Don’t let Prime Day sneak up on you! With one of the largest shopping holidays of the year approaching, find out how to prepare for Prime Day.
It’s that time once again: Amazon Prime Day is almost here!
With one of the largest shopping events of the year approaching, it’s time to gear up for Amazon Prime Day. This 48-hour sales extravaganza, starting on July 16, offers a golden opportunity for sellers hoping to bolster their bottom line.
For Amazon sellers, Prime Day represents a massive opportunity during the otherwise slower summer season. A massive Prime Day performance can do wonders for an Amazon business, boosting sales while also enhancing rankings and gathering reviews that can be parlayed into a successful second half of the year.
Here’s how to prepare for Prime Day and make the most of it.
Why Prime Day Matters
Last year, Prime Day broke its previous record of $12 billion in sales by reaching $12.9 billion. If history is to repeat, you can count on the next Prime Day to be even more spectacular than the last, as sales have exceeded the previous year every year since the inaugural 2015 event.
While the wave of sales provides the most exciting benefit, plenty of additional benefits can serve as a catalyst for your business. As millions of Prime members search Amazon for Prime Day deals, their purchases can reasonably viewed as a way for sellers to increase their rank in a brief timeframe. On top of the opportunity to boost rank, sellers who capitalize on Prime Day traffic will likely garner more reviews as a result.
Of course, every seller wants to get a piece of the action. A successful Prime Day can feel like hitting the jackpot, delivering a windfall of profits as your business receives a massive influx of orders. At Viral Launch, most questions we receive revolve around how to increase sales, boost rank, or generate reviews. Simply put, Prime Day offers the opportunity to achieve all three.
With high stakes, the competition escalates in the lead-up to Prime Day. Conquering your market for this sales event requires more time and energy than during typical times. Below, we’ll list a few ways to set yourself up for a successful Prime Day as the big day draws nearer.
1. Create Deals & Give Shoppers A Deal They Can’t Refuse
Remember the fundamentals! At the most basic level, Prime Day customers are looking for a deal. They want to see markdown prices they can’t resist or put off for later.
The tried-and-true way to achieve that would be through Prime Exclusive Discounts. As the name implies, these deals allow your product to be discounted to Prime members. The discount must be at least 10% off the non-member, non-promotional price.
Exactly how much discount you offer is entirely your decision, but consider your best possible offering carefully. Assume your competition will deliver their goods for markdown prices and strategize what it will take to make your product offering the most compelling.
Even if trimming your profit margin doesn’t sound fun, review the benefits mentioned earlier that can boost your business. If you seek more reviews or want your organic keyword ranking to rise, even the smallest of profits could solve potential problems for your product and increase your chances of sustained long-term success.
How to set up Prime Exclusive Discounts
- In Seller Central, select Prime Exclusive Discounts within the Advertising tab.
- Download the Discount Upload template spreadsheet. Then, fill in the spreadsheet appropriately with product and pricing information.
- On the Prime Exclusive Discounts page, click Create Discount. Enter the name of discounts, date, and upload the completed promotion upload spreadsheet.
- Optional: Review and edit the information of any products that fail to upload and submit.
If you’ve never created a Prime Exclusive Discount or haven’t done so in a while, be sure to check the eligibility requirements beforehand to ensure your products meet the criteria.
Additionally, you can create coupons or run Sponsored Products campaigns any time before or during the event. Experimenting with these deal types in the lead-up to Prime Day can be beneficial, as customers wait to purchase deals on Prime Day. Running these promotions can provide an uptick in sales and give you experience before things get hectic.
2. Stock Up Sufficiently
Since Amazon Prime Day typically lands mid-summer, hopefully, you’ve already accounted for the Prime Day rush from an inventory perspective. Whether you have or have not, it’s crucial to optimize your inventory as much as you can before the avalanche of sales hits. Below, we’ll dig into a few ways to prepare your inventory levels:
If you have previous Prime Day experience, start by analyzing your sales data from previous Prime Days and other peak periods. Identify your best-selling products and estimate the quantity needed to meet the projected demand. Consider any significant differences from this year and previous years, such as rank, keyword strategy, and overall demand.
You may need to contact your supplier in advance to ensure you have the inventory to meet demand without selling out during Prime Day or shortly after. If you absolutely demolish Prime Day, running out of stock and forfeiting organic sales and organic or sponsored rank opportunities that could be afforded after a tremendous Prime Day could neutralize any significant gains. Be sure you’re equipped to handle the Prime Day demand and the aftermath. With just a few weeks to prepare, you may need to adjust your shipping schedule to avoid running out of stock.
Lastly, continuously monitor your inventory levels in the lead-up to Prime Day. Use Amazon’s inventory management tools to set reorder alerts and avoid last-minute stockouts.
By carefully planning and managing your inventory, you can capitalize on the increased traffic and sales during Prime Day 2024, ensuring a successful and profitable session without running out of inventory.
3. Monitor Your Keyword Ranking
As always, your product’s organic rank remains a top priority. As Prime Day nears, your rank only grows more critical. For the most convenient and accurate keyword tracking, utilize a tool like Keyword Manager.
Tracking rank trends can inform you of plenty regarding your strategy and execution. On Prime Day, millions of customers will perform searches. Positioning your listing in prime digital real estate puts you in an excellent spot to win the day.
Make sure your rank isn’t falling over the next few weeks to avoid the rug being pulled from under your feet during the big rush. Each spot represents a piece of the pie your business will receive on Prime Day. Doing whatever you can to stay on top of your ranking to maintain or improve your rank could pay off exponentially.
But it all starts with keyword tracking.
Also, closely monitor the placement and performance of your sponsored ads through June 21st. With sellers looking to accelerate sales before Prime Day, keyword bids become more expensive. A bid that normally wins the top billing for a keyword may not land on the first page of search results.
You may want to increase your bids, or try a new strategy altogether. Perhaps bidding on low-to-medium search volume keywords provides a better return on investment at this time.
It’s important to remember that this time is not normal. As a result, maintaining a “business as usual” strategy may not work. Those who recognize market changes and adjust appropriately will reap the benefits.
4. Keep An Eye on the Competition
When considering how to prepare for Prime Day, the competition plays a tremendous role in your actions.
Much like Texas Hold ‘Em poker, you must consider your assets versus what your competitor may play. Think about the start of Prime Day as the final flip of the cards, when the better hand is determined and the winner is crowned.
Continuing the poker analogy, you never truly know which cards your opponent possesses. But like poker, you can read your opponent’s “tells” to inform your decision-making and use it to earn the upper hand.
Unlike poker, you can eliminate much of the guesswork with a good competitor tracking tool, like Competitor Intelligence. Within Competitor Intelligence, you can enter a competitor’s ASIN and instantly understand their strengths and weaknesses and a deep dive into their performance.
By tracking over time, you can also see their performance in keyword rank both organically and in sponsored ads to know what moves they’re making. In return, you can play defense and strategize appropriately to gain or maintain an edge.
Just as you’re gearing up for Prime Day, so is your competition. Accessing crucial metrics such as organic and sponsored rank by keyword, pricing changes, seeing who owns the buy box, and many more may open your eyes to their strategies.
Now just imagine how much of an advantage knowing your competitor’s thinking would be in poker…
Conclusion
Prime Day offers a unique opportunity to boost sales and enhance your business’s visibility. By creating compelling deals, ensuring sufficient stock, monitoring keyword rankings, and keeping an eye on competitors, you can maximize your success during the 48-hour sales extravaganza.
With the amount of money and traffic driven through Prime Day, every second invested in optimizing your offering should be considered time well spent.
However, the clock is running out before Prime Day for drastic changes. Get those listings in tip-top shape, and best of luck making this Prime Day one to remember!
