Much like the famous and revered “Amazon Flywheel” that was sketched out on a napkin by Jeff Bezos, each product listing on Amazon, referred to as an ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) has its own flywheel, largely determined by the Amazon A9 Search Algorithm.

In order to be successful on Amazon you must get your product’s flywheel spinning. Each product listing begins with a motionless flywheel that must be tended and nurtured into developing its regular and cyclical movement. In order to achieve the desired motion, a product must activate the forces that propel it along it’s circular path. As the energy of each force increases, so will the velocity at which the flywheel spins. The faster the wheel spins, the greater the number of sales.

Newton's first law of motion – sometimes referred to as the law of inertia states that an object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

This law of physics serves as an analogy for the sales cycle of Amazon’s product listings. As Amazon Marketers, we want to develop the momentum of this flywheel and have it stay in motion. If any force falters, the flywheel will become unbalanced, the momentum will slow and sales will be reduced. If the forces are inactive, you will end up with an inert listing with nonexistent sales.

To explain this concept further we have simplified the various forces of this flywheel.

Click & Buy

The first force we are going to categorize as “click and buy.” Your product will need a listing optimized for Amazon’s search engine in order to be found. This means that the language used in the title, bullets, description and in the backend keywords must be carefully researched and utilized. By doing this, your product should appear in the search results for those keywords. Once found, your product will need an enticing photo and price to elicit the coveted “click.” To complete the sale, you will need to convince the customer through marketing content to “buy” your product. Essentially, a customer needs to find your product and be compelled to purchase it. By doing so, the sales rank and organic position of your product will increase, helping you generate future sales. Sales generate the energy which makes the wheel begin to spin.

Reviews

Amazon considers themselves customer obsessed. To succeed on Amazon, you will need to please the Amazon customer. This means you will need to deliver a product that meets or exceeds the customer’s expectations and you as a seller must provide a superior level of customer service. By doing this your product listings will get great reviews and help generate future sales. Your first positive review will help your product surface in search. It is commonly believed that you will need 5-6 positive reviews to initially satisfy the search algorithm. Additional positive reviews are helpful for converting human customers. A study at Northwestern University found that listings featuring 20-50 product reviews are optimal for instilling consumer confidence.

You can encourage reviews by enrolling in Amazon’s Early Reviewer Program, Amazon’s Vine Program or by sending post-purchase emails that request unbiased reviews. Feedback Genius and Feedback Five both do this well. It is against Amazon’s Terms of Service to encourage positive reviews, incentivize reviews or game the review system. Your listing or account may be shut down if you violate these rules. We may see tighter restrictions on Sellers requesting reviews outside the Amazon system in 2020 and beyond.

Brand

Brands can be built on Amazon. With over 2 billion yearly website visits, Amazon provides an unparalleled opportunity to showcase and sell your product. The formula is not complicated: sell a quality product, tell a great story, provide excellent customer service and get good reviews to enhance your reputation. As your reputation grows, your brand will become more recognizable and sought after. Supplement this with an advertising strategy focused on brand positioning (i.e. make your brand visible because visible brands perform better). If your brand is registered, Amazon will allow you to have a Brand Store and A+ content which permits you to further market and tell your brand story. The stronger your brand becomes, the faster your products’ flywheels will spin.

Inventory

As sales increase you will need to grow your inventory. Your momentum will slow precipitously if your product runs out of stock. Bigger inventory numbers result in greater distribution and availability of your product. Greater availability results in higher search placement (when paired with corresponding demand). Amazon has recently incentivized sellers to build a two-month supply of inventory to help them meet their one-day shipping goal.

On the other hand, you don’t want to overstock your inventory. Overstocked inventory can incur heavy storage fees and jeopardize your Inventory Performance Index (IPI) Score.

Inventory Planning is part art and part science. There are some fabulous tools available to help you get this right; one good example is Inventory Planner.

Sales Rank

Every item in every category on Amazon is assigned a sales rank hourly. The more you sell the lower your sales rank number will be. The best number is one and as of December 2019 that position was occupied by Apple’s Air Pods. Your product’s organic position for keyword search will improve as your sales rank drops below that of your competitors’ products. Improving sales rank also improves your organic placement and helps generate more traffic to your product listings.

Traffic

To get sales you need traffic to your product listings. To get more sales you need more traffic.

You can get traffic through:

1. Organic Search

2. Advertising

3. Links from your Website

4. Email Marketing

5. Influencers

6. PR

7. Word of Mouth

8. Lightning Deals

9. Amazon Coupons

10. Amazon Live

11. Other Marketing Initiatives

It’s always important to adhere to the maxim of “quality over quantity.” Well-converting traffic builds the velocity of your flywheel. Traffic that doesn’t convert can become an unwanted negative force that can diminish sales.

In Summary

Launching a product on Amazon can be frustrating… particularly when you don’t have an established brand or a large marketing budget. Overcoming the inherent inertia of a newly launched listing takes effort and care. The first sales are the hardest to achieve because you need to overcome this inertia and get the flywheel spinning. You need to build a great listing – get it found – elicit the click - convince someone to purchase – provide great customer service – get a review – replenish the inventory – improve the sales rank – generate new traffic……and repeat. Easy, right? Not at the start. The first sales are the hardest. Once the contributing forces put the flywheel in motion, it’s easier to keep your flywheel in motion.

Don’t forget that it’s important to set your expectations appropriately. As a general rule, if you have done everything correctly it will take time to build momentum in your flywheel. Depending on the product, price point, seasonality, depth of competition, brand value and marketing efforts, the time-frame for this period can vary greatly (from weeks to months or years). With the right mix of those factors, you can catch a sales wave and quickly establish the momentum of your listings. Without a favorable mix, this period can be long. The important indicator for your listing is that you see your sales velocity increasing. If you see your sales velocity shrink in a way that isn’t attributable to seasonality, you will need to determine what negative force is at play.

Having trouble with your product sales cycle? Lean Edge Marketing can help you sort through these factors and determine what is holding your sales back. We provide audits, task-based and account management services. Contact us for a FREE Consultation.