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The Amazon Marketplace is dynamic—sellers facing new challenges and complexities with each new day. With new technologies and an ever-changing algorithm, it is difficult to keep up whether you’re new to selling on Amazon or you have been using the platform for years.

ePlaybooks is committed to helping with and growing exceptional brands on Amazon. As part of our experience, we’ve identified the most common problems Amazon sellers face in the current marketplace and provided solutions. 

Below are 15 problems we identified sellers face on Amazon:

1. Your return on investment (ROI) on your marketing and advertising is low.
2. You frequently lose sales because you run out of stock.
3. Third-party sellers damaging your brand, product pages, and sales.
4. You sell directly to Amazon via Vendor Central.
5. You struggle with product reviews.
6. Your products do not rank well on Amazon.
7. There are low (or even no) conversions on your Amazon listings
8. Your Amazon account is suspended or your listing is suppressed
9. Your product launch didn’t go as planned.
10. You’re not maximizing profit margins.
11. Your brand is struggling to stand out from the crowd.
12. You’re only selling on Amazon and haven’t considered other marketplaces or sales channels.
13. You’ve worked with an Amazon Agency before and they didn’t deliver.
14. You don’t have the time or resources to keep up with constant changes and updates.
15. You’re unhappy with your sales or current partner and not sure what to do next.

1. Your return on investment (ROI) on your marketing and advertising is low.

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This is a common problem for sellers on amazon. To boost your return on ad spend (ROAS), try these three tips:

1. Focus on less competitive search terms: Use creative and less competitive keywords while driving traffic to your products. High-volume search terms generally have a higher cost per click (CPC) and lower click-through rates (CTRs) than low-volume search terms
2. Use exact match bids: When using Amazon Web Services (AWS) to reduce wasted ad spend, you need to focus on driving traffic that converts. You can do this through exact match bidding. Exact match bidding allows you to bid on only the specific words or phrases you choose for your ad.
3. Increasing your average order value (AOV) will see an essential change in ROAS for your Amazon ads. You can increase your AOV by bundling your products or upselling customers to more expensive product variations.

2. You frequently lose sales because you run out of stock.

First, it’s important to know what can affect your stock levels. These include factors like different types of market demand, changing trends in product sales, FBA stocking limits, and inventory optimization software (Feedvisor, Jungle Scout, Google Trends, and Helium 10, amongst others). It is important to forecast your inventory, as you can keep enough stock available to grow your sales, without over-purchasing inventory. If you are a Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) seller facing unexpected inventory restrictions, there are a few tricks you can do to get the most out of your inventory. For starters, focus on increasing your brand awareness through strategic advertising, but only run Amazon ads for products that are sufficiently stocked. You can also use brand marketing tactics to improve your customer engagement and conversion, posts, and Storefront. Additionally, you should adjust your restocking strategy keeping in mind the rate at which each of your products is selling, and restock accordingly. For example, you should consider keeping a higher inventory of your fast movers as opposed to the products that seem to have a lower volume.

3. Third-party sellers damaging your brand, product pages, and sales. 

This can present a significant problem for brands. You risk losing control of your brand when working with too many independent, third-party sellers on Amazon, or where you are not careful to have strict policies, such as a MAP policy, to protect your brand. Troubles like inconsistent prices, shoddy content, and poor seller ratings are what you might be facing. It is important to assure that you register your brand with Amazon’s Brand Registry, and assure that your brand’s product pages include top-quality pictures and visuals, as well as proper titles, descriptions, bullet points, etc. Having a proper MAP policy that you enforce is also key. Taking these and several other steps to protect your brand is crucial to growing both your brand and revenues -- for you and your third-party sellers. It also takes significant time, resources, and expertise. The solution: Choose a single, experienced agency or partner, like ePlaybooks, who is dedicated, experienced, and can bring the necessary resources to assure the success of your brand on Amazon.

4. You sell directly to Amazon via Vendor Central

Selling on Vendor Central has its benefits, but it also comes with some difficulties likeFinish unapproved price changes, loss of control over the sales process, shipping restrictions, and smaller margins. To recover the ownership of your brand on Amazon, and make the ordering process simplified, team up with a strategic partner that will put your brand first.

5. You struggle with product reviews 

Vendors and shoppers on Amazon know reviews are important—in 2021, statistics show that 57% of Amazon shoppers said that online reviews influence their purchase decisions. Here are some tips for growing your Amazon review count without breaching Amazon’s Terms of Service: 

1. Focus on customer experience. Give quick responses to customer questions, give customers updates on orders and returns, engage with customers, and use product variations to merge reviews. 
2. While making sure you follow Amazon's review policies, use product packaging inserts to create product and sellers reviews.
3. Request feedback through Amazon’s automated services, like FeedbackWhiz and FeedbackFive.

Keep in mind that these are not the only tools at your disposal. As a brand, Amazon provides additional options and benefits that can enhance your customer reviews.

6. Your products are not ranking well on Amazon 

Product listing and page optimization are keys to a successful Amazon marketing experience. Even if your brand sells a top-quality product, it will not perform well without an optimized Amazon listing and product detail page. Amazon keyword ranking and SEO are at the core of optimizing your product listing to get better rankings. Use software like; Google Trends or Sonar Tool to identify high-ranking keywords, including them in your product description. Additionally, be mindful that shopper behavior and profiles are distinctly different on Amazon than those on Google or some other platforms. As such, they require different plans and strategies.

7. There are low (or even no) conversions on your Amazon listings 

After you have optimized your listings, and shoppers can find your products on Amazon, it's time to get them to make the purchase. Increasing sales on Amazon should not be too technical. How should you do this? The answer may lie in your Amazon Storefront. Storefronts serve as “mini-websites” where you can showcase your brand and product collection in a single location. Only Brand Registered sellers can create an Amazon Storefront. This means that you must register your brand with the Amazon Brand Registry and receive the necessary approval(s) before you are allowed to create a storefront. Once you’re qualified, we suggest the following steps to develop a unique Amazon Store: 

1. Use branding assets to create your Storefront, so it acts as an extension of your brand. We recommend that it looks and feels the same as or compliments your website or store.
2. Create a purpose for your Storefront. Will consumers be educated? Do you want to share case studies and statistics? Or is your goal to increase your brand presence on Amazon? 
3. Design a Storefront that communicates your brand’s content through visuals. 
4. Make the rest of your team give you feedback on your Storefront.
5. Publish your Storefront and make adjustments as necessary once customers interact. 

8. Your Amazon account is suspended or your listing is suppressed 

Your listing may be suppressed or deactivated if it doesn’t meet Amazon’s requirements. Your account can eventually be suspended until the problem is resolved. Suppressed listings generally occur because of insufficient information. Your listing may be suppressed if it doesn’t have at least one primary image, a detailed product description, or a defined category type. You can follow these steps to fix a suppressed Amazon listing and get your sales back on track: 

1. Go to the ‘Manage Inventory’ button under the Inventory tab in Seller Central. 
2. You will find a ‘Suppressed’ button if you have any suppressed listing. If no ‘Suppressed’ items are shown, then congratulations–all listings are working well! 
3. If the ‘Suppressed’ button is available, click it and select the desired product listings. 
4. Provide more information on the listing that needs more, or click ‘Manage Images’ to fix those that do not have product pictures. There is an Amazon Product Summary page for every product listing, which shows all of the suppression and quality issues. 
5. Click ‘Save and Finish’ to exit once all the issues have been resolved.

9. Your product launch didn’t go as planned 

The average Amazon launch takes a considerable amount of time and resources. Your goal while waiting for your first ROI is to increase views, reviews, and conversion. Like, finish, into a successful launching of a new product on Amazon. They include (but are not limited to) competitive research, extensive keyword analysis, and research, constant monitoring and testing, and adjustments of ads and listings based on results. 

10. You’re not maximizing profit margins 

Amazon is an ever-changing marketplace, so a “set it and forget it” strategy won’t work. To maximize profit margins, you need to be very hands-on and dedicate sufficient time to monitor prices. Are you constantly pricing products competitively and optimizing your ad spend? Are you facing vendor chargebacks or higher fees? Frustrated with an overall lack of sales growth and not sure what to do? If it looks like too much for you to handle alone, see how ePlaybooks can help you maximize profit margins while protecting your brand on Amazon.

11. Your brand is struggling to stand out from the crowd 

For your product to stand out from over 350 million others sold on Amazon, you will need to create a cohesive brand marketing strategy, that includes photography, video, A+ Content, and an optimized Amazon Storefront. Amazon customers want to engage with authentic and trustworthy brands. Tell your brand’s story as often as possible and attract customers in a meaningful way through compelling visuals and copy. 

12. You’re only selling on Amazon and haven’t considered other marketplaces/channels 

If your brand is having success on Amazon, there is no harm in bringing your products to another online marketplace and growing your sales. Having a diversified marketplace is top of mind right now for growing brands—Walmart, eBay, Facebook, and Target have established competitive marketplaces with varying product assortments, pricing and shipping options, and customer experiences. If an expansion is part of the plan, we advise you to do it sooner than later. With over 100,000 sellers, Walmart is expected to rise 146% by the end of 2022. Amazon still dominates other e-commerce marketplaces, but competitors are beginning to make their mark.

13. You’ve worked with an Amazon Agency before and they didn’t deliver

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When you hand your brand to an Amazon agency, they should meet or beat your expectations. Too often, agencies will over-promise and under-deliver or maybe use a one-size-fits-all strategy. Work with a partner/agency that has the experience, is value-driven and is committed to your success. Our team at ePlaybooks develops customized, data-driven solutions with deep tech knowledge, to take your brand as a leader on Amazon.

14. You don’t have the time or resources to keep up with constant changes and updates 

Amazon is a challenging marketplace to navigate, especially to beginners. You might not have the time to keep your Amazon presence strong and competitive, on top of running a successful business. 

15. You’re unhappy with your sales or current partner and not sure what to do next 

Do you want to increase business revenue? Are you ready to work with a partner whose commitment is with your brand and its success on Amazon? Do you have more questions about selling on Amazon? Hit us up! Learn more about our guide to boosting your revenue or start a conversation with our team.