Manage Your Inventory Proactively

Managing your inventory proactively is one of the smartest things you can do during the holidays. Here are some tried-and-true suggestions from experienced sellers:

• Determine which of your products may be most popular during the holidays and make sure you have enough stock available at all times.
• Match your items by ISBN/UPC to the correct product detail pages. For example, if you list a book, your copy must be listed against the ASIN for the product with the exact same title, author, binding, edition, year of publication, publisher, and ISBN. Mismatched listings can result in poor customer experiences which can lower your Customer Metrics.
• Keep your listing details up to date. When you need to, use the tools in your Seller Account to edit the item description, item price, or the shipping methods you offer. Up-to-date listing details mean fewer potential order problems.
• If you use inventory uploads, remember that all items in a feed must be processed before any of the changes appear on Amazon.com. If you have time-sensitive changes, upload those first in a separate feed, and upload changes that are not time-sensitive in a later feed.

Learn more about managing and relisting your items.

Tracking Your Amazon Clicks

With the help of a number of sellers, we have recently completed a comprehensive comparison of Amazon and seller tracking logs.  In this process we learned that certain browsers are dropping the Referral URL when a customer clicks on an ad.  If you are using Referral Logs to track your Amazon Product Ads traffic it means that some clicks from Amazon will be recorded as “type-in” traffic.

We were able to confirm with these sellers that the clicks billed to their account and displayed in Seller Central were accurate.  We are working on a solution to ensure the Referral URL is passed regardless of customer browser.  We expect to have a permanent fix in place early in 2010.  We will make announcements in Seller Central when this fix is deployed

The information below provides a detailed explanation along with information about what you can do today to increase tracking accuracy.

What is a Referral URL?
A Referral URL is the address of the web page from which a user has clicked to arrive at a new web page.  In this case, the URL for the page where a customer clicked on your Amazon Product Ad to arrive on your website.

What is happening today?
Depending on the browser the customer uses, the Referral URL is not being passed to your website.  This means that you will not track the Amazon URL.  Instead your analytics package will report this click as “type-in”.  This value implies that a customer had typed the URL for that specific product page in to their browser directly. 

What is the impact?
A percentage of the clicks from Amazon will not be recorded by your analytics service.  The percentage of clicks that drop the Referral URL will be different for each seller.

What can I do today?
Add a Tracking Code to the URLs for all of the products in your Amazon Product Ads feed.  For example “src=amazon”.  Adding a tracking code in your URLs ensures you capture the source of the click regardless of the browser a customer uses.  You will be able to track all clicks from Amazon by looking for URLs viewed on your website which include this referral tag.  Using a Tracking Code is an effective way to track traffic from all advertising sources.

The steps to implement tracking codes in your URL’s will depend on your analytics service.  If you use Google Analytics, this Google help page includes a tool to build your URL with a tracking code. 

What is Product Ads doing?
We are working on a solution to ensure the Referral URL is passed regardless of customer browser.  We expect to have a permanent fix in place early 2010.  We will make announcements in Seller Central when this fix is deployed.  We have reviewed all related systems and can assure you that billing and traffic validation is accurate.

Sign Up for Tomorrow's Free Webinar - Best Practices for the Holidays

You're invited to a Product Ads on Amazon webinar to learn best practices for managing and optimizing your account this holiday season. Don't miss this opportunity to learn directly from the Product Ads team.

Register now to attend our free webinar tomorrow on Oct. 28, 2009 at 10:00 AM PST.

Below are some of the best practices we'll cover:

    *Set your shipping rates
    *Review your bids and budget
    *Set your account notifications
    *and more...

Whether you are new to Products Ads or already have experience listing with the program you will benefit from attending this informative webinar.

-Michelle

Notification - Change in process for listing Lighting and Office products

On October 26 2009 Amazon.com will launch an initiative to improve catalog quality for lighting and office products.  As a result, products that have previously been listed without a UPC will no longer be available in search and browse results.  Products which have been listed with a UPC will not be affected.

Sellers using Product Ads to list Lighting and Office products without a UPC will continue to be displayed in targeted placements on Amazon.com.   We will also implement a new review process to determine if the item is unique  or should be matched to an existing product page.  As we work through this process you can expect to see your items become available in search and browse results. 

 
If you have UPCs we strongly recommend you add them to your product feed.  This will make your products available in search and browse results immediately.  If your products are customizable, or you are the sole distributor in the USA, please let us know using Get Technical Support in your Seller Central Account, choose Product Listings – Other product listing issues.

Are your account settings, account information, and policies up to date?

As a seller on Amazon, you have a lot going on during the holidays. Save yourself unnecessary future headaches by making sure the information on your seller account is current:

• Make sure your e-mail contact information is up-to-date.
• Confirm that Amazon e-mail is not being filtered as spam by your e-mail program or ISP.
• Ensure your Seller Account Information is current, including your credit card and bank account numbers.
• Verify that your Store Settings are up-to-date and post a customer service phone number if possible.
• Be sure to follow policy by not displaying any portion or version of your URL (e.g.: .com, dot com, .net, etc.) anywhere on Amazon.

Learn more about settings and our selling and item policies

Free Webinar - Best Practices for Managing Your Account

Next Wednesday the Product Ads team will host a free webinar where you can learn best practices for managing your account. Get important tips and see where to make these account updates in Seller Central in our live demonstration.

If you are considering adding Product Ads to your advertising channels or you are already using it to drive traffic to your site this webinar is right for you.

This is a great time to make sure your "ducks are in a row" with your Product Ads account before you get too busy with the rush of holiday traffic to your website.

Register today for our free webinar on Wednesday, October 28 at 10:00 AM PT.

Sign up here.

Limited Time Offer - Product Ads Free Clicks Promotion

 

There are only two weeks left to take advantage of the Product Ads free click promotion. 

Get your first click in October 2009 and you will receive a credit of up to $25 to be used towards clicks to your website. Take advantage of the millions of shoppers on Amazon.com this holiday season and see how Product Ads can help your clients drive new traffic to your website.
 

-Michelle S.

Consider using Fulfillment by Amazon

The holiday season is a busy time for sellers - and a good time to consider using Fulfillment by Amazon.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is an Amazon service that enables sellers to store inventory and fulfill orders from an Amazon.com fulfillment center. Reduce your stress this year - let Amazon pick, pack and ship your items to buyers.

Learn more about Fulfillment by Amazon.

Where to get the latest Product Ads news

Have you read the September issue of the Product Ads newsletter?

Read about the latest Product Ads changes in the four main sections of the newsletter - Latest Product Enhancements, Optimize Your Ads, News and Announcements and Q&A.  We also provide links to valuable resources to help you manage your account effectively.

Our latest issue focuses on the 3 feed improvements you've asked for, what you should do to prepare your account for the holidays in our pre-holiday account checklist, and get advice on what attribute information to include in your feed and much more here: http://www.amazonservices.com/content/PadsNewsletterSept09.htm

Be sure to never miss an edition of our newsletter by subscribing here: http://www.amazonservices.com/content/product-ads-on-amazon.htm

Have a great weekend!

-Michelle

Watch and Learn More about Product Ads on Amazon

Want to know more about Product Ads on Amazon? Watch our latest webinar today to get a comprehensive overview of Amazon.com’s CPC advertising program.  Here are the topics we covered:

How the program works
Important information to include in your product feed
See how your ads may be displayed on Amazon.com,
Overview of resources available on the Amazon Services site 
Learn how to manage your account using Seller Central
.....…and answers to common seller questions.

View the webinar here: https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/923536817

-Michelle S.