What you’ll learn
There are certain times of the year when buyers shop for specific types of products on Amazon. These occasions are a great opportunity for brand owners to get exposure for their products with new customers. These periods include national holidays, seasonal times, and Amazon specific events. As a brand owner, we want to make sure you are aware of these Amazon Shopping Events so your products are in prime position to be discovered by Amazon customers.
What are Amazon shopping events
Amazon shopping events are events that Amazon promotes for specific days of the year. Amazon promotes these events by providing additional merchandising like deals, and increasing customer outreach efforts through relevant email campaigns and other marketing specific to the event.
Here is a marketing calendar that lays out the schedule of these events throughout the year :
Why are Amazon shopping events important?
As a brand owner, Amazon shopping events represent an opportunity to promote your products and expose your brand to lots of new customers. Specifically, these events highlight periods throughout the year that guide when customers are buying certain products.
For example, in January, shoppers are often looking for fitness accessories, since many make the New Year’s resolution to get healthy. Promoting fitness products during this time of year may help shoppers find your products at the time they are most likely to purchase, which can result in a sales boost. If you have products that fall into a relevant category, Amazon shopping events are a great way to improve the discoverability of your products.
Tip:
Since Amazon promotes these shopping events, you have the opportunity to take advantage of additional marketing which draws more shopping traffic to the site.
How can I participate in Amazon shopping events?
Set up a Lightning Deal
One of the ways to participate in Amazon shopping events is to run a deal on products that are relevant to the event. Set up a deal during this time period to ensure your product is discoverable (you can find information on how to set up a deal in the Lightning Deals chapter). This will ensure customers will be able to find your product on the Deals Page. Once you have a Lightning Deal set up, the deal will automatically be flagged for Amazon merchandising to consider including on the event landing page.
Make sure you have enough inventory
Having sufficient inventory is important during these shopping events. The more inventory you have, the more likely your product will be included in merchandising opportunities, like the event landing pages and emails. Amazon merchandising will not want to feature your product if there is a risk it will sell out since that would result in a poor customer experience.
In order to take advantage of the increase in site traffic during these events, here are some tips to consider:
Tip 1
Promote relevant products Your product must be relevant to the event. For example BBQ tools would be relevant for a Memorial Day event, but a winter jacket would not.
Tip 2
Make sure you have enough inventory Make sure you have enough inventory to support the increase in traffic and sales during the event. Plan adequate time for your inventory to be received at Amazon’s fulfillment centers.
Tip 3
Add Enhanced Brand Content to your Lightning Deals Adding Enhanced Brand Content can lead to better customer engagement, higher conversion rates, and a sales increase. Add enhanced content to the detail pages you are promoting.
Tip 4
Adjust Sponsored Products budgets Events lead to higher than normal traffic which can deplete campaign budgets faster than normal. Review your Sponsored Products campaigns and consider increasing your budget and bidding during this time to ensure customers are finding your product.
Tip 5
Plan for seasonality When reviewing this promotional calendar, also plan for seasonality. For example, if you sell outdoor products you will likely need more inventory in Spring/Summer.
“Ozobot was only selling about 40 units total per day during the Summer of 2015. Then Prime Day happened and we sold 1,600 units in 1 day. That’s a 4,000% increase in sales. Prime Day kick-started our sales success for the remainder of the year! “ — Seller: Amazon Seller Ozobot, Prime Day 2015