How would you like to open an Amazon store filled with products bearing your own brand labels? The thought is literally intoxicating because you know that Amazon is the world’s largest consumer marketplace and the ultimate place to find the greatest number of consumers interested in what you have to sell. If you are sincerely contemplating opening an Amazon storefront, the following information can serve as a guide to why you would want to sell your own brand, private label products and then how to go about ensuring maximum profits. After all, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? You want to make money and lots of it. Here is how it’s done.
Why You Want Your Own Brand
The very first step is to fully understand and appreciate the benefits of selling your own brand products. Sometimes referred to as private label products, these are simply products manufactured by a company and sold to you generically without a label. However, you don’t want to list generic products because consumers expect to buy them at rock bottom prices.
This is why you want to create your own brand so that you can build that brand and price your inventory accordingly as your brand becomes well-established. In other words, you don’t need to manufacture your own merchandise, you just need to build a brand with products manufactured by companies of your choice.
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What New Merchants Should Know About FBA Benefits
At this point, it would be in your best interest to understand the benefits of letting Amazon fulfill your orders. Referred to as FBA listings, these products are housed in Amazon warehouses and all orders are fulfilled by Amazon, hence the FBA listing. The major benefits include warehousing and fulfillment. You don’t need to operate a large warehouse and you don’t need to pull orders, pack or ship any products. The best benefit of all is that FBA products are eligible for Prime free shipping which is a huge perk on the customer end.
Unfortunately, you should also know that mistakes can happen and sometimes those mistakes can be costly to a merchant’s bottom line. Many times Amazon owes their merchants money over mismanaged orders, improper stocking or even for products damaged in the warehouse or in shipping. If you want to minimize losses, you might want to consider software like AMZRefund that can help you track any Amazon errors which are affecting your bottom line.
Find Your Niche
This might be one of the most difficult aspects of opening an Amazon storefront unless you know exactly what market you’d like to enter. Consumer goods come in all categories from electronics to pet foods and everything in between. If you don’t know exactly what you’d like to list, it’s imperative that you know which products are hot so that you can find your niche. Much is written on finding a profitable niche and there is an actual science to it from researching to finetuning your sales marketing approach. Expect to spend a good deal of time with this step of your journey unless you have a passion you’d like to pursue.
Sourcing Products & Own Brand Labeling
This is another step which may take some time and research. Check out sites like Alibaba that list suppliers from all around the globe. Many manufacturers specialize in the private label ‘generic’ products and it’s up to you to choose the manufacturer that offers what you are looking for. Remember, a niche isn’t everything when sourcing suppliers and manufacturers because consumers are looking for the highest quality at the lowest cost.
Many new merchants look overseas for manufacturers because their cost is lower but the quality isn’t always inferior. Once you’ve found a supplier, it’s time to create your brand, design your labels and then work with a labeling company to produce your own brand private labels. If you find the right labeling company, they can also assist you with graphic design including eye-catching logos that will help build your brand.
Last But Not Least – It’s Time to List Your Products!
Once you have gone through all the above steps to creating and selling your own brand products on Amazon, it’s time to create a merchant account and start listing your products. Here is where you’ll find another benefit of FBA listings because you are not limited by the amount of merchandise you can warehouse.
Amazon will warehouse your products and fulfill orders so that you can continue working on building your brand and growing your inventory. This is just a snapshot of what it takes to build your own brand on Amazon but once you’ve caught the fever, there’s no end to what you can do or obtain. It’s not a cliché because as an own brand Amazon seller, the sky really is the limit. See for yourself.
