There is a lot of good advice on Q4 on Amazon. I don’t want to repeat it. What I am going to do is share with you what I do NOT see in all that advice out there, but what I know to be true after years of Q4 on Amazon.
Truth 1:
Q4 does not end in December, it ends in January.
We think of Q4 is calendar terms and in holidays terms. December holidays end, and we move on to Q1. But Amazon shoppers are not done.
A lot of them got Amazon gift cards they are eagerly using in January. A lot returned those candles or ugly sweaters from aunt Susie and are using money from returns to buy what they really want.
A lot are stocking up on essentials of life, now that life is back to normal routine.
And, of course, let’s not forget New Year resolution crowd shopping for healthier lifestyle, everything from food to supplements, to exercise gear and clothing, to, who knows, maybe another Marie Kondo cleansing wave?
Capitalize on those trends. Holiday shopping frenzy is not over until it’s over
Truth 2:
Building on the truth 1, it’s all about inventory management (for those of you using FBA on Seller Central).
Plan your inventory for a better case scenario, but send in for the best case scenario.
In simple words: send in more than you think you will need.
Here is why:
- Amazon is notoriously slow in receiving shipments during holidays. We have seen some non-pallet shipments in November and December take up to 3 weeks. Painful, but if you plan for it you’ll be the wiser kind.
- When your competition is in out of stock dust in January you will be picking up their shoppers. Nature does not like vacuum, neither does Amazon competitive landscape. By simply being in stock in January can give you additional gains.
Truth 3:
This applies only on Seller Central, and, in some cases, on a hybrid model:
Raise your prices.
I am surprised why this is not talked about more often. Amazon removed price parity requirement, so this is no longer against Amazon TOS.
I would not be giving a piece of advice that we have not tested. Multiple times. In different product categories. When implemented correctly raising prices actually leads to MORE sales.
So if you have not considered that, do look at that now, as Q4 is the most forgiving time to raise prices.
Here are caveats though:
- If you have unauthorized resellers, or authorized ones that you share the Buy Box with, you need to examine impact of raising prices. It is a lot cleaner to implement when you are in 100% ownership of the Buy Box
- Test and make sure your advertising continues running as expected. At time Amazon sneakily suppresses you from the Buy Box, price change can be on of the factors
- Consider how you raising price may impact your retail and off-Amazon partners. But usually it’s dropping price on Amazon, not raising it, that could cause tension there
And here are 3 truths on what others won’t tell you about Q4 on Amazon. If you want to talk about how to get the most results on Amazon in Q4 – let’s connect here.