It's that most wonderful time of the year...
We’ve finally made it to the time sellers live for: 4th quarter! This is it!
So what are the last minute things to be aware of?
The deadline has passed to submit lightning deals and coupons for Black Friday, but if you hurry you can still get your best inventory shipped to FBA in time for the big day. Remember that it can take a while for Amazon to receive your products and make them available. There is a chance that if everyone’s waited too long to get inventory in, the rush of deliveries at fulfillment centers can push back turnaround times even more. So if your products are sitting around just waiting to be shipped, stop waiting and get it over with. If you haven’t even ordered your Black Friday products yet, though...pick your next battle.
There’s been no indication that the smaller storage limits set by Amazon earlier this year are going away anytime soon. This means you’ll need to plan on smaller, more frequent shipments throughout the holiday season, rather than a handful of large ones. The downside to this is obviously shipping fees, which has led many sellers to consider 3PL fulfillment. A potential upside, though, is that it forces you to keep a closer eye on your store, and be more reactive to customer buying habits.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are some of the biggest sales days of the year, but they’re not everything. If Thanksgiving weekend doesn’t go the way you planned, that’s all right, you’ve got time to adjust. The final day of big sales is actually 12/23, thanks to 1-day delivery in many locations. So don’t stress too much over individual days, make adjustments, send in those small shipments, keep an eye on prices and ad spend, and you should be just fine.
