The customer path on Amazon – how they discover and order your products

The listing optimization game on Amazon starts by understanding how customers discover and order your products.

I mean… that’s even the marketing game from beginning to end. You have to put yourself in the shoes of your customers, in order to understand what they are going to go through, what they are going to see.

It allows you to understand what’s under your control and what you can do to steer them toward buying your products.

Step 1: they search for something – you need to appear

Customers come on Amazon with a clear goal in mind. Something to buy. And they have a certain phrase they’re going to search for, generally in the Amazon search bar.

That’s the moment you need to appear. For this, two solutions : have great product listing optimization and great sales history for the last 30 days (the famous BSR – Best Seller Ranking) ; OR pay Amazon ads to appear for certain phrases and keywords.

Step 2: they scan through the results and try to select viable options – you need to be amongst them

Customers will scroll the search results in the hope of finding the perfect product, depending on their budget and on their taste. They will consider around 3 or 4 alternatives using the available information at this point: first image, title, price, reviews, fulfillment by Amazon, coupons and badges.

While price is probably the most important of them (who doesn’t like a bargain?), if you want customers to select your product, you need to spend a lot of time making the perfect first image where you convey instantly why your product is the best. Easier said than done!

Coupons have been seen to improve traffic on a listing. But don’t forget it’s not free. Amazon will charge you per use (note that not all customers will use an existing coupon!) in addition to the reduction given by the coupon.

Step 3: they go through each listings – you need to convince them the moment they go through yours

Now that’s the most important step. You’ve appeared in the search results. Well done! You convinced them to select your product amongst their choices. Well done again! Now is the time to close the deal.

That’s what a perfectly optimized product listing will give you. And I’ll dive into this deeper in the next article.

Also, before you leave, there’s something you should know: a majority of buyers will be using their phones to browse Amazon. Be mindful of how your product listing appears on a small screen!