Amazon Marketing & Listing Optimization Tips

Black Friday traditionally begins the day following Thanksgiving and is considered the kickoff to the holiday shopping season. Neither is the case this year. To help shed light on what to expect this season, Adobe Analytics analyzed over a trillion visits to 80 of the top 100 U.S. retail websites, along with sales of more than 100 million unique products. Based on findings from the 38-page report, Channel Key has outlined the five most illuminating data-driven predictions for the 2020 holiday shopping season.

COVID-19 has changed the way many people shop, and that includes groceries. Data from Inmar Intelligence shows that nearly eight out of ten consumers have purchased groceries online during the pandemic, a 19% boost from 2019. Mercatus reports that online grocery sales in the U.S. increased from $1.2 billion in August 2019 to $7.2 billion in June 2020. With this surge in supermarket e-commerce, retailers are competing to capture online grocery sales – and the race is heating up.

Walmart is at war. For 30 years, they have ruled as king of all retailers. Along the way came an online bookstore called Amazon. From a humble garage in Seattle, Amazon quickly grew and expanded into other market territories. They proved to be a formidable force, launching innovation after innovation. Then it happened. In 2019, Amazon surpassed Walmart and took the crown as the world’s largest and most valuable retailer. But the war has just begun.

The time has come. After months of delays and speculation, the most anticipated online shopping event of the year is finally upon us. Amazon Prime Day 2020 is set for October 13th and 14th. Since its launch in 2015 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Amazon, Prime Day has continued to set records. Despite a pandemic – or perhaps because of it – this trend is expected to continue.

Eight out of ten customers are loyal to specific brands, according to the latest statistics on brand loyalty. Loyal customers buy more products from their favorite brands and are more likely to recommend them to their family and friends. For this reason, promoting your brand (and not just your products) is one of the most powerful ways to grow your sales.

One of the reasons Amazon has grown into such a powerful D2C marketplace is its continued effort to expand and improve the marketing tools available to brands. Earlier this year, Amazon introduced a video ad format to its Sponsored Brands advertising program called Sponsored Brands videos.

Amazon’s exponential growth is no secret. There are currently an estimated 2.5 million active sellers on the marketplace, with more joining every day. Naturally, increased competition makes it harder to distinguish your brand. This has created a growing demand for agencies and consultants who can help businesses optimize and grow their Amazon channel quickly and efficiently. Unfortunately, not all can deliver results – not necessarily because they are unqualified, but because the agency and the client are mismatched.

Sellers of online pet products have reason to be optimistic. While many industries have taken a hit during the pandemic, the pet product market appears to be recession resistant. According to the American Pet Products Association, retail pet supply sales in the U.S are expected to reach $99 billion in 2020, up from $95.7 billion in 2019.

First, the good news. This holiday season will be great for e-commerce. It’s no secret that online shopping has soared during the pandemic. The Department of Commerce announced in August that U.S. e-commerce sales jumped 31.8% from Q1 to Q2 this year, accounting for 16.1% of all retail sales (estimates for Q3 are scheduled for release on November 19, 2020). From a broader view, this is a 44.5% increase in digital sales from Q2 of 2019.