"Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit."

—Conrad Hilton

The holiday shopping season is fast approaching, and it’s the busiest time of year for eCommerce sellers. From Halloween to New Year’s, with events like Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Boxing Day, consumers are online shopping for gifts, spending more during this period than at any other time. For Amazon sellers, the holiday rush presents a huge opportunity to significantly boost sales. But the question is – is your Amazon business ready?

As of now, you have roughly three months left to ensure your store is fully prepared for the influx of holiday shoppers. This means there's still time to strategize, whether it's launching a new product or stocking up on inventory for your current best-sellers to meet the demand.

A key update for 2024 to keep in mind: Amazon has introduced a Holiday Peak Fulfillment Fee for Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) orders. This fee will be in effect from October 15, 2024, through January 14, 2025. Make sure you account for this in your holiday planning and pricing strategies to stay profitable during the holiday peak.

1. Optimize Your Listings

As the holiday season and Q4 approach, one of the most crucial steps you can take is optimizing your Amazon listings for increased traffic and conversions. With more shoppers on the platform, especially during peak shopping days, you want your listings to rank well and convert effectively, particularly for holiday-related terms.

Here’s how you can prepare your listings:

• Update Your Images: Incorporate holiday-themed images into your listings. This can include festive backgrounds or lifestyle shots that reflect the holiday spirit, making your product more appealing to gift buyers.

• Conduct Market Research: Test different images to find out which ones resonate most with your customers. If you're Brand Registered, use Amazon’s "Manage Your Experiments" tool to A/B test your main image, bullet points, description, and title. This ensures you present the most effective elements to your audience.

• Conduct Fresh Keyword Research: Focus on keywords showing an upward trend over the last 30 to 90 days, and integrate them into your listings for maximum visibility.

• Leverage AI for Listing Optimization: Use tools like Listing Builder AI Assist to optimize your listing with the best keywords. 

• Utilize Brand Analytics: If you are part of Amazon's Brand Registry, tap into the Brand Analytics tool to see which keywords helped your product or your competitors’ products rank well during last year’s holiday shopping season. Use those high-performing keywords for this year’s listings to maximize your chances of success.

• Add a Product Video: All sellers, even those not Brand Registered, can now add videos to their listings. Consider shooting a simple product demo or holiday-themed video with your phone, or hire a professional videographer to produce something more polished.

• Incorporate Holiday-Related Keywords: Add relevant seasonal keywords to your backend search terms, such as “gift,” “last-minute gift,” “gifts for [specific person/group],” “Christmas,” “Hanukkah,” etc. These can help you tap into the holiday shopping surge.

• Include All Relevant Product Details: Ensure your listings are comprehensive. If you’re selling clothing, for example, provide clear sizing charts and measurements to avoid any confusion. The more information you give, the fewer questions potential buyers will have, increasing the likelihood of conversion.

Final Touches: Even if your listing is already well-optimized, make sure to add holiday-related keywords to capitalize on the increased search volume and appeal to gift shoppers.

Deadline: Aim to complete these optimizations as soon as possible to ensure your listings are ready in time for key shopping events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

2. Adjust Your PPC Campaigns and Overall Budgets

With the holiday season approaching, Amazon will experience a massive surge in traffic, and it’s crucial to ensure that your PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns and budgets are set up to handle this influx. As the volume of online shoppers increases, your PPC ads will face more competition, driving up the cost per click (CPC). To make sure your ads remain visible and effective, you’ll need to adjust your campaign budgets and keyword bids accordingly.

Increase Your PPC Budgets: Holiday traffic will likely lead to a higher number of clicks, meaning your daily ad budget may run out more quickly than usual. If your ads are already performing well, it’s smart to increase your daily budget to keep your ads running throughout the day. Monitor your campaigns closely, and if you notice that your ads are stopping early due to budget limits, gradually raise your budget until you find the sweet spot.

Monitor ACoS and RoAS Targets: Before the holiday rush, calculate your target Advertising Cost of Sales (ACoS) and Return on Ad Spend (RoAS). You’ll likely spend more per click, so knowing your break-even points will help you track your campaigns’ profitability. Keeping a close eye on these metrics will allow you to manage your campaigns and ensure your spending stays aligned with your sales goals.

Increase Keyword Bids: As more sellers ramp up their advertising efforts, your current keyword bids may no longer be enough to stay competitive. Boost your keyword bids to ensure your ads receive the maximum possible impressions. Instead of manually adjusting each bid, consider using Amazon’s “Dynamic bids – up and down” option in the Campaign Manager. This automated bidding strategy adjusts your bids by up to 100% when your ad is more likely to convert, and lowers bids if Amazon predicts low conversion chances.

Experiment with Different Ad Strategies: If you’re enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry, take advantage of the expanded ad options available to you. The holiday season is an ideal time to test new ad types, which might prove more effective in driving conversions.

• Sponsored Brands Ads: These ads allow you to create a custom shopping experience, directing shoppers to your Amazon Storefront or a unique landing page. This reduces competition by steering customers away from crowded search results.

• Sponsored Display Ads: These ads can place your products directly on your competitors' listings, giving you the opportunity to attract their customers. You can also retarget customers who have previously visited your listings but didn’t purchase, offering a second chance to convert them.

• Sponsored Brands Video Ads: These ads appear within Amazon search results, helping your brand stand out from competitors. Video ads are especially effective in capturing attention in a crowded search environment.

Target Holiday-Specific Keywords: Include holiday-related keywords in your campaigns to capture the seasonal shopping demand. For example, if you sell a woven basket, you can optimize your keywords to reflect holiday themes like “Thanksgiving decor” or “holiday gift basket.” This will help your products appear in relevant searches during the festive season.

Advertising Analytics Tools: Utilize tools like Advertising Analytics to track your PPC campaign performance throughout the holiday period. This tool aggregates data from Seller Central and Campaign Manager, giving you insights into how well your ads are performing and where you can make adjustments for improved profitability.

Deadline: For Halloween products, make adjustments now. For other holiday products, aim to make changes by late October or early November to be ready for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the remainder of the holiday shopping season.

3. Evaluate Your Market Position

It's essential for Amazon sellers to assess their standing within the competitive landscape. Knowing where you rank against competitors enables you to take strategic steps to grow your market share and increase visibility.

Monitor Share of Voice:
Track how often your products appear in search results compared to competitors to improve visibility and boost sales.

Identify Seasonal Patterns:
Differentiate between seasonal sales shifts and product-specific challenges to enhance inventory management and optimize planning.

Adopt Competitive Pricing Tactics:
Adjust prices in real-time in response to competitor moves, maximizing profitability and capturing more market share.

By staying informed on market trends, pricing strategies, and product visibility, you can strengthen your position and thrive on Amazon.

4. Boost Your Review Count

Increasing the number of reviews on your product listings is crucial as it can significantly impact your success during the holiday season. The more reviews you gather now, the stronger your listings will perform when traffic surges.

As every Amazon seller knows, product reviews are essential for building trust and driving sales. Here are a few ways to grow your reviews:

Join the Amazon Vine Program

If you're Brand Registered, you can use Amazon Vine to receive reviews from some of Amazon’s top reviewers. These reviewers get your product for free in exchange for honest feedback. While there’s no guarantee of a review, Vine reviewers tend to be critical, so it’s a great option if you’re confident in your product. Keep in mind that there’s up to a $200 enrollment fee, and your product must have fewer than 30 reviews, with free products provided to participants.

By increasing your review count, you build credibility and improve your chances of converting holiday shoppers into buyers.

5. Offer Holiday Deals and Discounts

Regardless of whether you’re Brand Registered, you can create deals and coupons in Seller Central to drive sales, particularly during major shopping events like Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. Offering discounts is a proven way to attract more customers and boost conversions during the holiday season.

How to Create a Deal
To set up a deal, go to the Advertising tab in Seller Central, select “Deals,” and then click “Create a new deal.” Amazon will show the deals your products qualify for, along with the deal price, discount per unit, and any associated fees. Keep in mind, running deals on Amazon comes with a fee: $300 for a 7-day deal and $150 for a lightning deal. These costs may increase during major shopping events, so it’s important to evaluate if the investment makes sense for your business.

How to Create a Coupon
Another option is to create a “clippable” coupon that appears directly on your product listing, allowing customers to see the discount immediately. To create a coupon, go to the Advertising tab, click on “Coupons,” and then “Create a new coupon.” You can choose between a percentage discount or a set amount off. There’s a $100 minimum budget for running a coupon, plus a $0.60 fee for each redemption.

Prime Exclusive Discount
You can also offer discounts exclusively to Amazon Prime members through the Prime Exclusive Discount option. These deals will display a slashed regular price, with the discount and savings visible to Prime members in search results.

Timing
Plan your deals at least a couple of weeks before major shopping events to ensure they’re live in time. Keeping a discount or deal running during peak holiday periods helps you stand out from competitors and capture more sales.

6. Prepare for Potential Amazon Delays

If you’ve been selling on Amazon for a while, you’re likely aware that fulfillment centers can become overwhelmed as the year comes to a close. The later you wait to send in your inventory, the more likely you’ll face delays in processing and shipping.

Key Inventory Deadlines
To ensure your products are stocked in time for key holiday shopping events, Amazon advises getting your FBA inventory to U.S. fulfillment centers by specific dates:

• Black Friday and Cyber Monday: October 26

• Christmas Inventory: Although the exact date for 2024 hasn’t been announced, based on last year, you can expect a deadline around December 1st.

Amazon’s Recommendations:

• Request More Capacity: Use Amazon’s Capacity Manager to request additional storage space for items you anticipate being popular during the holidays.

• Plan Shipments Early: Build extra time into your logistics planning for both supplier and carrier lead times, as holiday shipping can take longer.

Consider Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) Options
To avoid stockouts, it’s wise to add an FBM option to your listing. This allows you to fulfill orders directly from your warehouse, home office, or through a third-party fulfillment center if your FBA inventory is delayed. If you’re eligible for Seller-Fulfilled Prime, you can still display the Prime badge, even when fulfilling orders yourself.

During the holiday season, demand can be so high that customers may still buy your product without the Prime badge, as long as they can receive it on time.

7. Assess the Financial Health of Your Business

Maintaining profitability in your business, particularly during the busy holiday season, is crucial—especially when you're increasing promotions and investing more in PPC campaigns.

Utilizing a tool like Sales Analytics can give you a comprehensive view of all the costs related to your Amazon business, effectively acting as your financial command center.

Sales Analytics tracks and organizes your sales data, including PPC expenses, in real time, allowing you to concentrate on strategies that enhance sales and profitability. It also offers valuable metrics to help you monitor the performance of each product as well as the overall performance of your company.

8. Get Ready for Holiday Returns

A downside to selling on Amazon is dealing with product returns, which is simply part of the business. While many sellers anticipate December as their peak sales month, January typically sees the highest volume of returns.

Amazon implements an Extended Holiday Return Policy each year, allowing customers to return any orders placed between October 11 and December 25, 2024, until January 31, 2025.

Gear Up for a Successful Holiday Season

To gear up for a successful holiday season, it's crucial to take a proactive approach and prepare effectively for the weeks ahead. By leveraging the data available in your Seller account and utilizing insights, you can accurately forecast sales volume and make informed decisions to maximize your sales potential.

Book a Call with us today!

Need help navigating your holiday strategy? Book a call with AMZ Shifu today, and let us assist you in optimizing your approach for this peak season!