How to Prepare for Prime Day (2023)

Last updated
ByAdaline Lefe Mary John
Reading time 6 mins
Fact checked

Explanation:
We fact-check all of our content to ensure you have reliable and up-to-date information for your eCommerce business decisions.

Learn about our fact-checking process.

Amazon Prime Days can be very profitable for the seller that is prepared. This article gives you the rundown on how to get the most out of this event as an e-commerce business – from inventory stocking to shipping options and some last-minute tips too

What is so great about Amazon Prime Day?

They’re one of the biggest shopping days of the year when the world’s largest online marketplace treats its loyal customers to exclusive deals.

But Prime Day isn’t all about Prime members. It can hugely impact an Amazon seller’s business – for better or for worse, depending on how prepared you are.

So, how can you harness the full potential of this extraordinary event? By implementing a series of strategic measures such as advertise, stock up on inventory, optimize your listings, review your pricing strategy, check available shipping options, and get social.

We’ll talk about all that, plus last-minute prep tips. Read this artice to be well prepared.

How Do I Optimize Prime Day as an Amazon Seller?

It’s official, as per Amazon’s bulletin:

Prime Day 2023 opens on July 11 at 12:00 AM PST and closes on July 12 at 11:59 PM PST.

With only a little time in hand to prepare for Prime Day and get your products ready for the spotlight during the 48-hour shopping frenzy, here’s what you need to do. Starting now.

MORE: When is Amazon Prime?

Here’s how:

1. Be Picky With Your Participating Products

Resist the temptation of including all your merchandise in your Prime Day promotions, thinking it’s the best time to market them. It’s not.

In fact, poor-performing ASINs are a waste of precious ad money and could hurt your bottom line. Because Amazon’s algorithm will likely ignore them.

These are the characteristics of listings you should NOT promote on Prime Day:

  • Not-so-good product images,
  • Text content not optimized with high-ranking keywords,
  • Less than 15 positive reviews,
  • Rating of lower than 3.5 stars,
  • Very low or zero inventory.

2. Consider Increasing Your Advertising Budget

Study all the available ways to promote your listings to potential customers. On Amazon, there’s never a shortage of those. And the best part is you can do them all right in the comfort of your Seller Central account.

Be Smart With Pay-Per-Click Bids

If you haven’t tried Amazon’s Pay-Per-Click (PPC) Ads feature yet, now is a good time to do so. But proceed with caution.

PPC involves bidding, with the ad spaces awarded to the highest bidder. You can only imagine how competitive Amazon sellers can be on Prime Day, and those with substantial budgets will likely jack up the prices.

When working on a shoestring, you may pool your resources to promote just one or two products. Make sure to pace your bids so your budget will last 48 hours.

Alternatively, you could shift gears to other avenues.

Create Prime Exclusive Deals

What is Prime Exclusive Deal? It’s a discount that you offer exclusively to Prime members. When they search for products similar to yours, your listings get displayed in the search results, with a Prime Day badge to boot.

There’s a caveat, however — Amazon sets the following requirements on products:

  • Not less than 10%, not more than 80% discount,
  • If you offered any discount in the past 30 days, your current offer should be lower,
  • Minimum of 3-star rating (ASINs without a rating are eligible),
  • Brand new,
  • Non-restricted,
  • Enabled Prime Shipping to all regions in your country.

Use Sponsored Products

Another way to offer a good Amazon Prime Day deal is to use Sponsored Products to advertise your deals. Like Exclusive Deals, Sponsored Products are ads that appear in search results and boost your product visibility. An ingenious way to drive more traffic to your store.

Utilize Lightning Deals

Lightning Deals are limited-time offers that run for 4-6 hours or until the stock runs out. They are a great way to create urgency and generate more sales during Prime Day, when Amazon usually features them prominently on its homepage. Make sure you take advantage of this opportunity.

Like Exclusive Deals, Lightning Deals must meet the above requirements, plus at least 20 inventory units in stock. However, the minimum discount is higher at 15%.

It’s also worth noting that these deals entail a non-refundable fee. Normally, it’s $150 per deal, but on Prime Day (and on holidays or other Amazon-wide sales), it would be $300-$500.

MORE: Amazon Statistics.

3. Make Sure Your Inventory is Stocked Up

The key to Prime Day success is having your products readily available and at the right price. This will help boost sales and revenue for your business.

Ensure you have enough of your best-selling products to avoid running out of stock during Prime Day.

If your main fulfillment channel is FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon) and you’re running low on inventory, you can always turn on your FBM (Fulfilled By Merchant) option come Prime Day.

You can do both FBA and FBM for the same ASIN. And when your FBA inventory clocks zero, your FBM offer automatically goes to the Buy Box. To make that possible, fill in the number of units box of your FBM inventory.

Remember, though, that fulfillment is not as simple as that. You need storage for your inventory, packaging for your products, and arrangements with carriers like UPS and FedEx.

What if storage and fulfillment are a challenge? Get a third-party shipping and order fulfillment service (3PL).

4. Optimize Your Listings

Below is a shortlist you can follow:

  • Use professional-grade product images, with instructional guides and information in the text if possible,
  • Include relevant keywords in your product title, bullet points, and product description,
  • Ensure the accuracy of published pricing and inventory numbers,
  • Activate inactive and suppressed listings (or don’t promote them at all on Prime Day),
  • Respond to reviews and answer queries in the Q&A section.

Be aware that while Prime Day deals are exclusive for Prime members, everyone who shops on Amazon can view your listings. So make sure they are optimized and attractive to a wide audience.

Need help? Our list of recommended Amazon listing experts is the best way to start.

5. Beef Up Your Pricing Strategy

Prime Day is about discounts, but be careful not to undercut your profit margins. Think of setting minimum order quantities or bundling products to maintain your profitability.

Does Amazon pay extra on Prime Day?

No. On the contrary, Amazon sellers are charged a fee for participating in Prime Day. It varies depending on your sales volume, product category, fulfillment channel, and other variables.

It’s important to factor this into your pricing strategy.

Prime Day fee notwithstanding, you may earn more revenue than on regular days due to the increase in sales. This spike may also help improve your listings’ search ranking on Amazon, leading to higher future revenues.

6. Check Your Shipping Options

Feel like your strategies aren’t competitive enough? Consider offering free shipping or upgrading shipping options to entice Prime members to buy from you.

MORE: What is international shipping?

7. Leverage Social Media

Use your Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube pages to promote your Prime Day deals and generate buzz around your products. Don’t forget to add clickable buttons that redirect to your Amazon store or product pages.

Preparing For Amazon Prime Day: Last-Minute Tips

Prime Days are like weddings — you can never be prepared enough on D-Day.

Here are some last-minute tips to ensure that you’re ready for the big event:

  • Double-check your inventory: Ensure you have enough of your best-selling products to avoid running out of stock. Not all Amazon shoppers are Prime members, and they could purchase your products before and on Prime Day.
  • Create Lightning Deals: If you haven’t already, doing so on the event day itself is not too late.
  • Review your listings: It wouldn’t hurt to triple-check if all the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed, the product images are crisp and clear, the pricing is correct, and the inventory status is accurate.
  • Be flexible: Prime Day can be unpredictable. While having a plan in place is important, be prepared to pivot if necessary. Flexibility can help you adapt to changing market conditions and customer needs.

By following these last-minute tips, you’ll be more than ready to take advantage of the increased traffic and sales opportunities synonymous with Amazon Prime Day.

Key Takeaway

As an Amazon seller, it’s crucial that you understand the impact of Prime Day and how it can influence your sales.

With the sheer number of active Amazon Prime members shopping on Prime Day, the potential for increased traffic, conversions, and revenue is huge. 

Even if your products are not exclusive to Prime members, Prime Day presents an opportunity to reach a large and engaged customer base. That will translate to new future buyers.

With proper planning and execution, Prime Day can be a huge success for your business.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

For Amazon sellers, Prime Day provides increased visibility and sales. As one of the most anticipated shopping events of the year, it brings in millions of customers in just two days. During this period, sellers can capitalize on the increased attention by leveraging targeted promotional strategies and featured products. Many sellers also experience increased traffic to their listings, better conversion rates, and higher sales numbers.

Focus on pricing, product listings, and advertising to maximize your success on Prime Day. You should price competitively and check prices frequently throughout the event to ensure your offers are cheaper or equal to your competitors. Your listings must be as complete and accurate as possible, with great product images, keywords, and customer reviews to give customers confidence. Take advantage of Amazon advertising with ads optimized for each product to boost their visibility during the event.

Special deals or discounts for Prime Day can attract new customers, reward existing ones, and create a surge in sales. They are also a way to create a sense of urgency, and many customers appreciate feeling like they are getting a great deal. However, you must consider your bottom line when offering discounts and ensure you can keep your offers sustainable.

Before listing any product, ensure it meets all quality requirements and complies with Amazon’s seller policies. Once the listing is created, maximize visibility with targeted keywords. Ensure images are clear and product descriptions are informative and concise. Finally, having ample stock on hand is essential, as the sudden increase in demand can often lead to inventory issues. Check for any expiration dates and that the published pricing and inventory are accurate and up-to-date.

Advertising campaigns that focus on the most sought-after products and offer the most competitive pricing can generate a lot of customer interest and engagement and, therefore, can be an extremely beneficial marketing tactic. And since competition on Prime Day is high, taking advantage of the hype to promote your products is a rare opportunity to stand out. Plus, Amazon ad campaigns can be tailored to individual users so the right audience sees your message.

Here are several ways to get the word out: Leverage social media by sharing content that will entice your customers, such as attractive images, well-produced videos, and informative blog posts. Launch an email campaign informing them of your discounts and special offers. Create promotional ads and use pay-per-click (PPC) advertising on Google and other search engines. Finally, encourage customers to join your loyalty program (if you have one) and opt-in for push notifications so they can be the first to know when new deals become available.

Author

Adaline Lefe Mary John

Adaline Lefe Mary John

A great researcher and creator, Adaline is responsible for planning and managing content for all our websites. She has over 10 years of experience in creating and managing content.

Show all posts from

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Comments are subject to our Terms of Use.
Please enter the correct answer below as a way to filter out some bots.