Selling products on Amazon.co.uk is a great way to reach new customers, new regions or test new products. The cost of setting up a shop on the High Street has been steadily rising and this trend is likely to continue amid rising inflation and other uncertainties. To continue to thrive in retail, it’s good to develop new strategies for reaching potential customers and currently, Amazon UK marketplace offers the best chance to sell your products without incurring high operational costs.
This marketplace incredibly popular thanks to its range, service, prices and reliable delivery (though take a look at our guides to setting up an Etsy shop or using Shopify). However, how do you start to setup as a business on the platform? We have covered in detail the guide to starting an Amazon marketplace.
Benefits of Selling on Amazon
Amazon is easily the best-know online marketplace and its range of products, prices and fast delivery make it incredibly popular for everything from books to groceries, toys to electronics. If you decide to go ahead and setup as a business trading on Amazon, here are some of the benefits it brings.
Vast Customer Base
According to Webretailer, Amazon has over 407 million visits monthly, making it the most popular marketplace in the UK. Selling on Amazon UK gives you access to Amazon France (Amazon.FR), Amazon Germany (Amazon.DE), Amazon Spain (Amazon.ES), Amazon Italy (Amazon. IT), and Amazon Netherlands (Amazon.NL). Additionally, you will have access to millions of Amazon Prime members.
Credibility
Amazon outshines all the online marketplaces when it comes to credibility. You can attribute this feature to quality products and services. For instance, its payment system is secure, making it trustworthy among online customers. And having been in the industry for a long, it has an emotional appeal that you can bank on when you sell on the platform.
Cost Efficiency
Selling on this platform through Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) is cheap and convenient. You will pass the storage responsibilities and logistics to Amazon through this arrangement. You will avail yourself of the product for which Amazon will pick, pack, and ship. Additionally, the company handles any customer concerns, returns, and refunds. If you are an FBA seller, you will enjoy Prime shipping, which makes the operation cost-efficient.
Types of Amazon Business Models
Creating an Amazon seller account in the UK is straightforward. Still, it requires caution to prevent missing any step or giving the wrong information. You will first decide which business model to use as a small business. Amazon has different types of business models ideal for you.
Online or Retail Arbitrage
You will search for discounted or low-cost goods in offline or other online stores and resell them on Amazon. You will profit from the price difference.
Private label
In private labels, you will rename or rebranda product manufactured by a third party or contractor and then sell them in your store under your brand name.
Wholesale
This model entails discounts or low-cost goods in bulk and then selling them separately on Amazon.
Handmade
You will use this model to sell your handmade products. Such products include but are not limited to home jewellery, jewellery, woodworking, and glassblowing.
Dropshipping
When dropshipping, you won’t keep an inventory of your products. Instead, you will market products on various platforms and then transfer your leads to the manufacturer or supplier.
After choosing a business model, you will decide on a suitable seller plan. Amazon offers two plans enabling you to sell one or several items in your store. You will start by deciding on the most suitable plan.
You have the Individual and Professional as the plans for selling on Amazon. The former is suitable if you sell fewer than 35 items monthly and most suitable if you are still deciding on what to sell; hence no need for advanced programs or tools. The latter is ideal if you want to sell more than 35 items per month and want access to the platform’s APIs.
Steps to Create an Amazon UK Seller Account
Creating an Amazon seller’s account in the UK requires bank account information, ID or valid passport, and a valid email address. The email can be a business mail or yours. In addition, you will need a UK credit card with a valid billing address. Amazon accepts internationally-chargeable credit cards, so you can use one if you have one. Lastly, company registration details, such as VAT number, are also a requirement. Armed with the requirements, you will follow these steps:
Step 1: Signing Up
Go to https://sell.amazon.co.uk, where you will find the pricing plans. You will select the ‘Pricing’ tab and click ‘Compare selling plans’ to choose the most suitable one. Your choice will depend on the scale of your business. It’s worth noting that clicking the “Sign up” button without choosing a plan will automatically lead you to the professional plan’s registration page.
Step 2: Create an Amazon Seller Account
You will enter your valid email address and click ‘Create a New Account, which you will secure using a strong password. After that, you will click the ‘Next’ button. Doing so will take you to a second screen where you will verify the email address using the link Amazon will generate.
Step 3: Provide Location and Type of Business
This step will require the location of your business and type. You will choose the UK and then select the ‘Privately–owned business’ option, since you will be running a small business. Suppose you are starting and have yet to register your business; you will select the ‘None, I am an individual option. You will put your full name in the right order: first, middle, and last, after which you will click on ‘Agree and continue.’
Step 4: Provide Your Personal Information
Amazon will then ask you for your personal information, including identification and address. You should ensure that your information is correct since Amazon will send your verification number to the address. Additionally, Amazon will also require your phone number for verification. After confirming the details, you will click ‘Next’ to move to the next page.
Step 5: Enter Your Valid Billing Address
In this step, you will provide valid billing information, including your credit card and bank account. Amazon will clarify the billing information and allow you to acknowledge your understanding. You will click on the ‘I understand button’ to proceed to the next page, where you will verify your banking information.
Step 6: Provide Information About Your Amazon Store and Products
Amazon will require information about your business store and the product or products you sell. It’s essential to know the products you can sell on Amazon and those you can’t. You will provide the name of your Amazon store and whether or not you have a universal product code (UPC) for your products.
Additionally, you will inform Amazon if you have diversity certification and whether you are the manufacturer or brand owner of the products in your store. Amazon asks for the information through questions, and you will click the ‘Next’ button after answering them.
Step 7: Verify Your Identity
This is the last step of this process, which entails uploading pictures of your driver’s licence or passport. You will submit your documents and proceed to confirm the business address you provided earlier. It’s essential to counter-check the address since you won’t be able to verify the Amazon seller account without the verification code that Amazon will send in a postcard.
How to Add Your Products on Amazon Seller Store
After creating your store, you must add the products you intend to sell. Depending on your business model or product condition, there are different ways to list the products.
Listing an Existing Product on Amazon
You will start with getting the product’s Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) which you can get under ‘Products details’ or listing URL. After finding the ASIN, you will click on the ‘Add a product’ option in your seller central account and search for it. You will choose its condition, new or used, then click ‘Sell this product.’
Creating an attractive offer is the last step but essential as it will determine your success. You will also choose the Fulfilment channel in this step. Amazon has Merchant fulfilled(FBM) or Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA). The former will prompt you to add quantity, while the latter redirects you to create an FBA shipment. Amazon will assign you a Contribution SKU to help you keep track of your products’ inventory.
Listing a New Product
To add a new product on Amazon, you will open your Seller Central account and go to ‘Add product.’ You will then select ‘I’m adding a product not sold on Amazon,’ which will lead you to a page where you can choose your product’s category. After finding it, you will enter the product information in the next section.
The product’s title, pictures, price, manufacture, brand name, product ID, and fulfilment are some of the information you will provide. Note you should ensure you purchased your product ID from GS1, especially if it’s a UPC barcode, since Amazon will verify its legitimacy.
You can list multiple products by uploading them from a product spreadsheet. However, this process requires established sellers who have mastered Amazon Seller Central. It would be best if you avoided it until you wanted to upscale.
How to Succeed on Amazon as a Seller
Competition on Amazon is stiff hence the need to be aggressive for success. Here are the tips to guide you.
Carefully Read the Terms and Conditions
It’d be best to carefully review the terms and conditions when registering as a seller on the platform. Doing so is important because Amazon owns the customer relationship. Violation of the terms can lead to a ban on your products and business. If not, Amazon can hold your payments or suspend your seller account.
Research Extensively
You must research extensively the product you want to sell on Amazon. This research follows after you have learned the ins and out of selling on Amazon. Note that there are certain products which you can’t sell on the platform. While at it, search for reputable suppliers who will supply high-quality products at affordable prices.
To succeed, you should avoid flowing with the wave of popularity. Choosing to sell a popular product can be challenging due to stiff competition from established online retailers. Research a marketable product and keyword search tool that will generate words to make the product rank.
Create a Business Plan
Your success as an Amazon seller will depend on how seriously you take the venture. That starts with treating it as a full-time business and creating a profit margin-based business plan. This plan will include your goals, target market, products, and plans for scaling once you launch the business. With it, you will have a framework to guide you as you sell on the platform.
Invest in Relevant Tools
Besides the keyword search tools, you will need others like marketing automation and repricing tools. Additionally, you should get a customer service tool that helps you take good care of your customers and build a reputation. The pricing tool will help you set a competitive price to improve your profits. And regarding customer service, the tool will help you to resolve all customer service interactions in a single session. You should always do so within 24 hours to build trust.
Market Your Products
Contrary to popular belief, you can’t succeed by just listing your products on Amazon and letting the platforms take care of marketing needs. Several sellers are selling similar products hence the need to market your products to your target customers. To do so, you will first run a competitor analysis, optimise your Amazon product listing, and run sponsored ads. It’d be best to encourage converted leads to leave reviews, boosting your credibility. Finally, you must invest in promoting your Amazon store on different social media platforms.
Monitor your Amazon Sales Analytics
Your success today doesn’t guarantee the same in the future due to constant changes in the industry. Therefore, you should monitor your Amazon sales analytics to determine areas that need changes. You can learn what kind of products sell and improve on those with poor sales records.
Conclusion
Selling on Amazon.co.uk can be a great business decision as a way of growing your company. You can use it as a new distribution channel in addition to your existing shop or stall; you can use it as a way of reaching new geographic regions (either across the UK or into new countries); or you can use it on its own as a new business. Your success will partly rely on how well you understand the ins and outs of the Amazon marketplace and how much time and effort you spend preparing your online listings.
Guides to businesses you could start today
Take a look at our series of articles with business startup ideas.
Guide on how to start an Etsy shop
Guide to how to start a clothing business
Guide to how to start an Amazon Marketplace business
How to start a cleaning business
How to start a jewellery business
