Wherever you look, you can find a story of growth linked to selling on Amazon. In this article, we discuss the Amazon strategy that can be employed by women entrepreneurs to build unprecedented success on Amazon. Here’s how.
Amazon selling case studies
Case 1: GiftPiper
GiftPiper’s primary focus is on selling handcrafted ethnic products. They only curate the best indigenous designs and work to source products from the artisans themselves. Since the niche itself is quite narrow, and the number of SKUs are often limited for handcrafted products, Richa found Amazon to be a great marketing tool.
As a marketplace that commands immense amounts of trust, Amazon offers a hassle-free platform to grow your business on. The eyeballs are already there on Amazon, and you just need to stand out with good product descriptions, high-quality images and an excellent service record. In other words, selling on Amazon has allowed Richa to focus on business operations without worrying about marketing to a large audience.
There are a few key takeaways worth highlighting about GiftPiper’s Amazon journey:
- While listing under Fulfilment By Amazon (FBA) can be rather expensive to begin with, the benefits far outweigh the costs. For one, FBA products with the ‘Prime’ tag tend to move off the shelves faster, thus boosting sales volume. GiftPiper has been able to boost sales by using this strategy.
- Retailers from all over the world sell on Amazon USA and pay a fee for this opportunity. GiftPiper is no exception. However, Richa finds that the opportunity to list to a wider audience that appreciates quality products is a distinct benefit, both for sales and for branding. If you have a unique product range, Amazon can give your brand that much-needed visibility.
Case 2: Shumee
Shumee is a toy brand that creates conscious, long-lasting toys that leave a minimal footprint on the planet. Founder Meeta is very conscious of the brand message and strives to build a dialogue around the company’s philosophy.
When the time came to make a decision about selling on marketplaces, Amazon’s trust factor was a huge determinant. Toys, as we all know, are a very personal experience for parents and their children, and Meeta finds that this message that “Shumee cares about your children” comes across well on the marketplace.
Since Shumee began selling on Amazon, the brand has multiplied its revenues over twelve times over. Meeta is confident that this is still just the beginning, and sales can be increased many times over by continuing to invest in Amazon.
Are you looking to list your products on Amazon as well? Here are a few key pointers from Shumee’s experience:
- Visibility can often be a challenge on Amazon. When you sell in a crowded niche, your business needs to work harder to stand out. To do this, Shumee is investing in sponsored ads and also working to improve the on-page details for each listed product. If you too are entering a crowded niche, it may be a good idea to set yourself apart in the very beginning.
- Amazon helps you reach a wider audience base. However, the onus is on you to convert these customers into loyal ones who can recommend you. Shumee has a very personal, conversational email campaign strategy that helps them get reviews, be heard on social media and enables quick redressal of issues. As you scale up through Amazon, it is worth thinking about the processes through which you will do business.
Case 3: ApkaMart
Sakshi’s foray into the world of ecommerce was not easy, or smooth. They had their backend in place- inventory, good products, better descriptions and everything that an online retail store needs. However, this didn’t instantly bring customers to their site in droves.
ApkaMart in vernacular literally translates to ‘your mart’. The site curates and sells products that cater to home decor needs, and also has a section for womenswear. ApkaMart was founded around the time when Amazon was entering India, and when Sakshi got a call to sign up as a vendor, she signed up instantly.
Today, ApkaMart reports a 100% growth in sales year-on-year, and attributes a fair amount of this growth to Amazon. How did she do it?
- ApkaMart uses Amazon as a way to establish brand recall. Four and five star reviews on Amazon help establish ApkaMart as a reliable brand.
- In order to diversify sales, Apkamart invests equal amounts in building the online store’s visibility. The products have accurate, detailed descriptions and loyalty programs help build a repeat purchase behavior.
- Since ApkaMart sells through multiple channels, they use Primaseller to help manage their inventory in a sophisticated, quick and efficient manner. Sakshi adds, “Primaseller has been a blessing for us helping us manage our inventory across all our portals. Linking different SKUs, making changes to them and syncing the inventory when it moves from FBA to non FBA on Amazon.
As their respective businesses begin to grow in sales volume across Amazon and their own web stores, all three entrepreneurs are keen to adopt sophisticated inventory management products to keep accurate tabs on inventory.
