How to Accrue Repeat Customers on Amazon

To make reordering easier for customers, Amazon provides a “Buy it Again” option under each customer’s account that sends them back to the listing of what they originally purchased. While that can be helpful for the customer (and beneficial if you’re the Amazon seller), Amazon will still show the customer other, cheaper options if they become available, which could prevent your customer from purchasing from you more than once.

Amazon has not shared detailed information regarding their product ranking algorithm, which influences customer purchasing decisions, and they also offer Amazon sellers very limited customer data on their dashboard, including customer emails. Ultimately, Amazon sees customers as their customers, not the sellers’.

So, as an Amazon seller, how do you successfully build brand loyalty and accrue repeat customers on Amazon?

Track and Organize Your Amazon Data

When you sign up to sell on Amazon, you register either as an Individual seller or a Professional seller. The account type you choose determines the data available to you as a seller. First things first, you should do everything you can to ensure that you’re maintaining your listing. This includes managing Amazon reviews and ensuring you have a high rating, earning the Buy Box, making sure your Amazon listing accurately markets your product and more. Following these best practices will help keep your listing strong and, likely, in front of the right customers.

While many of Amazon’s reports are encoded, sellers have reported success on forums by creating their own pivot tables with the data that Amazon provides on certain order reports like order information, shipping and payments. With this information, you will notice trends, how many times certain customers order from you and more. FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon) can do the same with an Amazon-Fulfilled Shipments Report. While you won’t receive customer’s email addresses, you will be able to identify trends that could influence future product and marketing decisions.

Create a High-Quality Experience

From packaging to the product itself, creating a high-quality experience is key. If your product isn’t “flashy,” you can still grab your customers’ attention through your packaging and inserts. Keeping Amazon requirements in mind, consider the colors and imagery related to your brand, as well as the contents of the package. How do you want your customers to feel when they interact with your product and packaging? Do you want to excite them? Consider a bright, complementary color scheme. Do you want them to feel calm and relaxed? Consider a light, pastel palette. Evoking the proper emotions from your customers through your packaging helps unify your brand and enhance the customer experience, resulting in brand loyalty and repeat purchases.

Set Up Emails and Solicit Reviews

When it comes to securing reviews, best practices suggest utilizing a third-party review platform or Amazon review software. Platforms like Feedback Genius or Jump Send are great ways to personalize and manage your review requests. This shows customers that you care about their opinion, which could result in an overall positive customer experience.

At the end of the day, positive Amazon reviews are important because they improve your listing’s rank, encourage buyers who are on the fence to purchase from you and provide social proof. Users often make purchasing decisions based on others’ product reviews and feedback, which supports the cycle of attracting customers and creating positive experiences that will make them want to come back to your listing for additional purchases.

Build Your Own Audience and Digital Presence Outside of Amazon

As we stated earlier, Amazon’s algorithm is built to promote and sell the highest-converting products at that moment, which may not always be your product. Additionally, collecting customers’ contact information for incubation and re-engagement is nearly impossible. However, there are a few ways to work with what you have by building your own digital presence outside of Amazon.

Before you start shipping your product, make sure you have launched a website, or at least a microsite, with more information about your product as well as a lead generation form. You should also create social media channels if you have enough assets and it’s a good fit for your audience. Use your product packaging to provide your audience with more information about where they can learn more about you or follow you online. From here they will likely sign up for emails, follow you on social and more. Once this happens, you can notify them of upcoming sales or new product launches.

As you can see, a lot is required to ensure you’re gaining repeat customers on Amazon. If you need help, we’re the experts! Get in touch today to learn more about how we can help you sell your product on Amazon.