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Showing posts from 2018

An Upsurge in Fake Amazon.com Reviews Hurts Everyone

Buyers typically rely on Amazon product reviews when it comes time to make a purchase. And as with most internet sites, those items boasting a surplus of four and five star reviews receive the most attention from the average consumer. But what happens when the seller solicits positive reviews as a way to boost sales and pad overall ratings? Usually … nothing good. Up until late 2016, there was nothing prohibiting sellers from entering into quid pro quo-type arrangements with customers. Reviews in exchange for free products. The understanding, of course, was that said reviews would be “honest and unbiased.”  But Amazon then changed their policy regarding incentivized reviews and many buyers, who were profiting royally from the former arrangement, took the practice  underground. (There is speculation that Amazon only cracked down once customers started noticing a trend of reviews that were rated highly but were quite general in content.) This brings us to present day where som

Amazon’s Private Brands and What It Means To You

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery . We’ve all heard this saying before, and in some instances, it’s true. But when it comes to Amazon’s foray with their own private label collections — especially as it relates to third-party dealers and national brands — well, then it’s a bit dicey.   Here’s the thing: Not only does Amazon function as a marketplace upon which almost anything is available for purchase, it is also a living, breathing database that accumulates, in real time, the spending habits of their customers. It takes Amazon merely six months to cultivate a private label — from conception to manufacturing to merchandising — based simply on the popularity metric of another pre-established, well-selling brand. Further, while this newly created product will typically be of lesser quality, it will also have the full backing of the Amazon machine. Even Alexa, for instance, will select items from Amazon’s private label products over branded products when prompted.   The

Ecommerce Outsourcing & Consultants for Amazon Sellers

Third-party consulting services and consultants can give your Amazon business a helping hand, from outsourcing simple tasks, day to day activities to expert advice. When online sellers start out, their business usually consists of just one or two people who are responsible for doing everything. Over time, they start to hire people to handle some of the tasks that come with an ecommerce business. But, after a while, they find themselves working longer hours than they ever envisioned without getting time to focus on the areas where they add the most value. This prevents their business from expansion, and instead of sourcing or developing products they are dealing with customer queries, putting products in boxes and editing product images or update listings which sometimes extremely time-consuming. At this point, you have to consider what your time is worth and either hire more staff or look to outsource some tasks. It may cost some money to outsource customer support, but if you can s

Build Out Your Business with Amazon Business

  Amazon Business is a wholesale marketplace geared towards growing online sales for sellers by helping them broaden their B2B reach. The service helps the seller reach other businesses, large and small, while also helping to forge relationships with other enterprises such as colleges, hospitals, government agencies and nonprofits. The idea behind Amazon Business is wholly expansion ... with little fuss. It is a chance for sellers to reach other business-only customers without the financial headache of additional fees or charges. Plus, sellers can ship directly from Amazon warehouses by taking advantage of the Fulfillment by Amazon services. To take advantage of Amazon Business, the seller must have an exemplary online-selling record. The Amazon Seller account can also be used for the Amazon Business Seller program, and the business-only prices will display solely to verified business buyers. Success using this platform depends on a complete seller profile, wherein the seller