FBA sellers have usually been rushed off their feet for most of Q4. It’s hardly surprising they want a rest when they get to the end of the year!
But you can’t take too much of a rest if you want the new year to be a profitable one. For a start, think of all those people who have gift vouchers they want to redeem. For them, it’s still the holiday gift season, just time-shifted!
You’ll also want to be thinking ahead a couple of months, as what you order from suppliers now isn’t going to get delivered till the end of February. So, for instance, if you’re in fashion, you’re already going to see a move away from winter outfits towards lighter clothing by then, except in the far north.
If you’re sourcing new products, remember January 22 is Chinese New Year, so not a lot is going to get done for a week or more each side. If you want inventory coming in soon, order well in advance and make sure your supplier knows you’re keen to get the goods in stock as soon as possible.
There will also be the January sales. As an FBA seller, this is a good chance to look at your products and see where you have slow moving product or excess inventory. You might want to use discounting to move it along or sell your remaining stock of products that have been discontinued, or replaced by an upgraded version. (Vipon can help you if you decide to offer discounts through coupons. Don’t forget, Vipon customers are hunting for discounts and ready to buy when they see the “money off” sign.)
And you’ll want to get your diary Amazon-ready. That means putting in all the dates you know already, such as Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Mother’s Day, and Valentine’s Day. Then, for those that are more than two months away, put “two months to go ” and “one month to go” in your diary, to prompt you in good time to source product or organize an advertising campaign.
If you haven’t done an overhaul of your PPC advertising recently, this might be a good time to do so as you’ll have plenty of sales data from Q4. Look at what worked, not just in terms of what advertising delivered sales, but in term of its cost (use ACOS, advertising cost of sales). If your ACOS is 20-30% you’re okay; if it’s as low as 10%, you have room to boost your better performing keywords.
If you have some keywords that just don’t convert, or are way too costly, it’s time to do some weeding out. Don’t forget to reinvest the savings in better performing ads.
You should also take a good look through your products. Often you’ll be able to divide them into three types:
• growing like weeds,
• steady sellers,
• not moving.
Boost the steady sellers with a bit of extra advertising and see if they respond well to it. The inventory that’s not moving? Take a look at your competition and see if they’re having the same slow sales. If not, it could be time to discount those products and see if that pushes your sales up a bit.
By the way, your sales will fall off a cliff on January 1st, if you’re watching your seller account. That’s nothing to worry about – Amazon doesn’t ship on New Year’s Day, except (this year) for Same Day orders. You’ll see your sales pick up pretty quickly the day after!
Have a happy new year. And have a profitable new year too!
