Looking for the right Amazon Agency, difficulty in finding and shortlisting one
Amazon is becoming a very important sales channel for companies and brands in India. In terms of number of searches it is growing rapidly and becoming a preferred destination for Indian online shoppers. The convenience and prime program is creating a very strong stickiness with the customers.
A lot of new and upcoming home grown brands are trying to scale through the online Direct to customer (D2C) channel but at the same time cannot ignore Amazon as a sales channel. With the extensive logistics and comprehensive tech it is a very scalable platform and often used by customer for product discovery.
In order to scale on Amazon you either need an Amazon expert or an Agency to manage it for you.
Hiring an inhouse team vs agency both have their pros and cons but this is not the topic of discussion.
So let’s jump into how to partner and select the Amazon agency and what parameter and factors a business should evaluate:
1. Holistic Understanding: This is always easier said than done. An agency that understands the business side along with logistics, taxes, operations, best practices, PPC is someone you should aim to partner with. If you approach it in silos it may not be the best fit.
2. Team: You can’t stress enough about the quality of people who will be working on your account. Try and speak to the account manager who will be working on your account daily. Since Amazon is not a one member job try and speak to everyone who will be working on your account.
3. Experience: Try and understand the background and the size of business the team is capable of handling. Young and enthusiastic team is always great but a balance of some experience helps in making better long term bets.
4. Competitor Analysis: Try and get a competitor analysis from your agency. It will help them study the competition ,the best practice , market size etc.
5. Strategy and Goal Setting: It’s always a good idea to discuss goals and strategy before you signup because it gives you the understanding and alignment.
6. Category Alignment: Try and understand if the agency has worked on similar product category. It will reduce the learning curve both of you have to go through.
7. Keyword Research: Coming up on Amazon search is extremely critical and most of the work is being done by AI tools these days. You should try and understand how does a company
8. Amazon PPC and Promotion: Amazon PPC is now being considered as a cost of doing business on Amazon without spending on Ads the new A9 Algorithm will not give you the desired sales. An agency should be capable of managing all type of Amazon ads: Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Display Ads. To improve your visibility on Amazon using ads alone is not sufficient Amazon gives you other tools such as coupons, deals etc that one has. The agency should be able to formulate a blend of all of these to grow.
9. Inventory Planning and Cluster Replication: One of the most expensive assets an Amazon seller owns is the inventory if the agency is able to optimize your inventory and get you the extra 5% so basically the agency pays for itself.
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