Because of the impact of COVID-19 on customer habits, Amazon's and online shopping's popularity has soared in the last year, particularly in many rapidly growing Amazon categories. However, the trend toward internet buying began long before the pandemic, and it shows no signs of subsiding anytime soon. If you're a brand owner seeking for methods to capitalize on Amazon's and ecommerce's massive potential for your brand, you have a number of possibilities. One such being using the expertise of an Amazon Agency
What exactly is Amazon Agency ?
Amazon agencies often provide services in one of two ways: complete Amazon management or selected services. The former implies that they give everything you'll need to run your Amazon channel. The latter indicates that they will just assist you with a few things that you require, such as managing your Amazon advertising campaigns, while you manage the rest.
Working with an Amazon agency is similar to working with a marketing firm or a consultant: You maintain complete control of your brand's product listings, logistics, and Amazon visibility. Working with an agency means you'll have a dedicated team of experts to assist you in making decisions and guiding you through every aspect of your Amazon business—and, depending on who you work with, access to this team can be much less expensive than hiring a full-time employee internally.
An Amazon agency can create, optimize, and execute product listings and Storefronts, as well as a successful Amazon ads plan, for sellers that lack experience and resources, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your business.
Why do you need an Amazon Agency ?
Let's imagine a brand doesn't want someone else to represent them or assist them on Amazon; instead, they want to offer their own products and take care of everything. Representing yourself is difficult. Managing an Amazon channel necessitates three things, all of which are difficult to come by:
- Personnel: You'll need people who are solely responsible for managing your Amazon channel. What projects are you moving existing staff off of if you're employing existing personnel? You'll need the money for salary and benefits if you're hiring new employees.
- Expertise: Amazon, which is now over 25 years old, is a mature marketplace that deserves full attention. With millions of sellers on the marketplace, if you want to flourish, you'll need a solid understanding of the environment and strategies.
- Time: If you're managing your brick-and-mortar relationships, do you have time to manage your ecommerce relationships as well (and, more importantly, keep the two in balance so that one doesn't sour the other)?
If you are lacking in any of the aforementioned areas, you may require outside assistance to fill in the gaps. This is where Amazon's agencies can help.
Advantages of working with an Amazon Agency
Convenience
It's difficult to sell over the internet. A full-time team is required to manage the supply chain, inventories, marketing, listing optimizations, case management, customer reviews, and reporting. It's significantly easier to seek outside support if you don't have the employees, experience, or tools in-house to properly run these projects.
Staff, experience, strategy, and software are all provided by an Amazon agency to help you create a profitable and secure Amazon business. Additionally, engaging an agency will almost certainly be less expensive than hiring comparable employees in-house.
Even if you want to run your online sales channel on your own, an agency can serve as a helpful stepping stone, providing a solid foundation for your online business while you prepare internal resources to take over.
You'll have more time to focus on other aspects of your company.
Getting the most out of your online business takes a lot of time and effort. Amazon isn't a marketplace where you can "set it and forget it." If you want to maximise your sales, you'll need to review and manage each ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number - an alphanumeric identifier Amazon uses to identify each product).
Inventory management, sales forecasting, customer review management, listing optimizations, paid marketing optimizations, and other tasks take up a lot of time. However, by putting in so many hours on a weekly basis, we are able to maintain robust growth.
If you don't have such a vast catalogue, channel management will automatically take less time. Just take in mind that the hours per ASIN chart isn't a straight line. Because groups of ASINs share characteristics in most circumstances, the same material may be altered to suit many ASINs. The time commitment per ASIN often decreases as the number of ASINs increases.
Amazon Agencies Keep You in Control
You keep an inventory position when you operate with an Amazon agency; in other words, you're the seller. There is no one else standing between you and your consumers. Customers will notice that the product is manufactured by you, sold by you, and that your brand answers customer questions, which helps develop trust.
So, how does that function in the context of collaborating with an agency? When you collaborate with an agency, your brand's seller account will be used to manage the backend of your Amazon channel.
This implies that all of their knowledge and resources are applied from within your own account, allowing consumers to see only your brand on the listing's frontend. Dealing with an agency versus working with a retailer has a number of distinctions. While a store will optimize your listings through their seller account, an agency will do so through yours.
The Costs evens out
Price is one of the most essential considerations. How much does working with an Amazon agency cost?
When you think about it, hiring an agency to manage your internet sales channel is actually less expensive than hiring a full-time person. Furthermore, working with an agency provides you with much more than a single person; you gain access to the pooled knowledge of hundreds of professionals as well as a suite of software. More sales and higher profitability result from your Amazon agency's knowledge, strategy, and automation, to the point where it pays for itself and then some more.
What to look for in an Amazon Agency ?
It can be difficult to know which Amazon agencies and consultants are worth your money when there are so many to select from. How will you know you've hired the best ecommerce firm to help you manage and expand your brand's online presence ?
How valid is their work experience for your brand ?
Inquire about their specific areas of expertise and how their services relate to your ecommerce channel. Inquire further about how their experience will contribute to the success of your brand's growth. This inquiry can assist you sort out candidates who have had no direct contact with the site's management.
You want someone who has a lot of experience with your brand's requirements. While someone with ten years of experience in Amazon customer support may have some knowledge, it doesn't compare to the value you'll get from a 5-year-experienced SEO or marketing expert.
Go through their track record
Furthermore, Amazon has evolved significantly since its inception. Someone with recent industry experience has gone through those changes and demonstrated that they can successfully adjust in order to keep their channel stable and growing. Not to mention the plethora of information you'll have at your fingertips to help you better comprehend industry trends and movements.
Are they going to help you stay in top of Market trends ?
While it's well acknowledged that Amazon dominates online retail, it's important to remember that Amazon isn't the only location where you may make money. By asking this question, you may get a sense of how well they grasp market trends and how broad or narrow their view of online sales is.
Obtain examples by enquiring
Inquire about some of the services they provide. Viewing their portfolio will not only provide you with some great examples of the type of work they are capable of doing, but it will also allow you to assess the agency's understanding.
Go through the process with them
Someone that understands how to properly run an ecommerce channel will be able to swiftly walk you through a high-level workflow regarding their services and the methods they use to make their campaigns effective if you ask them to walk you through the process of their finished work.
Inquire about how they would customize strategies for you.
If you're not sure what marketing services your company need, you can always ask them, "What marketing plan do you believe is the greatest option for my company?" "Where do I think I'd get the most bang for my buck?" Most firms would gladly prepare a proposal for you, with budget costs and suggested services.
If they can't come up with a strategy for your brand, it's a good sign that you should search for someone else. The more services an agency can provide you with, the better. It eliminates the need to outsource various aspects of your organization to several experts, making the entire process easier.
Where do they get their software and tools ?
For agencies to optimize their marketing efforts, there are literally hundreds of technologies available. Knowing the names of the most often used software will help you determine if they are at least familiar with industry standards.
If they have a custom software, explore it's purpose and how effective it is ?
Agencies that have dabbled in software development are always worth investigating further. Typically, organizations like these begin designing their own software to address a problem they observed while conducting their own marketing efforts, which means they should be able to provide specific examples to back up their claims. It's a good idea to ask about these technologies, what they're used for, and how they can help your firm.
Are there any opportunities for you to get hands on experience with their tools ?
If you're afraid to hand over control of your channel to an agency, ask if they can outsource these tools as self-service software. This will enable your team to gain more tools to improve your channel's weak links without having to fully overhaul your present marketplace strategy.
What technology do they use ? How successful are they ?
Keep a look out for any proprietary software they use to help them forecast inventory and reduce loss, just like the marketing tools. Data-driven agencies that understand seasonality's highs and lows will be able to plan more precise shipments to ensure you don't run out of inventory while also ensuring that long-term storage fees don't eat into your profit margins.
Conclusion
These basic questions, as well as their follow-ups, should be easy for any Amazon agency or consultant worth their salt to answer. To raise your brand and realize your vision, the potential hire must be versatile, flexible, and aligned with your company goals.
Keep a look out for distinguishing characteristics, such as proprietary software, which might provide you an advantage over competitors and other firms. Examine their array of services to discover if there are any areas where your company could profit. If they offer a diverse range of services, they will be able to meet the majority of your requirements under one roof.
https://www.aihello.com/resources/blog/what-is-amazon-agency-and-why-you-need-one-even-if-you-think-you-dont/
What exactly is Amazon Agency ?
Amazon agencies often provide services in one of two ways: complete Amazon management or selected services. The former implies that they give everything you'll need to run your Amazon channel. The latter indicates that they will just assist you with a few things that you require, such as managing your Amazon advertising campaigns, while you manage the rest.
Working with an Amazon agency is similar to working with a marketing firm or a consultant: You maintain complete control of your brand's product listings, logistics, and Amazon visibility. Working with an agency means you'll have a dedicated team of experts to assist you in making decisions and guiding you through every aspect of your Amazon business—and, depending on who you work with, access to this team can be much less expensive than hiring a full-time employee internally.
An Amazon agency can create, optimize, and execute product listings and Storefronts, as well as a successful Amazon ads plan, for sellers that lack experience and resources, allowing you to focus on other aspects of your business.
Why do you need an Amazon Agency ?
Let's imagine a brand doesn't want someone else to represent them or assist them on Amazon; instead, they want to offer their own products and take care of everything. Representing yourself is difficult. Managing an Amazon channel necessitates three things, all of which are difficult to come by:
- Personnel: You'll need people who are solely responsible for managing your Amazon channel. What projects are you moving existing staff off of if you're employing existing personnel? You'll need the money for salary and benefits if you're hiring new employees.
- Expertise: Amazon, which is now over 25 years old, is a mature marketplace that deserves full attention. With millions of sellers on the marketplace, if you want to flourish, you'll need a solid understanding of the environment and strategies.
- Time: If you're managing your brick-and-mortar relationships, do you have time to manage your ecommerce relationships as well (and, more importantly, keep the two in balance so that one doesn't sour the other)?
If you are lacking in any of the aforementioned areas, you may require outside assistance to fill in the gaps. This is where Amazon's agencies can help.
Advantages of working with an Amazon Agency
Convenience
It's difficult to sell over the internet. A full-time team is required to manage the supply chain, inventories, marketing, listing optimizations, case management, customer reviews, and reporting. It's significantly easier to seek outside support if you don't have the employees, experience, or tools in-house to properly run these projects.
Staff, experience, strategy, and software are all provided by an Amazon agency to help you create a profitable and secure Amazon business. Additionally, engaging an agency will almost certainly be less expensive than hiring comparable employees in-house.
Even if you want to run your online sales channel on your own, an agency can serve as a helpful stepping stone, providing a solid foundation for your online business while you prepare internal resources to take over.
You'll have more time to focus on other aspects of your company.
Getting the most out of your online business takes a lot of time and effort. Amazon isn't a marketplace where you can "set it and forget it." If you want to maximise your sales, you'll need to review and manage each ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number - an alphanumeric identifier Amazon uses to identify each product).
Inventory management, sales forecasting, customer review management, listing optimizations, paid marketing optimizations, and other tasks take up a lot of time. However, by putting in so many hours on a weekly basis, we are able to maintain robust growth.
If you don't have such a vast catalogue, channel management will automatically take less time. Just take in mind that the hours per ASIN chart isn't a straight line. Because groups of ASINs share characteristics in most circumstances, the same material may be altered to suit many ASINs. The time commitment per ASIN often decreases as the number of ASINs increases.
Amazon Agencies Keep You in Control
You keep an inventory position when you operate with an Amazon agency; in other words, you're the seller. There is no one else standing between you and your consumers. Customers will notice that the product is manufactured by you, sold by you, and that your brand answers customer questions, which helps develop trust.
So, how does that function in the context of collaborating with an agency? When you collaborate with an agency, your brand's seller account will be used to manage the backend of your Amazon channel.
This implies that all of their knowledge and resources are applied from within your own account, allowing consumers to see only your brand on the listing's frontend. Dealing with an agency versus working with a retailer has a number of distinctions. While a store will optimize your listings through their seller account, an agency will do so through yours.
The Costs evens out
Price is one of the most essential considerations. How much does working with an Amazon agency cost?
When you think about it, hiring an agency to manage your internet sales channel is actually less expensive than hiring a full-time person. Furthermore, working with an agency provides you with much more than a single person; you gain access to the pooled knowledge of hundreds of professionals as well as a suite of software. More sales and higher profitability result from your Amazon agency's knowledge, strategy, and automation, to the point where it pays for itself and then some more.
What to look for in an Amazon Agency ?
It can be difficult to know which Amazon agencies and consultants are worth your money when there are so many to select from. How will you know you've hired the best ecommerce firm to help you manage and expand your brand's online presence ?
How valid is their work experience for your brand ?
Inquire about their specific areas of expertise and how their services relate to your ecommerce channel. Inquire further about how their experience will contribute to the success of your brand's growth. This inquiry can assist you sort out candidates who have had no direct contact with the site's management.
You want someone who has a lot of experience with your brand's requirements. While someone with ten years of experience in Amazon customer support may have some knowledge, it doesn't compare to the value you'll get from a 5-year-experienced SEO or marketing expert.
Go through their track record
Furthermore, Amazon has evolved significantly since its inception. Someone with recent industry experience has gone through those changes and demonstrated that they can successfully adjust in order to keep their channel stable and growing. Not to mention the plethora of information you'll have at your fingertips to help you better comprehend industry trends and movements.
Are they going to help you stay in top of Market trends ?
While it's well acknowledged that Amazon dominates online retail, it's important to remember that Amazon isn't the only location where you may make money. By asking this question, you may get a sense of how well they grasp market trends and how broad or narrow their view of online sales is.
Obtain examples by enquiring
Inquire about some of the services they provide. Viewing their portfolio will not only provide you with some great examples of the type of work they are capable of doing, but it will also allow you to assess the agency's understanding.
Go through the process with them
Someone that understands how to properly run an ecommerce channel will be able to swiftly walk you through a high-level workflow regarding their services and the methods they use to make their campaigns effective if you ask them to walk you through the process of their finished work.
Inquire about how they would customize strategies for you.
If you're not sure what marketing services your company need, you can always ask them, "What marketing plan do you believe is the greatest option for my company?" "Where do I think I'd get the most bang for my buck?" Most firms would gladly prepare a proposal for you, with budget costs and suggested services.
If they can't come up with a strategy for your brand, it's a good sign that you should search for someone else. The more services an agency can provide you with, the better. It eliminates the need to outsource various aspects of your organization to several experts, making the entire process easier.
Where do they get their software and tools ?
For agencies to optimize their marketing efforts, there are literally hundreds of technologies available. Knowing the names of the most often used software will help you determine if they are at least familiar with industry standards.
If they have a custom software, explore it's purpose and how effective it is ?
Agencies that have dabbled in software development are always worth investigating further. Typically, organizations like these begin designing their own software to address a problem they observed while conducting their own marketing efforts, which means they should be able to provide specific examples to back up their claims. It's a good idea to ask about these technologies, what they're used for, and how they can help your firm.
Are there any opportunities for you to get hands on experience with their tools ?
If you're afraid to hand over control of your channel to an agency, ask if they can outsource these tools as self-service software. This will enable your team to gain more tools to improve your channel's weak links without having to fully overhaul your present marketplace strategy.
What technology do they use ? How successful are they ?
Keep a look out for any proprietary software they use to help them forecast inventory and reduce loss, just like the marketing tools. Data-driven agencies that understand seasonality's highs and lows will be able to plan more precise shipments to ensure you don't run out of inventory while also ensuring that long-term storage fees don't eat into your profit margins.
Conclusion
These basic questions, as well as their follow-ups, should be easy for any Amazon agency or consultant worth their salt to answer. To raise your brand and realize your vision, the potential hire must be versatile, flexible, and aligned with your company goals.
Keep a look out for distinguishing characteristics, such as proprietary software, which might provide you an advantage over competitors and other firms. Examine their array of services to discover if there are any areas where your company could profit. If they offer a diverse range of services, they will be able to meet the majority of your requirements under one roof.
https://www.aihello.com/resources/blog/what-is-amazon-agency-and-why-you-need-one-even-if-you-think-you-dont/
