Prime Day will be here before we know it. This Amazon event rivals Black Friday in popularity, so it’s often a very effective way to get your products in front of new customers who are primed to spend (pun intended!). Now 8 years in the running, Prime Day fetched $11 billion in U.S. sales alone in 2021. We expect this year to be even bigger. If you want to earn a revenue boost from this major eCommerce event, start preparing your pricing strategy.
While we don’t yet know the exact date (Amazon keeps it under wraps until just before), it will likely happen sometime in the middle of July. Our series of five blog posts over the coming weeks will provide you with all the information and insights to make sure your brand is ready to take full advantage of this unique eCommerce event.
To start, let’s talk about pricing and couponing. One of the things you need to consider while prepping for this event is to have a competitive pricing list that can beat your competitors. The last thing you want is to have everything ready and not sell because other sellers have better pricing than yours. So, let’s review some of the actions you need to take to optimize your pricing and promotional strategy.
Develop Coupons for Your Top Products
Prime Day is, of course, all about major discounts. The best way to get the attention of all those eager Amazon shoppers is to highlight your best products with some serious savings. One of the simplest ways to do this is with coupons. These are separate from Prime Day’s famous “Lightning Deals.”
Customers can “clip” a coupon on the product detail page. It’s a psychologically pleasing action that helps them get excited about their purchase. And on Prime Day, it’s an enticing bonus saving that drives more conversions.
Note that coupons take time to get approved, so be sure to get yours in a few weeks before the suspected Prime Day date.
Enroll in Lightning Deals
Sellers who meet certain qualifications can offer Prime Day’s famous Lightning Deals. These entail major product discounts, usually for a limited time or quantity within the Prime Day event. Urgency is a key ingredient in conversion, so if you can, set up some deals to nab those eager Prime Day shoppers. There are three types:
Lightning Deal includes a minimum 20% discount. You may run one deal per ASIN within 7 days of the event. Eligible products include hardlines and consumables with more than 20 units in stock and at least 3.5 stars average in reviews. (New, no-star products are eligible but will be monitored.)
Spotlight Deal entails a minimum 30% discount for up to 48 hours (the duration of the Prime Day event). To qualify, your product must have an average of 3.7 stars or better and a sales forecast of at least $25,000 for the discount period.
Featured Lightning Deal gives your product more visibility and sense of urgency. It runs 4 hours during peak traffic, offering a discount of at least 40% (minimum 4-star product rating). Choose ASINs that are rarely on sale. The Featured Lightning Deal is not only time-restricted but also limited quantity.
For the Spotlight Deal and the Featured Lightning Deal, the discounted price should match or beat your lowest price in the year to date and you need to have an Amazon representative.
Offer Store-wide Sales
In addition to your featured products and Lightning Deals, consider marking down your entire catalog by 5 percent. The boost in traffic from highly motivated shoppers will make up for that slight dip in pricing. Remember, Prime Day shoppers are looking for deals. Entice them with competitive pricing to generate more sales even for products that aren’t an official Prime Day deal.
We also recommend turning Prime Day into “Prime Week” for your store. Continue running those sales to attract any Prime Day stragglers, as well as those who are still in shopping mode after the event ends. This can help boost your overall Best Sellers Rank and drive more conversions.
Bonus: If you know your competitors are running Lightning Deals on similar products, you may even be able to nab customers who miss out on those deals.
Start Sales a Day Early
Once Prime Day begins, shoppers begin their mad dash for deals. Amazon will be continually ranking and re-ranking popular products. Ideally, you want to be in a good place to nab their attention. You can get a head start by implementing your sale prices just before the event starts. This way, your boost in views and purchases will help you climb the rankings. Then, when customers shop online for Prime Day, they’ll be more likely to see your listings and grab your deals. This approach may help accelerate your Prime Day rankings as more purchases lead to greater visibility (and vice versa).
In conclusion, whichever pricing and coupon decisions you make, remember to keep your inventory and fulfillment logistics in mind. Prime Day is a highly competitive event that creates a large sense of urgency. Shoppers are ready to jump on deals, so be prepared to accommodate them! That means incorporating lead time, comparing your anticipated demand to your available inventory, and weighing all the Prime Day discounts against your fulfillment costs and profit margin. With careful planning and smart pricing strategies, you can optimize your Prime Day strategy for an excellent revenue boost.
Need guidance in eCommerce and want to make the most of Prime Day? Contact us, our team of experts is here to help you grow and support your brand!
