You are already accustomed to selling on Amazon at this point. You’ve got the basics locked down and managed to sell a couple of your products at a steady rate already. You’re ambitious as hell, yet you aren’t certain how to take the next step and growth hack your business.Type caption (optional)
You may be surprised at how many FBA sellers end up in this exact position. They can see success just around the bend and want to take their business to the next level.
The problem is figuring out how to do so without needing to increase the workload. The majority of FBA sellers are more interested in growing out their business, while slowly handing the grunt work over to someone else.
Luckily for all of you, an FBA business on Amazon isn’t as much work as it may seem.
Does what I’ve said sound like something you want? Do you want to know how to grow out your business without breaking your back with overtime work? Well, read on and learn 5 ways to begin scaling your Amazon FBA business!
Growth Hack Your Amazon Business
The following is a list of five proven methods to grow your Amazon business. Successful sellers are still using these methods today to grow their business and increase their profits.
At the end of the day, only you can make your own business successful. However, if you follow these methods, it will be that much easier to get there! You don’t need to use them all. Pick one or two that resonate with your style and go from there!
1. Diversify Your Products
Obviously, those who are purchasing your products fall under your niche or else they wouldn’t be interested. The best thing to do is to focus your attention on catering to them.
Adding new products can be difficult. You need to take a look at the more successful products you already have, then imagine what people interested in these products might also want.
You can begin your research on Amazon by considering the following categories:
- Subcategories of your primary category
- “Sponsored products related to this item” (you can find this under product listings)
- “Customers who bought this item also bought” (also under product listings)
- Amazon Store of your competition
You want to focus your attention on products that are readily available as well as in high demand. Products of a higher value are most beneficial when expanding your business. If you find it difficult to locate a high-value product, then try looking for one that can be sold at a high volume (Cheaper pieces but each customer is likely to purchase multiple pieces).
New Products in Current Categories:
If you’re already successful in a certain product niche, it only makes sense to add products from the same niche. You likely already have a good understanding of the category if you were able to successfully promote a few products in this category.
On top of that, if you have a trademark over certain products, there’s a decent chance you can link your new products to this trademark as well. Losing the need for a second trademark will greatly reduce the amount of effort (and money) you need to expand!
Always Check Alternate Categories:
Just because you’ve found some decent products to place under your current category doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least take a look at others. You won’t necessarily use them, but if you do happen to find something that seems to be of much higher value than what you discovered for your current niche, it may be worth investing time in.
While sticking to what you know is the safest route, branching out into a new category with high demand and lower competition can be the most lucrative option.
2. Use Child ASINs to Diversify Products
You may not have thought of this, but using child ASINs is an easy means of increasing your revenue. Always piggyback on well-ranked listings where you can!
Using a child ASIN bypasses the entire ranking process, giving you a high-performing listing right off the bat. This way people can find your new product instantly, rather than waiting for a new listing to improve.
You can accomplish this using the following methods:
- Larger or smaller sizes
- Different colors or designs
- Multipacks
- Cross-sell similar product variants
Use a new listing if your aim is to drive up new keywords and widen your target audience. Be prepared to potentially wait several months for your ranking to start improving.
3. Branch Out Into Other Amazon Markets
Amazon US has the highest number of net sales overall markets. However, branching out may still benefit your business.
German, British, and Japanese marketplaces are three of the most popular marketplaces to expand to. Perform research on each of these markets to determine which has more demand for your products.
4. Improve Your Current Amazon Product Listings
Just because you’re adding new products doesn’t mean you shouldn’t fully optimize your current listings!
Improving your Amazon SEO will increase the awareness and demand for all your products.
The following factors can influence your Amazon SEO:
- Title
- Descriptions
- Features
- Images
- Pricing
- Backend Keywords
Your biggest concern will be tracking Amazon SEO changes for the sake of increasing profits. At the end of the day, SEO is the primary means of evolving and expanding your business successfully. For more information on SEO for Amazon Sellers, check out the wonderful guide prepared by our friends at taxomate.
5. Don’t Just Stick to Amazon – Go Multi-Channel
Amazon houses a massive marketplace. This makes it the perfect location to kick-start your products and make revenue fast.
Even so, you shouldn’t limit yourself to Amazon alone. There are plenty of other places that you can expand toward and increase your reach further than you ever thought possible
Follow these steps to build your own, stand-alone business:
- Create your own e-commerce website on Shopify or WordPress
- Improve your Google SEO ranking and start generating organic traffic
- Run paid advertisements to your website using Google AdWords or Facebook Ads
- Make use of influencers under your niche to increase traffic and site awareness
- Setup affiliate deals and promotes other products for additional awareness and revenue
If you’re not ready to manage a website of your own, here are some alternative marketplaces:
- eBay
- Etsy
- Jet
- Walmart
- Rakuten
Remember - it never hurts to add more marketplaces or create your own website, these additions can only help to drive home more revenue!
Typical Issues for FBA Business Scaling
Lets address some of the typical issues that FBA sellers face today:
1. Investment Requirements
Is raising enough capital the issue you’re facing that stopped you from expanding your business? Follow any one of these solutions to resolve this:
- UpFund offers inventory financing to help those looking to grow their Amazon business. They offer low, flat-rate fees that far outweigh that of an APR loan. You also won’t even need to begin payments until you start selling your inventory!
- Kickstarter, a crowdfunding platform, has helped thousands of businesses get started. Amazon now has its own section for successful Kickstarter Products now available on Amazon.
- Fundera allows you to answer just a few questions about your business to see which lending products you qualify for and compare all your potential options. Fundera features leaders in every financial category, so you can rest assured that you’re accessing the best products on the market.
2. You Just Don't Have Enough Time
Get started right now on hiring a virtual team to assist you! You will thank me later! The easiest way to avoid overworking on expanding your business is to hire professionals to take care of all the leg work.
Another consideration is hiring a programmer to automate some of the more menial, time-consuming tasks.
Here’s a basic list to help alleviate your need for putting in too much effort:
- Software – Automated Email Campaigns (FeedbackWhiz), Accounting (taxomate), FBA Refunds (AMZReimburse)
- Virtual Assistants – Data Entry, Customer Service, Outreach, Admin Tasks (Upwork)
- Professional Freelancers – Marketing Campaigns, Website Development, Copywriting, Blogging, Social Media Advertising, Project Management (Fiverr)
Please don't feel like you have to do everything we mentioned. In fact, we recommend sticking to a single strategy to start off. Hopefully, these tips help you in scaling your FBA business!