In the last few years, the number of Amazon listings has exploded, but many of them look nearly identical. If the only difference between two listings is their obscure (or even unpronounceable) brand names, why should a shopper pick one over the other?
Shoppers will look at price, of course, but they also want to know which of the products is actually higher quality or better suited to their needs. You believe your product is actually superior to your Amazon competition, but how do you let shoppers know that they choose you?
Here are four great ways to stand out from your competitors on Amazon and attract potential.
Get Great Reviews to Beat the Amazon Competition
Easier said than done, right? However, reviews are important as the majority of potential customers look at them when deciding on a purchase because the experience of other buyers is the best predictor of their own experience. Plus, a high average star rating helps products rank higher in search results.
To get great reviews, you’ll have to start by having a genuinely great product. Then, you’ll also need to create a visually appealing product detail page and ask for reviews proactively after each sale.
Every detail on your product detail pages matters, from a product title and relevant keywords to the quality of the content you add to a product listing.
Contrary to many sellers’ beliefs, Amazon allows this! The Communication Guidelines state that “proactive permitted messages” include a single request for a product review and/or seller feedback. Plus, Amazon provides a “Request a Review” button on the Order Details page as well.
After each order is delivered and buyers have had a few days to try the product (Amazon requires 5-30 days), use the Request a Review button in Seller Central to send a message template that Amazon creates themselves, or send a neutral, polite message of your own through Buyer-Seller Messaging.
The software can help you automate either one so that you don’t have to sift through orders to see when they were delivered or risk missing some of them.
What if your requests result in a negative review? Many Amazon sellers fear this outcome might affect their best seller rank, but the truth is that unhappy buyers are more likely to speak up anyway, even if your store offers great customer experience, while happy buyers are more likely to forget all about leaving a review until they’re reminded.
Plus, there are things you can do to address negative reviews when they do happen. If you are a part of the Amazon Brand Registry, you can respond to reviewers with a templated message offering either a refund or replacement.
Keep an eye on your reviews, or better yet, use a software tool that alerts you right away to any negative reviews and responds to them immediately for the best chance of turning the unhappy buyer into a happy one.
Keep your Amazon Listing in the Buy Box
Again, you might feel as if you have little control here. Amazon keeps the Buy Box (or Featured Offer) algorithm top secret to discourage third party sellers from gaming the system too much. But, it is well known that having a great price and fast, consistent shipping and handling times go a long way toward great search engine performance and making your offer the Buy Box winner.
Find a tool that tracks Buy Box wins, losses, and suppression for all your SKUs and provides a report you can check regularly to secure a top spot in Amazon’s search results. If a certain SKU is losing the Buy Box most of the time, consider adjusting your offer and experimenting until it starts winning more.
It’s also good if your software can send alerts in real time when a loss or suppression happens so you can assess and take action right away to avoid missing more sales.
Focus on Creating High-Quality Product Listings
Of course, when shoppers are looking at that overwhelming search results page, your listing needs to stand out visually.
Aside from an informative product description, you must also have several professional-grade product images showing the item clearly and its key features, as well as making it look appealing to the eye.
Now is not the time to skimp: blurriness, poor editing, or images that have too obviously been generated by AI won’t be very appealing to shoppers, and they might scroll past your listing without even clicking despite the product’s competitive pricing. Investing in top-notch photography for each Amazon detail page you create, and preferably a short video, increases the chances that shoppers will choose yours over your competitor’s product.
Also, make the product descriptions as informative and helpful as possible. Your product titles, descriptions, and bullet points should all work together to tell shoppers exactly what this product is, whom it’s for, and what features and benefits it provides so they feel confident clicking “Add to cart.” Focus on listing optimization but avoid keyword stuffing at all costs because repeating keywords too often can do more harm than good.
Do some competitor research. Look at the Customer Questions section on your competitors’ product detail pages to find out what shoppers usually ask, for instance, the dimensions of the item or whether it’s compatible with certain other products. Then, make sure the answers to those questions are already included in your listing. The more hurdles you can remove, the faster the buyer will choose your product.
Of course, follow all Amazon policies in your listing content to avoid getting search suppressed or deactivated, or any other issues. Amazon’s policies change often, for example, the platform recently released new bullet point guidelines and warned that AI will be removing or editing non-compliant bullet points. Stay up to date and follow the rules to keep ahead of Amazon’s bots.
Lastly, you should monitor your listings so you know right away if the platform or another Amazon seller has made any edits or taken action against your listing. Software like SellerPulse by eComEngine can alert you when these things happen and provide recommended actions to help you resolve issues.
Provide Awesome Customer Service to Set Yourself Apart from Other Third-Party Sellers
You already know that a good price and fast shipping are essential to winning the Buy Box. This makes customers happy, too! In addition, a generous return policy and prompt resolution of all issues help a lot. Over time, happy customers result in positive seller feedback and product reviews and a low order defect rate (ODR), which Amazon sees and uses to make your listing more prominent in the search results.
As mentioned above, you can also demonstrate great customer service by responding to negative reviews if you have a Brand Registry account. Similarly, if you get negative seller feedback (whether you’re brand registered or not), you can follow up immediately via Buyer-Seller Messaging to try to resolve the issue.
Lastly, analyze your returns, especially the return reasons and comments from buyers. This will help you improve your product and service going forward, avoid more unpleasant customer experiences, and keep your business more profitable.
Personal, Yet Automated
Amazon can feel a bit impersonal these days. Excellent customer service, genuine positive reviews, and human-created listing content can help your product stand out from the sea of identical private-label Amazon listings.
Plus, analyzing things like Buy Box shares and returns can help you maximize your profits and stay successful for the long term.
So, what’s your next step? SellerPulse provides robust reporting on Buy Box, returns, and more, plus alerts for listing events such as content changes, search suppression, and deactivation.
You can also start requesting product reviews and seller feedback using personalized yet automated messages with FeedbackFive. These tools provide timely alerts and easy-to-use reports at a price that won’t eat up the extra profits you’ll reap from using the tools. Check out eComEngine to learn more!
About the Author:
Rachel Hoover Canto is a freelance writer who helps Amazon sellers connect with their customers and manage their seller reputations.
