8 Minutes with Activ8 | Episode 5 – An Introduction to Amazon Storefronts
For this edition of 8 Minutes with Activ8, we’re joined by E-commerce Account Executive Callum Evans to explore the basics of Amazon storefronts. For those new to the feature, Callum shares who can benefit and how to go about creating your own.
Below are the highlights for brands looking to explore Amazon’s storefront capabilities.
For sellers who may be new to the feature, what are Amazon Storefronts, and who can have one?
Amazon storefronts are essentially a mini website for brands on the Amazon platform. They are great for showcasing your product range and new product launches, as well as telling your brand story and communicating brand values. To set up your own Amazon storefront, sellers are required to have Amazon Brand Registry enrolment, which requires a registered and active image or text-based trademark issued by WIPO. Only a few years ago, Amazon Storefronts were a feature reserved only for specific countries, such as the US and the UK. In recent years, however, storefronts have been rolled out across many more Amazon territories and have proven to have huge benefits for brands.
Why are storefronts beneficial for Amazon sellers? What can brands hope to gain by utilising this feature?
The feature keeps your audience looking only at your products, providing opportunities for cross-selling and up-selling. When browsing the platform, having your own storefront helps to prevent potential customers from wavering off to other brands’ alternatives. The feature also opens up the possibility for branded headline ads, where your store and particular products you select can appear at the banner at the top of the search results. Storefronts enable brands to connect with customers on an additional platform - considering the storefront like an additional mini website for your brand demonstrates how Amazon can be an exciting place for continuing to tell your story. Keep messaging consistent between your website and other platforms.
Lastly, with Amazon it is often difficult to get your listings ranked high within search results, meaning customers may struggle to find all of your products. Amazon storefronts provide a creative way to keep the spotlight on products you wish to bring attention to. For example, you can keep your first-page building block as a highlight of any newly launched or best-selling products to your audience.
Once Brand Registry approved, how can a seller begin to set up an Amazon storefront?
Once approved, the process begins by inputting your logo and brand name into your storefront. Moving onto creating your first page, Amazon provides three pre-existing layouts that can be utilised and edited, including:
Product Grid - simply a grid of your products;
Product Highlight - a carousel of images featured first and foremost, perfect for brands with regular product launches; and
Marquee - useful for telling the brand story and showing different categories.
Templates are perfect for those who may be new to the Amazon Storefront feature, as they are easy and purpose-built: users can simply drag content into template blocks, or add in any other modules you wish to include.
Blank Page is a custom page built from a blank starting point, with access to all modules and elements. Blank Page is the most agile for aligning branding to other channels, allowing users to present content in a way that is unique to products and takes the customers through the store in a way that makes sense.
Submit your storefront to Amazon for approval once your draft is ready. The approval process typically takes a couple of days in lieu of delays. Ahead of submitting, check Amazon’s hoard of guidelines to confirm design and content adherence, preventing the chance of Amazon rejecting your store. Amazon’s specifications are both broad and specific, meaning brands should be concise across their shop and avoid using pressuring language. Pages should be clear and easy to use. For example, in the instance of typos, not only can this turn customers away but Amazon can also reject your storefront for this. No pressuring language such as ‘Last chance’ should be used. Brands should instead opt for direct phrases such as, ‘Learn more’ or ‘See more’. There are also instances where specific widgets must be used for particular pages, for example, a ‘Featured Deal’ widget must be included where users would like to include an offers-style area or page. Such requirements are detailed in the Amazon guidelines.
Common reasons for rejection include promoting inappropriate content and the inclusion of unsubstantiated claims (for example, ‘best in the market’). To avoid rejection, ensure you cite and reference any awards or certifications mentioned on your storefront.
What type of content can brands add to a storefront? Would brands be able to use existing content from websites or socials to feature on their storefront?
The type of content that is included within storefronts can be broken down into:
Images - ranging from product shots and lifestyle imagery to custom image with text overlay
Video - typically including tutorials, product launch footage and brand awareness campaigns
Shoppable content - customers can click an image to link directly to a product page
Live product tiles - showcase a specific ASIN, pulling through core details from its product page to display
Brands Modules are fairly friendly, therefore existing content is typically a good starting point, however, poorly cropped imagery will stick out: brands can use content from other platforms but it’s important to optimise content for each platform.
What kind of results can sellers expect to see?
Results vary depending on the brand and market you are operating in, however, storefronts undoubtedly boost brand presence on the platform. The feature enables greater PPC possibilities, as products can appear organically and within paid promotions, but also within a banner at the very top of search results.
Once your audience is within your storefront, there is a higher chance of capturing those sales without customers turning away to purchase from competitors as there is no way for competitors to advertise within your pages. For us, the most exciting part is telling your story and building an emotive relationship with customers on a platform notorious for competition.
As a member of Amazon’s Service Provider Network, all Activ8 specialists are trained and certified on Amazon Advertising. For anyone looking for support with Amazon advertising, reach out to our team.