Small Business vs. Amazon: Win the E-commerce Battle
It's vital for small- to medium-sized businesses to set the prices for their products. Otherwise, giant retailers, like Amazon and Walmart will establish the pricing for you. When small-businesses list their products on websites like Amazon, they’re immediately losing a percentage of their profits – at the tune of up to 15% per item sold. Email marketing is proven way to grow your business and avoid a complete reliance on Amazon to meet revenue goals.
Prices are a game-changing element to a consumer purchase, but they’re not always the driving force behind the buy. A recent survey shows an estimated 53% of consumers rate quality as the most important factor when making purchases compared to the 38% that identified prices as the top priority. When you understand that having the lowest price among your competitors isn’t what’s pushing your sales, it’s time to strategize how to drive traffic to your website directly rather than battle with the 12 million other products on Amazon’s website.
Amazon does offer some benefits, so for some, the ecommerce platform may work well as a selling partner. Whether your strategy is to use the online retailer as a supplemental source of income or you want to break free completely, use our tips to help you develop the most effective email marketing campaigns and reach your customers.
Email marketing 2021
When the challenges of 2020 enhanced the need for digital capabilities from companies across all industries, consumers’ needs adapted alongside. An estimated 68% of customers agree that COVID-19 has elevated their expectations of brands’ digital capabilities. For that reason, your email marketing must include:
A personalized customer experience. While consumers couldn’t readily walk into your store or meet with you in person, they want to feel like they’re having a similar experience digitally. Creating a personalized marketing email enhances how the end user perceives your brand.
Helpfulness. Your products or services should always aim to solve a problem for your consumer, but in 2021, buyers are looking for even more helpfulness than normal. Consider the needs of your buyer and how you can create a seamless experience from start to finish. It’s also important to create content that is helpful. Avoid the hard sell (in every email) and position your brand as a go-to for solutions.
Segmentation. Go beyond the standard email personalization of “Hi [fist name].” Segment your email list into behavioral categories. Consider past purchases, age, and other demographics to segment your groups and send more authentic emails.
Invest in an email template platform that offers monthly analytics to tell you what type of messaging works well, best days and times to send your messages, and which CTAs are most effective. Strongly personalized email marketing is one of the best ways to reach your consumers, but if you’re battling the likes of Amazon, you’ll want to incorporate some other helpful methods.
3 tips for Amazon users
If you want to pull buyers away from Amazon and point them directly to your website, you need to ensure your email marketing messages and site are primed for success. Below are three tips proven to increase conversion rates.
Make the checkout process simple. The fewer the clicks, the better. It’s ideal to offer a guest check-out, so shoppers don’t have to stop and input all their personal information before completing the purchase.
Send an email newsletter. Offer valuable content within your enewsletter that drives readers back to your website. Keep the layout simple and the subject lines catchy. This is your opportunity to promote the value of your brand and drive people to your website for a purchase.
Create added value. The challenges presented by listing your products on Amazon only begin with the large affiliate fee they take off the top. With counterfeit items created daily to imitate popular Amazon items, your brand is at risk of being blamed for faulty or low-quality performance, when in fact, the consumer received the look-a-like product. Offer a direct-purchase discount to your customers to make it worth going through your website to complete the buy.
Selling on Amazon has the potential to get your products in front of consumer who otherwise would not have engaged with your brand. Consider your profit margins and how your revenue stream would be impacted by utilizing the ecommerce giant as an affiliate. Admail can help you create effective email marketing templates that will reach your segmented groups. Walk through our platform video tour now.