Awesome Amazon Black Friday Selling Tips from FBA Sellers

October 15, 2020
8 mins

With Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) rapidly approaching, utilising advanced selling strategies on Amazon will be pivotal for a strong finish in 2020. Although some of the biggest shopping days of the year are still two months away (Black Friday is November 27), sellers should already be starting preparations. If you haven’t, don’t worry — to help you, we have compiled awesome Amazon Black Friday selling tips from top Amazon sellers.

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Stephen Smotherman from Full-Time FBA offers his two top tips for success this Black Friday.

1. Many of the best “Black Friday” deals don’t even happen on Black Friday

Most people know that Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year and there is great money to be made buying up deals on Black Friday and flipping them on Amazon. What some people forget is that stores also have awesome sales the week before Black Friday and the week after.

The stores want to keep the money flowing all throughout this Q4 season, and they are eager to have enticing sales over the course of a few weeks, not just on one particular day. So, pay attention to all of the sales leading up to Black Friday, as well as the week after.

2. You don’t have to brave the crowds to get the best Black Friday deals
While sourcing in retail stores on Black Friday might give you amazing ROI from just a few hours of sourcing, there are also countless Black Friday deals to be found online! Typically, when I’m making an online purchase for resale, I want to buy at least the minimum amount to get free shipping.

The money saved on free shipping is money that can increase my ROI and help me buy more inventory. But when I’m shopping for Black Friday deals online, the time it takes to get my inventory shipped to me for prep and shipment to Amazon is crucial. Sometimes it can be worth it to pay $5 or $10 for expedited shipping on an online order on Black Friday so that I can get my inventory into the FBA warehouse faster.

Plus, always check to see if online stores are offering discounts on expedited shipping on Black Friday and take advantage of those discounts when possible.

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Joesph Hansen, CEO of Buy Box Experts offers his three top seller tips for a unique Black Friday

1. Ramp up advertising before Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Brands should start advertising two to three months ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Doing so helps build sales velocity, and, with greater sales velocity, a brand can win more sponsored product spots, earn a higher organic ranking, and establish a cheaper CPC.

2. Stock up on inventory
Avoid selling out at all costs possible. When a brand sells out, they lose the Buy Box and slow the momentum of their Amazon BSR (best-seller rank). Review and compare Q4 sales from this year and the previous three years to figure out how much inventory to order.

Note, this busy holiday weekend will be different than any other year due to Prime Day being postponed and the COVID-19 pandemic. There will likely be delays in FBA shipping, so make sure to get inventory shipped to the FBA warehouse as soon as possible.

3. Take the right approach to promotions
A brand needs to know well ahead of time exactly what they’re promoting, so they can develop a well-built advertising plan on how to get it in front of consumers. Similarly, a brand will need to make sure they have enough inventory to accommodate Black Friday through Cyber Monday sales.

Expert Amazon and eBay seller, Amanda O’Brien, offers three great tips to supercharge your Black Friday sales.

With a bumper spend of around $5.8 billion predicted throughout the whole of Black Friday week, Amazon sellers can’t fail to notice that there lies a huge number of potential customers!

1. Be prepared!
You should already have your Amazon stock lined up and ready to go at this stage, so now is the time to actively market and promote your upcoming Black Friday deals. Build anticipation and let your potential customers know what they can expect by blasting your email list using unique and attention-grabbing subject lines, utilise your social media accounts and whip your subscribers and followers up into a frenzy as you tempt them with exciting, limited-time deals!

2. Offer unmissable deals and free shipping.
During the Black Friday and Cyber Monday period, every Amazon buyer’s subconscious will be telling them one thing only: “Everything online is on sale!” So, it stands to reason that you are not going to be a popular seller if you offer a fantastic deal and then add an extra delivery charge on top! Free shipping is the way to go. This combined with a legitimate, unmissable deal that you don’t offer during any other period will make your great deals look even greater and will ensure you supercharge your sales.

3. Bundle your products.
If you have multiple products listed on Amazon that complement each other, then now is the time to gather them into an attractive bundle so that you are offering a one-off ‘combo’ deal to buyers. By offering relevant products together for a percentage discount you have the perfect opportunity to grab the attention of buyers with something a little different which encourages them to purchase.

Devan Jordan, FBA Amazon seller gives his three tips to help you win Black Friday this year.

1. Don’t set your minimums too low.
On Black Friday week, there is going to be a lot of sales happening and a lot of new sellers who usually drive the price down are going to sell out. Stay strong and keep your price at a higher price until the day and then if you want to lower your minimums you are likely to reap the higher profits.

2. Do your research.
The most important advice I can give about seasonal events such as Black Friday week is to look at past years. This tip kind of links in with the first in that if you do this step you will know around what price the items can reach come black Friday and so even if they are maybe not profitable now they may be on that week.

3. Don’t be scared.
You don’t want to get to the end of black Friday having had everything sell out on the first day and you haven’t had time to buy more and get it into Amazon—and have therefore lost a huge amount of money. Don’t be scared to go deeper on inventory. Again, do your research and have a look at sales from the years before and go deep on items. So, what if you have a few left at the end of it, they will sell.

Karon Thackston is a copywriting expert from Marketing Words. Here are Karon’s three top tips to help optimise your Amazon listings this BFCM and maximise sales.

1. Include holiday-related search terms.

While you don’t want to take up space all year with terms that pertain to winter holidays, you should add them (starting right now) to gain traction in the search results.

If you’re selling kitchen scissors (for example), I would certainly include general phrases such as “Black Friday deals,” “Cyber Monday deals,” “Christmas gifts under ___ dollars,” “Hanukkah gifts for {him/her}, “cooking gifts” and “gifts for cooks.” But also drill down to be more specific with terms including “kitchen gifts,” “kitchen gift ideas,” and others. Even though these won’t get as much traffic as broader terms, the conversion rates are typically higher as the keywords get more targeted.

Amazon does not encourage the use of words such as “deal” or “sale.” If you want to go strictly by Amazon’s terms of service (TOS), leave out these words and stick with “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday.”

2. Insert keywords throughout your listing.

While it is easier to toss a few holiday-related keywords and phrases into the Search Terms field, you’ll gain more ground if you place them throughout your listing. Choose the #1 holiday term you want to rank for and add it to your title. Pick 1 or 2 others and add 1 holiday key phrase per bullet point. Sprinkle a couple in your Product Description, and the rest can be inserted into the Search Terms field, provided you have room.

A word of caution: Take it slow and don’t get too carried away. Starting now, enter 1 keyword into your listing and wait. Watch to see what the impact is. If all goes well, continue with the next keyword… wait… continue, etc. I do not suggest reoptimizing the entire listing with a focus on holiday terms. That would likely cause issues.

Remember that, after holiday shopping dies down, remove Black Friday, Cyber Monday and any other gift-related terms you do not want to keep.

3. Tuck holiday-related keywords into other backend fields.

No room in your title, bullet points or Search Terms fields for holiday keywords? Try adding them to the Subject Matter, Target Audience and/or Intended Use fields. While these don’t carry the same amount of weight as the title or Search Terms fields, they might give you enough of a bump to rank a bit higher. And during the fourth quarter, every advantage helps!

Andrew Maff is the Director of Marketing and Operations of Seller’s Choice. Here’s his advice for Black Friday.

Differentiation is an especially difficult but pertinent task leading up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday because of the density of promotions. In this time, social, Google, and Amazon ad prices rise, so it’s important to properly prepare in the months prior. Building a strong customer email list is one of the best ways to avoid having to dump your budget into ad spends around Black Friday.

Pushing customers to your Amazon store may reduce your margins, but sales are sales and you don’t want to underperform on Black Friday or Cyber Monday because you’re giving a sale on your website that you aren’t offering on Amazon.

In short, remember that developing an email list leading up to Black Friday is extremely important for succeeding during Black Friday, but you need to optimize across platforms to tap into your fullest potential.

Final Thoughts

Want one final Amazon Black Friday tip? The holiday time is a crucial time to keep your prices competitive. When a competitor sells out, you want to raise prices and maximise your profit margins.

Need help setting your Amazon pricing strategies? Sign up for a free 14-day trial then get in touch with our support team who’ll help you set your prices right for the holiday season and beyond.

Author

Seamus Breslin

Designer, marketer and all things ecommerce related.