With retail sales becoming increasingly online, the commission rates by marketplaces like Amazon and Flipkart are costing brands a large chunk of their profit margins. With commission rates as high as 20%, brands are increasingly looking for ways to reduce their dependency on marketplaces like Amazon for their sales.
And even if brands are to ignore the high commission rates, Amazon policies like not allowing brands to re-market, not allowing brands to access customer data and misusing your data to copy your products is guaranteed to harm your brand and affect your sales in the long run.
Amazon has a lot of policies in place that prevent directing customers off of the marketplace and to your website. However, it is possible to get direct purchases from your Amazon customers without breaking the rules.
1. Bundle your products to encourage repeat sales -
When thinking about creating a product bundle to sell on Amazon, the first thing to keep in mind is that bundles and multipacks are not the same! A bundle usually consists of complimentary items sold together as part of a set that typically cost less than purchasing the individual items separately.
For example, if you sell a hair shampoo that comes in six different fragrances, then you should not consider bundling six bottles of each kind together into its package. Instead, bundle 3 Bottles of a specific shampoo and one bottle of conditioner that goes along with the type of shampoo.
When your customer runs out of conditioner, they would want to buy this specific conditioner.
Limit to offering individual conditioners on your website instead of on Amazon. That way, the customer will have to purchase directly from your site when their conditioner runs out because the ones included in the bundle will not last forever.
How to bring these customers to your website?
- Include a card with your web address so that the customer knows where to visit for purchase.
- Although you cannot direct your customers to your website directly, What if your customer reaches out to you through the Amazon listing asking for a conditioner? You can let them know that you do not sell these individual items on the marketplace, which will offer a hint to check out your website instead.
2. Use product packaging to encourage website visits -
One of the oldest market tricks that drive customers to your website is placing an insert or a card in the packaging delivered to the customer. Insert cards are the first thing your customers see when they open your product package so, it is essential to design your insert card effectively to deliver the most value.
Your Insert cards may be ignored if they are no more than a marketing message. To drive more customers make sure your insert cards deliver value like Discount Coupons, Style Guides, product and user manuals.
Know how Syska brought its marketplace customer to its website using product packaging- Download case study.
3. Provide an incentive for website sales -
Buyers nowadays go through an intensive research process before purchasing through any platform. The research includes reading customer reviews, checking through the brands' websites, and even taking a look at the brands' social media presence.
With so many touchpoints available, if you are looking to drive amazon traffic to your website, make sure to include special incentives for website sales in your marketing message across platforms.
4. Use warranty management to bring your Amazon customers to your website -
A lot of the time, Insert cards and discount coupons will be deemed unnecessary and get ignored by your customers. To drive the most number of consumers to your website, you need to build a bridge that cannot be ignored.
A QR code-based digital warranty solution is the newest and the most result driving method used by new-age brands these days.
How does a digital warranty solution help you bring your amazon customers to your website?
Digital warranty solutions work by having a QR code placed on your product or product packaging. Whenever a customer wants to register for or claim a warranty, the customer can scan the QR code and get directed to a custom-built page.
This custom-built page asks the customers for their purchase details along with their personal data like Names, phone numbers and email ids. This personal data is then used by brands for direct targeting, remarketing and bringing their customers to their websites.
A benefit of using QR code-based warranty solutions is getting direct access to the data of your customers which, can then be used to re-market and retain them.
Digital warranty solutions like NeuroWarranty have helped Syska, Portronics, FLO, and a 100+ leading brand increase go D2C and bring their marketplace customers to their website. To know more about how a digital warranty solution can help your brand bring your marketplace customers to your website - Click here.
5. Increase social media presence -
You can also use social credibility to enhance your site’s value. Similar to any review or testimonial, social proof brings the human voice into your brand experience.
In attracting consumers of today, social media plays a very important role. Use social media not to sell your products but to engage your audience. Whenever someone is about to make a purchase or is shopping for something they want, they look for reviews, recommendations, referrals, and input from others who have used the product or service.
Include exciting discounts, offers and clear CTA's to increase the number of website visits from your social media.
6. Use Facebook ads -
Facebook ads is another effective method to get amazon customers to your website. Facebook ads allow you to target specific audiences that you build based on your customers’ key demographics.
Amazon does not provide you with the phone numbers and email id of your buyers however, it does give you their names and postal codes, which is all it is needed. To create an audience with your Amazon customers, download a Seller Central report with your customers' names and address information.
How to get customer data from amazon -
- Go to Reports in Seller Central
- Click on Fulfillment
- Go to the Sales tab in Fulfillment Reports.
- Click on Amazon Fulfilled Shipments
- Input the date range and request download
To build your audience, the only information you need is the buyer name, city, state postal code. When you export your fulfilled shipments report, you can remove all but these columns.
The “buyer-name” column will have both the first and last name so make sure to separate the last name into its own column as seen below.
How to target your Amazon customers on Facebook - Create a Custom Audience
- Click Create Audience
- Select Custom Audience
- Choose the Customer File option
- Choose 'Add customers from your own file or copy and paste data.'
- Upload your prepared customer file
Once the information is uploaded, Facebook will begin to target as many profiles as possible that match the information you uploaded.
One thing you might notice is that your audience is a little small. Even more so if you segment it, however, Facebook can help you broaden your reach by allowing you to create a Lookalike Audience that is similar to your Amazon customers, this can help you reach audiences who are similar to your customers but are not yet aware of your product.
Need help with bringing your Amazon customers to your website?
NeuroWarranty has helped leading brands kickstart their D2C journey and increase their profit margins by bringing their existing customers to their website. Book a quick demo to know how you can bring your customers to your website and increase your profit margins.
