The festive season is already underway, and we are a couple of weeks away from the much-awaited Cyber Monday sales. Amazon predicts sales in Q4 of 2020 to be between $112 billion and $121 billion, which, if turns out to be accurate, would mean a 28% growth Year-On-Year (YOY) for the E-retail giant. I am not trying to be too speculative but I am positive that the upcoming sales will play a vital role in attaining this forecasted outlay. As the sales turnout is expected to reach new heights, the competition will be fierce. The biggest hurdle for you will be to get noticed on the platform since most customers aren’t going to look past the first result page. So, how can you gain increased visibility for your listed products? Featuring them as an Amazon Lightning Deal can be a beneficial option according to our Ecommerce agency experts.
Lightning Deals – What are they?
A Lightning Deal is a type of Amazon promotion that sellers can use to feature their temporarily discounted products for a limited period of time. Each deal goes live only for a specific number of hours on any one of the days when the Amazon Lightning Deals are promoted.
These deals are featured on the Amazon Deals page, which is a consumer’s source for going through the best-discounted offerings for the day. As the deals are applicable only for a few hours, it gives buyers an added incentive to complete the purchase on time. For sellers, it presents a lucrative prospect to enhance visibility for their listings and earn maximum returns during the promotional period.
How to Feature Your Product in a Lightning Deal
You can participate in a Lightning Deal by following a few steps. Once you login to your Amazon Seller Central account, click on Advertising and select Lightning Deals from the drop-down options. There, you’ll see a list of products from your offerings that are eligible for a Lightning Deal. Select one of the products that you want to include in the deal and click on the “Edit” button.
The next step would be to fill out some important details such as the discounted price of the product and the number of units you would sell at that price. You must remember that the quantity you select will be active for one Lightning Deal that lasts over 4 to 6 hours. Keep your inventory in check if the Lightning Deal runs for more than once a day or week because the quantity selected will be offered each time.
Facing trouble? Get in touch with our Ecommerce agency experts by clicking here.
Eligibility Checklist to Enter Your Product in Lightning Deals
To feature your product in a Sales Day event such as Cyber Monday, you need to first make sure that it meets the criteria for participation. Some of them are:
- The product you wish to offer must have a good review rating
- The product should be Amazon Prime eligible in all regions of the United States (that includes Puerto Rico)
- Use Amazon FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) or SFP (Seller Fulfilled Prime) to meet the above requirement
- You must have enough product units in stock (Ideally, 1000+ items)
- Offer a reasonable discount (20-30% minimum) to ensure that your participation in a Lightning Deal is justified
Thankfully though, Amazon makes it easy to determine your product’s eligibility for Lightning Deals. When you open the Lightning Deals dashboard, you can see the eligible products under “Recommendations.” But, as a seller, you should be aware of these criteria to make sure that your products are compliant with them and in case you need to troubleshoot the problem if one of the products isn’t showing up as a recommended choice.
Why You Should Consider Lightning Deals
There are various benefits attached to running a Lightning Deal :
1. Higher Product Visibility
The deals page is one of the most visited pages by consumers on Amazon. So, if you decide to run a Lightning Deal on one of your ASINs, there are greater chances of gaining visibility on the platform than some of the other promotional options.
2. Increase In Sales
Well, there is no absolute guarantee to this claim, but the combination of higher visibility and low price advertising leads to improved sales in most cases.
3. Inventory Clearance
If you are having to pay a hefty long-term storage fee for certain products or are stuck with out-of-season inventory, a Lightning Deal can prove to be a good option for you. It provides a great way to clear a substantial amount of stock at once and, in turn, help you in saving storage costs or making way for another category of products you wish to sell.
4. “Hallo Effect”
Since the Lightning Deal positively impacts your brand visibility on Amazon, it often brings the consumers to other offerings listed by you. The increase in resulting views during the sale can lead to an improvement in your product’s search rankings, which would then have a positive impact on your brand’s future visibility. You may notice that the spike in demand during the Lighting Deal could go well beyond the set time-frame and extend to other products offered by you. A “Halo” effect right there!
Light It Up This Cyber Monday
Amazon Lightning Deals are a great way to boost sales and widen your consumer base during the upcoming Cyber Monday sales week. If done strategically, these deals have the potential to pay long-term returns for your E-commerce business. Navigate to the Lightning Deals dashboard to see the products which are eligible and set the aforementioned conditions with the desired time frame to take your Lightning Deal live.
In case you face difficulties in doing so, you can get in touch with our Ecommerce agency experts who will guide you through the entire process.
