Amazon is one of the most popular online shopping spots worldwide on the Internet. But not only for shopping, it’s a huge marketplace for small businesses, vendors, and brands as well.
In this article, I will share how you can set up your Amazon Store and build the business within several steps. Let’s start with finalizing a niche.
Find a [Profitable] Niche
It’s crucial to find a profitable niche to become an Amazon seller. Of course, you can’t sell everything, but you can’t sell what people don’t want to buy. Therefore, a profitable niche is what’s:
- In the trends
- Wanted by people
- Low/mid competition
Your profitable niche lies where your passion and the above three factors meet. Let’s say you want to sell handmade jewelry on Amazon. Then you need to define your audience, their likes, and their background.
Here comes the market research.
Note: Try not to choose any seasonal products.
Start With Market Research
Picking the last example (homemade jewelry), find out:
- What kind of jewelry sells the most?
- When do people like to wear them?
- How many people buy them?
Try to find your unique selling point (USP) or maybe, create a new trend from the history of what people like. Then, stick to it.
Position yourself for what your business sells and your audience will stick around.
Checklist To Register Yourself As An Amazon Seller
The registration process as an Amazon seller requires you to fill in your details and documents. Here are 4 details and documents that you need to register as an Amazon seller:
- Email ID
- Active Mobile Number
- GST Number or PAN Details (if you are selling in a GST-exempt category)
- Active Bank Account
Note: GST is the Goods and Service tax that is imposed on the supply of certain goods and services. However, some products are GST exempted on Amazon such as books, handicrafts, and edible goods.
8 Steps To Launch Your Business
Now that you have collected all your details and documents, let’s register and launch your business on Amazon!
Step 1
Sign in to your customer account on Amazon. If you don’t have one, choose the “Create Your Amazon Business Account” option and proceed with the details.
If your entered email is already used for Amazon account. Convert it to Amazon Business account.
Step 2
Enter the GST (Goods & Service Tax) number of your business. Then, verify it with OTP. However, if you sell GST-exempted products, select the option, “I only sell tax-exempted products such as books.”
Step 3
Enter a name for your Amazon store that it will be known by. You can also choose an auto-generated store name suggestion.
Step 4
Enter an address from where carriers can pick up products to ship to the customers. Note that the pickup address must be in the same state that the GST is registered in.
Step 5
Choose the shipping method you’d prefer — Easy Ship or Self Ship. Note that there is a fee Amazon charges if you choose ‘Easy Ship’ that is deducted from the products’ price itself.
Step 6
Enter the details of the active bank account of your business. These details will only be used to make payments by Amazon.
Step 7
List the products that you want to sell on your Amazon store. Here, you need to enter the product details such as images, descriptions, price, etc. Note that one product listing is mandatory to launch your online store.
Step 8
Finally, click on the ‘Launch store and start selling’ button and make your store live.
How Much Does It Cost To Sell Products On Amazon? Is It Free?
Amazon charges 4 types of fees associated with the sales and delivery. These include Referral Fee, Closing Fee, Shipping Fee, and Other Fees.
1. Referral Fee
Amazon charges a percentage of the sales made with any product, known as a Referral Fee.
2. Closing Fee
Closing Fee is an addition to the Referral Fee, based on your product price.
3. Shipping Fee
Amazon charges a fee for delivering your orders through Easy Ship and FBA.
4. Other Fee
Other Fee is included when you choose to ship through FBA for picking, packing, and shipping your orders.
Free type
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
Easy Ship
Self Ship
Referral Fee
Starts from 2%; varies by category
Starts from 2%; varies by category
Starts from 2%; varies by category
Closing Fee
Reduced closing fee for FBA; varies by product price range
Varies by product price range
Varies by product price range
Shipping Fee
Reduced shipping fee for FBA; starts at Rs. 28 per item
Starts at Rs. 38 per item shipped; varies by item volume and distance
Cost you will bear for shipping your order through a 3rd party carrier of your choice
Other Fee
Pick, pack, and storage fee
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Seller Portal: What Is Seller Central?
You get access to your Seller Central Dashboard after signing up as an Amazon seller. This is where all your business management tools are. Here, you can do everything from adding new listings to growing the business with tools.
Key benefits:
- You can track your inventory and update your listings from the Inventory tab.
- Custom business reports and book templates are available.
- Monitor your seller performance with customer metrics tools.
- Open the help tickets using the Case Log and contact Selling Partner support.
- Track the regular sales for your listings.
How To List Products & Add Product Details?
First, you need to create a new listing along with all the product details. This will help customers find all the relevant information about your product.
When you list a product on Amazon, it generates an ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number). Then, provide product information and images as per Amazon style guides with details such as:
1. Title
Capitalize the first letter of every word in the title of the product listing. Keep the limit of 200 characters in mind.
2. Images
At least 1 image is mandatory. However, Amazon Image Guidelines recommend 6 images and 1 video. They also recommend the images to be:
- Clear, informative, and attractive with a white background.
- Either 500 x 500 pixels or 1,000 x 1,000 in dimensions.
3. Variations
Add variations of the product (if available) such as different colors, scents, or sizes.
4. Bullet Points
Add short yet descriptive sentences to highlight the key features and benefits of the product.
6. Description
Provide a table describing each of the details such as product type, etc. Optimize your product description with keywords to improve listing ranking.
7. Featured Offer
This feature allows customers to either save your product with the “Add to Cart” button or compare prices via “Offer Display.” In addition, a Featured Offer can simply boost your sales.
8. Other offers
Your potential customers can also floor the same product sold by other sellers offering a different price, variations, shipping options, etc. Therefore, giving a choice to the customers.
Promote Your Products
In the pool of choices, how will people even know that your listings exist? Through promotion.
1. Sponsored Listings
You must have seen sponsored listings when searching for something on Amazon. For instance, these results come when you search for self-help books:
The above search result is sponsored while the other is organic. Hence, the sponsored one catches the attention better by appearing first.
2. Good Reviews & Ratings
Amazon and its customers love a bunch of good reviews. After all, people trust people. Try collecting 4-star and above ratings as you sell more orders.
In simple words, offer the best quality.
3. Double it with a blog
Oftentimes, people look for Google reviews or product recommendations before getting their hands on Amazon. You can start a blog around your products, increase the rankings, and gain more sales in the long term.
3 Ways To Deliver Products
There are 3 ways with which you can ship orders to post the customers — Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), Easy Ship, or Self Ship.
1. Fulfillment by Amazon
Amazon FBA is a shipping service fulfilled when products are sent to the Amazon Fulfillment Center. Once an order is received by the Center, Amazon packs, delivers, as well as manages the customer queries.
Key Benefits:
- Unlimited free & fast deliveries.
- Amazon takes care of the picking, packing, and shipping of the orders.
- Amazon manages customer service and returns.
- Your store becomes eligible for Prime.
2. Easy Ship
Easy Ship is another Amazon end-to-end delivery service for sellers. Unlike FBA, you pack the product that is collected by Amazon from your pickup address. Then, an Amazon Logistics Delivery Associate delivers the order to the customer’s location.
Key benefits:
- Fast & safe delivery by Amazon.
- No storage charges over your inventory.
- Amazon manages customer service and returns.
- You can choose your own packaging.
3. Self Ship
In case you want to get away from the extra fee, you can store, pack, and deliver your products to the customer by yourself. You can choose a third-party carrier or your own delivery associates to deliver the orders.
Key benefits:
- Complete control over your business.
- You need to pay only the closing & referral fee now.
- Get discovered as you enable the Prime badge in your area with Local Shops on Amazon.
Add Your Payment Gateways
Once you make your first sale, great! But where does the money go?
There you need to learn about payment gateways.
Amazon makes payments through Automated Clearing House (ACH) or electronic transfer to its sellers’ bank accounts.
The payment takes place within 5-7 business days. In addition, you can look at your payment reports and summary on Seller Central.
Final Words
Once you’ve made your first sale, the store has already taken a boost. Then you can further promote your products with the methods shared. Moreover, I’d suggest working along with a business plan.
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