While the coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc across the world, the rules in place to push people to stay at home and self-isolate has caused a substantial increase in online sales with people flocking to the most trusted online player, Amazon. Everyone is changing their behaviours in a massive way and that includes shopping more online.

Over the last month we saw Amazon prioritising the stocking of essential products and the trend continued into the latter half of March and into early April. Instead of relying on its typical algorithm, Amazon has been awarding the Buy Box to products that can fulfil orders fastest. 

In particular to the Toys & Games category, the most searched for terms during March were “puzzles”, “arts & craft for kids”,  “board games” and “outdoor toys”. These keywords ranked in the top 200 search terms on Amazon which shows the huge opportunity for suppliers in these categories. And with Amazon’s traffic increasing every day, investing in Amazon’s search is a huge chance to increase ‘new to brand’ customers.

With so much uncertainty occurring in product supply, Amazon’s bestsellers have shifted quickly with products that have been in top100 positions for long periods of time, falling out due to demand.

This represents the potential for brands with ample stock to secure a position in the top 100 bestseller list! This will result in increased views and conversion that eventually leads to further sales

So what are the quick strategies brands could adopt to win on Amazon:

• Content
  Optimising your content couldn’t be more important right now. Good quality images with detailed product descriptions will help you convert your customers more leading to improving demand. Enhanced content will help convey a brand value, providing customer relevance and increasing customer engagement.
• Reviews
  Customers are now also spending more time reading reviews online. Reviews not only have the power to influence consumer decisions but can strengthen a company’s credibility. Reviews have the power to gain customer trust, and they encourage people to interact with the company. During this time, it’s important to read your own reviews and help answer customers queries in the Q&A section.
• Amazon Advertising
  Shift your product and budget focus. Evaluating any recent changes in your campaign performance and re-allocating pounds to the most efficient products and campaigns. Understand which products are seeing increases and decreases and tailor your budgets on this. Is now the time to double down on advertising to capture channel switchers?

Prime Day

With rumours of Prime Day moving to August, will Prime Day be as successful as it has been in the past? It takes time for the business to return to normal and for brands to stabilise. Regardless of the reprioritised shipments and modifications to purchase orders (POs), it will not be feasible for Prime Day in July. Particularly because there are huge supply chain challenges for brands and it is unlikely to be able to replenish inventory by July.

This is a challenging time for brands and marketplaces. But I encourage you to view this as an opportunity and to consider how your brand can position itself for long-term success. There will be no doubt some casualties from this pandemic. Brands that have not had much success on Amazon historically should see greater opportunities with shifting focus on trading online. The demand and consumers are there!

If you could use the support of a strategic partner to help navigate this uncertain environment, please contact Etopia Consultancy.