Almost all products, across all categories, see a dramatic lift in sales towards the end of each year. Holiday shoppers login to check off their lists before stock runs out. With the extra eyes on your listings comes an opportunity to finish the year strong and start the new year on the right foot.
1. Off-site advertising
As competition multiplies during the holidays, Amazon’s “Get sales in order to get more sales,” algorithm gets increasingly complex. The only way to maintain the BSR, and continue to grow, is to effectively drive traffic from outside of Amazon. Results have shown that social media ads are a cost-effective way to drive potential buyers to the detail page. Diversifying traffic sources provides avenues for increased direct sales, collecting market data, and improved conversion rating.
Giveaways are also a must during the holidays. Customers love an opportunity to get something for free or at a discounted rate any time of the year. But giveaways around the holidays are especially great for building hype to increase holiday sales volumes.
2. In-Amazon advertising
Q4 is not the time to test ad campaigns. The best way to see value is to put money into the campaigns that have already been battle tested throughout the year. As sellers become more aggressive with sponsored ads during the holidays, it’s critical to have an understanding of the CPC and which bids to target.
Tip: There’s no harm in setting up holiday specific PPC campaigns to target people looking for holiday deals. Although not directly relevant for every product type, this can be a good chance to claim a minor market that’s not accessible during other parts of the year.
3. Double-checking the basics
Account health issues are the most typical sales-affecting holiday mishaps. There aren’t many resources that show how an account’s health is affecting sales, but data shows it undoubtedly does.
Indexed keywords also provide a quick win for those who understand how it works. The backend strand should be indexed, as well as each important keyword. Due to Amazon’s recent keyword indexing changes, many sellers may miss out on the searchability their should keywords provide.
4. Promotions
As standard practice, most sellers have promotions that run throughout the year set up on the detail page. The holidays are a great time to attract attention with holiday-specific promotions. For example, a promotion that targets customers with a “15% Off Christmas Promotion,”will convert higher than a “15% Off Promotion.”
5. Inventory
Sellers make or break the upcoming year based on the planning of their Q4 inventory. Running out of inventory too early results in a large loss of potential sales and a decreased sales rank moving into the new year. Overstocked inventory results in storage fees and the need to liquidate.
The essential nature of understanding inventory trends becomes magnified towards the end of the year. For instance, not all products uptrend during Q4. Whey protein, for one, actually dips dramatically through December and then peaks in January. Sellers must be prepared for the changes in trend for each of their specific products.
Seller can’t expect to win the holiday sales by doing more of what they always do. Unique factors come into play at this time. The sellers that prepare and strategize accordingly will start the new year with healthy sales and increased rankings on their side.
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