Sales Peaked and Plummuted (hear me out)
I browse this forum often enough to know that "my sales have PLUMMETED" is a fairly common post title. However, I come bearing specific details and an open mind. So maybe you guys can help me out a little :')
We sell a pretty high-tech device with a reasonably higher price point than other products in its category. Since starting this listing, to our surprise, sales have been trickling in. Naturally, they were very slow at first. But as of last month, this product was starting to pick up a little bit of speed. We were averaging just over an order a day, which was so exciting to see.
Then, as a result of increased sales volume, inventory ran out. We had a small but steady stream of inventory heading into Amazon, but receiving has been slower than we've seen in a long time. While the unit was never officially "out of stock", we did not have any "Prime" inventory for 4-5 days. I'm fairly certain that this is what killed our listing. Case closed.
But, now that inventory is back in stock, I would expect things to start picking up again. Unfortunately, it's been a week, and that hasn't happened. We've been running ads since we launched and the same ads that were trending around a 30% ACOS are now spending with no sales to show for.
So, I was wondering if anyone had any tips on reviving our listing. Maybe Amazon is just punishing us for running out of inventory and it's as simple as that.
Any insight is greatly appreciated.
Sales Peaked and Plummuted (hear me out)
I browse this forum often enough to know that "my sales have PLUMMETED" is a fairly common post title. However, I come bearing specific details and an open mind. So maybe you guys can help me out a little :')
We sell a pretty high-tech device with a reasonably higher price point than other products in its category. Since starting this listing, to our surprise, sales have been trickling in. Naturally, they were very slow at first. But as of last month, this product was starting to pick up a little bit of speed. We were averaging just over an order a day, which was so exciting to see.
Then, as a result of increased sales volume, inventory ran out. We had a small but steady stream of inventory heading into Amazon, but receiving has been slower than we've seen in a long time. While the unit was never officially "out of stock", we did not have any "Prime" inventory for 4-5 days. I'm fairly certain that this is what killed our listing. Case closed.
But, now that inventory is back in stock, I would expect things to start picking up again. Unfortunately, it's been a week, and that hasn't happened. We've been running ads since we launched and the same ads that were trending around a 30% ACOS are now spending with no sales to show for.
So, I was wondering if anyone had any tips on reviving our listing. Maybe Amazon is just punishing us for running out of inventory and it's as simple as that.
Any insight is greatly appreciated.
16 replies
Manny_Amazon
Hello @Seller_PCDCEm995LORs,
Thanks for posting to the Forums. This has been suggested by others, but I'm adding these tips that may help you with your sales:
Tip to troubleshoot slow sales
• Check your inventory levels and ensure you have enough stock to meet demand. Being out of stock or having low inventory can negatively impact sales.
• Review your product detail page and images to ensure your listings are optimized and attractive to customers. Make any needed updates.
• Check your prices and pricing strategy. Consider lowering prices or running promotions if needed to stimulate sales. Use repricing software to stay competitive.
• Monitor your reviews and customer feedback. Address any product quality concerns that may be hurting sales.
• Analyze your sales reports to see if sales have dropped for your entire catalog or just certain products. Identify any trends.
• Evaluate your advertising and promotions. Are they still effective? Make any necessary changes to your campaigns.
• Check if there are new competitors in your niche that are affecting your sales. You may need to improve your product listings to stand out.
• Consider if changes in search algorithms or seasonal sales cycles may explain the dip in sales. Adjust strategies accordingly.
• Request feedback from customers to see if there are issues affecting purchases that you need to address.
• Troubleshooting sales dips requires analyzing data to identify the potential causes. Address any product, pricing, promotion and marketplace issues revealed in your analysis.
I hope this helps.
Regards,
- Manny
Seller_hYKUv7nHYXOqq
You most likely lost your ranking after going out of stock. It happens with our products a lot. They will be selling at a rapid rate, to the point that we can't keep in stock. Once out of "Prime Stock" -sales slow down heavily and take a couple months to build back up once in stock. The only way to combat it I have found is to not let your listings go out of stock, become inactive, or become suppressed because it messes with something in the algorithm that will put your ranking lower and gives your higher ranked competitors more exposure. All of that may or may not be true, but this is just what I have taken mental notes of while working as an amazon seller. No matter what we do with ADs/ content/ etc. doesn't seem to make a difference much. Just the longer it's in stock and continues selling will help maintain ranking and exposure.
Seller_jnMW8NLOsA3OZ
Check if your competitors have sabotaged your listings. I've had products put into the adult category, rendering ads useless.
Seller_iobipI6xASRkh
When is the last time you have done a keyword refresh? It is good to do one every 2-3 months. Trends are fluctuating constantly and even though you have the same words, the order in which they are placed greatly matters for organic ranking.
If you don't use a 3rd party program to do this, I would suggest Amazon's search analytics page as well as top search terms and search your brand.
Use the top sellers (lowest CTR, highest purchase) and make a spreadsheet with the top Search Query results that correlate directly to your product. Make sure that these terms are 100% compliant and don't include anything not allowed on Amazon such as claims that do not have certifications - these are what people are typing in the search box.
Use those search terms in your back-end SEO (image KWs on A+) and reword your listings to include those phrases (phrases matter), ranked from the top of the page down (crawl depletes further down the page).
Also, you can do the same thing with google (I use free tools like ahrefs) and use this same process in the product description. You still want it readable, but you want to put that SEO in there. Google bots read this and will push your Amazon listing on their search results.
It is easy for people to feel like once they have a good listing and sales are rolling it stays there. SEO however is fluid and requires constant updating in order to keep those sales moving. If not, you are just waiting for your text to be trending again.
Also note, once you have your KWs organically ranked, they stick for awhile so it is good to keep adding new, relevant ones in there. It adds more to your organic SEO.
Hope this helps!
Seller_Qg1FueblHU9RR
Same thing here.
Product was selling well, at least 1-2 units per day.
Sent 100 more units to the warehouse.
Sales are now zero and units just sitting in the warehouse.
I lowered the price too, still no sales.
FBA is just not worth it anymore.
Seller_EhfgFhfsOh8gF
Do not stock out. Raise your price until more arrive.
Seller_qMgi7qxvEo7f1
Sales are weird. There are like a few weeks of OKAY sales. Then one day POOF, down to zero for weeks. Today I got a few sales for no reason. Right AFTER getting an ODR protected A-to-Z. Where is the logic? I have no idea.
Seller_zGoDlPZLneGhF
Sales have been dreadful for about 2 weeks now. Amazon is pushing our delivery dates out into the future even though we have 1 day handling time (usually ship same day) and can get an order to the other side of the country in 3 days. This has caused a slowdown.
October is historically a slower month, with the election and holidays around the corner people are slashing spending.
