Okay, I’ll admit it.
As a long-term Amazon shareholder, I was a little concerned when Jeff (the legend) Bezos stepped down as Amazon CEO.
Putting the well-documented riches of being an Amazon seller to one side:
For more than 27 years, Jeff and his management team delivered incredible growth in the company’s market capitalisation and, ultimately, the value of my stock portfolio.
Thank you, Jeff.
And so, in July 2021, the torch was finally passed down to Andy Jassy.
The AWS superstar, with a penchant for profits and cracking head of hair.
Sorry, Jeff.
Andy Jassy’s first year as Amazon’s head honcho
At first glance:
Everything at Amazon retail appears exactly as it’s always been under Jeff’s command.
Speedy, convenient and price-savvy online shopping combined with super-fast shipping.
No change there then, right?
Well, yes.
But only to the everyday front-end shopper.
Ask the same question to the Amazon seller community and you will likely get a different response.
Of course:
Mr Jassy stepped up at a particularly challenging time for the company.
And no FBA seller would ever want a repeat of the Amazon restock limits fiasco.
But if you take a closer look ‘under the hood’ of Andy Jassy’s short time at the helm, two subtle shifts in strategy are emerging.
Why should you care?
Because both are extremely relevant if you want your products to stand out from the crowd on Amazon’s marketplace.
To put that another way:
You might have to reconsider your entire business model to safeguard its future in this game.
Particularly if you plan on selling your business to an Amazon aggregator.
How to rank on Amazon in 2022 and beyond
Let’s get down to brass tacks.
I’m not going to waste your (or my) time talking about product images, title tags, reviews and providing ‘great’ customer service.
Instead, let’s peel back the layers of what Andy Jassy really wants from Amazon’s marketplace.
Specifically, this boils down to two things:
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- Higher revenues from Sponsored Ads
- Higher revenues from product sales, namely commissions
For me, this translates as follows:
Amazon’s marketplace will consist, primarily, of paid search results.
It really is that simple.
Of the remaining organic listings, which will undoubtedly decrease as time goes by, only those that bring in a healthy return for Amazon (think commissions, fewer returns etc) will be prominently displayed.
What does this mean for you?
Well, for starters, I would think long and hard before launching any new products that don’t have a decent (like, 35%+) profit margin.
If an ASIN bearly wipes its face without spending money on PPC, it’s not going to survive in the new world of heavily sponsored listings.
After that:
Don’t necessarily assume that the cheaper-priced products are going to rank organically going forward.
In fact, you’re probably going to want to pitch your brand at the higher end of the price point for its niche.
Bottom line?
If you have never spent a penny (or dime) on Sponsored Ads, it’s probably time to start swotting up.
Gone are the days when products were super-glued to the top of the search results and ‘dirt-cheap’ organic listings were the first to show up.
On the face of things, Andy Jassy appears to be here for the long term.
With this in mind, it’s not a bad idea to start aligning your business with his vision of the Amazon marketplace.
Want to know how to rank on Amazon in 2022 and beyond?
Here’s the brutal truth:
You pay for it.
Further reading:
This website was created by ex-Amazon sellers, Martin Smith and Richard Turnbull.
To learn about our story, our private label FBA brands, and our first-hand experience selling to Amazon aggregators, click here.
You may also wish to check out our 2022 Definitive Guide to Amazon Aggregators.
Written for FBA sellers, this simple, easy to follow document takes less than 5 minutes to read and represents the culmination of over 100 hours of research into the Amazon aggregator space. To access the guide today, click this link.