Top 9 Tips for Winning Amazon Prime Day 2017

Since Amazon Prime Day was first held two years ago, the event has come to rival Black Friday in terms of offering consumers unbeatable deals. Of course, this means that you, as an Amazon entrepreneur, have the opportunity to make unbeatable profits!

This year, Prime Day will be held on Tuesday, July 11. Last year, customers ordered 34.4 million items, or 398 items per second. Similar or better results are expected this year, with one notable change — this year, it’s set to be a 30-hour affair rather than a 24-hour one. There is also a strong likelihood, according to suggestions by Amazon, that there will be great Prime deals the entire week.

While all occasions and special days tend to naturally result in bigger profit boosts, there are steps you can take to ensure you squeeze the most out of them. And Prime Day, as an Amazon-centric event, is certainly no exception.

And before you start thinking that Prime Day is just a way for Amazon to clear its inventory and spike its own sales, keep this in mind: 50% of ordered products on that day are from third-party sellers.

So be sure to implement best practices to maximize your sales this July.

1. Become Prime-Eligible

Obviously, your products need to be eligible for Prime to take advantage of Prime Day. There are two ways of going about this. The first is by using FBA — getting your products fulfilled by Amazon is the most popular way of reaching Prime customers.

For sellers who want to continue fulfilling orders themselves but also want in on Prime benefits, you can have your cake and eat it too with Seller-Fulfilled Prime (SFP). The catch is that you have to maintain strict seller performance requirements, provide one- and two-day shipping, and use the Amazon Buy Shipping API.

Here are the metrics you need to be part of SFP:

• Have a cancellation rate of no more than 1%
• Use Buy Shipping Services for at least 95% of Prime trial orders
• Ship the order on time 99% of the time

If you want to have SFP in time for Prime Day, check your eligibility and start your trial now — the process can take anywhere from five to 90 days to complete.

2. Submit a Lightning Deal

But first, you need to get handpicked by Amazon. Unfortunately, there is currently no way to apply to participate in Lightning Deals— you’ll get an email if you’ve been selected. If you have been, Amazon will let you know which of your products are eligible. Just moderate your expectations — many sellers still don’t get their deal approved, even after being invited. You can increase your chances of getting a Lightning Deal accepted by creating an exciting, Prime-only deal with 3-star ratings or higher (the product rating must remain high throughout July). It also helps to have a deal that’s in a high-demand category, such as electronics. If you do, it’s better to err on the side of over-stocking inventory.

If your deal does get accepted, you’ll need to have a minimum of $5,000 worth of inventory. You’ll also need to ship your Lightning Deal no later than late June, so make sure you and your manufacturer are aligned on timing.

3. Create an Amazon Prime Day Promotion

Can’t participate in the Lightning Deals event? Don’t worry, you can still capitalize on Prime Day by running your own promotions. The first step is to set up a promotion on Seller Central. Discounting is one way to incentivize customers to buy more readily or in higher quantity. Once your promotion is running, focus on advertising.

Third-party sellers who use PPC (pay-per-click) ads tend to do especially well. According to Amazon, “clicks on product advertisements paid for by Third-Party Sellers grew 150 percent” on Prime Day. So take this stat as a suggestion to invest in PPC campaigns that will drive more traffic to your product pages during this critical time.  

Amazon Sponsored Products (ASP) is a type of PPC program that will enable you to get your products discovered. To learn more about how it works and get started, click here.

4. Explore Other Advertising Options

Here are a couple of additional promotion methods to take advantage of during Prime Day:

• Amazon Marketing Services (AMS): Vendor Central
• Amazon Media Group (AMG): 1P and 3P
• Product reviews: Early Reviewer Program

5. Don’t Forget Non-Prime Customers

Yes, it’s called Prime Day for a reason — your focus is on attracting Prime customers to your storefront. At the same time, think of this day as prime time to attract all customers (no pun intended!). Offering free shipping on products that aren’t Prime-eligible is a great way to make you more Buy Box competitive. You can also try setting up a two-for-one deal on SKUs that you fulfill yourself. This will increase your Average Order Value — an important metric to boost.

To learn more how to change your shipping charges, click here.

6. Lower Your Minimum Price

Prime Day is well known for increasing the number of sales you can make. In past years, sellers have anywhere from double to 40x the daily sales rate.  

One way of capitalizing on this is by pricing extra-competitively during this time of higher traffic. If you choose to go this sales-focused route, make sure you have enough products to avoid going out of stock. However, if you’re reluctant to order extra, play it safe and avoid discounting too heavily.

7. Content is King

No matter how in-demand an ASIN is, you’ll be missing out on conversions unless you prioritize creating flawless product pages. This means featuring clear, professional-quality photos, detailed product descriptions, and accuracy all around. Speaking of photos, studies show that the vast majority of online shoppers prefer to buy products that feature at least three images. So capture different, compelling angles of your product, and gain a competitive advantage.

Lots of people know about Amazon’s A+ Content, but did you know Enhanced Brand Content (EBC) also exists? If you belong to the Amazon Brand Registry, this tool allows you to use enhanced text formatting and better photos. This will translate into more traffic and more conversions for you.

8. Have Your Logistics Ready

Did you know that Amazon gets 18% more orders on Prime Day than on Black Friday? That should be an indication of just how busy this day will be for you. It’s essential that you have the right processes in place to keep up with the demand.

If you’re not using FBA (and therefore required to meet Amazon’s demands), do you have enough stock on hold? How about an operations team to fulfill the orders in a timely fashion? You need to be prepared for the influx of orders on Prime Day, and even the couple of days surrounding it. Remember, shipping orders late will hurt your seller metrics, so you make sure you have the resources to support the additional orders.

9. Stock, Stock, Stock

Having enough stock is another ultra-important part of Prime Day logistics. After all, you can have plenty of orders, but without the stock to fulfill them, the added value of this day is lost. First start with featuring your best-selling items as part of the day’s sales and promotions. Contrary to popular belief, Prime Day is not about liquidating slow-selling stock — it’s about squeezing the most out of your most beloved products.

If you participated in Prime Day last year, you can review your historical data to anticipate this year’s demand. This will allow you to predict the amount of inventory you’ll need, and take advance action accordingly.

Make the Most of Amazon Prime Day

Whether you use FBA or FBM or SFP, you stand to make a comfortable windfall from Amazon Prime Day. Even if you aren’t invited to participate in Amazon’s Lightning Deals, you can plan ahead, prepare well, and get ready for money time!