5 Ways Sellers Can Prepare for Prime Day 2021

The DealNews Seller's Guide

Checking inventory and optimizing listings are just a couple of the measures Amazon Marketplace sellers should take to get ready for Prime Day. Learn what else you can do to prep for this big shopping event.

Maybe you've decided on the discounts you want to run during Amazon's Prime Day event, but you don't know what else to do to get ready. We're here to help, with five ways Amazon sellers can prepare for Prime Day 2021 and make the most of the sal

The first step is ensuring you have adequate stock of your sale items.

Nothing ends sales more surely than an out-of-stock notice, so review your past sales performance and be sure you have enough to meet potential demand. Do you use Fulfillment by Amazon? Then pay attention to cut-off dates for getting your items stocked. Be sure you have items on hand if you use Seller Fulfilled Prime — and have the staff and supplies to ship out higher Prime Day volumes. If you aren't sure you'll be able to fulfill orders for the Prime Day rush, now's the time to consider whether it makes sense to use FBA.

Another thing you can do to get ready for Prime Day is to review your listings and be sure they're optimized.

This could be the most important thing to do, in fact. A better listing can help your product show up in more search results and look more appealing to shoppers when they wind up on the product page. You may think your listings are perfect, but now's the time to review them to catch any errors or see if there's room for improvement.

Let's talk about the key elements of your product pages to focus on.

First you have titles.

Make sure they clearly describe your products and include relevant keywords.

Then there are high-resolution product images.

These should meet Amazon's image requirements, which are available on Amazon Seller Central.

You'll also want to focus on A-plus Content.

Include extra images, charts, and more product details. Note that Amazon restricts A-plus Content availability to Professional sellers enrolled in the Amazon Brand Registry.

The next step of Prime Day prep is to work on improving your product reviews.

Good reviews sell products, so you want to have the best product reviews you can. Amazon has strict rules about reviews and what you can't do.

For example, you can't offer compensation for reviews, ask for positive reviews, ask reviewers to change their reviews, or get employees or family to submit positive reviews.

You need to be absolutely sure you follow these rules, because Amazon can remove your selling privileges if you try to manipulate your reviews.

But don't fret — there are things you can do to improve your product reviews.

You can request product reviews, for one thing.

This can bring in positive reviews from buyers who hadn't bothered to leave a review before. You can't suggest buyers leave positive reviews or offer any kind of compensation, but you can ask them to leave a review through Buyer-Seller Messaging or with the "Request a Review" button on order detail pages. There's no guarantee it'll be a positive review, but you have pretty good odds.

You can also address negative reviews in a polite, professional manner.

Respond publicly in a comment or privately through Buyer-Seller Messaging, offering to fix the problem. Again, you can't ask buyers to change their reviews or offer compensation for an improved review, but providing good customer service and making sure your shoppers are happy can lead to them updating their review.

Looking for another way to prepare for Prime Day? Consider upping your ad budget.

In addition to Lightning Deals and daily deals, you can pay for sponsored product placement that displays prominently in search results. These are cost-per-click ads, and you can expect to pay more for them during Prime Day; but they can be a big boost to product visibility and are generally a good return on ad spend. Do you already have Sponsored Products on Amazon? Then review your budget and bids to be sure your products will stay visible during Prime Day.

Our last Prime Day tip is to run off-Amazon promotions.

Be sure to let potential buyers know you're having a Prime Day sale by announcing it on social media channels and your mailing list, if you have one. Where you spend and how much you spend will depend on your advertising budget and marketing strategies, but your goal on Prime Day is to get the word out about your deals — which is where paid advertising can excel.

Remember that shoppers start looking for deals in the two weeks leading up to Prime Day. So you'll want to have your stock ready to go, your advertising set up, and all of your listings looking their best before the big day. Making your plans in advance is the best way to ensure Prime Day goes smoothly.

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