Why Direct to Consumer is the Future of Selling
I'm noticing a trend with my food clients on Amazon.
They're not making any profit.
Now, I'm not saying don't sell food items on Amazon, but I'm saying that for 2022, we need to change your strategy of WHY you're selling on Amazon.
Amazon is a marketing platform.
Meaning that buyers in every retailer are looking at products on Amazon to place in their stores.
Why? Because shoppers are already looking for those items when they're purchasing in retailers.
I've watched so many brands rank into the top 5 positions on Amazon, then leap into mass retail (hello Walmart and Target!) or even create an exclusive D2C program and make M I L L I O N S.
How did they do it?
They used Amazon as a marketing awareness platform.
I know that it's really difficult to not want to create a profitable sales P&L for your Amazon account, but I'm going to challenge you to place Amazon in 2022 under your Marketing vertical, and treat it as such.
Amazon takes way too many fees to make most items lucrative. Unless you're selling a small yet high priced item (think menstrual cups or AirPods) outside of food and beverage.
I do want you to create a consumable product line so we can offer things like Subscribe and Save on Amazon, and subscription services through your website. That's the mecca - having shoppers consistently coming back for more!
6 Ways to Use Amazon to Growth Your Brand:
- Start with 5 core amazing products
- Create a cult following
- Line extensions
- Provide tons of value
- Get the shopper to your website
- Provide MORE value on your website
I'll quickly go through each of these growth tips.
5 Core Amazon Products
You don't need to launch a line with a zillion products. If you've already created way too many, do some sku optimization and re-work your Amazon assortment to only your top 5. Try to stay in 1 or 2 categories. It's better to go deep and offer variations of the same item vs. too wide but the shopper doesn't like what you're offering.
Apple does a fabulous job at this. You get 1 new iPhone a year, but there are 10 different colors. Sometimes you get 2 sizes. That's all.
And they make hundreds of billions a year.
Let's take a page from Apple's super simplistic sales and R&D model, and start small.
Create a Cult Following
Your next job is to get your shoppers to come back over and over and over again.
They need to trust you, and the value you're providing in their life.
A great example of that in my life is a former client, Goodwipes.
They make below-the-belt wipes for men and women with good ingredients and 100% compostable wipes.
I feel good about putting them on my body and in my toilet.
I buy 4 bags of wipes a month (1 for each of my toilets in my house), and they get replenished monthly on Subscription from their website, where I pay $2-$3/mo less than Amazon.
Line Extensions
I will buy WHATEVER Goodwipes makes next, because they're built tremendous trust with me.
(So much trust I'll use their products on my most intimate body parts!!!).
They made Body Wipes for post-gym or camping, and I LOVE them too.
Create line extension items once your main product line is going strong, and tell your shoppers about the next product line they can trust you to deliver.
Provide Tons of Value
Creating valuable content is the way to your shopper's heart. That means recipes, tips, tricks how-to videos, comparison grids ... all of it!
Make it super easy for your shopper to say "yes" to you.
There is nothing more frustrating to me when I'm trying to buy something when I can't find alternative sizes, styles, colors, and the rest of your line.
On Amazon, it's super easy to do this through A+ Content, Storefronts, and even with your own advertising - lump several items together that are complementary so your shopper see them bundled. A great example would be a Headline Ad to show your juickbox + cookies + snack for Back-to-School. Level this ad up by dropping the potential shopper into your BTS Storefront tab to make shopping super duper simple!
Get the Shopper to your Website
The end goal here isn't to make Amazon more money - it's to get the shopper over to YOUR website, where you can keep the customer's data, re-target them through ads, and make moolah 💰 .
1. Ensure you have Google Analytics plugged into your website so you can cookie potential shoppers, and later market to them via ads.
2. Create an email capture form that provides a freebie with value.
Ex: 5 Ways to Make Kid-Friendly Bento Boxes"
You get the shopper's email address to later market to them - one of the highest and cheapest sales conversion tactics out there!
Provide MORE value on your website
Ok, this one is fun. You'll want pricing to be the lowest possible on your website, and you can do that because you're not oozing margin all over the place on other retailer website.
I also love the idea of doing bulk offerings on your own website.
Or special flavors only available on your website.
Always add a subscription service option.
Wrap-Up:
Good luck in growing your D2C efforts in 2022!
Let me know if you need help. You can book a call with me HERE: https://calendly.com/jenniferkayloruscin/20min
