How to increase sales on Amazon: 7 tips for Q4

Guest post by Liran Hirschkorn of Incrementum Digital

The Q4 sales cycle is the busiest time of year for eCommerce stores and retailers alike. For Amazon sellers especially, Q4 is an amazing opportunity to maximize sales and outshine competitors. Good execution could mean doubling or tripling revenue from all of the previous quarters combined. 

This year, whoever has inventory is king due to ongoing supply chain disruptions. Below, we walk through how to increase sales on Amazon during the 2021 holiday shopping season. We’ll also include tips to get your shop restocked for 2022.

1. Target Competitors Who Are Low on Inventory

Since inventory is going to be low this year, monitor competing products to see which brands are going out of stock early. When you notice competitors are low on inventory, target those brand names in ads so your in-stock product will appear instead. This is especially crucial if they are are out of stock.

If one or multiple products in your shop is low in stock, it’s time to think about reordering inventory for 2022. An 8fig Growth Plan can give you a birds eye view of your supply chain and provide capital to accelerate your path to growth. 

2. Partner with a Third-Party Warehouse for Merchant Fulfillment 

If you want to make the most of holiday spending, you can’t just rely on Amazon FBA to fulfill your orders. This is because after a certain date, you’ll no longer be able to send stock into FBA for the holiday season due to backlogging. 

Instead, enlist the help of a third party warehouse who can fulfill throughout the holiday season. This may allow you to fulfil closer to Christmas when it’s too late to send stock into FBA, allowing you to capitalize on more sales throughout the busiest shopping period of the year. 

3. Display Holiday Creative in Your Storefront and Ads

Your Amazon storefront can (and should) be just as festive as the Macy’s window display in New York City. Get into the spirit of the season by updating your content with holiday imagery and messaging. This is a great way to highlight your products as an essential gift item or stocking stuffer. 

Check out how Dash, a kitchen supply store, is using their storefront to push holiday product sales below. 

You should also consider updating the creative in Amazon-related posts and with any outside advertising you’re doing, such as PPC, Google Ads, social media, and more. Once you’ve mastered holiday marketing this Q4, make it a habit in 2022 so you can capitalize on New Year’s purchases, Valentine’s Day shopping, and more. 

4. Get Seasonal With Your Keyword Strategy 

As an Amazon seller, you’re probably well aware that most product categories are heavily impacted by seasonality. But even if your items see the highest searches in warmer weather, you can rebrand summer items as stocking stuffers or holiday gifts for mom to capitalize on timely search queries. 

To find these opportunities, you’ll want to conduct keyword research before the big shopping season really takes off. Implementing strategies to rank organically for keywords in Q4 can really pay off if you’re able to capture organic rankings. The key here is to start early: it’s a little too late to rank once we’re in peak shopping season. 

5. Increase Your Advertising Spend

If you have the inventory, consider increasing your Amazon ad spend for popular periods such as the Cyber 5 (Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday). During these high-trafficked days, you should see better results with Amazon advertising since conversions are higher. 

The Amazon Demand-Side Platform (DSP) lets you target audiences throughout the entire Amazon ecosystem and on third-party sites. You can decide whether to showcase your product as a display ad, video ad, or both, and don’t forget to update your advertising copy and visuals with a seasonal tie.

6. Maximize Profits by Raising Prices on In-Demand Items 

Don’t just maximize your sales in Q4, max out your profits as well. Shoppers are willing to pay more the closer it gets to Christmas Day so you can raise prices throughout the holiday season. Another great time to raise prices is when your stock is running low. 

With operating costs and supply chain disruptions anticipated well into 2022 and beyond, you’ll thank yourself later for raising prices this quarter and capitalizing on high consumer demand. 

7. Plan Inventory Ahead of 2022 and Chinese New Year 

During the holiday hustle and bustle, you’ll also want to think beyond Q4 sales and map out your 2022 Growth Plan. Consider your product lead time and place most, if not all, of the inventory you need in early 2022 before the end of the year. 

Also be aware of Chinese New Year: your last order in Q4 may be the last you place before this momentous holiday. Wondering how this could impact your inventory orders in 2022? Starting at the beginning of February, many factories in China stop producing for nearly a month in honor of the holiday celebrations. Year over year, this event causes disruptions in the global supply chain. The good news? You can beat out your competition by planning ahead. 

Now that you know how to increase sales on Amazon and your strategy is set for Q4, you’re an 8-figure Amazon seller in the making. 8fig can help get you there by funding your supply chain with continuous and adaptable, equity-free capital. Don’t need funding quite yet? Setting up an 8fig Growth Plan is free and gives you full access to our supply chain planning software.