How Amazon Sellers Can Prepare for Amazon Prime Day 2024

Prime Day is upon us FBA sellers! Is your Amazon business ready for the big day? Last year's mega two-day sale was one of the most successful to date with more than 375 million products sold worldwide. This means Amazon sellers should be preparing for Prime Day to maximize their sales and build brand awareness. We have put together a few top tips on how sellers can best prepare for Amazon Prime Day 2024.

What is Amazon Prime Day, and When Did it Start?

A quick history lesson. Amazon Prime Day started as a way to celebrate the company's 20th birthday. To honor two decades in the ecommerce space, the first Amazon Prime Day took place on July 15, 2015. For one day only, Prime members in nine countries were treated to deals on products from big brands and small businesses in a variety of categories available on the platform. 

According to Amazon's website, the goal of the first-ever Prime Day was to create a "global shopping event" and offer Prime members the best deals of the year. While not every Amazon Prime Day has proven to be a record-breaking success, this flash sales period has been on the rise for the past few years.

How Can FBA Sellers Maximize Sales During Amazon Prime Day?

With millions of online shoppers looking for products to buy during Prime Day, as well as the days leading up to and after the sales period, a professional seller on Amazon needs to do some preparation for Prime Day. 

The results from Prime Day 2023 are insane! Here are a few stats that Amazon published, revealing just how significant of a day this can be for sellers. 

• Day one of Prime Day 2023 was the largest sales day in Amazon history
• Amazon Prime members purchased more than 375 million items worldwide
• Amazon offered more deals in 2023 than any past Prime Day
• This day was the largest ever for independent sellers, whose sales growth outpaced Amazon’s retail business

With Prime Day 2024 anticipated to be just as big as 2023, Amazon sellers should take advantage of this two-day mega-event!

When is Amazon Prime Day 2024?

Prime Day 2024 will take place on July 11 - 12. During this two-day sales event, deals will be available to millions of Prime customers across the globe. 

This means that we are only a few months out from Prime Day, so don't allow yourself to be scrambling at the last minute to get things like your PPC ads optimized, inventory updated, and coupons and deals ready.

Get your business in top shape for the big day this season. From creating the best lighting deals to optimizing your Amazon store, discover how you can best prepare for Amazon Prime Day 2024.

Prepare for Amazon Prime Day 2024: Ten Tips for FBA Sellers

As we mentioned earlier, Prime Day 2023 was the largest sales day in the history of Amazon! This opportunity only comes once a year for FBA sellers and it can be the difference between an average year for a seller and an amazing year for a seller. Here are our top ten tips to get ready for the big day!

1. Have Inventory Ready

First and foremost, it's very, very, very important that you prep in advance for an increase in inventory. You want to send in your inventory well ahead of time into FBA. 

We recommend sending it in about a month before Prime Day starts. That gives Amazon plenty of time for check-in. You as a seller know that Amazon likes to take their time, especially around Prime Day. They get busy and backlogged. Once your product does arrive, make sure that your inventory levels are accurately reflected on your Amazon storefront.

An important note here though, is to make sure that the inventory you’re shipping is enough to cover the potential spike in sales, but not too much to avoid cash flow being tied up after the event is over.

2. Create a Marketing Budget Specifically for Amazon Prime Day

This is an important step in the process of preparing for Amazon Prime Day. In some cases, sellers will up their ad spend by 300% for mega sales periods like Prime Day and Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Others will stick to the basic strategy of spending 10-15% of their total revenue on PPC ads.

The trick is to figure out the marketing strategy that works best for your specific business. This is where Mayan's advertising optimization technology can help. With our advanced technology, we can help to create a customized advertising strategy for your Amazon business.

Either way, it's important to recognize Amazon Prime Day and prepare your ad budget accordingly if you want to make the best use of the increased traffic on the platform.

Not to mention that setting the appropriate budget for your PPC ads will help ensure that you don't run out of ad spend too early on Amazon Prime Day and potential shoppers make purchases from your competition instead.

3. Prepare Your Pricing and Deals in Advance

To be ready for Amazon Prime Day 2024, it's best to have your coupons and pricing prepared and ready to go live before the big day. 

It's also important to understand that you're going to see a bump in sales if you participate in Prime Day, which is why we recommend that your pricing is set ahead of time. We recommend setting your pricing at least 30 days beforehand to ensure it will be relevant during Prime Day.

4. Optimize Your PPC Ads for Prime Day

If you're working with a limited budget or just don't want to play with too much extra marketing spend because of Prime Day, you can still invest in your best products and work out a winning strategy to maximize sales this year. 

To successfully prepare for Amazon Prime Day 2024, FBA sellers don't necessarily have to up their ad budget for all product listings. Instead, invest that advertising spend in some of your top-selling products and best-performing keywords so that you can remain competitive for Prime Day.

5. Discount Product by a Minimum of 20%

Typically with Amazon, you want to offer a 20% minimum discount to show up on the Prime Day-specific discounts. This is why making sure that your pricing is set at least 30 days beforehand is important, so that that 20% discount is relevant. Many times on Prime Day, potential buyers are only searching for Prime deals, so you must participate in the Prime Day discounts.

‍We've seen tremendous success in customers who participate in Prime Day versus customers who don't.

6. Optimize Your Amazon Store Listings

It's always a good idea to refresh your Amazon storefront every month or so, and Prime Day is another key period during the year when sellers should make updates. The best way to do that is to make sure your product listings (especially your top-performing products) are optimized. 

‍Look over your product listing descriptions and photography. If you need new photos or have been wanting to add videos to help your listings now is the time to do so. A well-thought-out storefront or attractive image could be the difference between winning or losing a sale. 

Here are a few things to keep in mind;

• Check on the performance of your keywords.
• Update any storefront copy and keywords accordingly for SEO and the summer season.
• Optimize your product images and videos to help your brand shine.

Make sure that you do these a few weeks in advance of Amazon Prime Day. Increase your ranking which will put you in a better position for ranking during the actual Amazon Prime Day event. Your Amazon storefront is your personal marketplace, so you want it to stand out every day of the year, and especially during Prime Day.

Wondering what makes a product listing great? Check out our webinar on Product Selection and Launch Strategies for FBA Growth. 

7. Promote your Amazon Store Through External Marketing Efforts

It's never too early to build up the hype and get the word out about your Prime Day sales. Create campaigns and schedule emails and social media posts to spread the word about the deals and promos that you'll be offering to Prime members this year.

As we mentioned earlier in this post, Amazon Prime Day is an opportune time to build brand awareness for your business and increase traffic to your storefront. 

Engage your existing audience and let them know about your deals for Prime Day. You should be utilizing social media, influencers, and email campaigns to build anticipation. Here are a few ways to enhance your marketing strategy during Amazon Prime Day 2024:

• Enlist the Help of Influencers. This approach can be a game changer for your business if you can work with the right influencers and your product is a hit with their audience. Influencers have huge power when it comes to driving traffic to listings on Amazon. 
• Promote Deals on Social Media. Share your deals and sales on your social media platforms and let your existing audience know what kind of promotions you will be running. Think TikTok videos, Facebook posts, or doing a giveaway on Instagram. 
• Leverage Google PPC. Google PPC can be a great way to complement your Amazon advertising efforts. Use the power of Google to boost external traffic to your listings and retarget customers who were looking at your listings. Not to mention using Google will help you to reach a larger audience. 

Our most recent webinar in the Countdown To Prime Day Series goes more in-depth about how to use brand positioning and advertising strategies to grow your FBA. 

8. Check Lightning Deals

Shoppers come to Amazon during Prime Day specifically to look for the best deals of the year. You want your discounts to be appealing, create a sense of urgency, and be profitable for your business.

On the days leading up to Amazon Prime Day 2024, check in with the Lightning Deals Dashboard for the qualifying deals for the day. This way, you can see if your competition has any in stock and what prices are being published for Prime Day. 

9. Price Your Products Competitively

Expect that Amazon Prime Day will be a competitive time for all businesses that sell on the platform. Use this information to your advantage. 

Take a look at your competitors. Analyze their strategies and pricing to help inform your approach. Use the Amazon Brand Analytics tool to research the top-selling products, searches, and keywords from 2023.

10. Use Product Inserts for Increased Brand Awareness

On top of increased sales, Amazon Prime Day is another great opportunity to build brand awareness and turn a new customer into a repeat customer. Encourage customers to leave a review or follow you on social media. You can include a coupon code for their next purchase or a QR code to your storefront. 

A product insert in packaging can be a fun and personalized way to add that extra touch and build a connection with your new customers. Think about how you can capitalize on Prime Day sales even long after Prime Day is over!

How Mayan Can Help Your FBA Business During Amazon Prime Day