A Definitive Guide to Optimizing Brand Performance on Amazon

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Introduction

Amazon is one of the largest eCommerce websites in the world and so has become a key online partner for just about every brand across all major retail categories. The numbers are staggering. In 2015, Amazon generated $88bn revenue in the United States capturing 51% of all growth in the eCommerce channel, with a further $107bn of revenue generated across global markets. With Amazon Prime subscriptions growing, AmazonFresh now launched in multiple markets, and increased investment outside of the US, there is no sign of the Amazon juggernaut slowing down. Brands that dominate category presence and performance at this key retailer are going to be rewarded, as sales continue to move into the online channel.

The following report, aligned to the online shopper’s path-to-purchase of ‘Find, Experience, Buy’, gives an in-depth insight into the ways in which brands can optimize their Amazon performance to better engage with consumers and grow their online sales.

A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO OPTIMIZING BRAND PERFORMANCE ON AMAZON 2

Can Shoppers Find your Products? How to Win on Search

With Search the primary way in which shoppers navigate to product pages on Amazon, how can you ensure that your brands are appearing within the ‘key consideration set’ of first page Search returns?

To understand how to influence Search performance, we need to further understand the complexities of what drives Amazon’s Search algorithm.

A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO OPTIMIZING BRAND PERFORMANCE ON AMAZON

“ Only 30% of shoppers are willing to click past the first page of Search results.”

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Amazon wants to ensure that Search returns are optimized to drive sales. Hence products with high rate of sale and penetration typically feature heavily on the first page of Search results. With first page Search results dominated by top selling products in a category and only 30% of shoppers willing to click past the first page of results, how can brands interrupt the shopper journey and get into prime positions on Search?

Breaking Through to the Front Page

Thankfully we know that there are other factors which will positively impact Search rank and thus sales. Winning on Ratings & Reviews, Content Integrity, Availability, and Price are key elements that fuel the Amazon Search algorithm. Winning for these KPIs contributes significantly to positive Search results and is the reason you will almost never see a product on the first page of results that is continuously out of stock.

Customer engagement via product reviews is also known to boost Search results. Having complete product descriptions, feature bullets, and titles supported by key Search terms will also improve search rankings. Brands which approach Search from this holistic perspective will see a marked improvement in overall Search performance.

Be ‘findable’ with the right product title

Don’t underestimate the benefits of strong product titles influence on Search. Putting extra effort into using the correct keywords in your title does more than inform the shopper about your item, it will help to place you ‘on shelf’ for consumers using key Search terms to. At Clavis Insight, we have witnessed subtle changes, or the inclusion of a category keyword in a product title to make a significant impact on Search rank and online revenue.

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Optimizing your Amazon Product Content to Engage Shoppers

Amazon is the VIP of Online Retailers in the US and beyond

Most brands should consider their Amazon Content strategy one of the lynchpins to their product and brand positioning in the online channel. More and more consumers are now directly turning to Amazon for superior production information that educates and engages, by-passing Google and other traditional search engines.

When it comes to online product content, there are no sales staff to explain the benefits of your product. However, a key advantage of the ‘endless shelf’ of online, is that your product Content is not limited by its packaging. Amazon product pages should not only be seen as places for a literal description, but an opportunity to engage the consumer on a brand’s equity, efficacy, quality, and ultimately to close the sale.

A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO OPTIMIZING BRAND PERFORMANCE ON AMAZON

“Product content is the opportunity to engage the consumer on a brand’s equity, efficacy, quality, and ultimately to close the sale.”

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Brands Need to Engage and Excite to Capture Shopper Attention on Amazon

First impressions count and product images are key to quickly capturing shoppers’ attention. Ensure all products in your range are supported by multiple, high quality pack shots detailed, informative, high-quality content can directly increase your brands conversion rate.

Quick Win: Listen to your shoppers

If you are unsure about what type of information consumers are looking for, look to the product Q & A section to capture feedback, and enhance your product’s description. The Q & A section is a valuable resource, as many of the questions asked are with regards to details that can easily be included in the page description. Since shoppers were unable to find the answer within the text you provided, they have gone to a public forum (the Q & A section) to ask for help. Being proactive with regards to shopper concerns is vital to creating a successful content page.

How to Optimize your Amazon Content?

However, designing an effective ecommerce ecosystem at large online retailers like Amazon goes beyond writing product descriptions. Keeping the customer experience at the forefront helps brands uncover ecommerce opportunities that are unique to the digital channel and in some cases unique to Amazon itself.

Amazon product pages currently offer the ability to showcase your products and brand beyond what other retailers can support. Whether shopping

A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO OPTIMIZING BRAND PERFORMANCE ON AMAZON

“ Keeping the customer experience helps brands uncover ecommerce opportunities.”

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online or checking prices while in store, the bar for what consumers expect to find on your Amazon page continues to grow. Just a few years ago the requirements were low: a couple of product images and a few lines of text describing the item. As online sales continue to accelerate, with growth far exceeding that seen in the bricks and mortar channel, and a growing percentage of in-store sales are influenced by the online channel, expectations have changed.

Unfortunately, many market leaders in the offline space have been slow to keep up with expectations and thus have fallen behind on Amazon. This has levelled the playing field for niche eCommerce native brands, with many now offering a more engaging shopping experience (leveraging Content in the right way) than their leading offline counterparts. Brands that are successful have realized that online Content on Amazon product pages has the ability to convey more information than a product label or box.

Amazon Products Set the Standard for Winning Content

It’s no surprise that products made by Amazon, such as the Fire TV, offer a great example when thinking about content pages. They tend to use numerous high resolution images, videos, user reviews, FAQs, and Vine reviews. One can learn a lot more about the Amazon Fire TV’s value proposition by reading its Amazon page than could ever be learned from reading the back of the product box in a store. The Fire TV has approximately 14 large product images, one video, and over 11,000 reviews. The description compares it to other Amazon devices, shows off the benefits of 4K TV, lists the channels available, explains what is in the box and more. Strong online Content lets you convey a wider and more powerful message than ever before, so take advantage of all of the opportunities presented.

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Recycle Social Content on Your Amazon Product Pages

Brands spend large sums of money on ads and professional product images for TV and social channels, yet this Content does not always find its way onto Amazon. Amazon should be seen as a key marketing channel in line with Facebook, TV and print. Since 44% of shoppers start their product search on Amazon, it can be argued that Amazon Content is the most important Content you will create. No matter the stage of their online journey, brands can easily put together high level product pages using Content that already exists for other channels, including product pictures and customer success stories. Given Amazon could be likely your leading online retailer, creating unique Content exclusively for Amazon may also be desirable.

Video Content

For brands looking to move past the basics of product images and text, video is the next step of Content offered by Amazon. Video is among the most engaging Content types; according to Amazon, “73% of U.S. adults are more likely to make a purchase after watching an online video that explains the product or service”.

Not only should brands prioritize adding video to their product pages, but they should add video to the ‘how-to’ video library that Amazon is building within Amazon Prime Video. There are a few types of popular product videos generally seen on Amazon. The first type is a simple how-to video in which a brand expert explains the ins and outs of the product. This is a great way to give a clear presentation directly to shoppers explaining the benefits of your brands and products These videos are the equivalent of having a highly skilled sales person on the floor of a retail store ready to answer questions as shoppers walk by. Consumers are inviting you to tell them more about your product, what it tastes like, how it works, how to prepare it etc. which is why video Content can be so persuasive.

A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO OPTIMIZING BRAND PERFORMANCE ON AMAZON

“ 44% of shoppers start their product search on Amazon.”

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Another type of video that works well on Amazon is Consumer Advocacy, such as videos comprising of user submitted clips. For example, many beauty brands will post testimony from famous video bloggers. Often product pages for children’s goods will leverage parent testimony to add authority to their page. You can think of these videos as “live” user reviews, and they can be a powerful tool to build trust for your brand.

The Clavis Insight Impact

Clavis Insight uses its software to track Content quaility across online stores down to an SKU level. Each brand can set a different threshold for description length, number of pictures and videos, and analyaze of other types of web Content.

A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO OPTIMIZING BRAND PERFORMANCE ON AMAZON

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Driving ‘Add to Basket’ with Ratings and Reviews

Product Ratings and Reviews are a proven sales driver on retailer sites like Amazon. According to Bazaarvoice, 54% of online buyers and 39% of in-store buyers read reviews before purchase. Amazon has one of, if not the largest database of consumer reviews on the internet. Since consumers have three times more trust in reviews than in brand advertising, strong customer engagement can act as free advertising for your product, as word of mouth can spread quickly.

It is important to generate user engagement, particularly for new products. At Clavis Insight, we define a ‘positive review’ as having a minimum of 20 reviews per product and an average star rating of four or higher. In more competitive categories this may not be enough, but it is a good baseline to start with. Brands should be tracking and actively managing both review count and review rating for key SKUs to achieve optimal results.

A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO OPTIMIZING BRAND PERFORMANCE ON AMAZON

“ 54% of online buyers and 39% of in-store buyers read reviews before purchase.”

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Don’t Wait for the Review to Come to You

Given their importance, brands need to be proactive to drive reviews: Amazon’s Vine program is a great way to get started. Amazon Vine is a program in which a select group of trusted reviewers are given early access and/or samples of your product. These users can then post certified reviews on your product page even before the item is available for the general public. This will allow you to accumulate reviews ahead of your product launch, helping build authority and boost sales. It should be noted that Amazon Vine members can write negative reviews, so be careful to avoid sending faulty or damaged products. Likewise, brands can ask consumers to leave reviews via standard product emails or on social media. An example of how to do this can be found from the following webinar. If all else fails, there are also third party companies that will create product panels and have participants submit Amazon reviews. While these programs can help you get started, you eventually want to find a good balance between organic and “sponsored” reviews in order to build credibility.

A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO OPTIMIZING BRAND PERFORMANCE ON AMAZON

“ Shoppers who interact with both reviews, customer questions and answers are 105% more likely to purchase.”

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A further strategy that helps brands stand out from the crowd is to post manufacturer responses to reviews right on Amazon. Review responses have become popular behavior on websites such a Glassdoor and Yelp. On social media websites such as Twitter, brands are hyperactive responding to public complaints. We are now seeing this behavior carry over to Amazon and we urge brands to manage their consumer feedback on Amazon as well as they manage it elsewhere.

Manufacturer responses to consumer reviews are another chance for brands to build trust and rapport with shoppers. Remember, good reviews add authority to your product page, and responding to negative ones’ further builds faith that you are willing to engage and take customer feedback seriously. And there is data to support this: shoppers who interact with both reviews and customer questions and answers are 105% more likely to purchase while visiting, and spend 11% more than visitors who don’t interact with this content.

Quick win: a brand manager should report reviews about shipping, delivery or retailer service instead of actual product or product performance to Amazon. These reviews fail to meet Amazon’s creation guidelines and the retailer will generally remove them if prompted thus mitigating any negative impact they may have on your overall product rating.

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Winning the ‘Buy Box’ and the Impact of Third Party Sellers

When a shopper clicks “add to cart” on an Amazon product page and then checks out, the seller that currently controls the “add to cart” button, commonly called the buy box, on the product page typically wins the sale. Unless the shopper chooses to manually switch to a different seller, the “default” seller is going to benefit. Controlling the buy box then becomes vital, if you fail to be the number one seller for one of your products, then someone else will gladly sell it.

With every passing year Amazon becomes a bigger part of a brand’s online strategy, and for good reason. It is estimated that 44% of shoppers looking for products online start on Amazon, more than those who start product searches using traditional search engines, such as Google, Bing Baidu. At Clavis Insight, we spend a lot of time analyzing and delivering insights on Ratings and Reviews, Content Integrity, and Search ranking. These are vital

A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO OPTIMIZING BRAND PERFORMANCE ON AMAZON

“ At Clavis Insight we routinely see brands losing up to 25% of their portfolio to third party vendors.”

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in order to win on the digital shelf. However, if a brand cannot control the buy box on Amazon then all of the hard work that goes into product placement, or creating an engaging shopping experience, will be for naught if a marketplace seller winds up benefiting.

Amazon determines who wins the buy box, mainly by selecting a reliable seller who offers an available (in stock) item at the best price. At Clavis Insight, we track Availability and price daily, notifying brands when items are out of stock. We enable brands to identify when they have lost the buy box, quantifying the lost sales opportunity in near real-time. As in physical stores, brands need to react quickly to outages and make sure to stock inventory daily, particularly ahead of a sale or trade event.

Brands should not have an issue beating marketplace sellers on price, since third parties have already purchased the item someplace else and will have to charge a markup to generate profit. Since Amazon takes the total price into consideration (product price + shipping) when determining who wins the buy box, marketplace sellers cannot game the system by charging more for shipping and $0.01 for the item. That said, it is always worth remembering that it is possible to lose the buy box if you are undercut on price.

Other Pitfalls to Avoid

There are other ways to lose the buy box, such as if numerous consumers file complaints about item quality. If Amazon flags your account for review, then they may remove you from the buy box until the investigation is concluded. Reviews are normally triggered once numerous complaints of inaccurate product pages are logged, such as a customer buying a double pack and receiving only one item. Other critical factors, such as shipping time, on time delivery and seller rating are non-issues for items fulfilled by Amazon, whose delivery speed and consistency are best in class.

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This may sound simple, but even established brands struggle to consistently remain in control of the buy box; at Clavis we routinely see brands losing up to 25% of their portfolio to third party vendors at any given time. If the price gap is just a few pennies, then brands should think about cutting their price to reclaim the buy box.

It is safe to assume that the majority of consumers are not aware of the difference between “sold by Amazon” and items sold from a marketplace seller and hence won’t proactively choose to avoid purchasing from a third party seller. For this reason, it is important to understand why you are losing the buy box and take immediate action to win it back. Remember, Amazon will allow a third party to beat you for the buy box because Amazon is committed to enticing the customer and delivering the product that they want. As long as the customer is happy with the product Amazon can be agnostic about the seller, which leaves it up to you to figure out the correct path of action.

Another important reason to track the buy box daily on your top selling items is that Amazon could make an inventory mistake, listing you as out of stock despite items being in their warehouse and leaving a third party as the only selling option. While this is rare, it has happened and brands have to alert Amazon. Daily tracking of your buy box status will help alleviate any mistakes that can come up on Amazon’s end.

To win the buy box and to reap the benefits of creating a great product and product placement and page content, brands must be methodical in tracking Availability and price to remain the top seller on their own products.

A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO OPTIMIZING BRAND PERFORMANCE ON AMAZON

“ It is safe to assume that the majority of consumers are not aware of the difference between sold on amazon and items sold from a marketplace seller”

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Lightning Deals…And Beyond: Understanding Amazon’s ‘Promotional Suite’

According to Millward Brown Digital, 70% of Amazon shoppers do not click past the first page of search results. For this reason, Clavis Insight emphasizes the importance of increasing Search ranking in order to drive revenue growth. And while tracking Search performance is an ongoing process, sometimes the best option is to pay to better position your products on Amazon.

Promotions come in various forms on Amazon, and can be implemented after the right foundation is set with a broad, in-stock Portfolio and great product page Content. Depending on the type of investment you want to make, Amazon offers different advertising opportunities to brands. Advertising can be done both within and outside of the category pages, with some of the opportunities discussed below.

A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO OPTIMIZING BRAND PERFORMANCE ON AMAZON

“ Multivitamins are an ideal product for the Subscribe and Save purchase method since consumers typically take a set number of supplements per day.”

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Available Promotions:

Sponsored Products: Sponsored Products are targeted ads that appear either on the search page or on relevant product pages; for these ads brands are charged per click. Ads are displayed on the first page of search results for keywords that you choose, which greatly helps to boost visibility. Shoppers will see these ads appear embedded in the search results or on the right hand side of the screen.

Some sponsored items will also appear on a relevant product page below the item description but above the Ratings and Reviews. This means that shoppers have to scroll past your item in order to get to the reviews, which helps boost visibility. Sponsored products can help you compete against a well-entrenched competitor, or help you launch a new product.

Headline Search ads: These ads appear above search results, and can be used to drive shoppers to a special page containing at least three of your products. You cannot redirect shoppers directly to a product page. The ads appear based on the keywords you have selected, and each keyword will have its own bid rate. Try increase the bid rate for popular keywords in order to improve visibility.

Product Display ads: While sponsored products are used to target specific search terms, Product Display ads target interests or specific pages that you specify. This means you can have these ads appear along the right hand side of the screen on a competitor’s product pages. You can also target complementary products, such as a sunscreen product if you are selling beach balls.

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eCommerce ads: These banner ads feature your logo, a picture of the product, and different functionality such as “add to cart”, “add to wish list”, “shop now”, review scores and more. The banners are offered in different sizes.

The type of eCommerce ad available differs by market so double check the Amazon ad website before building a marketing plan around eCommerce ads. For example, an ad that allows shoppers to add a product to their cart right from the ad is available in all markets outside of Canada. However, an ad that allows a shopper to add the item to their wish list is not available in Italy, Spain, and Japan in addition to Canada.

Finally, eCommerce ads can also be used off site to target consumers who leave Amazon via standard retargeting. eCommerce ads are an ideal format for this, since they pack customer reviews and content detail along with an image into a small space. But remember, in order to surface review information, your product needs to score at least 3.5 stars on at least 15 reviews.

More Promotions:

Outside of Cost-per-click ads, Amazon also offers the following promotions:

Amazon Vine Reviews: Amazon Vine is a program in which a select group of trusted reviewers are given early access to your product. These users can then post certified reviews on your product page even before the item is launched. This will allow you to accumulate reviews ahead of your product launch, helping build authority and boost sales. It should be noted that Amazon Vine members can write negative reviews, so be careful to avoid sending faulty or damaged products.

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Subscribe and Save: Subscribe and Save is a powerful offering that is applicable in markets in which shoppers sign up for regular, repeat purchases of an item. Multivitamins are an ideal product for this purchase method since consumers typically take a set number of supplements per day. Subscribe and Save allows shoppers to automatically re-order an item for delivery on a set-interval basis, such as bi-weekly or monthly. This offers brands and retailers the opportunity to build loyalty and revenue by securing shoppers’ repeat purchases and preventing them from considering a competitive item or store when they’re ready to repurchase. Depending on the category, Amazon likes to see brands move roughly 40 percent of product revenue through Subscribe and Save offerings.

Daily Deal and Lighting Deals: According to Amazon, the “Today’s Deals” page is one of the most visited pages on their website. Getting featured on this page not only drives immediate traffic to your product page from shoppers look for a discount, but it can drive increased long term traffic following the additional exposure your item gained from being featured. Many consumers that miss the deal may still be interested in your product, and will buy it later at full price.

There are minimum requirements to be featured as a Daily Deal however: items must have a 3.0 or higher star rating and the discount must be at least 10%. However, steeper discounts are going to fare better, and it is not abnormal to see items with a 20%, 30%, or even 50% discount featured on the deals page.

Lightning Deals will typically offer a greater depth of discount than standard promotion discounts and last for a set number of hours over the course of a day. There are some notable rules for Lighting Deals: First off, items need to meet a certain threshold of product reviews to be considered. Secondly, products will need to include 80% of their variations in the deal to be eligible. This prevents brands from driving traffic to their page via a deal for a less desirable variant, only to charge full price for the one consumers want. Finally, Amazon asks that items be Prime eligible in order to be included as a light deal.

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A DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO OPTIMIZING BRAND PERFORMANCE ON AMAZON

Coupons: Coupons are another option for brands looking to boost sales by offering shoppers a discount, normally in order to get them to try a product for the first time. These coupons are styled off print coupons of old, and shoppers have to “clip” the button in order to activate them. There are numerous places that shoppers will be able to see and clip your coupon. An icon will appear on the product detail page, in search results, and in the shopping cart among other places.

While Subscribe and Save is deemed a type of coupon by Amazon, brands can offer standard coupons on single items for shoppers to try. This could be an excellent way to push shoppers down the path of becoming a full time subscriber. For example, brands can offer a 5% coupon on a single purchase of vitamins, and also offer a Subscribe and Save discount for repeat purchases. Since competition for new subscribers is high in certain categories (ex: Vitamins), this double promotion tactic can be a useful way to increase your sales on Amazon.

In Closing

Being a pure play eCommerce platform gives Amazon many advantages over its key competitors. Since Amazon was built from the ground up with the online shopping experience in mind, it can often have an edge when it comes to ease of use, page layout, buying features, loyalty programs, speed of change, and range of items offered. It has even experimented with different forms of click and collect via a locker system to compete with traditional brick and mortar stores.

These major benefits almost certainly make Amazon the first choice for many shopping online. We have discussed some of the broad trends and features that make Amazon a powerful platform for brands to reach shoppers, but each category requires unique attention. To learn more about Clavis Insight, and how we can help optimize your Amazon performance via our eCommerce intelligence soultion please contact us at info@clavisinsight.com

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Availability Track your portfolio’s state of availability by retailer, category, brand, and manufacturer to optimize your range, maxi-mize distribution, and improve sell-through.

Search Rank Understand where your products rank in search results for specific search terms to ensure your products are discoverable.

Content Integrity Monitor compliance of product content for individual SKUs by category and online retailer so that youcan make sure your products are optimized to win the digital shelf.

Category Placement Understand where your products rank in search results for search terms within target categories to ensure specific product sets are discoverable.

Ratings and Reviews Set targets for total number of product reviews and average rating score to help drive omnichannel sales.

Media Tracking Monitor online media placements for compliance and effectiveness; track category competitors.

Price and Promotions TrackingMonitor pricing and promotions for your products and your competitors’ products to make sure your products are optimized to win the digital shelf.

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Online Key Metrics

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To learn more about the Clavis Insight Index, CI2, and to find out how our Insight will enable you to maximize your digital channel performance please contact :info@clavisinsight.com

Clavis Insight is at the forefront of the ecommerce revolution, delivering ecommerce insights and online retail store analytics to a broad range of consumer products brand leaders around the world. Our Insights are designed to enable you to optimize your distribution, content integrity and online placement in the digital channel in order to protect your brand online and grow your sales.

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