Run AMZ helped an outdoor apparel brand optimize listings, improve digital merchandising, and remove unauthorized resellers – resulting in an astounding 411% year-over-year increase in conversions!
Large catalog management and unauthorized resellers
“Run AMZ has been a great partner to work with. They are engaging, transparent, and work towards our goals as a company. The results speak for themselves.” –VICE PRESIDENT OF SALES
The Problem
A leading manufacturer of rainwear, waders, and footwear was competing in the saturated Sports & Outdoors category on Amazon. The brand had a large SKU assortment which exceeded 4,000 ASINs and was growing. Due to challenges managing the large catalog, conversion rates on their product pages were low – stifling significant potential on Amazon.
The outdoor apparel brand was in serious need of an overhaul of their digital merchandising strategy and execution on Amazon. Some of the brand’s products had multiple colors and sizes but were not falling under the same product detail pages. Not only did this create a difficult customer experience for shoppers, but it also limited the brand’s reviews and ratings – restricting potential sales. In addition, listing images and A+ content needed to be created or updated to improve conversion rates of each product detail page.
The brand also struggled for years with 3rd party resellers listing products on Amazon. This limited advertising efficacy, drastically reduced forecasting accuracy, and made the product detail page prone to breaking. As a result, the brand lost the buy box up to 50% of the time which further emphasized their need to change how they were approaching their Amazon selling strategy.
Due to the amount of 3rd party unauthorized sellers and broken product pages, the company reached out to Run AMZ for help. As an agency with an extensive experience in sporting goods and a team dedicated to digital merchandising, Run AMZ was able to quickly devote the resources needed to optimize Amazon product listings for the client’s entire catalog, and consult on an authorized reseller program to manage marketplace sellers.
The Solution
Run AMZ’s first priority was to properly variate all of the pages to make sure each product family stood on a single product page. This process also included combining reviews for the same products based on listing variations (i.e., the same ASIN with multiple sizes and colors). In improving listing page organization, potential customers could more easily shop the products, read and understand reviews, and jump from one product to another without having to sift through multiple pages to find their size or color. This change allowed more new customers to discover the brand and helped returning customers discover new products more easily than they were able to before.
Over the course of approximately 6 months, Run AMZ worked diligently to redo the brand’s entire catalog, organizing each item and optimizing nearly every product page description for traffic and conversions.
From there, Run AMZ had a heavy focus on product listing page design, like optimizing imagery and copy. It was imperative that the new product page images included specific details on each item, highlighting features and benefits. Run AMZ used this space to target consumer wants and key selling features of each product so the shopper could make a fast purchasing decision. By utilizing this visualization, the brand’s target customers would have access to all the information needed to convert.
Because the brand sold apparel and footwear, Run AMZ also added helpful size charts for customers to easily find their right sizing. By adding more of an emphasis on sizing in both the listing images and description, consumers were able to purchase with confidence, reducing the need to continue their search. This was also key to reducing return rates and negative reviews.
A+ content was also added and updated for nearly every item. This section of the product detail page helped to further explain product benefits and use cases. Run AMZ also used the A+ content to show the authenticity of the brand. Although some Amazon agencies tend to focus on the technical benefits of upgrading product detail pages, Forbes noted that 88% of consumers have said trust is critical when deciding which brands to purchase from. Run AMZ knew that adding in the company’s brand story would help convince potential customers that this was a brand they could have confidence in and feel proud wearing.
Lastly, Run AMZ changed the product titles to improve click through rates by simplifying the text while hammering on a limited number of strategic keywords. Previously, the titles were stuffed with keywords that made it unclear what the product actually was or did. Despite simplifying the titles, the rainwear company improved in organic ranking within the product category. This shift helped boost click-through-rates and increased conversions.
While upgrading nearly every product detail page design, Run AMZ was also focusing on reducing resellers on Amazon. Run AMZ, in partnership with Trackstreet and K&L Gates, developed and implemented an authorized reseller program that would limit unauthorized resellers on Amazon while maintaining the brand’s relationship with important brick-and-mortar retail partners. It was crucial that the authorized program target the problems on Amazon without negatively impacting the greater retail environment. Instead, Run AMZ worked to reduce or eliminate the supply of product flowing to resellers who were relying exclusively on Amazon to distribute the product and thus were not bringing value to the fishing apparel company.
To do this, Run AMZ brought in legal resources to work directly with the client to customize a distribution plan that would fit their needs. The partnership also tracked violators of the authorized reseller agreement, ensuring nothing could slip through the cracks. The program would automatically notify the company if there was a seller in violation of the agreement. This was true for all ecommerce channels, not just on Amazon. This agreement was key in maintaining the buy box and avoiding unauthorized sellers long term.
The Results
As a direct result of the product detail page improvements, authorized reseller agreement, and exceptional partnership from the brand, the fishing apparel company saw a significant increase in sales. Within the first quarter after optimizations were completed, the brand saw a 411% increase in conversion rate compared to the previous year!
Their rainwear product sales increased by 173% and have since been #1 in the category for nearly 2 straight years. Not only does the brand have multiple rainwear products at the top of the category, they also currently hold a Best Seller badge for several generic rainwear terms, which further shows the strength of their brand relative to other products in the category.
Furthermore, the fishing clothing brand saw a decrease in the Lost Buy Box metric by 67% year-over-year. Before working with Run AMZ, the company owned the Amazon buy box less than 50% of the time. But, only a year-and-a-half into partnering with Run AMZ, the brand was owning the buy box at over 90%! Overall, Run AMZ was able to help this outdoor apparel brand better optimize their product listing pages, increase sales and conversions, and ensure that Amazon could be a profitable channel for the company for years to come.
