Amazon Prime Day 2020: The ideal preparation

Every July, Amazon sellers have one of the most important sales days on the schedule: Amazon Prime Day. With Amazon Prime Day 2020 expected to be pushed back to September due to the Corona Crisis, sellers have a little more time to prepare for it this year. We've summarized how Amazon Prime Day came about, what to expect in light of the crisis, and how to ideally prepare for it in the following article. 

What is Amazon Prime Day? 

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Amazon Prime, Amazon introduced the first Prime Day in 2015. Prime Day is a worldwide shopping event by Amazon with exclusive deals and offers for Prime members. Along with Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Singles' Day, Prime Day is now one of the biggest shopping events of the year. In 2019, Prime Day was finally extended to two days due to its huge success in previous years. More than 175 million items were sold worldwide, securing more than $2 billion in revenue for third-party retailers. 

Amazon Prime Day 2020 in the face of the current crisis

Amazon always publishes the exact date of Amazon Prime Day about a month before the actual event (usually in July). Given the uncertainty surrounding the progress of COVID-19, it is currently uncertain whether Amazon Prime Day 2020 will be able to take place as planned. As the Wall Street Journal claims Amazon is postponing Prime Day to September this year due to the crisis. Although previous production problems during the crisis in the main supply country China have been overcome in the meantime and the production and shipping of products has been resumed, some global supply chains are still interrupted. Reason enough for Amazon to wait a little longer. The now resurgent demand for online offerings seems to vindicate that decision. SMBs accounted for 52% of Amazon's retail sales in the first quarter of 2020 alone. Therefore, it is advisable for Amazon Sellers to prepare for this summer, even if Amazon Prime Day is cancelled.

The ideal preparation for Amazon Prime Day 2020 

With demand on the rise during Prime Day, sellers should make sure their business is prepared for the potential increase in sales. Here are some tips on how to ideally prepare for the upcoming big event:

1. check stocks 

In order to be able to supply the potentially increasing demand, the stock should be checked in time before Prime Day and an inventory list should be made. If the number of products is too low, the stock should be increased if necessary. Especially for sellers who sell their products under their own brand (private label), sufficient stock is crucial, as subsequent delivery is often associated with longer delivery times.

2. improve organic ranking 

All sellers - regardless of whether they sell under their own brand, via Amazon FBA or dropshipping - should focus on organically improving their rankings in order to be ideally prepared. A discounted price alone is often not enough to drive conversions. To increase the chances of sales, the offer should therefore be designed as attractively as possible for customers. 

CTA: More tips for better ranking on Amazon can be found at here.

3. review PPC campaigns 

For sellers, it may be worth bidding more aggressively for the most important keywords in their PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns in the run-up to Prime Day to improve organic rankings.

4. adjust sales price 

Product price can be adjusted to generate higher sales or eliminate old inventory. This saves inventory fee costs in the long run and can organically improve the bestseller ranking. 

5. Bulk Request Review

To improve the organic ranking, you can also use the function 'Bulk Request Review'. How this function can be used optimally, you can read in this article [Link to review-article].

6. e-mail campaigns 

If a seller can draw on a previously created email list, customers can use email campaigns to draw attention to the big event and the bargains that come with it. According to a study by Adobe Digital Insights (ADI), brands that interacted with their customers before Prime Day increased their sales by 52% in 2019. Sellers that did not interact with their customers beforehand only saw an increase in sales of 23%. 

7. flash offers 

In order to be able to offer lightning deals during Prime Day as a third-party seller, this right must be applied for in advance. Before submitting the application, however, sellers must urgently check in advance that all their offered products comply with Amazon's rules of business. 

8. check listings 

Another way to improve conversions on Prime Day is to review and, if necessary, improve your listings for timeliness. This includes titles, bullet points, images, and descriptions within the products offered.