How to Increase Sales with Amazon and eBay

It’s no surprise that a retailer can increase sales with Amazon and eBay. There is proven measurable research that confirms revenue is gained in sales, customer acquisition, brand recognition and more.

“Sellers report an average 50 percent increase in sales when they join Amazon Marketplace,” according to Vice President of fulfillment by Amazon, Tom Taylor.

Increasing sales with Amazon and eBay will help promote your brand by giving your customers new outlets to find you. If they are not visiting a marketplace specifically searching for your product or your store, they may stumble upon one of your products on Amazon or eBay. This gives you an opportunity to find a new customer and a chance to win repeat business, especially if you are selling products that require frequent or repeat purchases.

Amazon and eBay take up the largest share of the market, and as these third-party marketplaces continue to grow, market sales for your business could follow suit. When consumers come to Amazon and eBay, they are most likely finished with their research and at the purchasing stage of their shopping experience, making it even more essential to promote your brand beyond your website.

So why are consumers so drawn to these marketplaces? They give the customer the added bonus of their features, such as Amazon Prime, Amazon Dash, eBay Bucks and more.

With an estimated 40 million Amazon Prime members, a new Amazon Prime study by research consultancy group Millward Brown Digital confirms it is now easier than ever to increase sales with Amazon. This number is up from around 10 million in 2013. Amazon also ranked best in overall customer satisfaction for the ninth consecutive year in 2014 by the customer experience analytics firm ForeSee, and both marketplaces ranked in the top two for mobile and desktop visits this year.

Your buyer has done their homework and is now looking for your product on Amazon or eBay, will they find it there?

Challenges Selling on Amazon or eBay:

CIO Magazine highlighted potential for backlash using these marketplaces, mostly reported by small business owners. However, when using an inventory software solution, there are plenty of opportunities to turn these doubts around. The apprehension surrounding selling on Amazon comes from marketplace fees, marketplace visibility and keeping inventory in sync.

Coping with Fees:

While increasing your Amazon and eBay sales is always a plus, marketplace fees are forever present. Since there is no way around marketplace fees, a valuable alternative is to really understand your product margins. Integration with low level inventory and centralized inventory tracking will help you avoid stock-outs and give you the tools to manage your orders efficiently.

Marketplace Visibility:

Some are leery to sell on Amazon or eBay because they are afraid their brand presence will fade away. One thing you need to keep in mind is that these marketplaces focus solely on the products and they exist to help themselves. Keeping up with your orders and inventory is a must to prevent any recoil. However, these marketplaces have always been best known to provide buyers with a seamless shopping experience, allowing the merchant the opportunity for further growth.

Sync Your Inventory:

When selling on Amazon and eBay, you want to be sure your inventory across all sales channels is in sync. Managing your orders using manual reconciliation methods invites errors. However, incorporating a software solution designed specifically to give you multichannel inventory management across all sales channels, increases efficiency, reduces errors and gives you the vantage point whereby your orders are visible in one place.

Guidelines to Selling on Amazon:

If you plan to sell on Amazon, following these guidelines will help you make it a successful experience.