How to Start an eCommerce Business on Amazon

Many people are working hard to become successful entrepreneurs or business owners in today’s world. Starting your own business can be devastating and time-consuming, and plenty will fail and quit before reaching their goals. But we've got some tips up our sleeves that can help you start your own eCommerce business successfully and make profits on Amazon.

Scoping out the competition 

One of the most important aspects of starting your own business is examining your competition and determining the right niche for you. You can use common sense, Amazon, Helium 10, and various programs and apps to determine how much a particular niche is competitive. You shouldn't start an eCommerce business in a very saturated one because starting there will be extremely difficult. It is possible but challenging. 

When you think you have found a great niche for your eCommerce business, check the manufacturing prices if you're going to get your products from China. One of the other options is to produce them in your factory.

Let's imagine that we're starting an eCommerce business of selling candles. Our manufacturing plant is in China, so basically, we're buying the candles from China and selling them on Amazon. We're going to see a wholesale price, and we’ll also know Amazon fees and expenses for FBA and storage fees. We can calculate how much we’ll earn or lose per sale when we get all that data figured out. 

This is the part where you’ll also determine your selling price. Be sure to make your product more appealing than others. If you have a higher price, your product must be of higher quality, all-around better, and provide more for a slightly higher price. If you’re going with a lower price method, be sure to match other products with your product’s quality and performance.  

Starting it up 

Once we have figured everything out, we should choose a name for our brand, register an Amazon Seller account, get everything set up, and proceed. When you place an order to your manufacturing plant, it will take a while for the products to get to the Amazon sorting centers.  

You can use that time to create your product listings on Amazon and optimize them correctly. You should use the Helium10 extension to optimize them perfectly and have the highest possible impact on launch. When everything is set up correctly, you can create social media pages and profiles for your brand if you choose to go that way.  

The goods are here

Now that the goods are in the warehouse, you can officially sell them. We recommend having PPC launch campaigns that will probably be very unprofitable but crucial to launching your product correctly. While creating those launch campaigns, you can also run a few defensive campaigns if you have multiple products to fend off your competitors from your listings. 

This will be a challenging period, as you’re new to the Amazon world and have zero reviews. So getting that first purchase is going to be very difficult. There are specific methods to gain the first reviews faster, but we don’t recommend them as they can get your account banned. 

Per Aspera ad Astra 

Getting those first rating stars will be a huge milestone as it will tell the Amazon algorithm more about your product. It will gain traction, and more sales will start coming in. This is not the time to relax because it won’t end well if you do. Shift your efforts to tidying up your product listings if needed and to PPC. Create Auto, ASIN targeting, and Category Targeting campaigns. Start making a presence on other product listings, and you’ll soon see how the tides change and that your product is getting more sales day by day.  

Shipment #2 

Avoid getting out of stock! Analyze how your product is selling, determine how much time you have left before running out of stock, and order the next batch on time. There’s nothing worse than building up a good presence and having the algorithm love your product, then going out of stock for a couple of weeks and losing most of that momentum. You should order a number of products that will last a solid time without constantly worrying about it. But you shouldn’t order too much to avoid the substantial storage fees. 

Conclusion 

Now you know the simple steps you should follow to start a successful eCommerce business on Amazon. Be careful and plan everything. Measure twice, cut once–this will be your main mantra on a journey to success. Have patience, and prepare yourself for many roadblocks on the way. Know that it’s all normal, as you’ll be enjoying the online business you have grown in the end. 

To find out more about how we can help you succeed on the competitive Amazon platform, visit our Amazon PPC service page and feel free to schedule a call with us. Our PPC specialists are here for you! 

About the author 

David Radovic is a Senior PPC Specialist at Sellers Alley with over four years of experience in Amazon PPC, Google Ads, Facebook ads, and, as of last year, TikTok advertising. He has been a big part of Sellers Alley’s growth. David has managed accounts for multiple 7-figure sellers, including developing business and marketing strategies, which resulted in the scaling of their businesses.