This holiday season is a first in many respects. With people going on and on about rising prices, now is the time to strengthen your position on Amazon. This BFCM, makes the most of the latest technology to automate pricing, overpower your competitors, and sell more in Q4.
On Amazon, the holiday shopping season kicks off with Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM). In those last few weeks of the year, every seller hopes to recoup their investment, bring the books “back in the black”, and turn a profit. Today we show you how to win the Buy Box on Amazon with the right products, software, strategy, and mindset.
Importance of BFCM for Amazon Sellers
Cyber Week, a.k.a. BFCM, is Amazon’s busiest and most profitable sales event. It brings more organic traffic and revenue than any other sale because it’s when most buyers shop for gifts. It also dwarfs Prime Day and Big Deal Days because it’s not exclusive to Prime members.
Last year, Amazon reported selling over 1 billion items worldwide in 11 days, churning over $22 billion in sales in the US alone. This year, Cyber Week could last even longer. Black Friday falls on Nov. 29 while Cyber Monday is on Dec. 2. But BFCM deals will probably spill well into both months.
What’s New With BFCM 2024?
As always, sellers who want to capitalize on this extended sales event must stock up, optimize listings, and set up clever marketing strategies. But they must also look at the latest trends. For instance, this year, less than a fifth of buyers started their holiday shopping on Prime Day, Statista claims.
Also, there were over a billion dollars’ worth of orders with Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) on Prime Day 2024. Marketers almost doubled their spending on Sponsored Products, preferring them to display ads. As for price cuts, twice as many brands offered Prime Exclusive Discounts than last year.
So, sellers spent more to promote specific items. Meanwhile, shoppers had more rebates and they opted to defer payment more often this Prime Day. It seems both parties are more thrifty and more focused than in previous years. To keep up with these changing needs, Amazon is deploying several AI tools.
This BFCM, buyers can access AI shopping guides, ask the AI shopping assistant Rufus about products, and scribble notes on their Kindle with the help of gen AI. Meanwhile, sellers benefit from the Fit Insights Tool as well as Amelia, the new AI selling assistant.
Speaking of AI capabilities, Amazon associates can use them too. The scanners used by Amazon van inspectors and delivery drivers feature AI tech. Amazon also plans to launch more AI-powered fulfillment centers with fully autonomous Proteus robots, a suite of robotic arms, multi-level inventory systems, and a bipedal box mover called Digit.
These are all advancements that sellers can leverage to improve metrics, gain more visibility, boost sales, and raise profits for BFCM 2024. But it takes time, planning, and the commitment of resources towards product sourcing, pricing, inventory management, and advertising.
9 Tips for a Great BFCM 2024
1. Source Your Products with Profit Bandit
Tools like Profit Bandit can help you quickly identify profitable, high-demand items just in time for BFCM and other sales events. Scan product barcodes to access real-time data on sales ranks, prices, and profit margins. Make informed decisions about which products to stock up on.
2. Optimize Prices with BuyBoxBuddy
A sure-fire way to keep your competitive edge on Black Friday is to use an auto pricing tool. It’s a “hands off the wheel” kind of software developed specifically for new, inexperienced, or busy sellers who either don’t have the time or don’t know how to get the Buy Box in Amazon’s highly competitive landscape.
Repricing software like BuyBoxBuddy can set the ideal price for every item. It will then change it constantly and instantly based on demand and market conditions. It can also quickly raise it to the highest safe level whenever you fulfill what is the Amazon Buy Box eligibility criterion of the day.
With BuyBoxBuddy, you can apply a variety of pricing strategies simultaneously for your entire inventory on 14 marketplaces! You don’t even need any training on how to win the Buy Box on Amazon to get it working. It can be as easy as dragging a slider, typing a percentage, or tweaking a set price.
It works with any pricing strategy. You can set your price to stay slightly lower, higher, or the same as your competitor’s (competitive pricing), rising whenever they run out of stock and the demand grows (dynamic pricing). Then hike it as soon as you win the Buy Box and gradually bring it back down (price skimming).
Or, if you’re just launching your product, you could resort to penetration pricing to steal your competitor’s thunder. Then, once you gain a foothold, practice cost-plus pricing by setting a fixed floor price or percentage. As your brand gains traction, you can then try value-based pricing to boost revenue.
3. Optimize Your Listings
This Cyber Week, it’s important to pick your product line-up and list big-ticket items early and carefully. At this point, there’s no telling how keyword matching will work this time around. Amazon’s so-called “A10” search algorithm was already able to understand buyer intent from just a few words. But searching on Amazon is different today.
Now, thanks to Rufus, Amazon can translate, listen to your voice, look at your page views and order history, and even pick up on connections between products before it displays a result. It’s not yet clear how to optimize keywords for Rufus, so it’s up to every seller to experiment before BFCM.
As always, if you want to rank well and lift your offers above the fold, don’t hesitate to use keyword software that can identify relevant, high-traffic keywords. Opt for long-tail keywords to avoid high PPC costs and improve organic rankings. But be sure to include contextual information.
Ask yourself what a buyer might want to look up when they power up their Amazon app or browser. Tap the Rufus icon to reveal and research the 3 default options: “Keep shopping for […]”, “Compare options”, and “Try something new”.
Look at the list of follow-up questions and suggestions. Tap them to see how your choice affects its product recommendations. Also look closely at the results. You’ll notice that the images and descriptions Amazon returns aren’t always relevant or even accurate.Yet, they get those coveted views.
If you want those eyeballs on your listings this BFCM, be sure to enhance your product visuals with high-quality festive images. Squeeze in some seasonal elements in your descriptions and add lifestyle photos that chime with the holiday theme to your A+ content.
As a brand owner, carry out A/B testing with the Manage Your Experiments tool and opt for auto-launch so that the most lucrative version is up asap. Try to find keywords relevant to changing needs if you want to boost ranking and conversion. Choose keywords relevant to trends like panic buying, purse strings tightening, or doom spending, especially in light of recent political events.
4. Devise the Right Way to Advertise for BFCM
When it comes to promoting your products on Amazon, the sky’s the limit. Virtually anyone can Amazon Ads on and off-site using Posts, Stores, and Amazon Live content. Prime Video ads and other video and audio ads can also help increase visibility with streaming and smart speakers.
But most merchants focus their resources on Sponsored Products, especially since they run on desktop, the Amazon app, and a suite of reputable websites like Pinterest and Buzzfeed. They can help boost visibility. However, they may call for a 25%-50% uptick in ad budgets at peak time.
On that note, Amazon recently launched the AI Creative Studio. This gives sellers the ability to generate and refresh video (“Live Image”) and audio (TBA) content featuring their products. These AI-powered Amazon ads will most likely become the tool of choice for brands and sellers advertising on Amazon, but be sure to also check out Amazon’s BFCM advertising tips.
5. Join Forces with Social Media and Influencers
To drive traffic beyond Amazon’s platform, you also have the option to advertise on social media. You can engage with Gen Z, Millennials, and virtually any other demographic on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
To amplify your brand’s reach, build trust, and encourage conversions, collaborate with influencers during BFCM. Find out how to reach and onboard them in our post titled “Influencer Marketing on Amazon”, and then provide discount links that they can share via unboxing videos and lifestyle photos.
Offer testers, samples, prizes, gift guides, and referral perks through them or on your own channel. Come up with relevant hashtags that stand out, such as #BlackFriday2024Freebies and #BFCM2024Swag. Follow up with buyers and offer extra discounts exclusive to them.
6. Balance Stockouts and Restock Limits
Even if Amazon no longer charges overage fees on your marketplace, you’re still liable for monthly storage and aged inventory surcharge if you have FBA inventory. Also, FBA capacity limits can affect the type and amount of products you can ship to Amazon. So, be sure to keep check your Inventory Performance dashboard every day.
But whatever the type of fulfillment, it’s important to stock an adequate amount of inventory for holiday sales. Inventory management tools like SellerSonar generate stock alerts and automate reordering to prevent stockouts. Third-Party Logistics (3PL) companies can also help you shift your stock.
Browse the FBA holiday guide for help on listing overstock, asking for extra storage, or getting rid of stranded inventory. Mind you, if you missed the cut-off date (Oct. 19), your items may not be Prime-ready. Use Amelia for advice on inventory issues and as a gateway to Seller Support.
7. Time Your Promos Right
Aside from the free shipping buyers have come to expect, you may want to offer bundles, coupons, subscriptions, or mystery boxes to attract shoppers. Also, there’s still time to set up price discounts and Prime Exclusive Discounts (PEDs), as long as you have at least a 4.0 feedback score for the past year.
Remember that PEDs only work with items that either don’t have a rating yet, or have at least a 3.5-star rating. Discounts must be 20%-80% of the non-Prime price, 5% lower than the Was price, and 15% lower than the reference price. Finally, you must charge less than the lowest absolute price over the last 30 days.
Also, MFN offers must meet the eligibility criteria. You need a Late Dispatch Rate of 4% or less, a Pre-Fulfilment Cancellation Rate of 0.5% at most, and an Order Defect Rate no higher than 1% for the month prior. You must also ship for free and set your disbursement policy to at least 7 days after delivery.
| Note: If you want to set up Prime Exclusive Discounts for Black Friday, you can only get the badge if your sales event starts on Nov. 21. So, in effect, this year’s BFCM event will last 12 days. |
8. Think Long-Term: Plan for Post-BFCM Sales
Once you’re all set up for BFCM, try to keep that momentum. Get ready for sustained traffic throughout the last few weeks of the year. Align your product listings and campaigns with what buyers need over the holidays, and change your messaging based on their new wants, needs, and budgets.
Be sure to update your holiday-related keywords and visuals regularly to maintain high visibility from one special day to the next. Come back to our blog to find out how to win the Buy Box on Amazon during and after BFCM 2024.
9. Don’t Underestimate Winter Holiday Sales on Amazon
There are several high-traffic sales events to focus on, besides Black Friday and Cyber Monday. You could list items specifically for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa sales, for instance. End-of-year sales and clearances are an excellent opportunity to move excess stock and capitalize on high traffic.
But also be sure to budget for a rise in returns. The new Holiday Returns Policy extends the return window to Jan. 31, 2025 for items bought as early as Nov. 1, 2024. Luckily, Amazon made it easier for you to check on disbursements and any transactions delayed beyond the DD+7 timeframe. It now displays a status section for referred transactions on the Payments dashboard.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are momentous sales events, with many buyers flocking to Amazon. But you can’t expect BFCM to be a boon for your shop unless you prepare on several fronts, including listings, stocking, marketing, and social media engagement. With Profit Bandit, BuyBoxBuddy, and all the other tools mentioned above, you’ll no longer be wondering how to win the Buy Box on Amazon and maximize profits this holiday season.
Melanie takes an active interest in all things Amazon. She keeps an eye on the latest developments and keeps Amazon sellers up to speed.