3 Marketing Strategies You Can Learn from Amazon

Amazon made public that the company had an income of $60.5 billion for the last quarter of 2017. These enormous numbers are proof that people all over the world go big during the Christmas holidays. Indeed, Amazon is a major player when it comes to holiday sales. So, what can we learn from their strategies in selling a variety of items? I’ve listed a few of their techniques that you can apply when designing your own online shop:

• Amazon is known to be the best in upselling.

  • So, let’s define upselling first. It is a way for the seller to convince the buyer in spending more money on other products that enrich or improve the main product, which he/she is already purchasing.
  • Upselling is common in fast-food chains when they ask you if you would like some fries with the burger you ordered. Now, upselling is used by a variety of online retailers.
  • Upselling works no matter what industry you belong to. There are countless of ways to upsell. In fact, in the travel industry alone, a survey revealed that 48% of the passengers and 59% of the hotel guests expressed their interest in upgrading and adding supplementary services to their current package.

• Next is the Amazon’s ability to cross-sell.

  • Cross-selling happens when you suggest related items that complete their existing purchase. These recommended items may be from another vendor and not from your own product line.
  • For example, when you search for a dash cam on Amazon, one of the choices is the APEMAN Dash Cam 1080P Car Recorder. Amazon, then, reminds their customers to buy it with the SanDisk 32GB Memory Card and the Dash Cam Mirror Mount.
  • Since your customers are already buying something, you can use this as an opportunity to sell them more items. Thus, more profit for you! Did you know that in 2006 Amazon gained nearly 35% of its income all because of cross-selling and recommending related items?
  • If you’re buying a car with a monthly payments of $679, adding another $32.79 a month for a complete car care kit does not feel so heavy on the budget. As you can see, it’s not only the online retailers that utilize this strategy. Even the service providers apply cross-selling!

• Amazon also applies the pre-sell strategy.

  • This means that Amazon is encouraging customers to buy in bundles. Customers will get their items at a reduced price if they add multiple products in their cart. Also, if their total reaches a specific amount (over $25), the shipping cost will be removed as long as the items will be delivered to the same mailing address.
  • This strategy will encourage people to buy more even if they’re not interested in the suggested items. People think they might need someday in the future.

What can we learn about these 3 strategies that Amazon perfectly mastered?

Consumers are after getting a good deal. People feel good when they think they saved a lot of money from taking advantage of the many holiday sales available online. In order to generate more sales for your website, you need to study human behavior. Amazon has proved to have mastered these strategies. If you are an online retailer, it would be a shame if you wouldn’t put these marketing strategies into good use. When designing a website, it’s crucial to applies these helpful strategies.