Launching a new product on Amazon is thrilling yet challenging as well. With millions of products fighting for attention, making a strong first impression is crucial. However, many sellers fall into common traps that can affect their launch and success. Based on our studies a significant percentage of new product launches fail to meet their sales targets within the first six months. In this article, we will explain the top mistakes that Amazon sellers often make during product launches. By being aware of these mistakes and taking proactive steps to avoid them, you can set your product up for a successful debut and sustained growth.
In this article, we will cover:
Why Sellers Should Be Concerned about Product Launching Mistakes
Common Mistakes of Product Launching by Amazon sellers
Tips to Avoid Mistakes on Amazon Product Launching
Why Sellers Should Be Concerned About Product Launching Mistakes
Sellers should be concerned about product launching mistakes for several reasons. An inadequate launch can create a negative first impression that is hard to overcome. Negative impressions can lead to negative reviews and feedback can tarnish your brand’s reputation, making it difficult to regain customer trust.
Money, time, and effort invested in product development, marketing, and launch can be wasted if the launch is unsuccessful. A poor launch can lead to lower sales and revenue, impacting the overall profitability of your business.
If your launch is poorly executed, competitors can take advantage of your weaknesses and capture your market share.
Common Mistakes of Product Launching by Amazon Sellers
1. Focusing on Customers
Most of the sellers who are new on Amazon and about to launch their products make this mistake. They do not prioritize customers. As a seller, you need to understand what segment you are going after, and for that, you need to choose a niche that has high demand.
But you need to remember that high demand means lots of competitors are already into it. They are already selling on Amazon and have established their business. So, how do you focus on the customer? You need to understand what your brand represents, and you need to do a deep dive into the minds of those customers to uncover the products that they are buying. And importantly, you need to find out “why” they are buying the products.
To cite an example, if you want to sell mobile covers. There is a high demand for it. You will find lots of sellers already in the top ranks.
Here, what you need to do is try to focus on customers. If you research mobile covers, you will find out that there are many people out there who support eco-friendly products. So this could be a niche within a niche.
You can produce an eco-friendly mobile cover that is also in high demand. But this time, you narrow down your competition as well.
2. Miscalculated Cost
The next big mistake sellers make is a miscalculated cost. As a seller, you need to calculate several costs before launching your product to make sure it will be profitable. These costs include the product cost, which is the cost of making or buying the product, and shipping costs for sending the product to your warehouse or directly to customers.
If you use a fulfillment center like Amazon FBA, there are storage fees to consider. There are other important fees as well, such as listing fees and marketing and advertising costs. You also need to account for packaging costs to keep your product safe during shipping and potential costs for returns and refunds. Taxes and duties, as well as platform fees like Amazon’s referral fees or transaction fees, should be included in your calculations. Lastly, think about operational costs, which cover general expenses for running your business, like software, labor, and utilities.
By adding up all these costs, you will have to see if your product will be profitable or not.
3. Not Taking Advantage of the Honeymoon Phase
Most of the sellers have no idea what the honeymoon phase is. The first 30 to 45 days of your product launch are called the honeymoon phase.
When you first launch your product, Amazon tries to learn about it. They want to know if your product is a good one or not. When you launch your products, in the first 30 to 45 days, they will show you up at the top of page one for a very highly searched keyword, even though your rating is low.
For example, if you have 30 or 40 reviews, you are still ahead of your competitors, who might have a lot more reviews compared to you. That’s because Amazon wants to see how well your products do at the top of the search results. Then, your products move down until Amazon figures out where they should be placed.
So the honeymoon phase is important for the sellers. Because this is the time when sellers get exposure to their listings. But most of the sellers are not aware of this. So they are missing the advantage that Amazon gives them.
Here are some ways you can make the most of your honeymoon phase on Amazon.
In the first 30 to 45 days, try to sell as much as possible. Don’t worry about the click-through rate or the return on ad spend. You should focus on selling a lot and getting a high number of units sold. This helps Amazon see your product as popular and worthy of being high up in the search results.
If Amazon places your product at the top of page one and you keep getting lots of sales, they will want to keep it there. You can achieve this by spending money on ads, driving traffic from your email list, or running ads that send people to Amazon. When Amazon sees that your product is selling well, they will think it’s a good product and keep it at the top.
4. Not Running Ads
Running ads is important to get traction for your listing. Especially when you are in the honeymoon phase, that time is crucial to take advantage. Running ads on Amazon helps you get traction and helps you gain more traffic. The more traffic, the better your chances of getting sales.
Some people say you should get reviews first to improve your conversion rate. But if you don’t run ads, no one will find your product, and you won’t get any conversions. So, the first and most important thing is to bring people to your listing with ads, and at the same time, work on getting reviews.
So, do not make mistakes like most of the sellers do. To avoid this mistake, spend on ads to hold the rank that Amazon gave you during the honeymoon phase.
5. Managing Your Inventory
The next mistake is adding the entire catalog to Amazon. When you launch on Amazon, they let you send only a thousand units of inventory at first. You can’t send more until you start selling those units. As you sell, Amazon allows you to send more.
Over this time, you can have ten thousand or even twenty thousand units in storage. So, if you try to list all your products on Amazon right away, that would be a bad idea. We recommend starting with just one product.
The reason is that you have a “honeymoon phase” on Amazon, a special time when Amazon helps new products get noticed. If you have $10,000 to spend on marketing, it’s better to spend all that on one product instead of splitting it among three products, which would only give each product about $3,333. That’s not enough to make a big impact.
During the first 30 to 45 days, you want to sell as many units as possible. This will help improve the rank of your product on Amazon, making it show up higher in searches without costing you extra money.
For example, if you spend $1,000 a day on ads and make $1,500 in sales, that’s good. But as your product’s rank improves, more people will find it organically. Ultimately, with the same $1,000 spent on ads, you might make $3,000 in sales because of the organic traffic, making you more profitable.
So, take full advantage of the honeymoon phase by focusing all your resources on your best product. This way, you can grow your business more effectively.
6. Not Focusing on Getting Reviews
Customers care about reviews on Amazon when they buy a product. You probably notice that those who have the most reviews have the most sales on Amazon.
Some Amazon sellers put less effort into getting good reviews. But getting reviews on Amazon is very important. Because more good reviews on your listing help new customers trust your product. When people see positive reviews, they feel more confident that your product is good.
Reviews also help your product rank higher in Amazon’s search results. Amazon’s algorithm considers the number and quality of reviews when determining product rankings.
Also, reviews can give you valuable feedback on what customers like and don’t like about your product. Based on the reviews, you can make improvements to your product. However, more reviews mean more trust, better visibility, and useful feedback, which can all help you sell more products on Amazon.
Also, reviews act as social proof, showing that other people have purchased and liked your product. This can influence new customers to buy, as they feel reassured by the experiences of others.
If you go to your competitors’ page, which is at the top rank, you will find that they have thousands of reviews on their page. A question that might arise in your mind is, “How is it possible?”. You can try several options to get more reviews.
The Amazon Vine Program would be great for getting more reviews if your product is eligible. You should provide top-notch customer service and maintain responsive communication. The most important way to get reviews is to sell high-quality products.
7. Not Optimizing Listings Properly
The main image, the pricing, and the reviews are the three things noticed by customers when they want to buy something on Amazon. These three things have a great impact on buyer purchasing decisions.
If you look at the following listing of two coffee mugs, you will find the differences between the images. This first one has a more professional approach than the second one.
And the second one looks like you just copied and pasted the mugs on top of other mugs.
So, you will click on the first one because of its eye-catching image.
Images play an important role in attracting customers. And most of the new sellers ignore this fact, which is a big mistake. So try to optimize the main images properly.
For pricing, we suggest not rushing to make a profit. The high prices can set you apart from the competition. You should keep an eye on your competitors to compare prices. If you can sell cheaply to your competitor, you should do it. You might earn less profit, but remember, you are new here. As a new seller, you should focus on gaining attention to sell more and gather traffic.
How to Avoid Product Launching Mistakes
Sellers should pay attention to avoid product launching mistakes. The following strategies can save the sellers from big mistakes.
- Thorough Market Research: Understand your target market, competition, and customer needs.
- Strategic Planning: Develop a detailed launch plan with clear objectives, timelines, and responsibilities.
- Quality Assurance: Ensure your product is thoroughly tested and meets quality standards before launch.
- Effective Marketing: Craft compelling marketing messages and use the right channels to reach your audience.
- Customer Feedback: Engage with early adopters and use their feedback to make improvements before a full-scale launch.
- Post-Launch Support: Be prepared to address customer concerns and issues promptly after the launch.
Conclusion
To sum up, if you’re about to launch your product on Amazon, it requires careful planning and attention to detail. Take the time to understand and implement these strategies, and you’ll be well on your way to achieving a successful product launch. Don’t let avoidable mistakes hinder your progress. Instead, use this guideline to confidently overcome the complexities of the Amazon marketplace. Remember, the effort you put into a well-executed launch will pay off in increased sales, better customer satisfaction, and a stronger brand reputation.
If you have any questions or experiences to share, feel free to leave a comment below or email us at the following email address: info@ecomclips.com
To learn more about Amazon, please check out our other blog. Also, you can check out our YouTube videos related to Amazon as well.
