As consumer shopping patterns have shifted throughout this year due to COVID-19 restrictions, brands and retailers are becoming increasingly forced to pivot traditional consumer targeting strategies to appeal to consumers’ ongoing preferences.

Drastic acceleration in consumer adoption of e-commerce has also extended to older shoppers, with trends indicating a long-term transition to online shopping. Statistics released by eMarketer are now reporting that there will be an anticipated 7.4 million new digital buyers in 2020. Trusted marketplaces and online retailers have observed an influx of traffic, with customers more actively browsing and engaging with products on platforms that offer variety and fast shipping.  

A more digital Q4

As the possibility of a second wave of COVID-19 outbreaks looms and shopping behaviour suggests a sustained shift to online platforms, there is a growing opportunity for businesses to capitalise on the upcoming promotional periods and seasonal shopping events.  

It is reported that 33% of consumers who were not purchasing online regularly before the outbreak plan to spend more time shopping online after, including over the Q4 period. With Prime Day expected to occur in October, followed by Halloween, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the seasonal shopping period shortly after, there is a growing opportunity for businesses.

Preparing for Q4

Sellers looking to capitalise on a busy period must set a plan that is aligned with their brand goals. With the help of our marketplace specialists, we have assembled a guide of the most critical aspects that merchants should consider when setting a strategy for Q4.  

Start with the data

Focusing on analysing historical sales data, prior year metrics and search volume will enable you to set realistic targets, influencing stock levels and keyword targeting. Prior year data is especially useful for discovering the peak sales periods for particular items and categories.

It is recommended that sellers research competitor listings to analyse price points, creative content, and fulfilment options. This data can then be adapted to set manual and automated advertising campaigns with aggressive keyword or product targeting, helping to find trending search terms, test prices, and gain a better understanding of the target customer.

Reviewing reports from inventory platforms will help to highlight high and low performing products, which can help with adjusting stock to ensure sufficient and cost-effective management.

Set your fulfilment strategy

Supply chains have altered constantly throughout the year to accommodate for the sudden changes attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, setting the correct fulfilment and stock management strategy is key for sellers looking for additional flexibility and undisrupted trading.

Additional fees will apply for storage during Q4 for sellers using couriers or FBA, but this can be circumvented with the correct inventory management plan. Staggering deliveries is an efficient method of shipping stock, using smaller quantities and frequent shipments to maintain a healthy stock level without reliance on a single courier or fewer large deliveries. Amazon sellers can now benefit from the use of the In-Stock Head Start programme to keep listings live when stock is on the way to FBA.

Due to the uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic, Activ8 recommends that sellers allocate sufficient resources for safeguarding the stock and fulfilment process during this period. An effective method for this is to automate platform management to reduce manual input during peak shopping periods, and source alternative fulfilment providers for instances of reduced services. As a precaution, additional lead time should be set when shipping stock as most fulfilment centres will be at capacity and may require longer to process items.

Sellers interested in reducing internal management of fulfilment processes can enrol in Amazon FBA, which also offers the option to use the Multi-Channel Fulfilment (MCF) tool to store inventory in Amazon centres without having to list those items on the marketplace.  

For sellers already on the Amazon marketplace, FBA and Seller-Fulfilled-Prime (SFP) enrolment will enable items to become eligible for Prime delivery during key sales dates, including Prime Day. Over 175 million items were sold during Prime Day in 2019, therefore it is worthwhile for marketplace sellers to consider how this can impact their sales and brand awareness strategy.

Create a promotional strategy

The expected influx of e-commerce customers and new sellers during Q4 will also create difficulties for sellers looking to stand-out.

Setting up deals and offers should be considered for those looking to increase profit margins with promotions. Even items dominating organic search terms with strong brand awareness can utilise deals to capture new customers with lower prices, free delivery, or other time-limited offers. Creating holiday bundles can also help further boost sales, store items more efficiently, and reduce the delivery costs of shipping multiple products. We recommend planning bundle releases early, with extensive product research and an early release to maximise the time to gain traction.

Advertise your products

Setting an advertising strategy is another opportunity for sellers to market products to potential customers. Amazon PPC advertising can be particularly effective during this period, as the marketplace has a high number of customers with purchase-intent browsing the platform.

Testing ads in the months prior to Q4 using both automatic and manual campaigns will help to fine-tune your various ads before October. Using automatic campaigns is not always the most efficient method for maintaining your ACoS, but will contribute to discovering high-converting keywords for products. It will also help you to identify any low-converting keywords which can be marked as ‘negative’ to reduce ad spend.

It should be noted that there is no universal strategy that will work for every seller. With the number of platforms, tools, and third-party software available, there is an abundance of combinations that could apply to your strategy. Consider your brand, key sales platforms, and existing processes to select an advertising plan that is most suited towards achieving your goals online.

Exploring new trends and products

In one of our recent articles, we discussed the importance of launching new products regularly to expand your brand’s product portfolio. Launching new products during Q4 is ideal for sellers looking to increase reach and revenue.

Extensive analysis of trends and sales data is essential for establishing which new products are good additions to an existing inventory. Ideally, all items should be listed before the start of October, backed-up by detailed research into high search volume keywords. Sellers that have begun this process several months before October should use the opportunity to A/B test listings, as this will help refine content further.  For Amazon sellers, checking the marketplace’s best-seller list and filtering lists by category is an effective method for checking popular items in real-time.

Gathering a good number of reviews can be challenging for new product launches, and the product’s visibility will heavily depend on customer feedback and reviews, click-through-rates, conversion, and sales history in comparison to similar items. Using programmes such as Amazon’s Early Reviewer or Amazon Vine can assist with obtaining verified reviews.

Optimise your listings  

Applying the data gathered during the research stages, sellers should then analyse their listings to ensure that the correct titles, descriptions, SEO keywords and product photographs are applied. Testing the listing with different versions for each section can help to pick the most engaging content, which can drive clicks and conversions.

Enhanced creative content in the form of videos, graphics, lifestyle photography and instructional videos can help to drive engagement and brand awareness further. We also recommend tailoring A+ content and storefronts to suit the desired holiday season or theme.

More information about the best ways to optimise your marketplace listings can be found in our articles.

Conclusion

Although Q4 is expected to be a time of opportunity for online sellers, selecting the right strategy is vital for standing out amongst the competition and increasing sales.

The uncertainty regarding brick-and-mortar stores remaining open for this year’s busy holiday period will increase the reliance on digital channels. Replicating the in-store experience of interacting with an item will be particularly important for capturing new customers and justifying the value of the price point.

Whatever strategy you choose to adopt during Q4, always ensure that you provide your products with the best chance of success by allocating time and resource to refine them.

For more information about preparing your business for Q4, get in touch with one of our specialists.