Q4 Planning for Amazon Sellers Guide

Without a question, Q4 is the most important period of the year for both online and offline retailers, not only Amazon merchants. There is a reason why people refer to the period between the beginning of October and the end of December as the “holiday season,” with Q4 covering important e-commerce events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

It’s important for sellers to be ready and prepared for the next season because nearly everyone spends money in the last quarter of the year, both on themselves and as gifts for others.

Amazon outperformed themselves by producing online sales of over 80 billion dollars last year. Sellers and customers have access to a complete report on each quarter’s profitability since Amazon doesn’t hold back when it comes to disclosing its achievements. The Q4 of 2022 is expected to be the greatest ever, with the COVID-19 pandemic’s aftermath further accelerating internet sales.

White Snow Ads is here to give a dedicated Amazon seller guide outlining all the essential elements to having a successful Q4 in 2022 in order to assist sellers be ready for what’s to come.

Necessary Inventory Data For The Preparation of Q4:

There are a number of things to take into account when getting ready for Q4. These informational aspects are from an inventory management standpoint:

• Last Year Q4 (LYQ4) sales
• Year To Date (YTD) sales
• Prime Day 2021 results
• So far, Q3 sales
• 2020 top-selling SKUs during Q4
• And last but not least, current capacity for manufacturing and inventories.

The middle of Q3 is the ideal time to start planning for Q4 since companies can then have a clear understanding of their inventory levels and the goods that are presently resonating with Amazon customers the most. The seasonal change that takes place between Q3 and Q4 should be kept in mind, as it will affect customer intent across your catalog. The need for this kind of goods will, however, essentially disappear once winter arrives.

Additionally, be sure to keep tabs on inventory levels with your manufacturer. You must have the product FBA ready at your facility before you may ship items to Amazon. Additionally, it’s wise to request more inventory from your suppliers during Q4 for top sellers rather for less. In order to have some inventory on hand for Fulfilled By Merchant (FBM) in the event that you briefly run out of FBA stock during the Christmas season, you should include a 10-15% buffer to your expected Q4 unit sales.

Tips to Follow When Sending Inventory to Amazon:

Be ready for shipment delays in the fourth quarter. It’s crucial to submit your inventory as soon as you can. Black Friday in 2022 falls on November 25. The start of Q4 holiday shopping happens around this time, so you’ll want to have things running smoothly before this point in the quarter to capitalize on the significant increase in traffic.

You may submit merchandise to Amazon via a variety of methods. Considering the amount of cargo, Amazon-owned trucks frequently experience delays in Q4. Different carriers may be prioritized in this situation; you can read useful details about this procedure here.

Moreover, the way you ship your product to Amazon might have a significant impact. Sending in smaller FBA shipments more frequently for high-priority ASINs is the best course of action. A sizable cargo that is lost or delayed might cause you to lose a lot of time. Greater account health often results from smaller shipments since they carry less risk.

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6 Ways to Prepare for Q4 Amazon Success:

Although it’s hard to anticipate what will happen in 2022, adopting widely accepted best practices can help retailers be ready for this year’s Q4 sales surge:

Plan Ahead:

Always be prepared with a strategy for the fourth quarter and begin early preparing. At the very least in July, begin implementing your Q4 approach. Start your marketing and advertising efforts before the fourth quarter, taking into consideration the lengthier lead times during the Christmas season!

Due to COVID-19, the global supply chain is already impacted. During the busiest shopping season, anticipate that to worsen. Get in touch with your supplier to discuss the extra stock you’ll need, keeping in mind the lengthier lead and freight timeframes.

Additionally, you need to consider your Q4 fulfillment plan. The benefit of becoming an FBA seller is being qualified for Prime shipping, which can significantly increase sales. It is possible to avoid greater storage costs during the fourth quarter by managing your inventory well and preparing ahead. You may handle the packaging and shipping yourself if you’re concerned about the increased storage costs during Q4. Do not forget that you will lose out on a huge amount of potential sales if you are not qualified for Prime.

Fast Shipping:

Fast shipment is another technique to enhance your product listings and set your items apart from those of your rivals. As ecommerce progressively replaces traditional retail as a preferred method of shopping, people are growing impatient and, in some circumstances, want goods delivered the same day.

Offering quick and dependable delivery has never been more crucial because the week before Christmas is when many consumers go on a purchasing spree.

If you can, provide free delivery in Q4 to set yourself apart from the competition during the busiest time of the year. It is more important than ever for merchants to prioritize their order fulfillment operations since free delivery is a decisive factor in how many customers click on and purchase your goods.

With FBA, sellers can take advantage of Amazon Prime while standing out from all other brands by clearly displaying a logo on their listings.

Optimize Your Listings:

In Q4, every vendor brings out the big guns, so you risk becoming lost in the backdrop if you don’t stand out or attract attention in some manner. Make sure every product listing is adequately optimized in the lead-up to the busiest season of the year for Amazon selling to offer yourself the best chance of success.

Your product listings must be optimized if you want them to appear in the Amazon search results. Make sure your listings target the correct keywords with appropriate search intent by conducting extensive keyword research.

Make sure all of your product photographs are of good quality and that your product titles and descriptions contain the pertinent keywords. Your product photos should leave nothing to the imagination and should try to demonstrate to potential buyers how and what your product will contribute to their lives.

Competitive Prices:

Pricing is a key component of product listing optimization and success in the Amazon search results. Offering consistently competitive rates is one of the key approaches to rank and obtain the Buy Box on Amazon since the company aims to provide its consumers the best possible prices.

Even if people who are just getting started with Amazon selling would choose to handle their price plan manually, it is ineffective and inefficient to do so. Brands no longer need to monitor pricing since automatic repricing technologies analyze the degree of competition, demand, and Buy Box opportunity to adjust seller’s prices as necessary.

You may offer prospective clients constantly cheap rates and greatly improve both exposure and sales by relying on an automatic repricing platform like Netrivals.com.

Early PPC Campaign Launch:

It has been harder for retailers to distinguish out as the e-commerce business has expanded so quickly. Fortunately, Amazon PPC offers retailers the chance to promote their goods both inside and outside of the online retail environment.

Make sure you have a marketing plan in place and operating a few months in advance if you want to boost your sales in Q4. Before October, you must fine-tune your advertising strategies by running both automatic and manual campaigns. Automatic campaigns are a terrific method to identify highly effective keywords for your items, even though ACOS is not necessarily where they shine.

Starting early is crucial since gathering relevant data and optimizing your advertising efforts takes time.

You need to take a few actions to improve your campaigns as the data for them begins to flow in. To lower your ad budget, you must first discover non-converting keywords and designate them as “negative.” Move fantastic, high-converting keywords you discover in your automated campaigns to your manual efforts to maximize their effectiveness.

Be Strict with Your Budget and Promotions:

Planning your promotions for the major sales events is the only way to guarantee that you will emerge from the Christmas season with outstanding profits. When doing promotions, take your margins into account.

When creating Christmas packs, take this in mind as well. Bundles are a fantastic method to move merchandise and increase sales. To give your packages time to gather traction, distribute them a few weeks before the relevant holidays.

Being careful with budgets is a must-do last in our Amazon seller guide. Although there is a lot of potential for sales in Q4, it’s crucial to stay on top of your budgeting and determine how much you can spend on new stock and order fulfillment.

The cost of FBA storage isn’t set in stone; it varies according to demand. When reviewing your expenditures for this season, remember to account for Amazon’s variable costs in November and December.