Tag Archive for: amazon strategies

Scottsdale Web Design – Web Design Tips from Amazon (Part 3)

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We’re down to the last post! If you missed the first 2 articles about Amazon strategies, part 1 is right here, and part 2 is posted here. For the first part, I’ve discussed how Amazon’s categorizes its items and how it uses the power of colors. Meanwhile, the second part is about how Amazon uses the “add to cart” button. Now, there are 3 more tips below:

  • A picture is worth a thousand words.
    • Amazon is marketplace for different sellers. Not everything is sold by Amazon, but every product carries the Amazon brand. Even if a product is not sold and shipped by the company, a lot people trust because it’s on Amazon.
    • One unique feature about Amazon is that it uses superior quality photos that you can zoom in. Products, like books, are actually viewable. You can take a sneak peek through its “look inside!” option.
    • It gives the customers confidence on the product they are buying since a preview is provided by Amazon. Same is true for your website. If you provide sharp photos, people can preview it down to the littlest details.
    • Naturally, you would not buy a product you have not seen. So, it’s important for your website to provide high resolution photos. Choose a photo that can make customers take action. An image should be able to connect with your web visitors and should subtly tell them “hey, check me out.”
      One of Amazon strategies is providing a convenient rating system.

      One of Amazon strategies is providing a convenient rating system.

  • Make reviews easier to make.

    • Customers trust other customers. That’s why Amazon is making sure that their customers can easily rate their products. A rating system is provided by Amazon so customers can just review a product using stars.
    • Seeing a 5-star rating will surely make you purchase a product. As a seller, you don’t need to say much because the 5-star review already says everything. It is an effective way to persuade people to give this product a try.
    • As a customer, you are very meticulous, and every detail is important. You run to people you trust. You seek their advice on what works better. So, Amazon focused on sustaining relationship and not marketing its product. It wanted to gain the trust of its audience.
    • As a seller, learn from Amazon’s strategy. Don’t tell your customers to buy your products. Let 5-star rating do the talking. If your products need exposure, reach out to digital influencers. They might be able to help you spread the word. Their positive review will give your products a much needed boost.

  • Everyone loves anything with the word FREE!

    • I love FREE stuffs. Who doesn’t? Amazon is aware of that! If your order is more $25, you get FREE Shipping. Thus, you are inclined to put more items in your cart just to avail the FREE shipping option.
    • Doing the same will definitely help you gain more customers. They will stick around and browse the daily deals just to reach the minimum amount of the “Free shipping” offer. (I talked about the importance of adding a FREE shipping feature here.)
    • Whatever it is you are selling on your website, try offering something for FREE to convince more people to transact with you. It may be a FREE sample, FREE 15-day trial, or FREE ebook. Business Insider conclusively declared that out of all the freebies, free shipping remains supreme.

Scottsdale Web Design – Web Design Tips from Amazon (Part 2)

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Person Using an Amazon Kindle.

One of Amazon’s best-selling product: Kindle.

This is the 2nd Amazon post of the 3-part series. If you need to refresh your memory on part 1, you can view it here.  For this blog post, I will discuss the importance of building an exclusive circle, of consistent to your brand image and more. So, here are the 3 tips you can learn from Amazon.

  • Welcome to the club.
    • When all your customers give out honest reviews, they gain a following for impartial opinions on the products. These relationships draw more traffic to your website.
    • Since customers know these reviews are genuine and trustworthy, they don’t mind allocating $12.99 a month to exclusive clubs like Amazon Prime. Once customers are part of it, they have eligible to utilize faster shipping options.
    • There’s a one-day shipping, a two-day shipping, and FREE same-day delivery. Other than that, customers have an unlimited access to selected books, albums, and movies.
    • How can you apply this to your website? Ask your followers what they want to see on your site.  Offer concrete solutions to pressing issues. The great thing is that your solution does not need to be a product. You can help them through providing high quality content. You can offer them these exclusive contents via email. Your email list will be the only one to read these exclusive content and videos.
  • Strive to be consistent.
    • If there’s ONE word to describe the top brands, it would be consistent. These popular brands do not focus on short-term goals. Hence, they always look to the years ahead. You are best representation your brand. You have to be consistent in what you share to your customers.
    •  If you are arbitrary and capricious, no one will ever trust your actions. If you constantly change your image, it will just confuse existing customers. Potential customers won’t trust you because you are unsure.
    • To be more convincing, you need to be certain of your plans, goals, and aspirations for the company.  Amazon has been consistently offering free 5-8 days shipping for orders over $25. Amazon Prime members enjoy same-day delivery, release-date delivery, and two-day shipping.
    • Another concrete example is Facebook. The company logo has been consistently blue. The company wasn’t eager to change its logo because Facebook is known to be blue. The words trust and strength are associated with the color blue.  If you need help regarding colors, these guidelines might be useful for you.
  •  “Add to Cart” is better.
    • Proimpact7, a web optimization agency, analyzed the user experience of different websites. They specifically studied the call-to-action (CTA) buttons that had captions like “buy now,” “shop now,” and “purchase now.” The results were conclusive and proved that these buttons are NOT effective.
    • If you have noticed, Amazon uses “add to cart” button. There is NO “buy now” on the website even if you do a thorough search right now. Follow the suit and apply the “add to cart” button instead. Customers click it often because they are sure that they are NOT handing over their hard-earned money yet.
    • So, people have no problem on clicking “add to cart” because they know that sales are not final yet. They don’t hesitate in clicking the button even though it’s practically the same with its “buy now” counterpart.  “Add to Cart” is subtle yet powerful CTA button.

Scottsdale Web Design – Web Design Tips from Amazon (Part 1)

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If you read the previous post, it was about Amazon’s convincing powers to upsell, cross-sell, and pre-sell. Now, this blog post is still about Amazon. I will be carefully breaking down the things that make Amazon a leader in the eCommerce industry.  Below are 3 web design tips you can learn from Amazon:

  • Colors.

    • Amazon gives importance to colors. If you study Amazon’s product page very carefully, you will notice that hyperlinks are blue. You will easily notice these clickable links. On the other hand, the product details are black so it’s very readable and scannable. The only details in red are the price and discount. You can’t ignore the details because the color red highlights how much you will save and how much is price now.
    • Based on studies, consumers click blue links more. The color blue is associated with trust and confidence. It’s no wonder why the different sellers/brands on Amazon are all blue. You are encouraged to click these brands and check out their products.
    • Red is the color of bravery. Amazon prices are indicated in red because they want customers to be brave and take the leap. It’s subtly suggesting to be brave and add that pink dress you have been eyeing for days! It’s whispering to you to take courage and add the items you want in your shopping cart!
    • People opt to choose colorful products over monochromatic ones. However, color is matter of personal preference. Different colors evoke different reactions from people depending on their taste. To understand the different usage of colors, I’ve posted about it here. If you need useful color scheme tools, there’s a useful list over here.
Rainbow Design Decoration

Choosing the colors the works well with your website is extremely important.

  • Urgency.

    • Amazon has mastered the art of creating a sense of urgency. If a customer has been following a certain product, then, you indicate on your website that there’s ONLY 3 items left. This will convince him to purchase the item immediately. It’s powerful strategy when you need to give your customers a friendly nudge to finally buy it.
    • In order for you to create a huge demand, the first thing you have to do is identify the NEED. Ask your followers what products/services they want see in the future. You can collect their suggestions through an online form. You can create your own survey using tools such as limesurvey, jotform, and ninjaform.

  •  Categorize.

    • Try to group similar products together. Amazon is pretty good in doing this strategy.
    • If you find yourself needing a point & shoot camera for your trip to Italy, you see a lot of cheap digital cameras on Amazon. Upon browsing for the perfect travel camera, Amazon suggests that you may need an extra memory card for storing photos. Oh, maybe you need a travel charger too.
    • Amazon is being subtle, yet it’s very effective, right? You only wanted a camera when you started your search. However, you ended up adding 2 more items to you cart.
    • Plus, when these items are bought together, you may save on costly shipping, or you are eligible to get the items for a special bundle price. Customers will easily conclude that they’ve managed to save some bucks by buying a bundle.

Scottsdale Web Design – 3 Amazon Strategies You Can Apply on Your Website

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Amazon strategies that are helpful to your business.

Amazon strategies that are helpful to your business.

In 2017, Amazon revealed that their 4th quarter income for the year was $60.5 billion. This humongous 11-digit earning is an attestation that people spend a lot of money buying gifts for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s no doubt that Amazon is a major player in the retail industry, and they can easily convince practically anyone to buy from their store. So, now, I will list a few strategies that Amazon uses in selling a wide array of products.

  • Going Up!

  • If Amazon is known for something, it would be upselling.
    • By the way, what is upselling? I’m sure you are familiar with this strategy when you are buying at fast-food chain. The crew would normally ask you if you would like some flavored fries instead of the regular fries you ordered.
    • Basically, upselling is a seller’s way of convincing the buyer of spending more on products that would enhance or upgrade main product, which is already is on the customer’s shopping cart.
    • It’s not just that food industry that uses this strategy. In fact, a lot of online retailers practice upselling. No matter what industry you are in, there’s an endless possibility on how you are going to upsell. If you part of the hospitality industry, you can suggest upgrading the room or changing the room type.

  • Cross-sell.

  • Cross-selling happens when you suggest similar products to what’s already in the cart. It involves proposing a product that works well with the existing purchase.
    • For example, when you search for a portable speaker on Amazon, one of the choices is the DOSS Touch Wireless Bluetooth V4.0 Portable Speaker. Amazon, then, reminds the customer that the speaker is “frequently bought together” with a shockproof carrying case, and a 3.5 mm aux cable. The customers won’t have trouble adding these 3 items because in just one click they can easily add it to their cart and buy them together.
  • Since your customers are sure that they are buying something, this is the perfect timing to sell more items to them.  This would mean more profit for you, of course! In 2006, it was reported that almost 35% of Amazon’s income is due to cross-selling similar items.
  • As consumers, we always want to take part of a great deal. We can’t say no to an item especially if we know that we can save a lot when buying in bundles.

  • The pre-sell strategy.

  • What is this? Pre-sell is when you are going to sell your goods in advance.
    • What can you pre-sell to your customers? The top answer would be books. Amazon sells print copies and digital copies of books that aren’t even published yet. Numerous New York Times bestselling books are selling like hotcakes long before they hit the shelves!
    • Aside from books, workshop and concert tickets are easy to pre-sell. Before the said event, tickets are sold-out. Excited fans are buying them the moment they are available in various ticket booths.
  • Usually, when items are for pre-order, retailers like Amazon encourage their customers to buy by offering a pre-ordering discount. If you’ve notice, books are 10% off, 15% off, or even more when are not yet available. As soon as books are released, books are sold on its regular price.