Given Amazon is one of the fastest-growing retailers on earth, the trust and responsibility brands place in the hands of the team – whether internal or external -- managing their presence on the channel and overall Amazon strategy is immense.
For those lacking the internal resources or bandwidth to give Amazon the attention it deserves, there’s an array of organizations that will offer to manage a company’s strategy and account.
Old-fashioned retail brokers have increasingly taken on this role, primarily out of necessity (i.e. - their customers needed it and were asking for it). The same goes for many traditional marketing agencies, trying to keep up with trends in the industry.
Then, there are agencies like Marketplace Strategy, who focus specifically on optimization of e-commerce channels.
We’re not here to praise or disparage the merits of any of these organizations or their Amazon optimization programs.
What we can do, however, is arm consumer brand executives with the questions they need to ask to sufficiently evaluate whether a current or potential partner is doing everything they can to grow Amazon revenue.
If the answer to any of the questions below is, ‘no,’ your partner is likely leaving significant revenue on the table.
Questions to Ask Yourself about Your Amazon Partner:
- Has your partner fully expanded and optimized product bullet points and descriptions, or are they simply using prewritten copy?
- Does your partner base its copywriting on keyword research, similar to SEO?
- Is your partner adequately addressing product page conversion rate as a major factor in increasing Amazon revenue?
- Has your partner assisted in the development and implementation of information-focused product images that will increase conversion?
- Has your partner ensured all variety (size, color, flavor, etc.) and quantity options for your products are clearly displayed through buttons or pull-down menus?
- Have they aided in your efforts of identifying and merging duplicate product listings to reduce the impact of ‘cheating’ third-party sellers to increase listing strength and protect your brand?
- Does your partner notify you of potential problem areas or issues they see while working within the account (low stock, bad reviews, etc.)?
- Most of all, do they take a proactive approach to your Amazon account, consistently monitoring the presence & identifying new opportunities to grow?
- And, ultimately, do they add strategic value or are they merely a manager?
