6 tips to prepare for Amazon Prime Day 2021

When is Amazon Prime Day 2021?

Amazon Prime Day is taking place on the 21st and 22nd June 2021, so get ready, as it’s coming up soon!

What is Amazon Prime Day 2021?

This is a two-day event where Amazon Prime members around the world gain access to exclusive discounts and bargains.

Amazon Prime Day 2020 saw third-party sellers, most of which are small to medium-sized businesses, surpass $3.5 billion in sales, making it one of the most lucrative events in the calendar for online retailers, alongside Black Friday.

This year, customers will have access to ‘Lightning Deals’, as well as having early access to deals through Alexa. In addition to this, all Prime Day deals will be colour-coded with blue badges.

How to prepare for Prime Day

Whether you are a beginner on Amazon, or are an experienced e-tailer, it’s important to make sure you stand out from the crowds. While Prime Day sees customers flock to take advantage of bargains, it is easy to get lost in the masses of deals, promotions and products.

These are Modern Retail’s top tips for maximising ecommerce success on Amazon Prime Day 2021.

1. Start early

It is no use turning up on Prime Day and expecting to make record-breaking sales. Preparation is key to making it the biggest success that you possibly can.

Promotion should start as early as possible, getting the word out that you have great products on offer. Use digital advertising to attract interest, making sure your social media channels, website and all other forms of content are raising awareness, as well as being SEO optimised for maximum visibility. The longer you give yourself to engage customers with your messaging, the higher the likelihood of sales.

Automated repricing is another feature that you can utilise in the lead-up to Amazon Prime Day. This allows you to set pricing rules and parameters, allowing your prices to automatically adjust in order to remain competitive. This great feature will ensure customers see your products as great value for money.

2. Choose your products wisely

To capitalise on the increased number of visitors to Amazon, you must make sure your products are appealing. This means you should carry out your own research to determine which products are most likely to sell rapidly. Look on social media, in print media and at the products that influencers engage their audiences best with. These are the types of products that are most likely to sell well.

3. Contact websites that promote sales

Many websites share promotions and reviews throughout the year, highlighting the best offers available online. Reaching out to these companies is a great way to see if they are happy to feature your Prime Day offers.

Create a list of these websites and see if your products and deals would be a suitable fit, getting in contact and sharing information about the upcoming offers you have.

4. Prepare inventory

There’s nothing worse than running out of a product that is selling quickly. Once you have carried out your research to ensure your chosen items are a wise investment, it’s time to make sure you have plenty of inventory available and know lead times to order more.

For example, if the supplier of your chosen product offers dropshipping, even if you run out of stock, you could continue to sell, knowing that the supplier can ship items directly to customers within a day.

5. Have your fulfilment process organised

Fulfilment must be seamless on Amazon Prime Day. Make sure you are prepared for an influx of orders and have the capacity to deal with this. Outsource to fulfilment companies, look at Fulfilment by Amazon, or ask friends and family to help you out. 

Without having your fulfilment process fully prepared, the excitement of sales can quickly turn to stress, inability to keep up with demand and angry customers, so it is worth thinking ahead!

6. Confirm your returns and refunds policies

As Prime Day 2021 will no doubt boost retailers’ sales on the marketplace, the number of returns will also inevitably increase. Make sure your returns and refunds policies are up to date, making customers aware of these. By communicating this information, you can set expectations for customers and significantly reduce the amount of time spent on customer service.