Why You May Be Struggling As An Amazon Seller And How To Fix It With Kristin Ostrander
Want to start or improve your e-commerce business but are confused about generating more sales? You may be missing out on one of the biggest platforms with millions of users and buyers! The Amazon FBA program allows sellers to tap into the platform's warehouse to hasten deliveries. Not only that, there are many ways an Amazon business can upscale its products and never handle inventories again.
If selling on Amazon is convenient and profitable, why don't more people succeed with it? It's not just about putting up an item. It takes more effort and care to optimise Amazon listings and create a successful Amazon business.
In this episode, Amazon selling coach and FBA business owner Kristin Ostrander joins us to discuss the basics of selling on Amazon. She shares the common mistakes an Amazon seller can make, and proven ways to fix and optimise Amazon listings. She also shares the wholesale bundle system that generated millions in product sales!
Listen to the episode to learn how to optimise Amazon listings and create a successful online business!
Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode:
- Understand how and what to sell on Amazon through the Amazon FBA program.
- Discover how to optimise Amazon listings.
- Learn how to upsell and increase your sales capabilities through Kristin's wholesale bundle system.
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Resources
- Download the workbook and jot down relevant notes as you listen to/watch the show
- The Influence Alliance — A business-building community for changemakers who want to build a sustainable and scalable business they love.
- The Influence Alliance Free Podcast Series
- Are you struggling to be known as a trusted authority in your industry? Schedule a chat with Annemarie at help@annemariecross.com.
- Dream Big, Step Small by Kristin Ostrander
- Want to learn more from Kristin? Check out The Amazon Files Podcast.
- Connect with Kristin: Mommy Income | Website | LinkedIn | Instagram | Email
Episode Highlights
[02:33] What is an Amazon Store?
- Amazon’s FBA program helps sellers set up their shop on the platform. This is great for people looking to expand their Shopify, eBay, or Etsy shops.
- You can send items from a wholesale distributor directly to the Amazon warehouse, and they can fulfil orders in as little as two days.
- One of the program's advantages is that you can easily reach global customers without the hassle of handling individual orders.
- While the program is primarily product-based, you can also sell services, downloadable products, and print-on-demand products.
- Kristin recommends having an Amazon seller account to raise visibility and reach since the platform also functions as a search engine.
[06:48] Benefits of Being an Amazon Seller
- There are 153 million unique buyers in the United States alone.
- You can even use Amazon as an affiliate, where you sell other people's products and get paid a commission when people purchase from a unique link.
- The affiliate link is a good way to bring in extra income for any business.
- You don't need to set up a complicated e-commerce website; you can start selling and earning through Amazon.
[10:47] What to Do as an Amazon Seller
- Don't be complacent. Selling does not end after you put up your listing; you need to update keywords and photos every so often.
- To optimise Amazon listings, Kristin recommends updating your pictures and refreshing your top-selling product listings every year.
- You want to make sure that customers feel that they’re looking at something new and fresh.
[12:43] How to Increase Visibility and Reach
- Leverage every opportunity you have. Introduce or reintroduce products and services to your following as necessary.
- It takes around three to five times for people to remember recommendations.
- People tend to forget, so we need to keep reminding them.
[14:50] How to Optimise Amazon Listings
- Think of Amazon as a search engine. You have to optimise Amazon listings like how you would perform search engine optimisation.
- Make sure your product description matches what you’re selling so your customer can easily find it.
- Remember to reach out to customers. You can do this by asking for feedback or reviews on their purchases.
- When a product gains more reviews, customers can trust you more easily.
- Reviews and feedback is also a way to update your keywords and phrases.
[19:00] How to Utilise Private Label Products with Wholesale
- Private label products are products that have your brand. These can also be white label products with your brand.
- However, private label products are more time consuming and expensive to create.
- Regular wholesalers are products ordered directly from distributors. However, the competition here is fierce.
- Kristin created ‘wholesale bundles', which are curated complementary item sets.
- This business model utilises wholesale products but with the essence of personalisation. It also helps customers buy several things with just one click.
[23:23] How to Start Creating Wholesale Bundles
- Kristin recommends knowing about your customers first. You need to know their needs, problems, or pain points.
- For example, you can curate a package of tools to help beginner painters get started with the craft.
- Start with something you’re familiar with since you already know its pain points.
- This business model also allows a streamlined customer experience by providing refills of the package items.
- You can even consider bundle options based on price to cater to people’s budgets.
[29:44] How to Never Touch Inventory
- In the United States, prep facilities work with Amazon sellers so the latter doesn’t need to keep any inventory at home.
- After purchasing products from wholesale companies, they are sent to the prep facilities to place in your branded packaging, then sent to Amazon warehouses.
- This method does not require a team of workers and warehouse, and ensures your Amazon store can run no matter where you are.
[32:40] The Shortcut to Success
- Kristin helps people start selling on Amazon, including the process and how to create a wholesale bundle system.
- She based her program on her own experiences and mistakes.
- You don't need to reinvent the wheel. You can learn from people like Kristin, an experienced Amazon businesswoman.
10 Powerful Quotes
[8:40] “If you are an influencer, if you are someone who has a strong following and you recommend a book a product A even like I tell people, I joke about it being Christians favourite things, because like when I fall in love with a product or a service or a software company or anything, I just a walking commercial ad for all the things that I love.”
[11:24] “And competition is fierce and always nipping at your heels.”
[11:43] “A lot of people think that they just put it there and they can leave it alone. And if there's a couple sales trickling in, that they're happy with that. But there's always ways to rev up the engine.”
[17:23] “So but one of the ways that you can follow up with people is asking for feedback or reviews on your listings.”
[21:27] “And the good thing about it is you're not reinventing the wheel by getting every single private label product, and you're having it manufactured, and you're taking all the liability.”
[23:44] “So wholesale bundles, what it lends itself to is literally, first of all, knowing about the customer.”
[25:00] “Knowing your customer's needs and either problems and pain points or their needs just like you would in a service based business, you figure out what their major needs and desires are in the product category.”
[25:11] “I always recommend starting with something you're familiar with.”
[28:29] “And that's another actual concept that I teach people as well, you can start small with a basic kit of some sort.”
[35:09] “Let me give you some shortcuts to help you make this successful because it can be, it doesn't have to be a side business, it actually is fully supporting many, many people in their full-time income. So the possibilities are there.”
About Kristin 
Kristin Ostrander is a full-time Amazon FBA business owner and has more than 17 years of e-commerce experience. She founded MommyIncome.com to teach others, not just mothers, how to start and grow their business on Amazon through her signature Wholesale Bundle System. Her approach helped her generate over $5 million in online sales. She is also the host of The Amazon Files and wrote Dream Big, Step Small.
Want to learn more about her process? Check out her workshops and courses on Mommy Income.
You can also connect with her through her website, LinkedIn, Instagram, and email (kristin@kristinostrander.com).
Enjoy This Podcast?
Generating more sales on Amazon has never been easier. Kristin shares tips and suggestions that made her venture in selling on Amazon a success! She also shares the benefits of knowing how to optimise Amazon listings to keep customers interested and reinvigorated with your products.
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