Repricing is an integral part of an Amazon seller’s operation. Whether the goal is to boost Buy Box share, stimulate sales, maximize profits, or have the most competitive and responsive offer at all times, repricing efficiently is the key.
To find out what to look for when shopping for repricers, please give our article a read.
With competitors able to match or undercut you in no time using automated repricers, all the effort you put into setting your prices on Amazon by hand is in vain. As the video below shows, a competitor using automated repricing will undercut your manually changed price within minutes.
On the other hand, if you already have repricing software, selling at a loss or not selling at all are both clear signs that you’re not making the most of it. Another issue is that not studying your competition can cause you to become embroiled in price wars.
But if you’re willing to study the market and master the software, here are some of the qualities you should be looking for when you shop for a repricer:
1.It’s Responsive
A price change will usually go live on Amazon at about the same time, whether it’s manual or automatic, because of an inherent upload latency on Amazon. What you should be looking at, then, is how fast your software can pick up on a competitor’s price change, so that it can set the optimum price for your product before your competitor’s price goes live. A repricing tool that works in ‘real-time’ would be able to do this.
To achieve the same effect as a real-time repricer, you’d have to refresh the offer page of every single item in your inventory once every second, be it manually or using software. Even some of the best standard repricers can only do that every 15 minutes, so nothing beats ‘real-time’ repricers.
2. Finds Ideal Prices and Sets Rules into Place
A repricing tool should be able to perform optimally for most sellers. It should be able not only to set prices quickly, but also to estimate the profit you’d make in different situations, whether you’re planning to buy a product, or already have it in stock. It should also be able to make suggestions for you, and anticipate potential issues with a listing.
It should offer a host of features and solutions for common and rare products, luxury or 1-cent items, and limited or large-scale inventory alike. You’d need to be able to use it to find solutions that can be applied to the entire inventory, or which selectively target specific items in the catalog. Finally, it should be ready to apply your rules in different situations, and to prioritize some over others.
3. Wins the Buy Box for You
Ultimately, what you want it to do is to help you win and then keep the Buy Box for you by using specific scenarios, minimizing your losses as it does so. An example would be for it to realize that Amazon’s favoring a certain contender for the Buy Box, and to refrain from trying to undercut that seller, as we discussed in a previous post.
Then, once it secures the coveted Buy Box, it needs to be able to apply a strategy to suit your interests. You may want it to ‘freeze’ or raise the price every time you win the Buy Box, for instance, as we mentioned in our post on pricing scenarios.
4. Filters Your Competition
Another aspect to look for is the ability to assess the type of competitors you have, and to take their domestic and international shipping charges into account, changing your prices accordingly. Doing so would highlight your main competitors for a specific product or category, and even give you an indication as to how they reprice.
5. Entitles You to Specialist Customer Service
We’ve learned over the years that whatever the software lacks, the customer service can make up for. That’s why we think it’s important for you to look for a trustworthy provider whose level of guidance and assistance matches the level of support you think you’ll need in the long run, be it over the phone or via email.
6. Offers You a Free Trial
Look for repricers that come with a free trial version, or at least try to find demos and tutorials online. This will enable you to assess how user-friendly and reliable they are.
We’ve only scratched the surface when it comes to pointing out the main qualities of a good repricer. But if you’d like to know more, or even give our repricing tool a try, please feel free to contact us at sales@SellerEngine.com for advice and guidance.
Melanie takes an active interest in all things Amazon. She keeps an eye on the latest developments, and keeps Amazon sellers up to speed.