Whether you already own a brand or plan on selling branded products, the key to success is to avoid common private label mistakes. Creating a private label on Amazon gives sellers access to both a massive marketplace and opportunities that emerge from the brand’s value.
Unfortunately, many private label sellers on Amazon repeat the same errors on their journey and wonder why their potential business failed. Therefore, we collected a list of common mistakes to avoid when selling your private label on Amazon.
See Also: Amazon Private Label, All You Need to Know to Run Your Business Perfectly
Table of Contents
11 Private Label Mistakes on Amazon to Avoid:
1. Not Enough Demand for the Product
A typical private label mistake, especially among beginners, is selling a product without proper research. Typically this happens if the seller is inexperienced or the business is a part-time side hustle. There is nothing wrong with testing the waters, but you are most likely to waste your time and money without preliminary research.
Instead, investigating beforehand whether your amazon private label has a possible audience is a more realistic way to estimate your new venture’s success. A trending product might have demand, but upon further inspection, you realize the niche is already oversaturated. It would not be easy to go head to head with competitors who already have established their place.
Moreover, your analysis may reveal some unexpected obstacles such as country-based restrictions or safety standards that you have to comply with. Therefore, research is key to finding potential products and unique selling points to convince your customers.
See Also: 4 Steps to a Successful Private Label FBA Business
2. Not Enough Research
Whether you are a private label seller or not, some items sell better than others. Market trends change continuously, and sellers and consumers alike respond to them. For example, after 2020, the demand for home workout equipment and other lifestyle products increased drastically. You might have a hunch about the next trending thing on the market. However, investing money based on your instincts may become costly.
So, how do you find private label trends that work? There’s no correct answer. However, a specific pattern seems to repeat. The best private label products tend to be general, and the demand remains similar during the year. In other words, you should avoid seasonal items or complicated products with multiple color or size options, instructions, and warranties.
The only way to successfully sell your private label on Amazon is to research the potential products and apply them to your own brand.
3. Wasting Time on Wrong Order Fulfillment Method
When you sell on Amazon, you have the option to fulfill the orders by yourself. If your business is small-scale or you have a proper shipping infrastructure, this method works wonderfully. However, in most cases, you most likely end up wasting your precious time fulfilling the orders.
Instead, you should join the Amazon FBA program and let Amazon handle the heavy lifting. More precisely, Amazon is responsible for picking up the product, shipping it, and offering customer support if any problems occur. For the vast majority of sellers, it makes perfect sense to fulfill their orders through FBA.
After all, this method is known to be prompt, efficient, and quick. It lets you focus on developing your brand and other valuable business strategies. Additionally, you may gain a competitive advantage if you can offer fast and reliable shipping for your customers.
4. Buyers Don’t Find Your Listings
It doesn’t matter how unique and amazing your products are if Amazon shoppers can’t find them. Without a solid Amazon Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy, you are going to have a tough time selling your items. In order to increase the chances, you should research the best keywords for your private label and insert them into the title, product description, and search terms.
Overall, creating a compelling listing for your private label products increases your visibility and, most likely, sales as well.
5. Lousy Product Listings
Amazon product listing is primarily your product’s sales copy. Once the consumer finds your product based on the matching keywords, the purchase decision depends on the information you provide on the listing. Many sellers repeat the following mistakes and wonder the reason why potential buyers find the private label but do not convert into customers.
Private Label Mistakes in Product Listing
First of all, the old proverb “a picture is worth a thousand words” applies to your Amazon listings as well. After all, product images are the first thing buyers see on your page. With certainty, the majority of customers leave the page if images are blurry and of low quality. If you invest in shooting high-resolution pictures, you can indicate clearly what exactly you are selling.
Secondly, a poorly crafted product description does not convey unique selling points. If the description lacks the features and benefits for the customers, why would they buy it?
Thirdly, while writing the description, you should focus on the most commonly searched keywords and, if needed, a specific niche vocabulary. Even though keywords are crucial, you should use them wisely. Optimizing your keywords not only improves readability but helps Amazon’s algorithm drive relevant traffic to your listings.
Lastly, Amazon’s mission is all about creating an impactful online shopping experience. Utilizing Amazon A+ content for your private label allows you to tell the brand’s story and better convey the value to the customers.
6. Your Prices Aren’t Competitive
Setting the right price for your branded product can be challenging. Especially if your brand is new, it may be harder to stand out from other generic products. Imagine selling phone cases under your private label for $14, and other sellers are selling similar ones for $9. Most likely, the buyer chooses the cheaper option, despite the fact your products have a brand. Especially if your private label is not widely known, it’s harder to justify the higher price.
In this case, your price needs to be competitive. However, this may decrease your profit margin. What you can do as a seller is unleash the power of dynamic pricing on your private label products. Intelligent repricing tools, such as Eva, automatically optimizes the price and increase your profits. Let the software handle pricing so you can focus on actions that build your brand’s value.
7. Not Enough Positive Reviews
When you sell private label products, your brand is competing against others, probably more known brands. If the buyers are not familiar with your brand, they may feel hesitant to shop for your products. Therefore, a lack of good reviews or feedback, in general, is a typical private label mistake that decreases your Amazon sales.
Building up good reviews and trust is important, especially on Amazon, where the reviews are apparent. Imagine two similar products, but the other one has significantly more reviews that are positive on top of that. Which one would you purchase from if you were the buyer? Starting to gain positive reviews is tough, but once you get the momentum, it becomes easier.
8. You’re Too Slow to Launch
As mentioned before, trends are constantly changing, and there are lots of potential profits. A dreadful private label mistake is to act too slow and miss opportunities. Starting off quick gives your brand a headstart. The bigger a lead you can build over your competitors, the more likely your private label will survive through the trying times.
Running a test drive makes sure there is enough demand for your branded product before launching it fully. One fast and super-efficient way to do this is to use Amazon Pay-Per-Click advertising (PPC), otherwise known as Amazon Sponsored Ads.
Another big mistake for private label sellers is sticking with just one product. Because if that one specific SKU fails, your business is doomed. Launching more products gives you a continuous and steady stream of income if one of them turns out to be unsuccessful.
However, you don’t need or shouldn’t randomly expand your private label. Run a test drive to make sure there is enough demand for your branded product before launching it. A fast and super-efficient way to do this is to utilize advertising on Amazon. Steps to start Amazon Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising are easy to follow.
9. Not Inspecting the Quality Continuously
When you decide to release a new product, it’s essential to inspect the quality after it leaves the factory. Even though the smaller test sample might be okay, problems might occur later down the line. In the worst case, Amazon can mix the products that have different quality, and it can cause to ruin of a lot of products.
Therefore, not paying attention that the quality stays stable is a big mistake for private labels. On the other hand, if you inspect the products yourself, you can find faults even when there is none. You can try to solve these issues by hiring a third-party quality inspector for your orders.
10. Not Protecting Your Intellectual Property Rights
One unfortunate private label mistake on Amazon is letting copycats benefit from your hard work. In this case, report infringement immediately. To protect your private label on Amazon, check if you are eligible for enrolling in Amazon Brand Registry. Additionally, make a deal with your supplier that prevents other companies from using your design or idea.
11. Giving Up After First Obstacles
“Nobody was born a master.” A road to success is full of continuous trial and error loops. If you get yourself back up and try again and again, eventually, you will succeed. Give your private label truly the best effort.
Prospering sellers know that selling on Amazon requires hard work. Moreover, they spend countless hours perfecting their business model – always finding ways to improve. If you don’t adopt this attitude, it’ll be almost impossible to make your private label work.
See Also: Top 5 Reasons Why You Should Start Selling on Amazon
Conclusion
If you want to grow your brand, you need to be proactive throughout the journey and do everything possible to take your products to the top of Amazon search results. In the best case, Amazon customers are explicitly searching for and buying the product under your brand name. By recognizing and avoiding these common private label mistakes, you significantly improve your brand’s chances of success.
Beating the competition as a private label seller is tough, but we are here to help you. Let Eva guide you on your journey to success. Contact us today to get a Free Consultation.3
