Amazon is an incredibly popular platform among shoppers and sellers alike—in 2020 alone, Amazon sales have accounted for nearly a third of all ecommerce in the U.S.
If you are trying to figure out how to sell products on Amazon, the process is pretty straightforward; however, while the potential profit is very high, it's extremely important to find a smart approach that matches your goals and experience.
In this article, we are going to cover all the ins and outs of setting up your Amazon store and selling your products.
How Much Does it Cost to Sell Products on Amazon?
First things first, let’s take a look at the amount of capital you would need to start your Amazon business.
This number would largely depend on where you decide to source your products from. For example, you can choose to purchase your items to sell on Amazon from one of the following sources:
- Wholesale suppliers. You can purchase your items from wholesale suppliers and then resell them on Amazon.
- Retail stores. You simply purchase items at online or local retail stores to resell them on Amazon.
- Private label manufacturers. You customize and modify your own branded products to sell them on Amazon.
On average, Amazon sellers spend around $4,000 to start their Amazon business, but many manage to get started with less than $500. To save a few bucks, you can start with an individual account, and then upgrade to a Pro account as you go, or choose a more cost-efficient Amazon FBA service.
What is Amazon FBA?
FBA, or “Fulfillment by Amazon,” allows sellers to leverage the platform’s elaborate distribution network and customer base to make their businesses succeed.
With FBA, Amazon will store your products in their inventory, fulfill your orders, and provide customer service. If you want to use the Amazon FBA service, you would first have to create a standard Amazon seller account, and then add FBA to your account.
How to Sell Products on Amazon Step by Step
Whether you are already selling on BigCommerce or Shopify, or it is the first time they're trying to sell something online, starting an Amazon store shouldn’t be complicated.
Create a Business Plan
Before starting any business, you need to ensure that you have a plan that will help you stay on the right track. Your business plan should include a market analysis, your business mission, offered products and services, sales and marketing strategies, a financial plan, and more.
There are a lot of things you need to know before starting a business. Research the market, review the recent trends, figure out what kind of products you want to sell, get to know your competitors. Try to create an approximate timeline for your business expansion and relevant business activities.
Choose Your Niche
The key to successfully selling products on Amazon is to find a profitable niche. To determine a specific niche, you would need to conduct market research and find relevant competitive and trendy products that also align with your interests and passion.
Learn about the specific product trend and study its practical value, emotional impact, visibility, and recognition. Try to determine a selling point to make the product go viral on the market.
Conduct Market Research
Once you decide on your niche, you would have to conduct additional market research relevant to it. For example, you can track your competitor's sales for a certain period of time to get a more realistic view of the market segment.
You could also get in touch with potential customers or suppliers to learn their sentiments for the products or conduct a corresponding survey. If you find that the sales numbers correspond with your goals, you can move forward based on your business plan.
Find Your Product Suppliers
If you are already selling on an ecommerce platform and would like to expand the same products to Amazon, you can simply use your regular suppliers. However, if you are new to the ecommerce business, you would need to spend quite a bit of time finding the right suppliers to get products from.
There are several ways to find product suppliers. You could find them on B2B platforms such as Alibaba or AliExpress, search them on Google, or get contact information from suppliers at trade shows.
Be sure to contact several suppliers and find the best one for you. Make phone calls, send emails, and physically visit the suppliers. Review sample products, prices, minimum order quantities, shipping charges, and more. Think about the payment terms or options and narrow down your choice based on your requirements.
Place an Order
Once you choose your favorite supplier, you would need to place an order. The first order shouldn’t be too large because you'll want to test the market and review the customer feedback. Remember to regularly contact your supplier to get product manufacturing updates and avoid any misunderstandings.
Register an Amazon Account
Before you can sell products on Amazon, you would need to register as an Amazon seller account first—there are two types of accounts to choose from:
- Individual seller. This account costs $0 per month, but you will be charged approximately $1 for each item sold on Amazon.
- Pro seller. This type of account includes more features and costs $39.99 per month.
When choosing the type of account, keep your business budget in mind. Remember that you can always upgrade to the Pro account as your business grows.
Create and Optimize Product Listings
For each item you want to sell, you would need to create a corresponding optimized product listing. Creating a listing involves many parts, such as high-resolution images, SEO-optimized titles, and clear descriptions. Make sure that your products are “Prime eligible,” which means that Amazon Prime members will be able to enjoy the free shipping.
If you are listing a few items, you can list them manually. However, if you have many of them, you can simply upload a spreadsheet that contains information about each one of them.
As your business grows, you will need to continuously optimize your listings. Make sure to monitor the market and update product features and descriptions accordingly.
Drive External Traffic
Driving external traffic through Google Ads to your Amazon listing or from your existing ecommerce website will not only help you generate more sales, but will also improve your Amazon organic rankings in the long-run.
Using Google Ads is a simple, yet effective way to improve your product visibility and get more traffic to your Amazon listing. Make sure to do a thorough keyword research and write a compelling sales copy, and you will see your sales and profits quickly go up. It is also a good idea to use Ampd’s ad automation toolkit to optimize the entire process and maximize your ROI.
Manage Your Inventory
When you sell products on Amazon, it is extremely important to pay close attention to your product inventory.
The inventory level will decrease automatically, as orders are placed, so you will need to monitor it regularly and replenish as needed. If you see that the item is going to run out of stock, you will need to place more orders from suppliers to keep the product available for your customers. Make sure to update your Amazon inventory to accurately reflect the item availability on the product page.
Respond to Customer Reviews
Customers are likely to base their final purchase decisions on the feedback left by other people who have bought the item before. Amazon customer reviews allow you to build credibility and entice customers to complete their purchase.
Make sure that you always follow up on the shopping experience of each buyer, so that they are more likely to leave their feedback. For example, you can create a social media account and try to receive customer feedback through the social media platform.
Alternatively, you can write emails to the customers asking for their comments. While you can’t collect customer emails directly through Amazon, you can set up a Google Ad campaign leading to a page that will ask for their contact information. Here, again, you can use Ampd to make managing Google Ads easier and ensure you are set for success.
Become a Successful Amazon Seller with Ampd
Figuring out how to sell products on Amazon may seem complicated, but it shouldn’t be. By following our guide step by step, you will be able to list and sell your first product in no time.
To get even better results, we recommend you implement Google Ads to further increase traffic and sales. To achieve maximum potential and optimize the process, you can get ampd today.
