How to open a store on Amazon? What should I pay attention to when opening a store on Amazon? Next, the editor of Cross-border will tell you about some preparations and things you need to know before opening a store on Amazon. I hope it will be helpful to everyone! Let’s take a look together!
Store opening preparation
1. Business license: Any domestic sales, trade, or e-commerce business license can be used for registration.
2. ID card of the legal person;
3. Credit card; the credit card here is used to pay platform fees ($39.9/month) and initial promotion fees. Note: The European site requires that the credit card must be in the name of the legal person, while the North American and Japanese sites do not have this requirement.
4. Register a third-party payment card; the platform itself also provides it, you can choose freely. Also note: the European site must be registered in the name of the company.
In addition, it is recommended to prepare three invoices (the company of the registered account, the corresponding products, and the quantity of the products can be written with more and the price can be marked lower), both ordinary and value-added tax invoices are acceptable; foreign brand registration (European standard, American standard, etc.). These two things can be used later when product sales increase, so it’s better to be prepared.
Product selection and positioning
First, let's understand a little common sense. One difference between it and domestic e-commerce is that there is no category restriction. In other words, one account can do most categories on the platform, and only a few categories require corresponding qualifications. Therefore, when selecting products, you don't need to consider category restrictions too much, but should choose more from the following aspects:
1. Advantageous categories. We know that the platform's target customer group is mainly the middle class in Europe and the United States, and this class is not very sensitive to prices, so the price factor does not play a major role. In the early stage, you can make corresponding product selections based on your strength and conditions, starting with product categories that you are familiar with and have supply advantages. If you have the ability in the later stage, you can expand the categories.
2. Products with potential in data analysis. Organize the product data of the TOP50 in the detailed category, collect data from dimensions such as size, number, selling price, number of reviews, online time, keywords, etc., and analyze the profits, sales volume, core keywords, new product development potential, etc. of this type of product.
3. Positioning. The positioning here refers to the positioning of store development after the first two points are done and there is a clear understanding and judgment. In view of the platform's peculiar delivery method, the number of items to be uploaded is determined based on strength. We will explain in detail why below.
Stocking
Amazon has two delivery methods: FBA (warehouse delivery) and self-delivery.
FBA (warehouse delivery): To put it simply, the goods are sent to the platform warehouse in advance, and when the order is completed, the platform warehouse will ship the goods to the customer to ensure timeliness. The advantages of this method are: 1. You will get the prime label, which is equivalent to a time-guaranteed mark, which has a great influence on platform members; 2. You will get more natural traffic, and this result has been tested on the account.
The advantages are obvious, but the corresponding costs and risks are also high: the cost is naturally the stocking cost; there are two risks. One is that the warehouse stocking quantity exceeds the final sales volume, and the remainder is a direct loss. Due to the extremely high international logistics costs, most people basically give up directly; the other is that the warehouse stocking quantity is lower than the final sales volume. If the replenishment is not timely, it will lead to the interruption of hot-selling models. Once interrupted, it will be difficult to get back on track.
It is recommended that you do not put the products into warehouses in the following two situations: 1. In the early stage of opening a store, when the product has not yet shown any data; 2. When competitors have not yet adopted the warehousing method.
Self-delivery: The seller uses international parcel logistics to send the goods directly to the customer.
Although the cost and risk are reduced, the disadvantages are obvious. The weight and customer experience (delivery time) are not good.
Final suggestion: Low-value products can be appropriately stocked in warehouses; high-value products can be handled by combining warehousing and self-delivery, leaving enough profit margins, and replenishing stocks by air transportation in the default stage. Of course, everything starts from the actual situation and you should choose according to your own strength.
logistics
Let me briefly talk about several international logistics methods. Generally, sellers will choose to cooperate with 2-3 freight forwarding companies, and the specific information can be obtained from the freight forwarders.
Air transport: good time efficiency, expensive price. Applicable to products with high price, small size and timeliness requirements. Among them, DHL has the best delivery time, 5-7 working days; followed by FEDEX IE, FEDEX IP, UPS, etc.; the delivery time given by different freight forwarding companies is also different.
Haipai: sea transportation + truck delivery; the delivery time is generally 24-30 days; the price is in the middle.
Sea transportation: short delivery time and cheap price. This applies to all products that do not have time requirements. Merchants selling foreign holiday products need to start shipping at least 2 or 3 months in advance.
Suggestion: Ask different freight forwarding companies for quotes and timeliness, and choose the appropriate method based on your needs.
Operational points
1. Product keywords should be accurate and embedded in the title and detailed description. If you don’t know the product keywords, you can collect the titles of competing products. The words that appear most frequently are the keywords your product needs.
2. The product pictures are concise and clear. Unlike domestic e-commerce, cross-border e-commerce pictures basically use white background product display pictures, and it is best to name them with product keywords (English).
3. Promotion. Amazon also has CPC paid promotion. When there is no traffic in the initial period, you can choose to promote it appropriately. When the ranking goes up in the later period, the click fee will also drop. You can choose to close it or continue it.
