As a key battleground in the retail search space, the Amazon Marketplace is the premier destination for high-intent consumer queries. Amazon has proven to be a top-tier sales channel for many brands and resellers alike, yet few sellers approach the Marketplace with a sophisticated strategy focused on ongoing performance optimization. CPC Strategy CEO, Rick Backus, dives into how large-scale sellers can improve their Marketplace performance and foster significant competitive advantages by leveraging high-volume sales and search advertising programs.

1. Rick Backus
@CPC_Rick
 CEO, Co-Founder
 Born & Raised in San Diego
 UCLA
 PriceGrabber.com
 New Father of Emmett!

3. The 2015 Virtual Summit for Amazon Sellers

5. Presentation Overview
The Amazon Plateau
Our Approach to Amazon
Discoverability Breakdown
Buyability Breakdown
Winning The Buy Box
Resources

6. The Amazon Plateau
 The Amazon Plateau: a long-term period
of stagnant sales growth
 Without a strategy focused on ongoing
optimization, a seller will hit the proverbial
wall
 The increased sophistication of the
Amazon Marketplace warrants a new
approach

7. Approach to Success on the Marketplace
#Mozinar @CPC_Rick

8. Discoverability Lever: Product Content
 Product Titles
 Features / Bullets
 Search Keywords
 Category-specific Product Attributes
 When should you invest resources
in optimizing product content?

9. Product Content Tips
 Headline - Should have the main keywords you are
targeting and should only have your brand name if it is
being searched on Amazon (run PPC to see if people are
searching your brand)
 Bullet Points – Use all 5 bullet points (duh). List features
and benefits. Capitalize the first letter of each bullet.
 Description – Make the description scannable and avoid
a huge block of text. HTML is no longer allowed. Can also
include a coupon code for bundles (buy 2 get 1 free).
#Mozinar @CPC_Rick

10. Discoverability Lever: Catalog Structure
 Parent & Child SKU Relationships

11. Discoverability Lever: Sponsored Products
 Acceleration program for newer or low-
exposure ASINs
 Discoverability lever for your top Buy Box
offers
 Unveiling of Amazon’s search query data
 http://www.cpcstrategy.com/amazon-
sponsored-products-guide/

12. Sponsored Products Tips
 Automatic campaigns are excellent for keyword harvesting
 Start with higher bids than you think you should ($1+)
 Create manual campaigns for converting keywords
 Create manual campaign for your brand to see brand impressions
 Use Sponsored Products impressions to inform your organic content
optimization strategy

13. Sponsored Products Inventory Growth

14. Sponsored Products Higher CPCs

15. Discoverability Strategy: Keyword Research
 Merchant Words
 AMZ Tracker
 Google Keyword Tool

16. Google Keyword Tool

17. Keyword Research Tool: Jungle Scout

18. Discoverability Lever: Sales Performance History
 Along with offer relevancy, sales
performance is the most important
discoverability factor
 Amazon has the incentive to give top-
selling products the most visibility
 Drives the virtuous cycle between
product discoverability & buyability

19. Buyability Lever: Fulfillment Method
 Strong Buy Box factor
 The process for FBA assortment selection

20. Buyability Lever: Fulfillment Latency
 Strong Buy Box factor
 Latency is entered at the
product-level in the catalog
feed

21. Buyability Lever: Product Images
 Props/Models are allowed on
your main image
 No marketing messages on
your main image
 1500 x 1500 pixel minimum
 3D Product Images on Fiverr
 2nd or 3rd image can be used
for marketing message or
coupon

22. Product Image Tip

23. Buyability Lever: Landed Price
 Strong Buy Box factor – highly immediate and controllable
 Should be leveraged based on your competitive landscape
 Enable strike-through prices
 How about raising prices?
 FeedVisor

24. Buyability Lever: Product Reviews
 Strong influencer of conversions
on the detail page
 Significant lever for brands
 When should you invest
resources in generating
product reviews?
 SnagShout by Seller Labs

25. Buyability Lever: Seller Feedback
 Buy Box factor
 Almost always a strong reflection of
the quality of a seller’s fulfillment
processes
 When should you invest in
generating seller reviews?

26. Buyability Factor: Seller Rating
 Strong Buy Box factor
 Mostly comprised of multiple
components found within Seller
Central (ex. On-Time Delivery Rate
(ODR), Late Shipment Rate, etc.)

27. Respect Your Amazon Brackets
 The higher your bracket, the higher your Buy Box share
 Jumping from one bracket to another will have a
stronger effect than moving within the brackets
themselves

28. Seller Rating
Seller Rating is divided in to 6 brackets:
• 100-98%
• 97-95%
• 94-90%
• 89-80%
• 79-70%
• Less than 70%

29. Shipping Time
Like seller rating, these are divided into brackets:
• 0-2 days
• 3-7 days
• 8-13 days
• 14 or more days
Again, jumping between brackets is more effective
than moving between them.

30. Create a No-Go-Zone
Understand the points below which you should never allow your metrics
to go. These are:
– Seller Rating - Below 70%
– On-Time Delivery - Below 97%
– Tracked Orders - Below 98%
– Late Shipment Rate - Above 4%
– Cancellation Rate - Above 2.5%
– Shipping Time - More than 14 days
– Customer Response Time - More than 10% of messages over
24 hours

31. Mobile = 100% of Sales Go To Buy Box
 Over Christmas 2014, 50% of
Amazon customer shopped via
mobile
 On mobile devices, the “More
buying choices” button is
practically invisible
 Nearly 100% of mobile sales go
through the Buy Box

32. Amazon Marketing Services (AMS)
Headline Search Ads
• Placement: Appear at the top of the search results on an Amazon SERP
• Keyword Targeting:
•Long-tail (specific) searches: Consider using a specific product detail page as your landing page
• Short-tail (broad) searches: Create a custom landing page by doing your own search on Amazon for 3 – 5 of your
ASINs, and copy the URL from that search. Use that URL as your landing page.
• Bid Strategy
• Bid conservatively to start out & increase over time
• Don’t get emotionally tied to a product – follow the data & promote what sells. Not every product is a winner with
PPC advertising
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Product Display Ads
Placement: On product detail pages below Buy Box
Defensive Placement:
• Target your own product detail pages to prevent competitors from
advertising against your products
• Complementary items typically do well here
• ROI will typically be poor, but these ads are here to prevent competitors
from poaching your customers, not to drive ROI
Offensive Placement
• Target related products of competitors to ensure placement on their
detail pages
• Turn their customers into your customers
Amazon Marketing Services (AMS)

34. Demand Forecasting
Finding The Report
• Amazon Retail Analytics Basic
• Locate Demand Forecast Report
Production Planning
• Scroll right to see the Demand Forecast for future weeks
• At the time of this recording, Black Friday is +13 weeks
• You should see spikes in demand from +13 weeks through +17 or +18
weeks; some products may spike sooner
• Use their forecast to plan production ramp ups or increased POs to
your suppliers in time
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Amazon Retail Analytics Basic

35. Maximize Profits through Direct-to-Consumer Sales
Benefits
Increase Per-Unit Profit:
• Wholesale discounts to Amazon can be as much as 40% off your regular MSRP
• Selling as a 3rd Party through Seller Central, Amazon’s commission will be 15% or less, with FBA’s
fixed fees usually falling in the range of 7% - 10% of product price (though that can vary).
• Price Control: Reprice at your own discretion to maximize profit
• Selection: Sell products Amazon doesn’t want to buy
Risks
• Buy Box: If you’re not winning the buy box as a 3rd party seller, sales velocity can drop
• Selection: Carefully analyze projected FBA fees so you’re not losing money by selling the product as a
3rd party
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36. Super URLs?

37. Brand Enforcement Email
"Hello,
This is [Seller Name] and the reason we are writing this message is to let you know
that you are linked to several of our listings and we know that you are not authorized
to sell our brand [Brand Name]. For your information, we are also the owner of the
trademark of [Brand Name].
Our legal department is taking full action to all other sellers violating the rules and
you are one of them. We will provide you 24 hours to remove all offers for
our [Brand Name] listings from your inventory or we will enforce action, first by
reporting you to Amazon. Please see the below URL for those listings to which you
are linked.
http://www.amazon.com/XXXX
[Seller Name]

38. The Conversion Rate Debate

39. Amazon Phone # -> Facebook Product Ads

40. Resources

41. Resources

42. Resources
www.facebook.com/groups/ecommercegroup

43. Resources

44. Resources
www.theamazingseller.com

45. Future of Amazon SERPs?

46. Thank You
SEMrush!
Email Me For The Slides:
Rick@cpcstrategy.com