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Every online seller creatively thinks of various ways in order to attract customers. Most sellers create flash sales or even lightning deals in order to call on customers to flock their stores or product listings. Who would not want to buy items on sale? Right?
When sellers think of putting items on lightning deals and boost their process through Amazon product listing optimization, it becomes easier for sellers to achieve their goals sooner. By consulting with an SEO consulting services provider, not only you will see positive results but also conversions from your product listings.
What is an Amazon Lightning Deal?
To define an Amazon Lightning Deal, it means a promotion given by the seller to their customers for a brief period of time. This kind of deal is spread throughout Amazon and usually found on Today’s Deals page or on the Prime Day page.
Lightning deals are usually available to every customer until it ends or the promotion expires. Other instances, if the product is no longer available, then the lightning deal halts also.
What you need to remember about these deals is that it’s very time-sensitive and you need to finish your order within the specific time. Some set up reminders in order to prepare for the upcoming lightning deal!
Pros of Lighting Deal
Lightning deals feel like a race against time especially for the customers. Knowing that it only runs for a limited amount of time and also it depends on the availability of the product. Businesses engage in lightning deals to drive traffic to their seller page, product listings, and increase their sales. Even an Amazon PPC expert or a digital marketing services provider will advise you to do this. If you feel confused on how to figure out the best SEO strategy for your business, try consulting an SEO agency to help you. That way, not only you boost your traffic but also convert sales!
Boost in sales
Hosting lightning deals on your seller profiles give a low profit margin but drive an increase in the quantity of orders places. Returning customers frequent your page if they find the products are great especially with what they experienced during the lightning sale. For the sellers, this is another way of quickly processing stagnant products that have been gathering dust in the inventory. Also, another way of introducing a new product line.
Increase the presence
Another benefit from a lightning deal is sellers are able to increase the presence of their brand. More and more people recognize it and for what they sell. Conducting lightning deals regularly increases sales and brand awareness on the Amazon. An increase in the presence means people visit your seller page and trust you. Not only that, but it also helps you stand out from your competitors.
Drives traffic to your page
Along with the increase in sales and brand awareness, lightning deals drive traffic to your page. Customers tend to visit the deals page before going to the main profile. The sale attracts the customers to go to the listing, read on it, and even visit your main seller page to see what else are you selling.
Cons of lightning deals
“With great power comes with great responsibility.” — a quote popularized and widely connected to Uncle Ben from Spiderman also is a quote that speaks to every business out there. Every move that you do during the lightning deals makes you responsible for the consequences that every order brings. Some of those would include unforeseen events that may cause delay when it comes to order fulfillment.
Unpredictability
Another thing that others need to watch out is that these deals are unpredictable. Customers cannot dictate when should the seller put up the sale. They could suggest when would be the best time to post and put the sale online. As the pandemic looms over and schedules adjust from time to time, better conduct a survey on when it’s best to host deals so you capture your customers’ attention.
Inventory
When lightning deals happen, sellers require a lot of products in their inventory. This also requires them to review their inventory at least 24-48 hours before they post or share something about the upcoming sale they plan on doing. Make sure that it complies with the rules and regulations that Amazon put up so that it won’t get canceled at the last minute.
What Do Lightning Deals Require?
Lightning deals require different things from the sellers. Some of those include a fee that costs around $150 to $750 depending on the day or kind of season that the deal will happen on. The fee will get higher if you plan on doing it during peak season such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or even Prime Day.
For Lightning Deals you need to meet the following requirements:
- Subscription to Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) or Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP)
- Products should be new, stocked up with three (3) star rating
- Items abide by the rules and regulations implemented by Amazon
- Lightning deals need to be submitted seven (7) days before it starts
- Minimum 20% discount on the products
For Your Product Page:
Your customers will see the featured product with its original price, discounted price, and the discount rate. They will also see a timer that shows how much time remains before the sale ends and how many people claimed the deal already.
On the other hand, if customers missed it, they will see a button that says “Join Waitlist” and will get notified for the specific product in case it goes up for sale or gets restocked once more.
If you need further information or clarification, feel free to find a digital marketing consultant to help you figure things out and further your business.
How to Set Up Your Own Lightning Deal?
As you navigate through Amazon, go to the Seller Central account and proceed to the Lightning Deals Dashboard.
Make sure you look for these:
- Product name
- Regular price
- Highest price you can offer
- Minimum quantity needed to start the deal (Amazon dictates this)
- Schedule when you will start and end
- Fee for starting the lightning deal
When you choose the products you want to put on sale, just click “Edit” below the product details. Choose your sale price and the number of products you want to put on sale.
After submitting your proposal, you will see a status either “Under Review” or “Needs Edits”. This means either Amazon is currently checking the deal or you need to go back and edit some details before it gets approved.
When necessary changes are completed, status will move to “Pending” which means your deal is approved but no date just yet. By the time you see “Approved” that means that the lightning deal has a schedule already. Otherwise, you will see “Suppressed” which means that the proposal got rejected due to some discrepancies on the requirements you submitted. But, you don’t have to worry about getting rejected because Amazon gives the reasons on why the deal got rejected.
On the other hand, when you plan on calending the lightning deal, doing it within 25 hours before its scheduled date will need you to pay a cancellation fee. Refrain from frequently canceling the deals as Amazon may block you entirely.
Takeaway
Amazon is a powerful platform that enables sellers to create various strategies to grow their business into an empire. With an Amazon SEO guide that you see on the internet, you find one that you can rely on the most. A guide that will educate you about the different tools that you can use on Amazon.
One of those tools include brand protection and assistance which helps sellers when products get lost. Luckily, there are tools that sellers access to help them find their way in the eCommerce marketplace. One of those tools include lightning deals.
Author’s Bio
Jayce is the managing director of Seller Interactive, an Amazon marketing agency dedicated to helping brands grow on Amazon. His content marketing expertise has led him to work with brands such as Toyota and GoDaddy, producing content that reached over 20M views in a month. He is on a journey to help D2C brands scale their business on Amazon.I hope you enjoy reading the following blog post. If you want the One SEO team to do your marketing for you, click here.