succeeding on amazon & ebay as search engines by frank kochenash
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Succeeding on Amazon and eBay
as Search Engines
October 2013
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Ensures the world’s leading retailers are visible, competitive, and profitablewherever consumers shop online.
Mercent: technology and services for retailers
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Amazon is a search engine
As of July 2012:• 30 percent of online buyers use Amazon to research first• Google attracted 13 percent• “Amazon is the first stop on the shopping journey for more and more shoppers;
in recent years, it appears to have taken market share from search engines like Google, the dominant incumbent in shopping research”
• In 2001 Amazon accounted for 9% of US eCommerce sales• In 2011 Amazon accounted for 19% of US eCommerce sales• Amazon US growth rates have consistently been in the 20%+ annually
Source: Forrester Research quoted at:http://venturebeat.com/2012/07/26/amazon-online-shoppers-research/#14o1oVRyubfHzthx.99
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ASINs and Catalog Amazon standard identification number (ASIN) is the atomic unit of Amazon
Suppliers
Retailers
Amazon editors
ASINCatalog
Product data
[ ]
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[ ?]Product detail pageASINs come to life on Product detail pages
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Offer listing page (OLP)Multiple seller offers compete on the OLP [ ?]
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Winning the buy box
Factors for winning the Buy Box
Product price
Shipping price
Fulfillment
Seller standing and eligibility (featured merchant)
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Sell on Amazon or not?
Sell on Amazon Advertise on Amazon
• Sale transacted in Amazon’s cart
• Sale referred to and transacted on retailer site
• Amazon “owns” customer • Retailer “owns” customer
• CPA • CPC
• Greater total sales opportunity
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“8 person tents” on Google
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Search results page (all)Structured data, organic listings + Sponsored Ads + Sponsored Links
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Search results page (department)Structured data, organic listings + Sponsored Ads + Sponsored Links + Product Ads
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Product detail pageContent drives relevance, more paid ad opportunities
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eBay – Search results page
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eBay – Product page
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eBay product page – Top and Bottom
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Levers to improve search rank and sales
Content
– Improve and submit better and more content
Rating
– Improve seller ratings (if you’re selling)
– Monitor feedback (if you’re selling)
Price
– Dynamically reprice aggressively
Advertising
– Sponsored ads (Amazon only)
– Product ads (Amazon only)
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1. Submit or correct product data to improve search rank
Images: send more, resolve broken
Resolve ASIN matching errors
Include Featured Bullets
Add descriptions, short and long
Include MSRP vs. Sale Price
Include search keywords
– Cross-populate from PLA and SEM
Include UPC and MPN
Add brand to titles
Classify properly
Remove non-white backgrounds
Resolve matching errors
Think about revenue per sku (RPS) –every error resolved increases total
revenue by RPS on average
One established retailer demonstrates payback on error resolution within 2
months
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2. Add and improving product data to drive glance views and sales
Working on this slide
For a household goods retailer, adding feature bullets and descriptions
increased daily sales 47%
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3. Use Sponsored Ads to drive traffic and jump-start new Accounts and products
For a new seller on Amazon in a highly competitive category, using Sponsored enabled them to achieve Best Sellers
status within 2 months of launch.
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Getting started with Sponsored Ads
• Like Google PLA but with a keyword layer• Refers clicks to Amazon product detail page
with advertiser’s offer
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4. Dynamically reprice aggressively
Started dynamic repricing with Mercent
Across many retailers, using dynamic pricing in an aggressive way allows
goals to be achieved (usually increase in sales and gross profit)
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5. Leverage Product Ads for efficient traffic and sales to your website
Amazon Product Ads (APA) is typically best performing Shopping feed channel
after Google
Many retailer complement Marketplace with APA
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Getting started with Product Ads
• Like Comparison Shopping Engine/network• Refers clicks to retailer website (off Amazon)
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6. Use Daily Deals, Best Deals, Lightning Deals, Gold Box
For many clients, Daily Deals are the single biggest way to drive sales and
improve rating on eBay
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7. Leverage promotions
Site Placement
Targeted Emails
Exclusivity –Site Manager
Seller Central Manage Promotions
Best Deals
Lightening Deals
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Concluding thoughts
Be there
– Sell + Sponsored Ads + Daily Deals
– Or, Don’t sell but do Product Ads
Always improve product data, but especially when you are the only seller/advertiser
Use Sponsored Ads to accelerate new stores and new products
Beware of grey hat tactics (as always)
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Thank you!
Questions?