How To Sell On Amazon In 2024, A Step-By-Step Comprehensive Guide

In the bustling realm of online commerce, Amazon stands as an unrivalled platform cherished by both buyers and sellers alike. To meet the surging demands of sellers, Amazon introduced its revolutionary FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) service, empowering entrepreneurs to transform their business aspirations into reality. Whether you’re a seasoned retailer or a novice entrepreneur, Amazon offers an unparalleled avenue to realize your business ambitions.

What Is Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA)

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) simplifies your business logistics. The concept is straightforward: Amazon stores your inventory, handles order fulfillment, and provides customer support. To embark on this journey, you must first establish an Amazon seller account and incorporate the FBA service. Ensuring your business adheres to Amazon’s guidelines is crucial during this initial phase.

The process involves creating optimized product listings, managing inventory, and seamlessly integrating your inventory data into the Amazon ecosystem. Once your products are primed for sale, they find a new home in Amazon’s warehouses. When a customer places an order, Amazon’s FBA takes over, managing order fulfillment, shipping, and even customer service, around the clock, so you don’t have too.

One of the key advantages for third party sellers is the automation of inventory management, packaging, and shipping logistics. The FBA system offers an streamlined process to simplify the way you run your Amazon business as they take care of the majority of the labour intensive day to day tasks of running any normal brick and mortar business so you can simply operate from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. Notably, Amazon’s robust FBA framework scales effortlessly, enabling you to expand your enterprise on a global scale, as Amazon has now set up FBA warehouses all across the globe. Furthermore, Amazon FBA sellers enjoy perks like the buy box, product visibility, one to two day prime shipping, low cost shipping rates and much more.

As an Amazon FBA seller When it comes to cost-effectiveness, Amazon FBA fees are highly competitive compared to alternative fulfillment centers. As a seller, you aren’t confined to Amazon alone—you can harness the FBA program to sell your existing brand/product listing across various platforms to boost sales.

The Financial Leap Of How To Sell On Amazon

Embarking on your journey to selling on Amazon, the ensuing guide illuminates the right steps to help new sellers to flourish as an Amazon FBA seller. If you’re launching your ecommerce store, this comprehensive guide serves as an invaluable roadmap to navigate the world of Amazon FBA. Let’s commence this transformative journey together.

1. Plan Your Business Journey

Having a solid business plan is the foundation of your Amazon FBA empire. Create a plan that includes your business goals, market research, products you want to sell, how you’ll market and sell your products to customers, competitor research and deciding which competitors to order samples from, and a cost effective financial outline. Research is crucial, you need to look at market trends, study your competitors, decide what products you want to offer, and set aside resources for sourcing, marketing, and promotions. Make a rough schedule for your business and match it with important tasks and other factors.

2. Select Your Niche

Picking the right niche is vital for a successful Amazon FBA journey. Do thorough research to find products that are popular and match your interests. Don’t worry though if you are unsure how to match a product to your interests, this is simply a potential way to find a niche if you are knowledgable about a specific product you may know how to compete and see windows of opportunity more easily, but it is not essential to do this to be a success, the most important thing is ensuring there is enough demand for your product and also a clear gap in the market. Come up with something unique about your products that will catch people’s attention, and avoid products that are only popular for a short time or easily break.

3. Investigate The Market

After picking your niche, it’s time to do some serious research. Keep an eye on how much your competitors are selling over a period of time. This will help you understand the market and your niche better. You can also talk to potential suppliers or customers by examining the product category and investigating multiple competitor reviews within the category you are planning on selling in to see what potential mistakes your competition has made and this can be a great way to find a window of opportunity if you can fix these mistakes with your product. Another way is through surveys to learn what they think about your product before you start selling. If you see that sales are steady, it’s a good sign to move forward with your plan, especially in stable markets.

4. Research Suppliers

Finding reliable suppliers is a big step in your journey. There are different ways to get information about suppliers, like Alibaba and B2B platforms such as AliExpress. Make a list of possible suppliers and get their details. You can also go to trade shows to meet suppliers in person and learn about their products and reputation. Be careful and check suppliers well to avoid scams.

Learn about sample products, prices, how many you need to order (minimum order quantities), shipping costs, and how good the products are. Understand how you can pay and the terms for payments, matching them with what you need. It’s important to get samples to check the product’s quality. You can do this by yourself or with experts who inspect products. This will help you pick the right supplier.

5. Place Your First Order

Once you’ve confirmed your supplier, take the step of placing your first order. Begin with a small order to gauge how the market responds and gather insights from customer feedback. This initial trial helps you understand how the market works and guides your next steps.

Keep up regular communication with your supplier to avoid confusion and keep tabs on the progress of production. Streamline your specifications and revisions to ensure you’re on the same page. Make sure to carry out quality checks, examining raw materials, production steps, and finished products.

6. Create Your Amazon Account

To start selling on Amazon you need to have an Amazon seller central account, If you don’t have an Amazon seller account, start by creating one. You can choose between an individual plan or a professional plan, each with its own features. The individual account is free but charges around $1 per sold item, while the pro account costs $39.99 per month and comes with extra benefits. Pick the account type that suits your business size and goals.

It can be a good idea to initially set up an individual plan especially if you are ordering your product via sea shipping as this can take months to arrive, so by initially setting up your account as an individual, you won’t have to pay the monthly fee while you are waiting for your stock to arrive at the Amazon warehouse, and then when your stock does arrive you can still convert to the professional plan before you start selling if this plan better suits your Amazon business.

7. Create Your Product Listing

Develop compelling listings that showcase your products effectively on Amazon. Pay close attention to details, including high-quality images and thorough product information. Your product detail page should have a consistent branded feel and be optimized with relevant keywords to enhance visibility and engagement and to show up in your customers search results. If you have a smaller inventory, manual listing can be effective, while larger inventories can be uploaded using spreadsheets. Ensure your listings reflect your brand and resonate with customers, which is essential when selling on Amazon.

8. Efficiently Handle Inventory

Skillful inventory management is essential for Amazon FBA sellers. Keeping the right amount of products in stock is crucial for smooth order fulfillment. Develop a proactive inventory plan to ensure your products are always ready for customers. This includes also allowing additional time for potential unforseen delays which can be either on the shipping companies end or on the Amazon warehouse end as sometimes both sides can be very busy, especially around the holiday season so it is wise to allow additional time for this, communication with your supplier is essential to stay ahead of the game and ensure you are aware of anything that may cause a delay.

As orders are placed, Amazon automatically adjusts your inventory levels. It is also good to know that if you are too low on stock Amazon will sometimes increase your shipping times to customers as in order to meet next day delivery demands your stock is distributed to various fulfillment centers across the country you are selling in so that they can deliver your items locally to speed up the delivery process. So if there is not enough excess inventory to achieve this your shipping times will be increased. It is hard to put an exact figure on this as it varies depending on the demand of your product but as a general rule of thumb aim to always have 2-3 months of stock in Amazon at all times. Predict potential stock shortages, adapt your marketing tactics, and reorder from suppliers when necessary.

9. Customer Reviews

Recognize the significance of customer reviews in your Amazon FBA journey, especially in terms of product quality. Feedback influences buying decisions and establishes credibility with potential buyers.

Positive reviews naturally stem from quality products and customer satisfaction, fostering a positive reputation and increasing sales. On the flip side if you do receive any negative reviews this can help highlight any potential quality issues that may have been missed by your supplier, meaning you can then go ahead and fix these issues before making your next order.

Additionally, consider participating in Amazon Vine, a program where trusted reviewers provide honest opinions about new products. This can enhance your product’s visibility and reliability, making it more appealing to customers.

10. Boost Your Product Listings

Increase your sales potential by perfecting your product detail pages. Consistent enhancement is a hallmark of successful Amazon sellers.

Begin optimizing by focusing on keywords. Thorough keyword research enriches product titles, descriptions, and features. Leverage Amazon’s algorithm to expand your product’s visibility.

Images carry significant influence. Utilize a set of 7 images, displaying products from different angles, explaining dimensions, features, and designs. Additionally if you register a trademark for your brand you will gain access to Amazon’s Brand Registry which gives sellers a range of additional features. one of which is called ‘Enhanced Brand Content’ Also referred to as ‘A+ Content’. This allows you to add additional images into your product description to further showcase all of the benefits of your product and it makes you stand out from your competitors who do not have access to this feature.

Strategically present product features. Highlight essential information in a concise but impactful way. Address buyer interests and concerns, including warranties and guarantees.

Craft product descriptions with engaging language. Formulate brief yet clear keyworded sentences to boost sales and conversions.

In Closing

Embarking on an Amazon FBA journey as a beginner might feel overwhelming, but armed with these tips, you’re ready to thrive. Each step guides your way, turning your business dreams into real achievements. Follow these instructions to unlock your Amazon FBA potential and elevate your entrepreneurial journey to greater levels.

Additionally if you found this informational useful and you are looking to get started, We offer a free masterclass which breaks down exactly how to find your first product and how to analyse your market correctly to see opportunities that would normally be missed. Click the link below to get started!