Believe it or not, Amazon Prime Day is right around the corner. In just over two months, on Monday, July 16, the e-commerce giant will host its annual sales day that many say is more popular than Black Friday. Are you prepared for the inevitable rush?
If you haven’t already, now is the time to get your business ready for Prime Day so you can take full advantage of Amazon’s increased traffic and hopefully have your best sales day yet. To help you prepare, here are three ways to optimize your Amazon business in time for July 16.
1. Stock up on Inventory
No question, the last thing you want on Prime Day is to run out of stock. So start placing orders with your suppliers now to make sure you’ll have enough product to meet Prime Day’s heightened demand. How much you should order depends on a few key variables:
How much you have on hand now and, based on your current sales velocity, how much you’ll have left come July
If you already have an order in production (and how many units you’re expecting)
How much you sold on Prime Day last year (if this is your first year, look up your product’s Prime Day selling history to get an idea for how much you’ll need, at a minimum)
How much organic growth you’ve been experiencing over the last year (in other words, if your sales are about 20% higher this month than they were at this time last year, you should expect to have at least 20% more inventory than you sold on Prime Day 2017)
Once you’ve considered these variables and crunched the numbers, don’t forget to add a buffer to your order — for example 10% extra — to further minimize your chances of experiencing a stockout on Prime Day.
2. Market Your Storefront
With Prime Day’s increased demand comes increased competition among Amazon’s third-party sellers. After all, you want to make sure all the eager spenders find your listing(s) over someone else’s. To improve your chances of getting the traffic AND the sale, look into an Amazon Sponsored Product campaign.
And to ensure you get the best possible ROI, consider using Sellozo, a fully-automated advertising platform that has helped hundreds of Amazon sellers decrease their advertising spend and increase their sales.
3. Maximize Cash Flow
No matter what time of year it is, having a reliable source of cash is vital to your storefront’s sustainability — not to mention growth. For Prime Day, it is even more vital. After all, preparing for this banner sales day requires more upfront investment than a typical day requires. Between the need for increased inventory and ensuring your listings have the optimal competitive edge, you’re going to be spending more than normal over the next several weeks.
If you haven’t planned ahead for this increased spend — or if, like most Amazon sellers, the two-week payment delay causes an endless cash flow nightmare for you — check out Payability, a financing company designed specifically for Amazon sellers like you.
Payability pays you your Amazon income one business day after making a sale, so instead of waiting two weeks to get paid, you’ll have your earnings in real time. It’s not a loan or a cash advance — it’s your income as you earn it, all for a 2% flat fee on gross sales*. That means more reliable access to cash that you can use to invest in your Prime Day planning. Thanks to daily cash flow, sellers like Gifts Fulfilled are able to keep inventory in stock all the time. You can learn more about the benefits of Payability on Payability.com or get your questions answered on the Amazon seller forum. To see Payability reviews from real customers check them out on TrustPilot, BBB or the Payability YouTube.
Have a question for Payability? Ask them on the Payability Facebook or Payability Twitter.
*Sellers exceeding $50K/month in Amazon sales may qualify for reduced rates.
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