The arrival of Amazon in Pakistan has initiated a novel era of ecommerce. With the onset of this ecommerce revolution, businesses and exporters are welcoming this major shift and anticipating more progressive developments in the future. And why not? They have all the reasons to be this cheerful as this is something we waited for an entire decade to happen.

It’s a proud moment that we’re transitioning from the traditional exports method to the advance and global selling platform. But with many business owners and exporters preparing themselves to ride the bandwagon, there lies a major learning curve to be met in the paradigm of ecommerce; as the majority of our people are still naive to the concept of Amazon, or pulling it off through a proper channel.

To help all the hustlers in the new business battlegrounds, we’ve come up with the essential guidelines and information, so they can get the needed insight into how things actually work in the world of Amazon.

Make A Business Plan

To start off your Amazon Seller journey, you’re supposed to have a framed plan in place to ensure everything is set on the right track. It must include your well-thought-out business strategy, market analysis, product collection, marketing stuff, and the complete financial plan.

There’s a lot that needs to be done even before you start off your journey, you need to check market trends in the particular region you want to sell, decide on the products, settle your finances which will be spent upon the product sourcing, marketing, Amazon account fees and more stuff like that. See if your business is lacking in having any of these important factors, iterate the details, and keep adding information until it’s all complete from your end. Got a clear vision now? So grab that pen and paper and start jotting down the points.

Check for the Competition & Your Market

Analyzing your market and the competition will help you plan out your product strategy wisely; as every product has a unique ‘go-to-market strategy. Go for the products that have a high demand or demand but low competition. This is because a demand scale will determine how much time your product will take to get sold out after it’s up for the sale on your storefront.

See which market will be all good for you, just in case if you’re selling a mattress but you must be facing an extremely competitive market in the US, but you’ll get the open ground in Germany, which accounts for the total 10% of Amazon eCommerce market.

It is highly recommended that you take enough time to analyze the number of total competitors in your niche to decide if it’s actually the right market to start with. Take it this way, if there are more competitors, then there are more chances for your

product to struggle in drawing the needed attention and achieve the targeted sales.

Now the major part, how do you discover the demand exactly? The answer is you cannot estimate any product’s demand in the form of accurate numbers, but there are ways that help you get closer to the estimate. One of the highly recommended, popular tools is Jungle Scout (JS) Chrome Extension. This incredible tool is the source to let you know all the row-wise data along with the opportunity score. For beginners, it is better to start off with the opportunity score from 6 to 9, as it indicates that the products are in medium to higher demand and the lesser competition. There’s another tool – Egrow – that also works in a similar interface providing the same kind of results.

So keep in mind, you have to pick up the product that has a few sellers but a high sales velocity, this will lower the chances for you to face any consequences.

Search for the Product Suppliers

We can’t emphasize enough that how much having credible product suppliers by your side is necessary to achieve that coveted success in your Amazon Sellers journey.

Utilize all your resources to identify the best product suppliers out there, check your social circle, send emails, make phone calls and pay visits to the supplier’s places.

You can also initiate your search on google or you can find your product supplier at the trade shows. In addition, you can find a myriad of product suppliers on other B2B platforms, such as Alibaba and AliExpress. Make sure to garner their background details and other things before proceeding with anything. Trade shows and similar events are great ways to know your product supplier and if they can cater to what you’re planning with your Amazon business. Make sure to collect all the necessary details such as the minimum order quantity, the order limit, quality, all the charges, and their capacities. Be clear about the payment method that you’ll choose to make all the transactions.

Place Order

After choosing your supplier, you’re required to place your orders. Please note that your first orders aren’t supposed to be large, you can place the order in a small quantity and use it as a test to check the audience’s response. It is a great way to understand the existing market and figure out how your products will be perceived.

We recommend that you remain in continuous contact with your suppliers and receive all the updates you need. As an Amazon Seller, you must keep a vigilant check everywhere, such as inspection, production, and product quality before they’re shipped.

How Much Money You Will Need To Start Selling On Amazon?

Below are the listed 5 costs directly associated with starting an Amazon business:

  • Buying initial inventory costs around $150
  • Opening a seller pro account requires $39.99
  • Buying UPC Codes costs $10
  • Investing in product photography ranges from being free to $295
  • Creation of product branding and logo costs around $24

Open an Amazon Account

Register an Amazon Seller Account, and currently that there are two types of seller accounts available; pro seller or the individual seller. The former costs around $39.99 per month and offer an incredible set of features, while the individual seller costs $0 per month, but you’ll be charged $1 for every item you sell through Amazon. Fill out the form with all the information required, and the best part you don’t need to own a legal business to start on Amazon right away.

As you’ll be selling from Pakistan, you’ll be in need of all the following stuff

  • International credit cards, like Visa or the MasterCard
  • A local bank in your region that facilitates automated clearing house (ACH), which indicates that your bank will be accepting payments from the Amazon
  • Your personal address, so you can receive all the mails
  • Registered phone number
  • A US EIN number. You’re not required to have any particular status or to be a corporation in order to achieve this number. An EIN can be obtained by filing IRS Form, SS-4, Application for Employer Identification Number.

Choose Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) or Fulfillment by merchant (FBM) according to your ease. Decide what will work the best for you and go with that fulfillment channel.

Product Listings:

Okay, this is the crucial part over here that you need to take care of, as it requires expertise and extra attention. Go to your seller account and start creating product listings in order to add your items. There are many important parts of creating your listings; such as adding high-resolution images, classifying your product categories, and other important details. In case if you haven’t got many items, you can go listing them manually on the initial basis; and if there are many items to be listed, you can list them by uploading a spreadsheet.

Manage Your Inventory

This part particularly requires special attention. You’re supposed to manage inventory levels all the time as they’re extremely important. It is a mandatory condition that you must have enough inventory level to sell and keep it available for your relevant market all the time. Your inventory level will start decreasing as you start receiving orders, and it needs to be updated all the time to show the actual availability of the products. Place immediate orders to your suppliers when you see an item is running out of stock to keep the sales coming ing.

Create FBA Shipping Plan

You can pick the option of ‘change to fulfilled by Amazon’ by going to your Seller Central Dashboard.  Choose the series of options that are ‘convert only’, ‘print item labels’, and ‘send/replenish inventory.

You can select the case-packed products, which means that you’ll be sending all of your products in a single box. If you’re sending multiple products in one box to Amazon FBA, then you’re supposed to select the individual products.  Moreover, you’ll also be required to fill out a hazmat review form, and then you’ll be asked to specify the dimensions of your product. No need to get worried over here if you don’t know the actual dimensions, you can approximate all the values, just don’t go completely wrong. You can also choose to ask your supplier and they’ll provide you all the details. Then you’ll be required to fill out the number of units present inside each case and the number of cases you’re sending to them. By creating a shipping plan, Amazon decides which warehouse will receive your products.

Check Your Customer Reviews

Customer reviews are the ultimate catalysts that provide the needed boost to your brand’s growth, draw more customers and foster a trusted relationship between your products and the audience. To enhance your Amazon customer reviews, you need to check up on the shopping experience of your customers and how your products are being perceived by them. And there are so many hassle-free ways to do it, you can launch the email campaigns directed towards your buyers, or can collect feedback through your brand’s official socials. Highlight all your positive feedback and ratings to get more leads and conversions.

Optimize Your Product Listings

Your product listings should be continuously optimized to increase website traffic and sales.  Learn and gain a comprehensive understanding of the Amazon algorithm and make it work for your business. Use all the ways to make your brand visible among your competitors, such as using all the relevant keywords in your product details, adding high-quality images, and make it appealing to your customers. Highlight the value of your products, and make sure all the details are easy to understand and ‘call to actions’ are there.

We acknowledge it’d not be a piece of cake to launch your Amazon business, but with the right expertise, guidelines, and advice by your side, you can figure out and plan your whole journey and be on the right track leading to your success. We wish you the very best of luck in your venture!