Amazon Black Friday starts today, why is the response from sellers so mediocre?

After publishing the article "2 days left for Black Friday, Amazon said the storage restriction policy will be updated!", many sellers questioned the timing of Amazon's Black Friday promotion, and left messages saying they didn't believe Black Friday would come so early.

In addition, many sellers in the seller communication group also asked: Is today Black Friday?

▲ The picture comes from the seller communication group

For example, this year’s Double 11 started on the 1st, then Amazon’s Black Friday started on the 20th. Perhaps this is easier to understand, right?

In fact, Amazon has already announced that it will launch the "Black Friday" event a week in advance, which will be held on November 20. During this week, Amazon will release promotions for various products, including toys, household items, kitchen supplies, etc.

▲ Today, products on the UK site have the Black Friday logo

Here is another reminder for everyone about the schedule of Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday promotions↓↓↓

US and European sites: Black Friday is from November 20th to November 27th, and the online shopping period is from November 28th to November 30th.

Japan site: Black Friday November 27th - November 29th, Cyber ​​Monday November 30th - December 1st.

▲ Amazon has already notified sellers about the schedule for Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday

Sellers on the French site need to note that at the request of the French government, Amazon announced that it will postpone France’s “Black Friday” promotion by one week and start on December 4th.

With the start of Black Friday, sellers should note that Prime exclusive discount submissions on various sites will also be closed. The deadline for submissions on the European site is November 20, the deadline for submissions on the US site is November 24, and the deadline for submissions on the Japanese site is November 25.

The early arrival of Black Friday should be a big challenge for sellers. I thought everyone would discuss the strategies to boost sales on Black Friday. But in fact, many sellers did not respond so enthusiastically. Why did the sellers respond so indifferently? After observation, the editor summarized the following reasons.

1

The event date and discount display time are inconsistent

In addition to some sellers being late with the news and not realizing that Black Friday was brought forward, some sellers also said: Amazon officially announced that Black Friday is from the 20th to the 27th, but the backend exclusive discount event starts at 12:00 am on the 26th. What does Amazon mean?

▲ The picture comes from the seller communication group

If the seller has selected the Black Friday or Cyber ​​Monday discounts, they can only choose the 26th to 30th and cannot modify it.

If I don't check the box and define the time myself, I'm afraid there won't be a Black Friday logo.

But now, some sellers said: Today, these products on the UK site that started on the 20th have the Black Friday logo again. What is going on?

In short, the event date and discount display time are different, which confuses many sellers. At the same time, for most sellers, Black Friday starts from the discount, which is the 26th, so naturally there is not much reaction on the 20th when Black Friday starts.

The opportunity for explosive sales seems to be right in front of you, but sellers are not very interested, and there are also reasons for the orders.

2

Orders continue to be sluggish

In the seller communication group, a seller asked: Why is there no response from anyone on Black Friday?

Sellers have been in a downturn in orders, and even in the period before Black Friday, there is still no obvious upward trend in orders. So the mood is not as high as on Member Day. Some sellers said: "I will place orders as I wish."

▲ The picture comes from the seller communication group

3

Out of stock early, not on the shelves yet

Some sellers have become indifferent because of the lack of orders, while others have become bystanders of the Black Friday event because their products were sold out early.

In the seller communication group, a seller said: "We had a huge order volume on Member Day and the product is out of stock! The restocked product has not been delivered to the warehouse yet. We missed it perfectly and will be a spectator on Black Friday."

▲ The picture comes from the seller communication group

On @跨跨电商’s Weibo, a seller also replied: Because everything is out of stock and the goods are not on the shelves yet, it is too late to participate.

▲ The picture comes from Weibo

According to feedback from freight forwarders, Amazon's warehouses PHX3, PHX5, PHX7 in Arizona and OAK3, SJC7, SMF3, ONT2, ONT6, ONT8, ONT9, LGB8, LAX9, SNA4/6/7/8 and LGB6/4 in California have been overwhelmed recently . It is difficult for UPS and FedEx to deliver goods to them, and the last-mile delivery is also slow.

Sellers in the European market also suffered from the troubles brought by the second blockade, because logistics and transportation in many countries or regions were delayed under the second blockade.

It's really a headache if I can't sell it, and it's even more of a headache if I sell it.

4

Ban before peak season

In addition to missing out on Black Friday due to out-of-stock, slow logistics and slow listing, there are also sellers complaining: My account is gone, so what’s the point of talking about Black Friday!

Recently, there have been numerous cases of sellers’ stores being closed due to association, sales surge, inability to log into the store, infringement complaints, and manipulated reviews.

By the way, there are quite a few sellers whose stores have been closed due to a surge in sales in the past two days. For sellers who encounter such situations, it is recommended that you reply to emails in a timely manner, ship and follow up store orders normally, and try not to have too many problems. If you do not ship, it is likely to be judged as fraud by Amazon.

In short, even if you file an appeal, the period from preparing materials to waiting for review is too long. Even if your account is restored, you will most likely miss Black Friday.

Although sellers currently do not have high expectations for this Black Friday, Adobe has released its forecast for the 2020 holiday shopping season. The report predicts that online sales on Black Friday this year will reach $10 billion , up from $8 billion last year, and 49% of consumers will get the best deals on Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday.

It can be said that if we look at the data, this year's peak season online shopping demand will be greater than in previous years, and sellers' sales will be better. However, for small and medium-sized sellers, they have not tasted much sweetness.

In this regard, we have also collected and sorted out some Black Friday strategies for your reference to help you:

1. Focus on KPIs and account health

Sellers should regularly check customer metrics and monitor account health so that they can identify any blind spots and resolve any operational issues in a timely manner. Otherwise, excessive order defect rates may lead to account suspension or even closure.

2. Make sure you optimize your prices

According to a survey, more than 76% of consumers said that price is one of the most important factors when choosing gifts this year. Therefore, personalized products, competitive prices and promotions will be the key to winning over consumers who often wait for specific shopping events to save on purchase costs. So sellers ensure that prices are reviewed at the SKU specific level and adjusted if necessary.

3. Manage inventory effectively

For those sellers whose IPI scores are below 500 and who are still restricted from shipping, the primary goal is to effectively manage inventory and maximize the limited storage capacity, such as reducing excess inventory to improve profitability, repairing products with no sales information, ensuring inventory is available for purchase, and ensuring that best-selling products are in stock to avoid out-of-stock.

In fact, for most sellers, Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday may be their last chance to boost sales in 2020, so I hope everyone will seize this opportunity. I wish all sellers a continuous boost in sales and good reviews during Black Friday and Cyber ​​Monday.

Finally, everyone is welcome to share in the comment section why you are not enthusiastic about Black Friday this year, and we can work together to keep each other warm~