Join Our Webinar this Thursday on Amazon Product Ads Feeds

To feed or not to feed?

Join us for a live webinar to learn which upload method is right for your business. The Amazon Product Ads team will demonstrate step-by-step how to build an effective Product Ads feed.

Webinar Information
Thursday, November 19, 2009
10:00 AM PST

Reserve Your Seat

In this webinar, you'll learn about:

- Different Feed Types
- Ways to Upload Your Product Data
- Optimizing Your Feed
- and more...

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

-Michelle S.

New Premium Shipping Options for Books, Music, Video, and DVD Listing

We are pleased to announce new expedited shipping options for Amazon Marketplace Books, Music, Videos, and DVDs (BMVD). These new options will allow you to provide higher levels of shipping services for those customers who want premium expedited delivery.

The new shipping options are Two Day Domestic, One Day Domestic, and Expedited International. The rates for these new options can be found on the Shipping Rates and Settings page in Seller Help.

You can add any of the new shipping options on an item-by-item basis when listing single BMVD items. If you use the bulk listing tools you can add the new shipping options on an item-by-item basis by including them in the expedited-shipping field for individual items in your file. See all shipping options on the Data Definitions tab of the latest version of the file.

To add any of the new shipping options to an existing listing, use the bulk listing tools, or select the shipping options on the Manage Inventory page for that listing.

You can also edit your store default shipping settings to include the new shipping options for all newly created listings going forward.

Get Started on Amazon Product Ads

If you’re new to Product Ads there are two easy ways to help you get started. You can watch the Getting Started video or download the PDF guide to learn about Amazon’s CPC advertising program. In both resources you’ll get an overview of the Product Ads, learn how to create and upload your product information, review your bids and set your budget before getting your products live on Amazon.com. 

Once you’ve got your account live be sure to check out these additional resources to help you manage your account efficiently:   

• Sign Up for the Product Ads Newsletter - Get the latest Product Ads news sent to you directly
• Get Technical Support- (Seller Central log in required)
• How it Works Video

-Michelle

It’s Official. The Holidays are Here.

The holiday shopping season has already begun!  Today, driving downtown I noticed that a well known high end store already has lights hung up in the shape of their various signature logos.  On TV, commercials show children compiling their wish lists.  Even though it seems a little too early for me, I’m going to take these as clear signs that the holidays have arrived. 

High end retailers with large window displays and retailers with budget for tv spots shouldn’t be the only ones getting in early to promote their products to holiday shoppers.   Now is the time to include your entire catalog in your product uploads.  With the increased shoppers on Amazon.com you don’t want to miss out on any demand.  Selection is key. If you don’t upload the product in your feed how will the shopper know they can buy the item from you?

We’ve created a list of Holiday Season Best Practices in the Help section of Seller Central.  Take a look and see how it applies to your business.  

If you’d rather get a walk-through of how to implement these Best Practices, view last month’s webinar.  It will be 45 minutes well spent.

-Michelle

Manage your orders effectively

Order volumes can increase rapidly during the holiday season. To manage your orders effectively, use the tools in your selling account and follow some suggested “best practices”:

• Don't rely solely on "Sold, ship now" e-mails to let you know you have new orders. The Manage Orders tool in your account provides up-to-the minute views of orders.
• The Manage Orders tool gives you lots of information about orders, including buyer name or shipping address.
• If you need to refund an order, do so promptly. You can make refunds through the Manage Orders tool.
• If you have a Pro Merchant subscription, you can download Inventory Reports to help you track open listings, sold items, order fulfillment, and listings canceled by Amazon.
• Get in the habit of shipping your orders right away. You’ll have more time to resolve any problems that might arise.

Check out our Help pages for more information on managing orders.

Make your holiday selling easier with FBA and save up to $1,000

To make your holiday selling easier, we are offering an opportunity to save up to $1,000 when you use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) before December 31, 2009.

FBA is an innovative service in which sellers send their inventory directly to Amazon where it is stored and managed in a secure, climate-controlled facility. When orders are received, Amazon will professionally pick, pack and ship the product directly to the customer.

Learn more about our promotion and how FBA works.

Watch the Latest Product Ads Webinar & Sign Up For the Next One

Last week the Product Ads team hosted a webinar focused on Best Practices for the Holidays.  We walked through Seller Central and reviewed important practices you should implement to ensure your account is optimized for this busy holiday season.  If you happen to miss the webinar don’t worry, we have recorded for you here. 

Experienced sellers on Product Ads will benefit the most from our next webinar on feeds.  Learn how to optimize your existing feed, fix feed errors and see the different places your ads may appear on Amazon.com.

Take your feed to the next level with tips from the team.  Register for our next webinar on Thursday, November 19 at 10 am PST here.

-Michelle

Monitor your Customer Metrics closely

Amazon.com has established a set of performance targets for sellers to follow so that buyers can shop confidently, with a sense of safety and security about their third-party transactions.

Your Customer Metrics indicate how you are doing with respect to these performance targets. During the holidays, it’s important that you monitor the Customer Metrics Scorecard in your selling account frequently so you can spot and resolve operational problems promptly. Excessive order defect rates (negative feedback, A-to-z Guarantee claims and chargebacks) can cause account suspensions and even account closures.

Check your feedback and A-to-z Guarantee claim pages daily, and proactively resolve any issues.

Learn more about Customer Metrics, improving feedback ratings and resolving A-to-z Guarantee claims.

Read the Latest Product Ads Newsletter

Did you read the latest edition of the Product Ads newsletter that was sent last week? Here are some of the topics we covered:

•    New and Improved Seller Central Help
•    Getting Ready for 2009 Holiday Season
•    Adding Search keywords 
•    Seller survey results
•    …and more

If you missed this newsletter or earlier editions read them here. 

Opt in to be up to date with the latest Product Ads news and product enhancements here.

-Michelle