller Assurance for eCommerce Transactions) claim. Keep reading to learn more about what an Amazon SAFE-T claim is and what happens when you file one.
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For Amazon sellers looking to make the most of the holiday season, seeding demand beyond the Amazon search page is critical.
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In this webinar, Amazon joins Teikametrics to discuss why a full-funnel approach to your Amazon advertising matters, how to measure success and make necessary adjustments, along with post-holiday plans to get the most from your efforts long-term.
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- Detailing different advertising options for sellers and how to match them with your Q4 goals
- Highlighting how different advertising types can be used together to move consumers toward a purchase decision during the holidays
- Underscoring tactical and strategic best practices to performance measurement
- Illustrating examples of sellers who have used a full-funnel approach in past high-traffic periods, and what others can learn
If you want to get the biggest returns on Amazon in Q4, this webinar is a must. Hope you can make it!
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Tuesday, November 2 from 1-2 pm ET
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Amazon SEO Guide: How To Rank At The Top Of Search Results
You might already associate SEO with blogs or websites, but it’s just as important for eCommerce platforms. Optimizing your listings for search engines is an effective way to get people from Google to your Amazon store.
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Amazon has its own algorithms, just like internet search engines. So SEO is also a great way to get users from the Amazon search bar to your Amazon store.
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You can impact how you rank in Amazon search results in two key ways:
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- the way you list your items, and;
- the way you operate as a seller on the platform.
Within these areas are multiple steps, tips, and tricks to ensure you give yourself the best chance of visibility without having to shell out the dollars.
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Kevin King is one of the most successful Amazon sellers and trainers on the planet. This webinar will cover the following:
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- Next-generation keyword strategies. Expose problematic keywords that may be keeping your listing from a page 1 result on Amazon.
- Find your next product faster than ever before. Discover your next winning product using this private tool, exclusively available to fewer than 1,000 Amazon sellers. You can buy it, but we’ll show you how to use it for FREE!
- Brand protection 2.0. The top 6 things you MUST have in your listing to effectively prevent 90% of malicious hacker attempts and protect your brand.
- Advanced money-making tips. Did you know “subject matter” is one of the most powerful backend fields for ranking? Learn how this virtually unused field can help you make some extra $$$.
- Indexing hacks to try right now. How to get around using forbidden keywords that have high search volume and high conversion rates.
- PLUS more groundbreaking, never-before-revealed strategies all geared to help you outrank, outpace and outsell the competition
November 4 - 11 AM PST
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Extended Holiday Returns Policy
The Amazon Extended Holiday Returns Policy for 2021 requires that most of the items purchased between October 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021, be eligible for return through January 31, 2022. We will automatically authorize returns on your behalf to reflect the Extended Holiday Returns Policy.
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This link takes you to a page with the return rules for various kinds of products.
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Tidbits:
- Last Friday many Sellers reported sharp decreases in their storage limits after weeks of steady increases.
- This week, the e-commerce software and data firm Assembly bought the advertising and sales platform Pacvue in a nine-figure deal. That comes shortly after Assembly bought Helium10, another prominent software tool in the Amazon space in 2019. Assembly now has a valuation above a billion dollars, and it recently told Business Insider it is looking to acquire more eCommerce services firms.
- Internal problems with Amazon’s HR system have led many workers to be accidentally fired or consistently underpaid, a sign of the growing pains associated with Amazon’s hiring spree.
- Many of the previously suspended Amazon sellers are making their new home with Walmart and leveraging the retail giant’s fulfillment services as well.
- With a new Google update comes a spookily clever machine learning model that can recognize products in an image and make them shoppable. Searchers will be able to shop image results more easily, and even check stock with online businesses.
- More than 100K brands have started selling in Amazon’s U.S. store so far this year, with sales by brands up 60% year over year.
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Teikametrics Flywheel ensures every advertising dollar spent on Sponsored Products goes to what matters most, which is growing your business and increasing profits. They combine sales, advertising, inventory, and pricing data that allows sellers to understand the metrics that matter most to their business.
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This includes a powerful metric Teikametrics created, Total Advertising Cost of Sale (TACoS) which shows the relationship between ad spend and the impact on organic sales.
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Sellers can view profitability metrics on a per-product basis enabling them to use this data to optimize their advertising. You can maximize profits by leveraging machine learning technology to ensure you are bidding optimally across all of your keywords while identifying negative keywords that will prevent wasted spend.
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Let their algorithms make the perfect bid for your keywords. Identify high performers and transfer them from your automatic campaigns to manual campaigns. Get reports on the key performance metrics that matter most.
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Deals we know about....
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NOTE: Above offers are subject to change.
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Thank you for reading. I wish you unbelievable success. Selling on Amazon can be challenging sometimes, however, goals can be achieved by working hard and not giving up.
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Any suggestions about our site or this newsletter are welcome. Just hit reply and let us know your thoughts.
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Keep sourcing, keep selling, keep learning, keep growing.
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You can do this!
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Visit our website for all sorts of Amazon resources:
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And more.....
Happy Selling on Amazon. Let's go Brandon!
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Making Sense Of Selling On Amazon
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