Amazon Seller Holiday Playbook: 6 Critical Strategies to Increase Q4 Amazon Sales

As the 2023 holiday season approaches, consumers are gearing up to fill their virtual shopping carts with gifts (for others… and for themselves). In fact, 48% of Amazon consumers say they shop for themselves on Black Friday and Cyber Monday—which means whether you sell giftable items or not, it’s critical for most brands to take advantage of the sheer influx of traffic experienced during this peak Amazon shopping season.

In addition to standard holiday shopping events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Amazon has announced a fall Prime Big Deal Days event (their second Prime Day event of the year) that will serve as the unofficial kickoff to the holiday shopping season. The two-day sales event will take place October 10-11.

There’s still time for Amazon brands and sellers to implement proven revenue-driving tactics now and win over new and repeat customers headed into 2024—as long as you act fast on the following: 

1. Apply Prime Day and Prime Big Deal Days learnings to your holiday sales strategy.

Building on the success of last year’s peak shopping seasons, Amazon will once again host two separate Prime Day events. While Prime Day 2023 has already come and gone, Amazon’s Prime Big Deal Days event will take place October 10-11, 2023.

As you prepare your holiday 2023 sales plan, look at the data from recent Prime Day events and previous Q4 sales. Identify key consumer behavior insights and seasonal trends, then adjust your Amazon strategy accordingly, focusing on inventory forecasting, keyword research, advertising performance, and listing optimization.

Remember, almost 50% of Amazon shoppers aren’t just shopping for others during the holiday season, they’re “gifting” themselves as well—which means it’s crucial to capitalize on the surge in traffic during this peak shopping period.Think of Prime Day 2023 and Prime Big Deal Days as a crash course when laying out your holiday sales strategy: What worked and what didn’t? Did consumers behave as they have in the past or did they act unexpectedly? It’s also important to dive into any Amazon customer reviews that you received during both Prime Day events and use them to improve the shopping experience. Now’s the time to make strategic inventory changes, product listing optimizations, and ad campaign enhancements to maximize winter holiday sales potential.

2. Anticipate and adapt to supply chain issues and FBA stock limits.

From monthly restock limit changes and new inventory solutions, to continuous supply chain challenges and shifting consumer behaviors, Amazon inventory management is evolving every day. It’s important to keep a close eye on fulfillment trends and adapt your approach accordingly.

If you’re facing supply chain and sell-through woes, or issues with stock limits, consider these tactics for the inventory you have on hand:

• Remove aged inventory from Amazon warehouses to free up space for newer items (remember, Amazon may have the authority to do this on your behalf)—and with Amazon’s peak storage fees ramping up in October, we recommend optimizing your inventory well ahead of time to minimize storage and aged surcharge fees.
• Only run Amazon Ads and promotions on products with sufficient inventory. If you’re at risk of stocking out during the peak shopping season, monitor your stock levels regularly and consider pulling back on advertising efforts. 
• Create Amazon Posts and enlist brand marketing tactics (messaging, photography and video, A+ Content, Storefront) to increase customer engagement and conversion on the items you do have in stock.
• Take advantage of Prime Day events and the holidays to move through excess inventory—just be sure the products are seasonally appropriate.

If you’re ready to refine or expand your fulfillment strategy, we suggest looking into Amazon’s growing fulfillment offerings:

• Leverage FBA now or as a 2024 fulfillment strategy goal (if you haven’t already)—Amazon’s FBA fulfillment network can be one of the most cost-effective, expansive solutions for Amazon sellers.
• Amazon’s Buy with Prime program enables D2C brands to extend the benefits of Amazon FBA beyond the marketplace. This feature helps retailers sell through more Amazon inventory by allowing Amazon to manage the entire order and fulfillment process for orders placed on the brand’s website for Prime customers. 

3. Create holiday-specific promotions for your top products.

Analyzing data from previous Prime Day or past seasonal events can unlock valuable insights into how discounts and promotions influence consumer behavior. Our team has seen that products with a Prime Exclusive Discount saw up to a 5x increase in sales compared to products that didn't feature a discount—and Amazon has reported that even non-promoted products saw a 19% increase in median sales during Prime Day for brands running promotions with any Amazon Ads solution.

Consider running holiday-specific promotions to drive sales for your top products. Make sure to review the deal types that Amazon offers during the holiday shopping season:

4. Test and optimize Amazon Ads and content marketing ahead of time.

When it comes to testing seasonal ad and content optimizations, there’s no time like the present! Now is the time to experiment with keywords, messaging, and creative elements to ensure that you understand what’s most compelling to your audience. With Amazon’s Manage Your Experiments feature, sellers can conduct A/B tests on product photography, titles, and A+ Content. Monitor tests closely, review the results, and adapt your strategies to keep top performers live throughout the holiday shopping season.

For Amazon Ads specifically:

• Tap into the power of Amazon video advertising. SupplyKick has found that 65% of consumers watch product videos on Amazon, and Amazon reports that shoppers who watch videos on a product listing are 3.6x more likely to convert. We recommend running Sponsored Brands Video ads (lifestyle video and/or animated video) to increase your click-through and conversion rates. Plus, videos are the closest thing Amazon shoppers get to experiencing your product in person, so remember to feature them on product listings, too.
• Keep in mind that the cost of running ads increases during the holiday season—raise your ad spend to make sure your campaigns stay within budget and remain competitive.
• Establish a daily advertising budget and perform keyword research ahead of the peak shopping season. Tools like Helium 10 can help you better understand what customers are searching for, then make the most of your ad spend by tailoring your ads with carefully selected keywords.
• Take a holistic approach to your Amazon ads strategy—your paid and organic efforts should work together so that your ads, product listings, and Amazon Store represent your brand cohesively. Select multiple Amazon Ads types that make the most sense for your goals this season (Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Products, Sponsored Display, and DSP, to name a few) and optimize them to add value, build trust, and improve the overall customer experience.

Wondering exactly when you should start implementing your holiday marketing and advertising efforts? The answer depends on your brand’s specific category and product offerings. We suggest analyzing sales data from the previous year to estimate when your seasonal sales will start to ramp up. Keep in mind, it can take up to eight days for Amazon A+ Content updates to be approved and show live on your listings.

5. Feature seasonal content and giftable products on your product listings and Amazon Store.

Think of your Amazon presence as a brick-and-mortar store—your Storefront is an opportunity to attract and welcome customers to your brand, and your product listings are the aisles shoppers browse to find exactly what they’re searching for.

Take a good look at your Amazon Store and listings, and consider the following:

• Create visually compelling seasonal or holiday-specific content for your Storefront. Be sure to answer these questions: Is it easy for customers to find what they need on this landing page? Does the creative and messaging align with the holiday content on your listings? Throughout Q4, reposition products on your Storefront as holiday gifts or even gift bundles.
• Research seasonal keyword trends for your products and add them to your listing bullet points and product title to increase search visibility, engagement, and conversion.
• Update messaging , graphics, and A+ Content on your listings to include seasonal/holiday-specific language and imagery. This keeps your content relevant, creates an emotional connection with the shopper (whether they’re purchasing gifts for others or themselves), and reinforces your product’s value in the context of gift-giving season.
• After implementing your seasonal Storefront content, utilize Amazon’s Stores Insights to monitor Storefront-specific traffic and sales. As with all other marketplace content, test and make adjustments to your Storefront as the holiday season progresses.

Not all Amazon sellers leverage seasonal content, so incorporating festive visuals will set your listings apart from competitors, encourage longer browsing sessions, and ultimately convert more customers.

6. Drive more traffic to your listings with off-platform efforts.

When it comes to driving traffic to your Amazon listings, off-platform efforts like influencer marketing, social media, and Sponsored Display ads can be just as crucial as on-platform advertising. In a recent SupplyKick survey, 66% of consumers say they've purchased a product on Amazon after seeing it on Google, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc.

Amazon is also investing in the off-platform traffic trend: US Brand Registered sellers can enroll in Amazon's Brand Referral Bonus program, earning an average of a 10% bonus from each sale driven by non-Amazon marketing efforts. Brand Registered sellers can also take advantage of Amazon Attribution analytics to track off-platform conversions.

We recommend enlisting these key strategies to drive off-platform traffic to your Amazon Store or product listings:

• Direct customers to your Amazon Store through your brand’s website and social media channels
• Collaborate with social influencers and organizations who have a community of followers that align with your target audience
• If you’re launching new products during the holiday season, consider enrolling in the Amazon Vine program to grow your views and reviews in a way that meets Amazon ToS.

Wrap up the year with success on Amazon.

Finding yourself saying “bah, humbug!” as you start thinking through your holiday sales or 2024 strategy? SupplyKick can help.

Since 2013, we’ve been working with partners to simplify their ecommerce selling experience on Amazon, Walmart, Target+, and beyond. As an extension of your team, we take the daily grind of Amazon management off your plate so you can focus on other aspects of your business. Connect with our team to start a conversation about your Amazon strategy and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest marketplace news and trends.