Prepping Your Amazon Business for Seasonal Sales Success: An 8-Step Comprehensive Guide
Many brands struggle with the ups and downs of seasonal sales. Using Mother’s Day as a prime example, here’s how to maximize your sales during these tentpole events.
Mother’s Day is observed in different forms worldwide and can be traced all the way back to celebrations of Ancient Greeks and Romans. While some countries have fallen in line with the United States’ tradition of celebrating on the second Sunday in May, others have their own traditions.
One thing is certain; we love to celebrate our moms.
Statistics show that on the whole, when it comes to Mother’s Day, shoppers are looking for something special and more than willing to pull out their wallets.
According to data compiled by Statista, last year almost 50% of shoppers viewed Mother’s Day as an opportunity to find a gift that was “unique, or different.” Only 17% were motivated by gifts that were “cheaper, or more cost effective.”
What Are We Buying for Our Moms?
As indicated by the chart below showing Mother’s Day expenditures in billions of dollars, the number one answer to that question is almost 7 billion dollars worth of jewelry. Along with all that shiny stuff, we’re putting money towards “special outings,” electronics, gift cards and flowers.
Amazon Strategies that Work 12 Months Out of the Year
In terms of strategy, Mother’s Day can be positioned somewhere between seasonal or holiday sales, and an everyday product. That’s because, for the most part, you should be able to sell the most popular Mother’s Day products all year long. Still, because your messaging and listing optimization is going to be specific to Mother’s Day itself, you need to also treat it as the seasonal product that it is.
At the end of the day, celebrating our moms is a big deal, but in other ways, it’s just one more seasonal Amazon niche. Rather than focusing on how you can optimize your eCommerce business for Mother’s Day, once every year, this post is going to concentrate on eight strategies that will help you with seasonal and holiday products throughout the calendar year.
1. Be Prepared for the Peaks and Valleys
The first step in preparing for seasonal sales is to understand the key sales periods throughout the year. In addition to the obvious holiday season, there are several other peak sales times:
- Valentine’s Day
- Easter
- Mother’s Day
- Father’s Day
- Back-to-school season
- Halloween
- Black Friday/Cyber Monday
Knowing these peak periods will allow you to plan your inventory, promotions, and marketing efforts accordingly.
2. Historical Data is Your Friend
This is where the seasonal nature of Mother’s Day works in your favor. You know it’s coming around every year, so use historical data to help plan for it.
The saying, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure,” is particularly appropriate when discussing the analysis of your Amazon sales data or PPC campaign performance. Reviewing your past sales data will help you to identify trends, such as when your peak sales occurred, which products sold best, and what marketing strategies were most effective.
You can then use that information to create a data-driven approach to planning for future seasonal sales.
3. Product Selection
Once again, you can use historical data to anticipate the future. Then, you’re better able to determine which products are most likely to be popular during specific seasonal sales and choose the products that align with the needs and interests of your target audience.
For instance, during Mother’s Day, jewelry, and flowers are ever present while back-to-school season may see a spike in demand for school supplies and educational materials.
4. Inventory Management
Mother’s Day, the second most important floral holiday of the year, has been called the ‘Super Bowl of florists,’ with studies indicating that 24% of all holiday sales take place at that time.
You don’t want to run out of stock when demand is high, but you also don’t want to overstock and risk having excess inventory once the sales period ends. That’s where inventory management comes into play.
Increasingly, AI-optimized platforms such as Intellify, SoStocked, and Inventory Management from Jungle Scout help Amazon sellers keep track of seasonal fluctuations and adjust inventory accordingly.
5. Make Adjustments to Your Product Listing Optimization
Just because you are selling a seasonal product, you’re still going to need to focus on doing all the (not-so-small) things right. A well-optimized product listing is always going to increase visibility and conversions during seasonal sales.
However, you do need to make a few adjustments to your seasonal products’ listing optimization.
Amazon keyword research Is something that sellers concentrate on throughout the year. However, during holidays, or specific seasons, successful eCommerce sellers should incorporate holiday-specific keywords into their listings. For example, include terms like “Mother’s Day gift” or “Halloween costume” during the appropriate seasons.
Take the time to do the keyword research, and make adjustments to your most seasonally important listings as necessary.
6. Pricing Strategy
Never forget that Amazon is very price conscious. You’ll want to closely track historical pricing fluctuations during the seasonal sales events. Research the market to understand the price range for similar products and adjust your prices accordingly. Consider offering discounts or bundle deals to entice customers and stand out from the competition.
7. Marketing and Promotion
Even though we like to celebrate our mothers, don’t forget that according to Statista’s data, almost one in five shoppers are looking for a deal or hoping to save money on their Mother’s Day gift. Maximize your sales potential during seasonal sales with targeted marketing and promotion efforts.
Take advantage of the following strategies to put your product in the shopper’s bullseye.
Amazon Advertising
The flexibility of Amazon’s advertising platform allows you to create dedicated Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display ads for your seasonal products. This can help increase product visibility and drive more traffic to your listings.
If you really want to supercharge your Amazon advertising, don’t forget about Amazon’s most advanced ad platform, Demand-Side Platform.
Email Marketing
Send targeted emails to your existing customer base highlighting seasonal offers and promotions. Use this strategy to help drive repeat business and create a sense of urgency around your deals.
Social Media Marketing
Increasingly, social media is blurring the lines between community and shopping. By promoting your seasonal products and offers across your social media channels, you’re better able to target your ideal audience with tailored content and visuals. This will help you to drive awareness and engagement. That’s just going to lead to more sales.
Influencer Marketing
This dovetails with the recent changes to social media. More and more, we’re accustomed to getting our sales advice not from the company itself, but from the galaxies of influencers that circle around the various selling niches.
Partner with influencers in your niche to promote your products during seasonal sales. This can help increase trust, credibility, and reach a wider audience.
8. Positive Customer Reviews are Critical
Showing up in a search result is only half of the battle.
It’s simple, Amazon shoppers are extremely hesitant to click on a product listing that doesn’t have enough reviews to indicate a history of satisfied customers.
Shoppers need a very good reason to swipe their credit card. That’s why Amazon customer reviews have never been as important. Amazon says that 77% of shoppers turn to reviews before finally making a purchase.
Here’s how to increase your positive review count:
Respond Promptly
Take the time to answer customer inquiries promptly, and resolve any issues as quickly as possible. This one tactic will go a long way towards minimizing negative reviews and improve customer satisfaction.
Ask for Reviews
Positive reviews can significantly impact your conversion rates and product rankings. The problem is that most of us have overly packed schedules. Customers may not leave reviews unless prompted. Implement a follow-up system to request reviews and encourage feedback from your customers. This can also be done with Amazon’s “Request a Review” feature.
How Canopy Management Can Help
Making sure that your Amazon business is ready for seasonal sales fluctuations is a crucial component of eCommerce success. By understanding key sales periods, optimizing product listings, managing inventory, implementing effective marketing strategies, and maintaining excellent customer service, you can use the seasonal high points to increase your yearly momentum.
Canopy Management is a full-service marketing agency for Walmart and Amazon sellers. Our team consists of former Amazonians, multi-million dollar sellers, and award-winning experts.
When you consider the many ways that Canopy Management can help you grow your business, you’ll see why selling on Amazon is much easier “under the Canopy.”
- Strategic Growth Planning
- Listing Copywriting Optimization
- Listing Photography
- Product Videography
- Advertising Management
- Customer Service
- Demand Side Platform (Amazon DSP)
- Amazon Posts
- Full Service Management
- Amazon Review Aggregation