Fu Wei talks to Feng Ge, a cross-border e-commerce company, about how a new Amazon seller can achieve sales of $80,000 per month

Davy Zhai is a senior foreign trade person in cross-border e-commerce in Qingdao with ten years of experience. He has been operating Amazon since 2016. He is good at summarizing and sharing, and has his own unique set of Amazon operating methodologies. We usually call him Brother Cross-border Feng.

Many friends in the Sowai circle have the idea of ​​doing cross-border e-commerce and foreign trade. This time, I specially asked Brother Feng to record a systematic course for novices on how to get started and professionally operate Amazon. After a month of overtime work, the course was finally launched on Souwai Online Courses.

On the occasion of the launch of this course, I specially invited Brother Feng from Cross-border to have a conversation with me and also asked some questions on behalf of students who are interested in joining Amazon.

Q&A begins:

Husband:

Some time ago, I saw your circle of friends and learned that a friend of yours achieved monthly sales of 80,000 US dollars on Amazon store under your guidance. How long did it take this friend to achieve such results? Is his success replicable?

Cross-border Fengge:

I met this classmate through a friend at the end of 2019. He started completely from scratch with cross-border e-commerce on Amazon. At that time, his store had just been approved and the products had just arrived at the Amazon warehouse. After many exchanges and guidance, a specific optimization operation plan was proposed, which he implemented, kept giving feedback and improving every day. His hard work paid off, and his sales increased from sporadic orders to an average of US$80,000 per month.

To summarize the reasons why he achieved this result: first, he was very attentive; second, he selected good products; third, he obeyed orders; fourth, he reviewed and improved himself.

This is the first time I have coached a seller on Amazon since I started doing business in late 2016. He is also my first case. His way of operation is to implement all aspects of skills and key points in place. The accurate guidance plan meets the super execution ability, and success comes easily.

Husband:

You have been working on Amazon for these years. If you were to summarize some practical stuff, what do you think are the techniques for operating Amazon?

Cross-border Fengge

Amazon is a platform that focuses more on products than stores. When users come in, they only see specific product forms, while the entrance to the seller’s store is often very deep, and even novices cannot easily find it. Friends who often visit JD.com may understand this point easily. The search results are all products, and the sellers are difficult to find.

Therefore, it is particularly important to optimize the product page (listing) when operating Amazon. Here, I share a few tips for optimizing product pages:

1. Accurately select product categories

Amazon has three ranking systems: advertising system, keyword search natural ranking system (A9 algorithm) and BSR ranking system.

These three ranking systems promote each other. If you want to get natural exposure and ranking, you have to put specific products in the right category. The traffic distribution of each category on Amazon is different.

As for the advertising system, only by placing it in the correct category can it get more exposure.

So how do you find the right category? The correct approach is to refer to sellers of similar products who are selling well, and their category choices are all correct. Whichever category they are placed in, we will choose the corresponding category when uploading similar products. With this reminder, you must choose to the end until you can no longer choose.

2. Product name--pay attention to SEO in the title

Friends who search in the outer circle must be very clear about the importance of titles.

An excellent title includes the following elements: brand words, 2-3 core keywords, product selling point words, application scenario words, and aesthetic words, including punctuation marks and sentence divisions.

There are requirements for the number of characters in the entire title. Different categories have different requirements, but generally speaking, it should not exceed 200 characters.

Newbies can refer to the title writing methods of top sellers at the beginning. Don’t copy them completely, but slightly process them to form your own titles.

Remember, do not add infringing or illegal words in the title.

3. Product images

Pictures are the soul of e-commerce. Everyone knows that no matter whether it is domestic e-commerce or cross-border e-commerce, what everyone sells is actually a picture, although new modes such as short videos and live broadcasts have emerged. But the overall mainstream is still mainly picture display.

The quality of the picture directly determines the number of clicks. The system can give you exposure, but if the picture quality is not good, no one will click on it to see it. Without clicks, there is no question of generating this order. Therefore, the processing of product images on Amazon is particularly important. The specific requirements are as follows:

One main picture and six secondary pictures. The main picture requires a pure white background, only showing the product, and the pixel size is 1000x1000. The secondary picture is our detailed picture, which can use both pictures and texts to focus on the selling points, functions, quality and features, and is saved in jpg format.

It is best if all images have a consistent style. In short, the requirements for pictures are that they are three-dimensional, clear, and textured. Refer to the pictures of your peers when taking pictures. Remember not to steal pictures, as the consequences of stealing pictures are serious.

4. Five Elements Characteristics

This is a feature of the Amazon platform. Because there is no concept of a store, what people see is the product form. Therefore, there is a section with the five elements characteristics below the picture, which can also be understood as an introduction to the product selling points. This is different from the detailed description of the product.

First line:

Generally, the unique features of a product distinguish it from its peers and solve the user's pain points.

Second line:

Description of the product's functional attributes, using concise and easy-to-understand language.

Third line:

Introduction to product usage scenarios and suitable groups of people

Fourth row:

Introduction of packaging information

Fifth row:

Warranty and after-sales commitments, etc., how to deal with dissatisfaction, such as contacting us as soon as possible and giving you a 100% satisfactory solution within 24 hours.

One more reminder, you should consciously embed some important keywords in the five-element description that were not used in the title.

5. Competitive pricing

How to set prices is a science. If the price is too high, it will be difficult to sell; if the price is too low, you will not make any money. How to set a suitable price? There are two methods for your reference.

The first is horizontal pricing:

I refer to the prices of my peers and basically sell at the same price as others. This is a normal price in the industry. Because everyone's supply chain situation is different and the costs are also different, even if the same selling price is set, the profit of each seller will be different.

The second is vertical pricing:

Based on your own purchase cost, plus the profit margin you want. If the product is competitive, then that's fine. But if the competition is fierce and you just want to hold on to utilization, then sales are likely to be very low. How much to set the price depends on the operational needs. For example, when striving for ranking, you cannot consider profits too much. Only when you reach the top seller range will stable traffic bring more subsequent orders and profits.

How to make a choice depends on your own situation. Price is a very sensitive factor, especially on e-commerce platforms, where there are many homogeneous products and buyers have a lot of choices.

For example, in a product link on Amazon, the system provides two rows of advertising space for similar products in the middle. If the listing copy is not well done, including when the price is not competitive, the traffic coming to your product link is likely to become a wedding dress for your competitors, and orders will be placed from other stores.

6. Product Review

Product reviews most directly reflect the quality of a product, which is what Amazon values ​​most, so the weight of product reviews is also the highest.

The weighting of five-star reviews is very obvious, which is reflected in increased conversion rate, increased orders, and increased BSR rankings.

This is why fake reviews exist. At the same time, the negative impact of a 1-star bad review on product weight is immediate. It takes 5 good reviews to offset the impact of one bad review. The biggest impact is the impact on order conversion rate.

For example, under normal circumstances, there are 20 orders a day, but after receiving a 1-star bad review, there may be around 15 orders a day. This is the most direct impact of negative reviews. It also shows that the platform requires sellers to ensure product quality and reduce product complaints. This is a virtuous cycle and a measure to create the best shopping experience.

Therefore, what the platform cares about most is also the most effective area. The platform is unambiguous in cracking down on fake orders. No matter how big or small the seller is, as long as they are caught violating the rules by fake orders, their store will basically be closed.

As a seller, you should pay attention to product quality when selecting products, which is the guarantee of business. It is also recommended that you should not touch such things as brushing orders. As long as you do it, you will be monitored. You are not punished because the time has not come yet. There are risks in brushing orders, so be cautious. Remind everyone again.

Thank you, Fuwei, for sharing so much at once. Below, I will raise some issues that newcomers who open stores on Amazon are concerned about. How is the Amazon market doing in 2020?

Cross-border Fengge

The epidemic has accelerated the growth of the Amazon market, and online shopping enthusiasm has reached an unprecedented high

People who like online shopping are more dependent on it, while people who previously liked shopping in offline shopping malls and physical stores have to switch to online shopping due to the epidemic. In addition, Amazon's first-class shopping experience will change the habits of these consumers who like offline shopping.

In short, in 2020, many sellers were out of stock and Amazon’s warehouses were overwhelmed. Traditional foreign trade has been greatly affected, but cross-border e-commerce has developed by leaps and bounds, and many sellers are making a lot of money.

Husband

What industries can newcomers to Amazon work in, or which industries are easy to get started in?

I know of several good categories of cross-border products, such as outdoor products, cycling products, pet products, home furnishings, auto parts, and tools.

In my course, if a newcomer doesn’t have his own products, I recommend starting with these.

Husband

What are the requirements for registering on Amazon? Do I need to have a company?

Cross-border Fengge

Amazon’s registration requirements have now been tightened. Individual registrations are no longer accepted and company registrations are required.

Basic Information:

It is recommended to prepare the company business license, legal person ID card, dual currency credit card (VISA), receiving bank account (usually apply for it at a third-party financial institution), any color paper bill for water/electricity/coal/network (in the name of the legal person or company, the address must be the same), and trademark as early as possible.

There are also some office needs:
A brand new and clean laptop, smooth Internet access (a dedicated mobile internet card is recommended), a brand new email address (to register on Amazon), and 2 brand new mobile phone numbers (required for store security authentication).

Husband

How much is the initial investment?

Cross-border Fengge

There is no specific number for this, and most of the investment is in the preparation of goods.

Depending on the product selection, the investment will be more for products with high unit prices, and relatively less for products with low unit prices.

You can do it with 30,000, 50,000, 100,000 or more, depending on your own situation.

Husband

Is it necessary to know English to work on Amazon?

Cross-border Fengge

You need to know some English, but you don't need to be very professional or proficient in it. Most of the time, translation software can handle it.

There is no online customer service on the Amazon platform; all orders are placed by customers themselves. If there are any problems, they are sent in the form of internal messages.

Husband

How much money can a newcomer make in a year working on Amazon?

Cross-border Fengge

This question is difficult to answer because some people make money and some lose money, and some people sell their accounts and stop doing it.

Whether you can make money or not is determined by many factors. Amazon provides a fair and just platform. Whether you are a novice or an old hand, everyone has the same starting point. Because Amazon focuses on products rather than stores, everyone starts from the same starting line when new products are put on the shelves.

Although the system has never been made public, it actually exists during the new product period and traffic support period. How to use this newbie advantage is actually a science.

Husband:

Can one person start? Or generally you need a team

Cross-border Fengge:

Amazon doesn’t need so many people in the early stages; just one person can start. First realize from 0 to 1, and then slowly copy.

Husband:

Can Amazon succeed without a lot of money for promotion?

Cross-border Fengge:

From entering China in 2013 to now, there are more and more sellers, and the so-called bonus period has passed. If you want to succeed on Amazon now, first of all, you must choose good products, and secondly, you must be proficient in operations.

The situation of each person and each company is different, so it is difficult to determine how much to invest. If you are proficient in operation, you can save a lot of money and the effect will be good.

Husband:

Give us newcomers a brief introduction to the characteristics of Amazon's e-commerce.

Cross-border Fengge:

Amazon: Focuses on customer experience and pays great attention to products and services.

There are self-operated and third-party sellers coexisting, which is very similar to JD.com's e-commerce in China.

It has the world's largest logistics system (FBA), which delivers goods to sellers and also provides delivery services for third-party orders.

Take Amazon’s US site as an example. There are more than 100 million paying members, who are also Amazon’s VIP buyers. This is also the reason why consumers on Amazon are of higher quality.

Fairness and standardization, compliance with rules, and severe penalties for red lines and bottom lines.

Finally, Amazon’s typical model is a boutique operation model, not a distribution model.

Course Description:

The course is suitable for people:

1. Sellers who plan to open a store on Amazon

2. New sellers who have just opened a store on Amazon

3. Sellers who want to systematically master Amazon operations

4. Sellers who plan to expand from other e-commerce platforms to Amazon

5. Fresh graduates who want to work in the cross-border e-commerce industry

6. Traditional B2B trading companies and factories that want to expand into B2C