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During the 2018 holiday season, Amazon’s toy sales increased 30% over the holiday season prior, according to Retail Dive. Because of this level of growth and increase in consumers searching for toys online, Amazon has become a major opportunity for toy brands. If your brand belongs to Amazon’s Toys and Games category, continue reading for ideas of what to think about ahead of the holidays.

Optimize Your Listings Ahead of Time 

Before the holiday season begins, take time to optimize the listings in your catalog to ensure maximum discoverability and buyability. It’s important consumers not only can find your products but that they have a strong chance of converting among competitive and alternative products.

A good first step is to analyze the copy of each ASIN. For example, take a look at things like titles, descriptions, and the number of reviews each product has. 

It's also valuable to have a good understanding of Amazon SEO. With this, you can make sure your products display well within the search engine results pages (SERPS). All copy for your product detail pages should be written not only with organic search in mind but also to convert visitors into customers.  

Beyond your product’s title and copy elements, the creative assets of listings make a difference. Even if your brand has high-quality product images, there is much more to consider. For example, many brands add seasonality to their Amazon Store. You can switch up the colors, messaging, and images. This way, you're taking a strategic approach in communicating your products are a perfect gift for the holidays.

Ramp Up Advertising and Continue the Momentum 

Advertising throughout the holiday season is important to drive awareness and sales velocity.  To begin, we recommend narrowing down a list of products you plan on supporting through your advertising efforts. Once you have this list, ensure there is enough inventory to support an influx of orders. 

Brands can expect even more of an increase in traffic during the holidays when they ramp up their advertising efforts. To take advantage, we recommend running Amazon's programmatic advertising (DSP) remarketing in addition to traditional Amazon search advertising (formerly AMS). Implementing a healthy mix of both search and programmatic advertising allows brands to capture a shopper’s intent and consumer demand, and then target those consumers based on trends in their behavior.

Finally, to continue your success, extend the length of time advertising campaigns run for your core products. This will help to maintain sales velocity beyond the holiday season. Once the holidays are over, pull as much data as possible from this period. Analyze what worked and what didn’t so next year can be even more impactful.

Review Holiday Guidelines

Before strategizing for the holidays, be sure to review Amazon’s holiday guidelines. Here you will learn about important restrictions, eligibility criteria, and deadlines. These rules are in place to ensure brands are ready and customers have a positive experience. 

If you’re new to Amazon, it’s important to note your first sale must be made before September 1, 2019, to be eligible to sell in the Toys and Games category. However, this first sale doesn’t need to be specific to the Toys and Games category.

More Tips to Gear up for the Holidays 

Optimizing your catalog and investing in advertising is important, but there is more you can do to prepare. For example, brands should expect an increase in returns. According to invesp, at least 30% of all products ordered online are returned. The reason for e-commerce returns can vary. But, you can prevent too many returns by having thorough and accurate listings.  

We also recommend looking into historical data for insight into how much inventory you will actually need. Once you have an idea,  pre-order stock ahead of time so you don’t have to scramble to fill your warehouses.

Preparing for a peak season like the holidays is imperative for brands on Amazon. These recommendations are geared toward brands within Amazon’s Toys and Games category, but most are applicable for all brands. If you could use the support of a strategic partner, schedule a free consultation. And as always, we’re here to answer any questions.