In 2022, US customers ranked Amazon as the most trusted retailer, and more than 60% of sales are from independent sellers. On average, 8,600 units are sold per minute.
As Amazon grows, competition among sellers is constantly increasing. Getting in front of customers and increasing sales is becoming more challenging. Sometimes, your sales can stagnate or decline instead of growth—but do not worry!
Below is a list of actions to take when sales are declining. Amazon is a complex selling place; all steps correlate and can be intertwined. If your sales have been chronically hit for some time now, you must check and understand each step, as sometimes the answer is not as simple as “Amazon has suppressed your listing”—and it is your top seller!
1. Check Seller Central Notifications for Account Health and Listing Issues
Seller Central notifications often provide crucial information about sudden warnings, changes in account health, performance, or listing violations that might have affected your sales.
Start by checking for sudden warnings and changes in account health, performance, or listing violations that might’ve affected your sales. For instance, sudden changes in your account’s health metrics or a warning about a policy violation could be indicators. The Seller Central Dashboard often displays these crucial notifications at the top or in the notification bar, alerting you to urgent issues such as listing suspensions, policy changes/violations, or account health alerts.
2. Analyze Sales Data for Key Trends and Seasonal Insights
After addressing urgent alerts and notifications, it’s crucial to analyze your sales data. This step empowers you with strategic insights, helping you understand whether there’s seasonality at the account level or your sales are consistently trending down. It’s a powerful tool that puts you in control of your Amazon business.
By looking at sales and traffic data by date, you can notice if there is seasonality on the account level or if your sales have consistently started to trend down. On the other hand, by looking at data on the ASINs level, you can look for changes in demand on a product level. Compare a busy-selling month with a slower-selling month, and look if any ASIN has decreased in sales or traffic or if there are any emerging products whose sales and traffic are increasing.
3. Monitor Your Buy Box Percentage for Sales Impact
You can also analyze the Featured Offer % in Business Reports. The report should indicate if there have been any changes during the previous year or two. Sometimes, other sellers might appear or hijack our listings; Amazon could make you lose a Featured Offer due to incorrect pricing (setting the price too high or too low), stock levels, etc.
If the Featured Offer is above 90%, it is considered okay. For those below 90%, you should start paying closer attention and analyzing how it changes in the next period, as it signals you are losing Buy Box often. The critical level comes when the Featured Offer is below 70%, and your sales are most likely being significantly impacted.
4. Analyze Customer Feedback and Return Rates for Actionable Insights
Now, go back to the main dashboard and check your Feedback Manager. There, you can track whether you start receiving negative reviews. The image below provides an overview of customer ratings and comments from the dashboard.
Additionally, you can analyze the return rate. If it’s a high return rate, look at different time frames and what were the most common reasons for returns. From the Performance tab, go to the Voice of the Customer Dashboard, look at different date ranges or all time, and analyze your return rate and the reasons. Sometimes, you can fix the issues by updating content on your Product Detail Pages.
5. Review Your Pricing Strategy and Leverage Dynamic Pricing Solutions
Once you’ve assessed customer feedback and return rates, evaluating your pricing strategy is essential. Competitive pricing plays a significant role in winning sales on Amazon, especially in crowded categories. Ensure your price aligns with market demand and that you’re offering the lowest possible price without sacrificing margins.
Consider using a dynamic pricing solution to adjust your prices based on real-time market conditions automatically. This allows you to stay competitive, optimize margins, and react quickly to competitor price changes without manual effort. Dynamic pricing helps maintain visibility, win the Buy Box, and increase conversions by offering customers the most attractive deal at the right time
6. Optimize Inventory Levels and Restocking Strategies
Spend some time in the Inventory dashboard. Check your inventory levels and Amazon’s suggestions for restocking. We have written in more detail here the best practices for inventory management that, if executed correctly, can positively impact your Amazon performance.
Under the Inventory tab, navigate to the FBA dashboard and review Amazon’s recommendations under the ‘Plan inventory’ section, especially regarding restocking the products. Always have enough inventory to avoid the issues associated with out-of-stock products, which can adversely affect sales, product positioning, market share, and best-seller ranks.
7. Consolidate Your Catalog with Parent/Child ASIN Connections
A minor tweak that can go a long way is correctly tying parent/child ASIN connections. By merging variations under one detail page, you also merge reviews and ratings – your social proof of demand and quality on Amazon.
This only applies if it makes sense for your Amazon products. The example below shows all variations on one product detail page, where customers can toggle between each and efficiently find their color.
In another example, we can see all variations connected for color and size, making it easier for the customer to find the right fit and make that final step in their shopping journey – conversion.
8. Utilize Bundles, Brand Tailored Promotions, and Subscribe & Save Discounts to Boost Sales
Combining your products into Bundles can help you increase your sales. It is convenient for customers to order bundles of products instead of each individually. Bundles usually come with a percentage off the price and are more cost-effective to consumers than buying each product separately. For you as a seller, they help build out sales volume and improve your rankings. They are also shown on the product detail page, as seen below.
One of the newest additions to Amazon marketing is Brand Tailored Promotions. It gives sellers options to offer special discounts to different audiences interacting with the brand. Navigate to the Brand > Brand Analytics tab in Seller Central to analyze data on different audience segments and set BTP running. This shows on product detail pages, and one can be redeemed per customer.
If your product is eligible, you can also enroll it in Subscribe&Save and offer an additional discount on the subscription. This way, you can establish a stable source of revenue by increasing the number of active subscriptions over time.
9. Evaluate the Performance of Your Amazon Advertising Campaigns
After checking all significant Seller Central Notifications and dashboards, you make sure everything is set and working correctly. You then find any operational issues that might have affected your sales and work on fixing them. Finally, you need to review the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns.
In the vast space of the Amazon marketplace, advertising is a beneficial tool that helps us get in front of the eyes of our new, potential, or even existing customers. For beginners, we compiled a beginner’s guide with all the basics.
But if you are familiar with your KPIs and campaigns, look for your ACOS efficiency, how much you are investing in brand defense and how much in nonbrand campaigns to attract new customers, how your cost-per-click is moving, whether you are targeting the right keywords and competitors, and how aggressive you are with advertising spend. After all, Amazon is a pay-to-play platform that often takes time to reach your desired sales goals.
10. Conduct Comprehensive Market Research and Competitor Analysis
In addition to Seller Central notifications, sales data, and advertising, we need to know what is happening with our competitors. Outside factors can also contribute to our sales decreasing. Third-party software can help you analyze what is happening on Amazon with your niches and competitors.
Look for changes in market share and competitor prices. Are they offering any special deals or discounts? Do they have any unique selling points that make them stand out? Compare what they are doing and analyze if you have room to do the same or better.
Apart from them, analyze their advertising strategy. Are they defending their branded searches and ad placements on product detail pages? Are they attacking your brand name and placements on your PDPs? You may need to increase your brand defense and use it to your advantage – to cross-sell your products by showing them on your PDPs.
11. Conduct Keyword Research and Optimize Your Listings for Better Visibility
In this article and this case study, we discussed the importance of regular listing optimizations and checking your Amazon keywords. These actions help with product visibility and discoverability, leading to increased sales.
If everything seems fine in Seller Central, it’s time to evaluate and optimize your listings. Demand and how people look for products may change over time, and you must be on top of it.
Keyword research does well for both optimized listings and optimized advertising campaigns. And when those two aspects work harmoniously, you may be on the right track again. In Seller Central, we also have the option to A/B test different copies on listings, which you can try to see if the new copy starts giving better results.
12. Drive Traffic to Your Amazon Listings with Off-Amazon Channels and Earn Referral Bonuses
Last, if you have a good social following on other channels or many addresses on your email list, you could use these additional channels to drive traffic to Amazon and boost your sales.
If you are enrolled in Amazon’s Brand Referral Program, you can get 10% back of sales from links to your PDPs or Brand Store that you created in your Amazon Attribution campaigns.
Trying to figure out why your sales are stagnant or declining can sometimes be as straightforward as Amazon changing policies you now need to comply with. Still, it can also be as complex as checking everything and not simply finding the reason behind it. New competitors are entering the market, resellers are showing up, or macroeconomic factors beyond your control are contributing.
If you still need help with your Amazon performance, CONTACT US at BellaVix for expert help conquering the Amazon marketplace!
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