How To Add Customer Value To Your Merch: Coupons, Promotions And Deals

Have you been wondering what other avenues you can explore to make your Merch listings stand out from the rest? If you are using Seller Central on Amazon to expand your product line, you will want to pay attention!

Indeed, there are not one but several paths you can take for adding customer value to your merch.

Let’s find out what they are.

The result-proven extras for added value to your Amazon Merch on Demand listings

Amazon enables sellers to take advantage of several promotional campaigns, including coupons, Prime exclusive discounts, promotions, and special deals.

Let’s dive into each one of these separately.

Coupons – Available For Seller Central Sellers

Amazon shoppers can discover hot and trending coupons by clicking on the “Today’s Deals” section of the menu on Amazon’s homepage. This will unfold a sub-menu, where you will see the “Coupons” section. Here, you can discover a ton of coupons for almost every Amazon category. However, coupons can also be spotted on search results pages marked in green. They’re also on product detail pages, color-coded in orange. Finally, they’re also found in customers’ shopping carts.

As a seller, you can create a coupon for your Amazon listings via Advertising and then Coupons. You can choose to create a single coupon or create them in bulk. Once your coupons are created, you’ll need to connect them to a listing. It’s up to you to decide if you want to offer your coupon with a Percentage Off or via Money Off discounts.

It’s worth noting that both Percentage Off and Money Off discounts will be merged with discounts from other promotions (like Lighting Deals, Promotions, or Sale Prices). In a nutshell, the user will see the total discount combined. Before launching your coupon, you’ll also need to set a coupon budget, a title, start date, and end date. Amazon also enables sellers to target their coupons by choosing a specific audience segment. You can limit your coupon to only Prime members, Student members, Family members, or other segments.

Here are some Amazon coupon facts worth knowing:

• It takes a minimum of 6 hours for coupons to be reviewed and authorized.
• Sellers are permitted to add up to 200 parent ASINs to a single coupon.
• During the review time of the coupon, you won’t be able to make any changes to it.
• You can deactivate your coupon at any time.
• Every seller is responsible for funding all of the coupon discounts they offer, along with any associated costs generated via the use of coupons.
• Every time a shopper uses your coupon, you will be charged $0.60. In addition, there’s a cost in the form of a dollar amount equivalent to the discount you’re offering (these costs are essential for deciding your budget).

Prime Exclusive Discounts

These types of discounts are only available to Prime members. Shoppers can discover them in the price section of a listing. The discounted price appears in front of the old, scratched-out price.

If you’re thinking of running deals on Prime Day, Black Friday or other shopping events, you’ll want to take advantage of these offers.

As with any other option, there are specific rules to follow and eligibility requirements to meet. Amazon offers detailed information on how to set up your Prime Exclusive Discount and how to check if you’re eligible.

You can see answers to some of the most popular questions concerning Prime Exclusive Discount here.

Promotions

Promotions are a strategic way to grab attention and steal your competition’s thunder. On Amazon, there are three types of promotions you can create as a seller:

• Social media promo codes – designed for promotion outside Amazon
• Buy one get one – listings promoted on Amazon
• Percentage off – listings promoted on Amazon

Promotions are a great way to pamper your customers with a special treat. They’re especially lucrative near popular events like holidays or seasonal peaks.

However, they can also be strategically used at different lifecycle stages of your listing. For example, if you notice that sales are dropping, you can encourage your potential buyers to complete a purchase with a percentage off.

Deals

There are two main types of deals you can offer to your customers – Lighting Deals and 7-day Deal.

You can think of Lighting Deals as flash sales. They allow you to get your product featured on the Amazon Deals Page for a certain period of time (usually a few hours). The Amazon Deals page or “Today’s Deals” is the most visited page on the marketplace, offering a ton of exposure to buyers.

7-day Deals are similar, with the only difference being that they last longer, namely a whole week.

Now, you may be thinking that Lighting Deals aren’t even worth it, considering that 7-day Deals keep your listing on the Deals page for a whole week. True, but 7-day Deals are also a lot more expensive. The fees for running deals will depend on the times you choose, as Amazon will consider the amount of traffic it gets during those periods to calculate a price.

Again, not all listings qualify for a deal. Make sure to check Amazon’s eligibility requirements before you choose this method for adding value for your customers.

*An important note to make is that when creating your deals, you’ll need to ensure that the discount price is at least 15% off. When creating a deal or once it’s live, it’s strongly recommended to avoid making changes to your price. Why? Because Amazon will require that you take another 15% off of the price in order to qualify for a deal.

How to communicate these perks to your viewers

Let’s say you’ve chosen the right path for you when it comes to offering some extra value to your customers. But how can you communicate these sweeteners to your viewers?

In most cases, you don’t even need to. Amazon does this for you.

Let’s take deals. A listing with a deal will automatically show up on the Deals page on Amazon, instantly becoming more visible than the standard listing.

However, you can also give listings an extra nudge. For example, you can use Sponsored Products campaigns to enhance the search placement of your product and generate more traffic. Sponsored Products Campaigns for coupons enable you to make your listing more discoverable. Once the user sees the coupon badge on the ad, they will be more likely to purchase your product. However, keep in mind that there are certain eligibility rules that Amazon has in place. Make sure that your products and coupons are in line with them if you want to use the Sponsored Products option.

In addition, you can take advantage of your social media channels to talk about the discounts or deals you have going on at the moment.

Social media is our recommended avenue of approach, however blog post articles and affiliate partners are also viable options.

Reminder to integrate these extras into your listings without jeopardizing the bottom line

Providing something extra to your customers is always a great idea. However, don’t forget that campaigns like deals, discounts, and coupon codes will ultimately come out of your own pocket as a seller.

Having this in mind, it’s vital to be prepared for the treats you’re offering.

Make sure that the base price of your listing is always one that you can afford to reduce without compromising your bottom line. Otherwise, you are risking scoring a ton of sales without any tangible profit. Sure, popularity is great, but what matters at the end of the day is the financial gains you’re rewarded with.

How extras can help you become more profitable and competitive

Every campaign or promotional method we examined here is unique on its own. It comes with its own peculiarities, eligibility requirements, technical details, and intricacies. However, what they all share in common is their ability to make sellers more profitable and more attractive than the competition.

Furthermore, the majority of these promotional tactics and “sweeteners” will instantly make your listings more visible and easily discoverable. They will make them stand out, either via a percentage off section in search results or by dedicating a special place for them on the “Today’s Deals” page.

The options to sweeten the deal provided by Amazon are a powerful weapon for gaining an advantage over other sellers.

We wholeheartedly recommend employing them if you are using Seller Central

In conclusion

Amazon empowers sellers with the ability to choose from a number of different ways to add value to a listing.

The one you choose will depend on your budget, your target audience, and your end goals.

The bottom line is that coupon codes, discounts, special deals, and promotions are definitely something you want to explore as you gain more experience selling on Amazon as a whole.