Amazon & Marketplaces
In an ecommerce world increasingly dominated by Amazon and other huge marketplaces, we address how independent merchants can best use those channels to grow their businesses and brands. We analyze selling tools, listing optimization strategies, multichannel selling options, back-office efficiencies, pros and cons, common mistakes, and much more.
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Amazon & Marketplaces
Ecommerce Briefs: Walmart Wins Flipkart; Amazon Expands Prime; Target Beefs Up
May 23, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan
In “Ecommerce Briefs,” I address news and developments from online merchants. In this installment, I’ll review Walmart’s purchase of a majority interest in Flipkart, India’s dominant marketplace. I’ll also address ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
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Merchant Voice
Has Amazon altered A-Z claims process to help sellers?
May 17, 2018 • Richard Stubbings
I recently took a break from selling on Amazon whilst reorganizing my stock. When I returned I noticed a difference in the A-Z claim process. First, I found that customers are ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
Amazon Has Superlative First Quarter, Raises Prime Fee
May 10, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan
Ecommerce giant Amazon had a blockbuster first quarter. The period from January 1 through March 31, 2018 easily surpassed analysts’ predictions. Revenue jumped 43 percent to $51 billion, compared with ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
Former Amazon Exec on Maintaining Brand Control
April 25, 2018 • Armando Roggio
James Thomson spent six years as head of Amazon Services, which recruits sellers to Amazon’s marketplace. He is now co-founder and partner of Buy Box Experts, a consultancy, and co-founder ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
How to convert Amazon buyers to your customers (without breaking the rules)
April 16, 2018 • Phil Masiello
An ecommerce brand has to decide whether to sell its products on Amazon's Marketplace, which is the dominant buying resource for today’s consumer. Independent brands can use Amazon as a tool to obtain customers. Through proper merchandising of their products, brands can turn Amazon buyers into their own loyal customers.
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Amazon & Marketplaces
Ecommerce Briefs: Walmart, Amazon Vie for Flipkart; Etsy and Adidas Refocus
April 11, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan
“Ecommerce Briefs” is my occasional series of news and developments from online merchants. In this installment, I’ll address the competition between Walmart and Amazon to acquire Flipkart, India’s dominant marketplace. I’ll ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
17 Amazon Seller Tools to Find Profitable Products
March 25, 2018 • Connor Gillivan
As an Amazon merchant, I'm always looking for the next best product to sell — a high-potential item that no seller has discovered. In this article, I will share 17 Amazon seller tools that help source new products. Select a tool from the list, put together a standard process, and hand it off to a team member. Keep the process running at all times. It will increase your chances of finding that next best product.
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Amazon & Marketplaces
Walmart’s Ecommerce Sales Up 23 Percent in Fourth Quarter 2017
March 1, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan
Last month the Department of Commerce announced its estimate of U.S. retail ecommerce sales for the fourth quarter of 2017. The Department issues two sets of figures. One is seasonally ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
Protect your brand on ecommerce marketplaces
February 23, 2018 • Phil Masiello
Marketplaces can help brands add incremental sales — and build awareness. The more avenues on which the consumer sees your brand, the more recognizable it becomes. As your brand gains recognition, consumers will remember it and will be more likely to purchase. But selling on marketplaces could backfire if you don't utilize the tools correctly.
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Amazon & Marketplaces
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Merchant Voice
3 hooks to lure shoppers away from Amazon
February 14, 2018 • Richard Stubbings
In 2017 nearly 50 percent of all U.S. ecommerce sales went through Amazon. In the run-up to Thanksgiving, the rate was even higher. It is thus difficult to ignore Amazon if you want to succeed in selling online. But that is not to say that you have to follow other Amazon sellers and chase the price to the bottom. Instead, look carefully at the behavior of your target customers and determine how best to profit from them.
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Amazon & Marketplaces
Ecommerce Briefs: Alibaba Eyes Kroger; Walmart Partners with Rakuten
February 14, 2018 • Marcia Kaplan
“Ecommerce Briefs” is my occasional series of news and developments from online merchants. In this installment, I’ll address grocery wars, international expansion by Amazon and Walmart, and Pepsi’s embrace of ecommerce. In an effort to diversify and expand, Alibaba, the Chinese ecommerce giant, is following in Amazon’s footsteps with its “New Retail” initiative — acquiring brick-and-mortar stores in China and looking to make similar acquisitions overseas.
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Amazon & Marketplaces
How to benefit from Amazon ads
February 1, 2018 • Phil Masiello
Amazon Marketing Services offers three advertising options, for vendors and sellers: Product Display Ads, Sponsored Products, and Headline Search Ads. To win the Buy Box and build your brand, the key is to know which type of ad to use and how to use it — whether you sell on Seller Central, Vendor Centra
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Amazon & Marketplaces
11 Amazon Seller Tools to Manage Customer Feedback
January 30, 2018 • Connor Gillivan
Amazon’s metrics help keep sellers aligned with the company’s overall mission of outstanding service for all customers. But the process of managing and optimizing customer feedback, product reviews, and overall seller rating can be time-consuming. Fortunately, third-party software companies can help. In this post, I'll list 11 vendors that help Amazon sellers manage customer feedback.
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Amazon & Marketplaces
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Merchant Voice
Dissecting Amazon’s new ‘Pay by Invoice’ method
January 10, 2018 • Richard Stubbings
The new payment method is "Pay by Invoice." It is an attempt to entice new customers to Amazon that prefer to pay after receiving the goods. It is presumably based on the assumption that there are organizations — libraries, public bodies, larger companies — who do not let their staff pay in advance for an item. On the face of it, it seemed like a good idea.
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Amazon & Marketplaces
10 Repricing Tools for Amazon Marketplace Sellers
December 21, 2017 • Connor Gillivan
Repricing products on the Amazon Marketplace can determine if you generate sales, or not. Unless you sell your own private label item, you’ll likely compete with other sellers for the ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
Ecommerce Briefs: Walmart, Whole Foods, Target, Shipt
December 21, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
“Ecommerce Briefs” is my occasional series of news and developments from online merchants. In this installment, I’ll address the continuing omnichannel wars between Walmart and Amazon as well as some ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
Align with Amazon’s strategy for marketplace success
December 13, 2017 • Phil Masiello
Sometimes it seems that Amazon doesn’t support sellers in its marketplace. Seemingly nonstop restrictions on what can be sold in each category make it difficult for some sellers to list ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
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Merchant Voice
Every Amazon A-Z claim is a failure in customer service
November 28, 2017 • Richard Stubbings
Every Amazon A-Z claim is a failure in customer service. I could have avoided every one of the claims filed against my company, no matter how unfair it was. An Amazon ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
4 ways to get legitimate Amazon reviews
November 13, 2017 • Phil Masiello
Merchants on the Amazon marketplace realize the importance of product and seller reviews. Products with more reviews and better ratings appear higher in Amazon’s search results. Buyers also tend to ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
5 Steps to Find Profitable Products to Sell on Amazon
November 9, 2017 • Connor Gillivan
There are many strategies for choosing products to sell on the Amazon marketplace. In this article, I’ll explore a 5-step strategy that uses information provided by Amazon on all products ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
T-shirt Designers Thriving on Merch by Amazon
November 2, 2017 • Connor Gillivan
Merch by Amazon is an on-demand t-shirt printing service. Sellers can create t-shirt designs as product listings, and earn royalties on every sale. Amazon prints the t-shirts, and then ships ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
My favorite strategies, tools for selling on Amazon
October 18, 2017 • Phil Masiello
Amazon is a bridge between buyers and sellers worldwide. For business owners, Amazon can provide an excellent sales and awareness channel without incurring the high costs associated with branding or ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
Ecommerce Briefs: Amazon and Kohl’s, Food Wars, Toys’R’Us
October 9, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
“Ecommerce Briefs” is my occasional series on news and developments from online merchants. In this installment, I’ll address: Amazon’s new partnership with Kohl’s; activity in the U.S. online food delivery ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
6 ways to optimize Amazon listings
September 20, 2017 • Phil Masiello
Amazon has a huge catalog of products from around the world. Consumers rely an Amazon’s site search to find those products. But it doesn’t mean they will find the best ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
Ecommerce Briefs: Walmart Steps Up Acquisitions
September 14, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
One economic sector’s implosion is another sector’s lucky break. Physical store closures are disproportionately occurring in the apparel category, pushing more consumers to online clothing shopping. Seizing the opportunity for ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
Legal: Protect Against Counterfeit Goods with Amazon Brand Gating
September 6, 2017 • John Di Giacomo
There is no question that service providers like Amazon must constantly be on guard against nefarious third party sellers who might use their service for unlawful means. In order to ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
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Merchant Voice
For success on Amazon and eBay, don’t follow others
August 22, 2017 • Richard Stubbings
For many ecommerce merchants, it is essential to list stock on the likes of eBay and Amazon. The potential sales volume from these sites is too large to ignore. However,
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Amazon & Marketplaces
3 new Amazon tools for brands
August 13, 2017 • Phil Masiello
Amazon continues to improve the experience of brands selling on the marketplace. There are a few new tools that are worth noting, for Fulfillment-by-Amazon sellers in Brand Registry. One tool,
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Amazon & Marketplaces
Ecommerce Briefs: Amazon’s Earnings; Walmart’s In-store Pickup
August 10, 2017 • Marcia Kaplan
“Ecommerce Briefs” is my occasional series on news and developments from online merchants. In this installment, I’ll decipher Amazon’s Q2 2017 financial results and its recently-announced returns policy for certain marketplace ...
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Amazon & Marketplaces
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Merchant Voice
Independent retailers, repeat buyers, and Amazon
August 3, 2017 • Richard Stubbings
It is getting harder to gain and keep customers. Traditionally, independent retailers have earned their business by providing a better service or product to consumers — a unique selling point ...
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