Marketplaces: a growing opportunity

Take Advantage Of The Shift In Pandemic Shopping Habits

With Amazon set to capitalise on an already growing shift in shopping behaviours, spurred on by the pandemic, are businesses ready to capitalise on this increased demand? Amazon’s revenue rose from $75bn (£54bn) this time last year, to $108.5bn for three months to the end of March 2020. This increased shopping activity does not look like it will be slowing any time soon.

With lockdown coming to an end in the UK, and high street shops re-opening, some expected Amazon’s dominating hold on the overall retail space to loosen. However it continues to tighten its grip. Boasting almost 200 million monthly users and 200 million Amazon prime members globally, and a conversion rate of close to 10% (compared to under 2% for off Amazon purchases). Faced with numbers like that it’s easy to see why brands need to be selling on Amazon and taking advantage of new consumer behaviours

So, if you’re already selling on Amazon, make sure you’re doing it right…

Don’t get left behind

Organic and paid strategy must work hand in hand in order to deliver revenue for any business, this is something we focus on at 26. When reviewing product pages, we often see  brands missing elements of Amazon’s ‘retail readiness’ criteria. This normally includes missing images and videos, a lack of keywords in product descriptions, and using un-compelling headlines.

To ensure you’re not left behind in the fast-moving world of marketplace selling, make sure you’re focussing on the following:

• Review all organic activity

Your organic pages need to be of a high standard to try and get in the top positions. This includes carrying out thorough keyword research and including high volume keywords in your product descriptions. Do you have the right number of images, and are those images good quality? Be sure to include video on product pages to give more depth.

• Inspire through your store page

Your store page is the perfect place to showcase your brand and inspire browsing shoppers. Again, images and video are key, make sure they are high quality and give users a sense of your brand message. 

• Take advantage of all ad units

Don’t just focus on sponsored products, ensure you test sponsored brands and display. Testing a combination of all 3 types of ad unit will lead to increased learnings, and eventually higher conversion rates. Your campaign structure should always be set up in a way that allows effective testing.

• Optimise, test and review

 As with all digital activity, optimisation is key. Test different keywords and targeting options, remember to review your search terms regularly to remove wasted spend and focus on high converting areas. Are you selecting the right products in your sponsored brand campaigns? Have you tested enough keywords? If the answer to these questions is no, then review your strategy now!

• Embrace automation

Automation is possible with the use of 3^rd party tools, making managing large amounts of bids possible. This then allows marketplace managers to focus on things like campaign structure and overall strategy.

• Report accurately

Correct, innovative reporting leads to more informed marketing decisions. Review performance regularly with key stakeholders, this allows everyone to be on the same page, working towards a united goal.

Keeping the above in mind when looking at marketplace strategies will put your business ahead.

The Marketplaces team at 26 offer complete marketplace audits, as well as a fully managed marketplace service that looks to drive revenue through organic and paid activity, if this is something that could help your business please get in touch.