How to Increase Sales on Amazon This 2023

Friend, were your Amazon sales last year able to meet your expectations? Whether you were satisfied or not, the truth is you now have a fresh opportunity to give your sales a big boost in 2023!

As an Amazon seller aiming to thrive in this highly-competitive space, you need to know how to increase sales on Amazon.

Remember – Amazon remains the largest e-commerce site worldwide. Its massive customer base allows you to make up for any losses from 2022. But growing your Amazon revenue takes more than just optimizing listings.

In this comprehensive 2300+ word guide, I‘ll share the key strategies I‘ve learned during my 10+ years as a successful Amazon seller and ecommerce expert. These tactics go far beyond listings to help you:

• Understand how Amazon measures your performance
• Optimize every aspect of your product listings
• Expand sales through multiple marketing channels
• Leverage promotions and Amazon advertising
• Analyze competitors and differentiate your brand
• Focus on customer experience and organic growth

Let‘s dive in!

How Amazon Measures Your Sales Performance

To increase organic sales on Amazon, you first need to grasp their performance metrics. As a customer-centric platform, Amazon gauges seller success based on service quality.

Get familiar with these key metrics to balance account health and boost sales:

Order Defect Rate (ODR)

The ODR shows how well you accurately describe your items‘ condition and handle issues before they escalate. Per Amazon, an order "defect" means:

• A negative product review
• Excessive customer complaints
• A credit card chargeback

Amazon calculates your ODR as total defect orders divided by total orders in a period. Aim to keep your ODR below 1% for good account health.

Pre-Fulfillment Cancellation Rate (PFCR)

Your PFCR is the percentage of orders canceled before you ship the item. Amazon wants sellers to maintain a PFCR below 2.5%. A higher rate means you‘re missing their targets.

Late Dispatch Rate (LDR)

Your LDR is the share of orders you failed to ship on time. A 4%+ LDR means you aren‘t meeting Amazon‘s on-time shipment goal. An order ships "late" if you confirm tracking 3+ days after purchase.

Policy Violations

Amazon alerts you of all policy violations via Seller Central notifications. Check these regularly to avoid repeat issues. You can view warnings under the Performance menu.

Buyer-Seller Contact Response Time (CRT)

Amazon recommends replying to buyer messages within 24 hours. Check your inbox daily and respond ASAP to prevent frustrating customers. Slow responses mean poor customer service per Amazon standards.

Now that you know how Amazon tracks performance, let‘s get into specific sales growth strategies:

10 Tips to Increase Your Amazon Sales

Growing Amazon revenue takes strategic optimization and close performance monitoring. Here are 10 tactics I recommend based on my decade of ecommerce experience:

1. Optimize Your Listings

Fully optimized listings have much higher conversion rates. Ensure your product pages check all the boxes:

• Relevant keywords in titles and backend – Research target keywords using Helium10 or other tools. Include the most important ones where it makes sense.

• Informative titles – Include your brand, item specifics like size or color, and keywords. Don‘t keyword stuff.

• Detailed descriptions – Share key features, product details, usage tips, and benefits. Help shoppers evaluate the product.

• High-quality images – Use lifestyle photos on white backgrounds. Follow Amazon image rules exactly.

• Enhanced content – Add instructional videos, comparisons, and more to showcase your items.

• Great backend metadata – Complete all required fields. Include strong features and optimize the backend too.

• HTML formatting – Use text formatting like headers, bullets, and paragraphs to improve scannability.

Consult the Category Listing Report for specific optimization gaps. Correct any issues to fully polish your listings.

Here‘s an example of a well-optimized listing:

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2. Diversify Your Marketing Channels

Yes, marketing on Amazon itself is crucial. But to maximize sales, also promote your brand and products across multiple external channels:

• Your own online store and website
• Social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok
• Search ads via Google Ads or Microsoft Advertising
• Retargeting ads through platforms like Facebook
• Industry blogs and niche websites (guest posting)
• Influencers and affiliates in your market
• Craigslist, NextDoor, local classifieds
• Print magazines, catalogs, local circulars

Spreading brand awareness across channels drives more traffic to your Amazon listings. Support all marketing efforts with coupons and promotions to boost conversions.

3. Get More Customer Reviews

Positive reviews build social proof and credibility for your brand. But getting reviews requires effort:

• Ask satisfied buyers to leave a review via email or insert cards. Time this 2-4 weeks after delivery.
• Follow up personally for top customers who enjoy your product.
• Offer incentives like discounts for leaving reviews. Just avoid pay-for-review policies.
• Respond professionally to negative reviews and seek solutions.

Overall, aim for 100+ reviews, an average rating over 4 stars, and minimal negative feedback. Monitoring your review metrics helps gauge customer satisfaction over time.

4. Leverage Amazon Advertising

With over 300 million active users, advertising directly on Amazon positions your brand before legions of potential buyers.

Amazon offers a variety of paid ads to target different stages of the buyer journey:

• Sponsored Products – Product search ads. Great for new products or keywords with high search volume.

• Sponsored Brands – Top of page brand ads with logo. Build early brand awareness.

• Sponsored Display – Banner ads on Amazon pages. Use for brand awareness outside search.

• Amazon Stores – Curated collections by theme or brand. Improves discovery.

• Video ads – Short video spots similar to YouTube. Engage browsers with motion.

Start slow and small when testing new ad types. Monitor performance and expand campaigns with positive ROI. With expertise, you can get the full advantages of Amazon‘s massive built-in audience.

5. Track Performance Metrics

Keeping tabs on your Amazon performance metrics is crucial for sales growth:

• BSR – Lower scores mean higher sales. Use tools like AMZScout to chart competitors‘ BSR over time.

• Conversion rate – The % of site visitors that become buyers. Aim for 2%+ over time.

• ACoS – Your Amazon ad spend vs. sales. Good campaigns have sub-100% ACoS.

• Keywords – See which search terms drive sales in Seller Central. Expand on winners.

• Inventory – Stay sufficiently stocked. Excess sell outs hurts BSR.

• Ratings & reviews – Monitor for issues. Feature top reviews in listings.

Routinely assessing metrics pinpoints what‘s working and where you‘re falling short. Address problems early and double down on what succeeds.

6. Analyze the Competition

To increase sales, you need to outmaneuver competing sellers. Use these tips to study and beat competitors:

• Research top sellers in your niche using Jungle Scout or Helium10. See why their listings convert.

• Use fake orders to scrutinize shipping times, packaging, inserts. Look for weaknesses.

• Check Amazon itself for listings with high ratings, reviews, sponsorship.

• Monitor competitors‘ pricing strategies over time. Undercut selectively.

• Sign up for competitors‘ emails and social accounts. Learn their promotional tactics.

• Check Google Trends for rising product searches. Ride waves early.

• Buy Google Ads accounts to estimate competitors‘ ad budgets based on bid data.

With competitors‘ data, you can differentiate yourself by improving where they fall short while maintaining any strengths.

7. Focus on Customer Experience

Happy customers become repeat, loyal buyers that order more over time. Deliver exceptional experiences:

• Fast, reliable shipping – Upgrade methods and carriers as needed.

• Top-notch support – Be available across multiple channels to resolve issues quickly.

• Easy returns – Accept returns gracefully. Make the process simple for customers.

• Order accuracy – Triple check shipments. Prevent incorrect items or shipping errors.

• Packaging – Use custom boxes, inserts, and branding to delight customers upon unboxing.

• Post-purchase communication – Email tracking info, shipping confirmations, and thank you messages.

• Address bad reviews – Kill complainers with kindness by apologizing and making things right.

• Wow VIP buyers – Send handwritten notes or small gifts to top customers.

Exceptional support and service earns customer loyalty that lasts for years and across platforms.

8. Build an Email List

Collecting customer emails allows you to drive repeat sales through promotional messages. Grow your list:

• Request emails at checkout and in packaging inserts
• Offer coupons or discounts for joining your list
• Promote your list across marketing channels
  -partner with an influencer to access their list
• Run giveaways requiring email entry

Send regular emails with:

• New product announcements/launches
• Holiday promotions and sales
• Customer surveys and feedback requests
• Content like how-to‘s and buyer‘s guides
• Coupons, promo codes, and special offers

Email nurturing beyond Amazon keeps you top of mind so customers come to you first.

9. Differentiate With Private Label Brands

Rather than selling generic products in a crowded market, develop your own unique, high-quality private label items that stand out from cheap competitors.

Private labeling allows you to:

• Better highlight your brand values and identity
• Fix issues with existing products your buyers complain about
• Add exclusive features competitors lack
• Charge premium pricing backed up by quality
• Double your profit margins or more

Use surveys and reviews to find exactly what customers want. Manufacture it directly working with domestic or overseas suppliers and factories.

With a polished brand and listings, private labels ascend much faster than competing against thousands of race-to-the-bottom sellers.

10. Use Ecommerce Tools

Third party tools help automate and streamline many sales-boosting processes:

• Jungle Scout – Product research, estimating sales potential, and tracking opportunities
• Helium 10 – Product research, estimating sales, managing keywords
• AMZScout – Estimating competitors‘ sales, tracking keywords
• Splitly – Improving listing conversion rates via split testing
• FeedVisor – Helps create and optimize Amazon product listings
• JumpSend – Email marketing and collecting product reviews
• Teikametrics – Reprices your catalog based on competitors
• SellerApp – Repricing, inventory alerts, and order tracking

The right tools amplify your efforts across product research, creating listings, collecting reviews, automating pricing, managing inventory, order tracking, and more.

Invest in tools that streamline your unique pain points as you grow your business.

Final Thoughts

Expanding your Amazon sales takes strategic planning, close performance monitoring, constant optimization, and going above and beyond for customers.

Rather than relying on random extra sales during Prime Day or Q4 holidays, use the steps in this guide to build sustainable year-round growth.

The tactics covered above help increase sales by optimizing your presence on Amazon while diversifying across other channels. They will push your revenue, profits, and store authority drastically higher over time.

But if you ever need an extra hand, don‘t hesitate to reach out! With over 10 years successfully selling on Amazon, I‘d be happy to offer tailored advice to push your sales to the next level this year.

Just click below to schedule a free 30 minute consultation. Looking forward to connecting!

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