Amazon has made it easier than ever for businesses to sell their products through an Amazon storefront. With millions of customers shopping on Amazon every day, opening a storefront gives you instant access to a massive customer base. But with so many sellers on Amazon, how do you make your storefront stand out? This comprehensive guide will walk you through everything you need to know about starting and optimizing an Amazon storefront.
What is an Amazon storefront?
An Amazon storefront allows you to sell your products directly on Amazon just like any other seller. Your storefront will have a unique customized name and branding that helps identify your business on Amazon. When customers search for products on Amazon, your listings will show up alongside Amazon’s own listings and those of other sellers. If customers click on your listing, they’ll be taken to your storefront that contains all your products.
Having a storefront makes you eligible for promotions like the Buy Box and gives you access to powerful selling tools only available to Amazon sellers. Unlike third-party selling where you simply list your items on Amazon, a storefront allows you to have a personalized presence and brand identity on the marketplace.
Benefits of having an Amazon storefront
Here are some of the main benefits of having your own branded storefront on Amazon:
- Exposure to over 310 million active Amazon customers worldwide
- Eligibility for Amazon Prime and free fast shipping programs
- Ability to win the Buy Box and get more sales
- Powerful selling tools and analytics not available to non-sellers
- Better branding, customization and ownership of your presence on Amazon
- Higher sales conversion rates from improved store presentation
Amazon brings in close to $200 billion in retail sales annually, making it by far the largest online marketplace today. An Amazon storefront gives you direct access to tap into a slice of that revenue through millions of built-in customers. The benefits easily outweigh the costs and efforts of setting up and maintaining a storefront.
Types of Amazon storefronts
Amazon offers two main types of storefronts:
Professional Seller Account
With a Professional Seller account, you pay $39.99 per month plus additional selling fees. This gives you access to Amazon’s full suite of selling tools to help manage and grow your business.
Benefits include:
- Custom business name and brand pages
- Product promotions like coupons and deals
- Volume pricing and quantity discounts
- Product bundling
- Premium reporting and analytics
Professional Seller accounts are best suited for established businesses ready to invest in their Amazon presence. However, the subscription fee makes it expensive for new sellers testing the waters.
Individual Seller Account
If you just want to get started without much upfront cost, an Individual Seller plan is the way to go. It costs $0.99 per item sold in selling fees without any monthly subscription.
Benefits of an Individual Seller account include:
- Low cost entry point to sell on Amazon
- Easy account setup and listing process
- Basic selling tools and analytics
- Option to upgrade to a Pro account later
This seller account works best for new sellers making less than 40 sales per month. Once your sales volume grows, you can always upgrade to unlock additional capabilities.
How to set up an Amazon seller account
Here are the main steps to set up an Amazon seller account for your storefront:
- Sign up – Go to Amazon Services Seller Central and click Sign Up. Choose between Professional and Individual accounts.
- Enter account details – Provide your business information, contact info, bank account details etc to complete your profile.
- List products – Use Amazon bulk uploading templates or manually enter product details one by one.
- Ship products – When you make sales, ship items directly to customers yourself.
- Manage account – Track sales, inventory, orders, and handle customer communication within Seller Central.
It typically takes less than an hour to fully set up a seller account. Amazon provides step-by-step instructions on every page during signup to guide you through the process. Take advantage of features like bulk product listing and order fulfillment automation to save time.
How to choose a name for your Amazon storefront
Your seller name will appear throughout your storefront and product listings so it needs to reflect your brand properly. Here are some tips for choosing the right store name on Amazon:
- Use your business or website name for brand consistency.
- Keep it short, simple and easy to remember.
- Make sure it hasn’t already been trademarked.
- Check name availability on Amazon Seller Central.
- Consider keywords if different from your brand name.
- Add context like ‘Tech’, ‘Store’, ‘Shop’ if generic name.
- Use your personal name if selling as an individual.
You can’t change your seller name after setting it up without creating a new account. So take the time to find a name that works for your brand. Use Amazon’s name check tool before registering to ensure it’s available.
How to customize and design your Amazon storefront
With a Professional Seller account, you can fully customize the look and feel of your Amazon store through Seller Central.
Things you can customize include:
- Profile photo and cover image
- Shop icon and logo
- Color theme
- Homepage design and layout
- Product galleries
- Featured videos or content
- Store policies and branding
Use high-resolution, visually appealing images that represent your brand across your storefront. Create a consistent look and feel through your color scheme, fonts, and layout. Refresh your content and visuals regularly to showcase new products.
You can also drive more customization and branding through self-publishing product detail pages. This allows you to customize product images, descriptions, titles, attributes etc.
Experiment with different homepage layouts and visuals to determine what converts visitors best into buyers. The more customized your store is, the more trust and authority you convey to shoppers.
How to optimize your Amazon storefront for SEO
Optimizing your Amazon store for search engine optimization (SEO) helps increase your visibility in product searches.
Here are some tips for optimizing SEO on your Amazon seller store:
- Include target keywords in your store name and product listings.
- Write compelling SEO-friendly product descriptions for each item.
- Categorize your items properly to improve navigation.
- Update product catalog information like price, quantity, images etc. frequently.
- Use search-friendly titles, bullet points, and backend keywords.
- Generate more sales and reviews to improve ranking on Amazon.
You can also drive more outside traffic to your Amazon store by optimizing your own website and social channels. Include links to your storefront, promote new products, and coordinate promotions across channels.
Amazon is itself highly optimized for onsite search. So focusing on title, descriptions, reviews and conversion metrics is more impactful than complex offsite SEO tactics.
How to drive traffic to your Amazon storefront
Beyond onsite SEO, getting more traffic to your Amazon store from external channels is crucial for sales. Here are some of the top ways to drive traffic:
- Amazon Marketing Services – Amazon Ads, Promoted Listings, Coupons etc.
- Social Media Promotion – Instagram, Facebook, TikTok etc.
- Influencer Marketing – Paying influencers or collaborating on giveaways.
- External Ads and Partnerships – Google Ads, affiliate marketing etc.
- Content Marketing – Blog posts, guides, videos optimized for SEO.
- Email Marketing – Promotions and announcements to subscriber list.
- Retargeting Ads – Remarketing visitors who left without purchasing.
Amazon’s own paid advertising and promotional tools tend to deliver the highest ROI. Take full advantage of the platforms built-in customer targeting and analytics for the best results.
Driving recurring visitors through evergreen content performs better long-term than short-lived promotions. Aim for a balance across traffic channels for sustained growth.
Tips for managing your Amazon seller account
Running your Amazon storefront successfully requires staying on top of your seller account management. Here are some top tips:
- Monitor your Seller Central account daily to stay on top of orders, inventory etc.
- Manage returns and exchanges promptly per your store policies.
- Respond to customer questions and reviews quickly.
- Keep your account settings, policies and listings up to date.
- Check for policy violation warnings and resolve them fast.
- Use available analytics to optimize listings and business operations.
- Automate tasks like inventory updates and order processing where possible.
- Sign up for Brand Registry to gain more control over product listings.
The more hands on you are with daily account management, the better your seller performance will be. Set aside an hour a day for handling support queries, tracking sales, processing orders etc. Staying engaged leads to higher sales and customer satisfaction.
Best Practices for setting up an Amazon storefront
Here are some top best practices to follow when setting up and running your Amazon store:
- Use high quality product images and optimize listings fully.
- Maintain sufficient inventory levels for popular items.
- Provide good product descriptions, titles, and back-end keywords.
- Personalize your storefront design with branding elements.
- Set competitive prices but don’t sacrifice profit unnecessarily.
- Offer fast shipping and top rated customer service.
- Run promotions and deals during peak seasons or events.
- Use tools like FBA, automated PPC etc to simplify management.
- Actively request and monitor customer reviews.
- Analyze data regularly to identify opportunities for improvement.
Success on Amazon requires both art and science. Master the technical elements of listings and account management. But also craft a compelling brand and customer experience through your storefront.
Mistakes to avoid with your Amazon storefront
When getting set up on Amazon, be sure to avoid these common mistakes:
- Not fully optimizing titles, descriptions, images etc.
- Failing to differentiate from competitors on price, brands etc.
- Poor communication with customers leading to complaints.
- Listing products in incorrect categories.
- Out of stock inventory from failing to manage FBA properly.
- Allowing reviews to stagnate or remain mostly negative.
- Not monitoring your Seller Central account frequently enough.
- Failing to take advantage of Amazon’s built-in traffic sources.
- Relying too heavily on Amazon without a standalone brand presence.
Learn from the mistakes of less successful sellers. Talk to experienced sellers, read forums, and find a mentor if needed. Selling on Amazon has a learning curve so be patient and keep improving.
How to be successful selling on Amazon
Here are some top tips for selling successfully on Amazon:
- Offer competitive pricing but don’t sacrifice all profit.
- Keep popular products well-stocked to avoid going out of stock.
- Provide excellent customer service via policies, communication etc.
- Take quality product photos and optimize listings fully.
- Leverage Fulfilled By Amazon (FBA) for faster shipping.
- Promote your store and products consistently across channels.
- Analyze data to identify and improve underperforming areas.
- Focus on building a strong brand presence on and off Amazon.
- Experiment aggressively with PPC, promotions etc. to find winning tactics.
It takes constant effort to rise above the competition on Amazon. As the saying goes, you need to run faster just to stay still. Keep innovating and improving every aspect of your business for continued success selling on Amazon.
Conclusion
Launching an Amazon storefront opens up tremendous ecommerce potential for your business. But getting started comes with its own challenges. Using this guide, you can set up a well-optimized seller account, create an attractive storefront, and implement best practices to find success on Amazon.
Remember to take advantage of Amazon’s built-in customers, Fulfilled by Amazon, and advertising tools. Stay hands-on with daily account management. Craft compelling listings and provide excellent customer service. With continued optimization and innovation, your Amazon storefront can become a major sales channel and take your business to the next level.
