Building a business on Amazon has never been easier because of its business model. Also, there are vast resources and tools available for your business to thrive.

With so many options on Amazon, you may sell your products and reach millions of customers in more than 100 countries. In addition, millions of merchants help consumers get what they want and need for their day-to-day activities.

Amazon is a great platform for entrepreneurs, and there are many ways to succeed on the site. In this blog post, we will discuss eight proven ideas for starting an Amazon business. We will also provide tips on how to create a product strategy and tips for FBA sellers. 

1. Do your research

The first thing you could do to jump into a business is to do thorough research. Researching helps you to arrive at an informed decision. Many businesses have failed, and these testimonials of mistakes are available as resources. 

In doing research, you need to prepare the right questions that will direct you to the information you’ll be needing. In short, eliminate researching for information that’s not necessary. These are the few points you might want to consider when doing research:

  • Find a problem that hasn’t been solved in the market. Finding a hole in the market is a crucial step because this will build a framework for your intended business. In this research, you should aim to establish what gap you want to fill?
  • Daily observations could result in a great business idea. You could be inspired or find a loophole by scrolling through social media and how businesses execute their goals. Being observant is very important for both short-term and long-term run for your business.
  • Product competition. This is also one of the basic steps in establishing your business — knowing who are your competitors. You could start by enlisting five competitors and studying their strategies, what works and what you could do better! This is the same step noted by Forbes in their article on getting your business started.

These three basic research considerations are salient to start your market research.

2. Create a Survey with prospective clients 

According to the New York Times, to grow your business is to know your customers. To better understand the feasibility of your business, you have to speak to a lot of potential clients.

This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to sell already. You can start by talking to your networks and asking them questions that would help you assess the strengths and weaknesses of your business idea.

In this stage, it would be wiser for you to solidify your research by asking this question: Are these pain points that I have researched lived experiences for most, if not all, prospective clients?

  1. Choose the right product for your business

If you’ve already talked to your prospective clients, you might have an idea of what product you want to sell. And this product should be created, presented, and delivered strategically.

Hence, this is where product strategy enters. As mentioned earlier, research backed up by data could help your business thrive. So, it’s a must to strategize your product. You can start by asking yourself these questions:

What to prioritize?

You must consider products that are easy to ship across borders and have a lasting shelf life. But, of course, marketing potential and the competitive price are very important considerations too! 

What not to prioritize?

You might want to consider staying away first from perishable products. These products are quite hard to sell in an online setup under geographical and time considerations. Complex and expensive-to-ship products can also be less of a priority as they will be difficult to transport. More importantly, you might consider staying away from products with low-profit margins.

Check out these five steps to create a product strategy

After figuring out what product you would like to sell, what should you do next?

4. Think about how you’ll market and deliver your product to internet buyers

Amazon Business

Yes, you’ve read it right. Next, you must consider how you’ll market and deliver your product to shoppers. In three words: Find a source.

Finding a source is really important as this will help you navigate how you will move forward now that you have a business idea and the intended product you want to sell. So what are the ways you could find a source?

  1. Reselling. Know that reselling is a great and ideal option. It is hassle-free and efficient as many suppliers are out there. One important thing about reselling is the first step we talked about — research. You need to select the best reselling offers you get from several suppliers. Comparing and contrasting advantages and disadvantages could help you narrow down your options.
  2. Be the source. While there are claims that it’s hard to be the source of the product because you create everything from scratch, being the source of your product is a smart idea. This is strategic, especially if you have a unique product selling point that you think you could execute more efficiently.
  3. Collaborate with manufacturers. Working with others to develop a product is another option you might want to consider. This is also strategic, especially if you have the plan and vision and want to collaborate with the team for better execution.

4. Find the best-selling channels 

No matter how good your product’s quality, if it’s not marketed properly in the best channel it could get, sales are probably hard to come by, especially online.

There are many ways you can find an online channel to bank your products. But not all of them are going to be a wise option. You have to consider that it would be smarter for you to set up an online business platform that’s remotely visible to the shoppers’ eye?

These are a few considerations you might want to look into:

  1. Amazon is the go-to platform for shoppers to look into online. In addition, Amazon is a great choice for sellers as some built-in resources and tools help market your products. Speed, scalability and efficiency, reach, e-commerce support, community, built-in tools, and awareness are the things Amazon takes pride in.
  2. Creating your domain and website is another option! Just a few considerations you might want to look into would be (1) SEOs, (2) Social Media Marketing, (3) and Online Advertising — which frankly might require time and resources.

5. Have your online store up and running

Once you have finalized what product you will sell and who your prospective clients are, it’s about time to set up your online store.

We prepared a checklist for you to consider:

  • Business name. Your business name says a lot about your business, so it should be crafted and marketed smartly. A business name that your target market won’t get over saying!
  • Build your online storefront. Just do it — accept orders and get it started. That is the first thing you need to do to legitimize your business. 
  • Produce compelling listings. Sell your products through enticing descriptions. The vivid, the better. It might hurt your business when people leave reviews.

6. Execute your business

The job has only begun. The challenging part is executing your promise to your prospective target market. 

It’s important to live up to the brand promise. This establishes your business’ symbol, which shoppers cling to in answering whether they can trust your business long-term or not.

What might this execution entail? Accurate product descriptions, a smooth transaction process, and a good shopping experience.

You already have this execution idea in the bag. So let’s be real; the problem is you cannot do it by yourself — managing from one order to another. Not especially when you aim to expand your business.

So, what do you need?

7. Fulfillment Strategy 

A fulfillment strategy saves you from all the logistical burdens.

Starting a business is overwhelming, especially when dealing with all the logistical hurdles alone. This includes storing, shipping, and even returning products. So what could its solution be?

Finding a space that is efficient and accessible for you is best! More importantly, as a business owner, it is cost-efficient. Some store their products in their garage as a starter or rent a place. However, some use third-party providers to initiate the fulfillment strategy.

If you’re going to be selling on Amazon, FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) is a great option. With FBA, Amazon will store your products in their warehouses and fulfill orders for you. This can save you a lot of time and hassle, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your business. However, if you’re unsure how to get started with FBA, plenty of resources are available online.

You can start by reading this article entitled The Definitive Guide to Selling on Amazon FBA in 2022 if you’re interested in being an FBA Amazon seller.

Now that we’ve gotten set up mostly for everything, what is the last thing you should do?

8. Marketing is everything

Not a drill — Marketing is everything! No matter how good your product is, if it’s not properly marketed online, it can get lost in the online world’s competition. Luckily, there are a lot of resources out there for you to exhaust. 

Ecommerce marketing is essential for launching and expanding your business. Regardless of the selling channel, running marketing and promotional activities can help you reach a wider audience.

You can do organic marketing! Check out these top 8 business strategies for starting your own business. 

One of the most impactful organic marketing strategies is publishing customer reviews. Customer reviews provide the essential social proof that consumers want to conclude purchasing decisions based on past customer experiences require.

TIP: Don’t forget to ask for reviews. It’ll help your business conquer heights, especially the good reviews.

Or, you can do targeted marketing campaigns.

Amazon, for example, is equipped with many tools and resources that’ll be helpful for you to market your business. 

Wrapping this up

Diving into the online business world could sometimes be tough, but you can be unstoppable with enough research and tools. Then, the only thing you need to do is to execute your business strategically.

That’s it for our eight proven ideas for an Amazon business. We hope this has been beneficial for you. Leave us a comment if you have any more queries! 

Read more: Automated Inventory Management and Why It’s a Critical Feature for Retailers

By Jayce

Jayce is the managing director of Seller Interactive, the number one Amazon advertising agency based in Canada that helps brands build their business on Amazon. His content marketing expertise has led him to work with brands such as Toyota and GoDaddy, producing content that has reached over 20M views in a month.

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