How to implement a competitive strategy on Amazon

Competitive strategy for Amazon sales? Here’s how to organize it in 8 steps

Have you thought about starting to sell on Amazon but have been catapulted into a reality you didn’t expect, chock-full of fierce competitors who don’t want to give you even a crumb of the pie? Welcome to the future.

By now, Jeff Bezos’s platform is so full of retailers (as of 2021 there are 3 million, to be exact) that you have to have a definite pattern to succeed. A competitive strategy on Amazon that allows you to outperform your competition and wave bye-bye to them as you whiz past them.

We don’t want to make strange proposals or promises that you would never believe. Let’s talk about what you need to start off with a bang or improve your sales without ever relying on your hunches again.

Which, however good they may be, are still hunches and not actual data.

By the end of this article you will know how to implement a sales strategy step by step, starting with market analysis on Amazon and ending with tracking results.

Are you charged/charged? Then move on to the next lines of this guide!

1. Market research: the first step for your competitive strategy on Amazon.

If you really want to give your competitors a scare…you need to study what’s happening on Amazon and how the top sellers in your industry are doing!

And you can’t study it by making a few clicks on the search bar. You need to rely on a market analysis conducted by you or your employees-as the students of our CMI Academy -, commission market research in-depth or ask for and consult some Amazon market research report (click here to see an example and interact with the graphs!).

With one of these solutions you can:

• understand key demand data: keywords searched by consumers to find items in your niche, best-selling products on Amazon, monthly sales etc.
• Find out what the competition is doing through platform-focusedcompetitor analysis . For example, you can find out the number of competing sellers, the brands they deal with, the product titles that sell the most, who is doing Ads, and much more.

Once you get past the first step, which is the discovery of useful (and usable) data about what’s going on at Amazon, it’s all downhill because the information immediately gives you the answers you’re looking for.

2. Set up a dedicated product strategy.

Define which products to sell, whether you will be the only seller or whether the product already has an ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification  Number).

Service communication: if your brand is already being dealt with on Amazon by other sellers, you can get exclusive rights to sell your products!

Read also: How to scout competitors’ deals on Amazon marketplace

3. Do you already know how to run your Amazon store? No? Then think it through!

By being guided by the data, you choose how to manage your store:

• Seller or Vendor (i.e. selling your products to Amazon or through Amazon)?
• Distribution: there are differences in margins and customer perception between FBA and FBM. It’s up to you to figure out which strategy converts the most…but you only need to consult the reports to do that!

4. Choose whether to implement an Amazon Store with a landing page dedicated to your brand

Most marketers have their own storefront with a well-designed landing page-and one dedicated to improving both sales and brand awareness.

You will probably have to study one yourself, perhaps by studying industry keywords.

5. Identify, for each product, how you can stand out from the competition.

Yes, if you want to adopt a truly competitive strategy on Amazon, you must optimize each and every product by devoting yourself to:

• pictures
• keywords
• pricing strategy

What are you still doing standing still? Oh right, you are missing the last 3 points!

6. Start selling the first products by doing several tests.

Do you have any doubts about the sales strategy for some products?

Then do some targeted testing, adopting tricks for one product and other tactics for another, so as to understand which works best. The principle is exactly that ofA/B testing, which is essential for those who sell products or services online!

7. Identify best-selling related products and initiate sponsorships to be recommended together with them.

Don’t just think of items that are the same as yours, but also think of related products.

For example, a customer seeking solutions for high cholesterol might look for both a coenzyme Q10 supplement and a monacolin K product.

If you sell monacolin K-based items but not Q10-based items, no problem: sponsor your product for Amazon to recommend along with related ones!

Read also: Amazon price history: how it guides sellers and influences users’ purchases

And now we come to the last point….

8. Monitor the progress of your competitive strategy on Amazon!

How to do it? Check the results by tracking the most similar competing products–and if they are not satisfactory take immediate countermeasures!

Want immediate data to fine-tune your strategy?

Remember that you have to start with data, and that’s what online market research is for!

But which to choose between in-depth and comprehensive research, the purchase and use of dedicated software, and the interactive Amazon analysis report?

Contact us now for a free consultation and we will help you figure out the right solution for you. Come on, though! Your competitors already have the perfect strategies to sell successfully!