🍭 Treacle Thursdays from Seller Candy (28/10/21 issue) 🍬

Thank you to everyone who voted for us in the poll which was mentioned in last weeks issue. We really appreciate your support.

Halloween is nearly here  so we've got some tricks and treats coming up for you this week. The first treat:

Spooky days ahead

The year is nearly over

Don't go out of stock

I'm not sure if that counts as a treat. Maybe that's the trick. 

Let's do some news!

“Creativity is seeing what everyone else sees, but then thinking a new thought that has never been thought before and expressing it somehow"

- Neil deGrasse Tyson

Brushing up on ranking tactics

In the news today is another devilish tactic to boost rankings and get ahead of the competition, even at the expense of massive amounts of stock and fees. It seems some unscrupulous sellers have been ordering their own products at full price and having them delivered to completely random addresses with no warning.

This is a scam known as 'brushing', and sellers are attempting to exploit the Amazon algorithm by making genuine sales to themselves in order to rank more favourably. There have been reports of magnetic eyelashes (I assume for robots), eyelash serum (the robots need it for their new lashes), toys for pets and children, Bluetooth accessories, an iPhone case, a Frisbee, medical gloves and other items that are cheap to ship in large volumes.

I'm not sure exactly how this newest scheme came to light. The so-called 'victims' of this scam are getting free (if bizarre) items delivered right to their doors' with their name and address on. If I received a package like that I certainly wouldn't be putting a complaint in. In fact, if you're reading this and you're a brusher then please let me know - I'll give you my address.

Two to three days per week saved!

We're always excited when we receive great feedback from our customers. This was another great example of how we've been able to help sellers, brands, agencies and all between save time and money dealing with seller support.

Meet Lana and Dmitri, who, after working with us, managed to save two to three days per week dealing with Amazon seller support. With all the knowledge of an experienced seller plus some, sellers can learn from the best as well as shifting their focus to revenues while outsourcing their outcomes to a dedicated and professional team without needing to hire an Amazon virtual assistant. All with Seller Candy.

We're happy that they're happy!

Zendesk suite support

Another (paid) service is being added so that you can manage all of your customer support from one centralized location which Amazon say is going to make it faster to respond to customer messages. This could make your life easier if you're carrying a lot of SKUs but, as one commenter on the news pointed out, "they are not our customers as Amazon has made very clear over the years. This is like a seat belt for a car with no seats. Amazon is responsible for Customer Service for Amazon customers. Zendesk would be great if we had customers to support."

While this is absolutely true, if it's something you're interested in then you can read the full story with more info on how it works and how to get started below.

Planning your way to success

As the old adage goes, fail to prepare - prepare to fail. Nothing could be more true where Amazon is concerned. As a business more heavily influenced by cashflow than most, knowing the right moment to push and the right moment to consolidate is essential to both growth and survival. So many brands have fallen off of the map just because they didn't have the right plans in place to make sure they succeeded.

Nater Youngchild of D8aDriven went to the Klik Box Summit to walk you through just how to make those preparations. He gives some great insights in to sales forecasting and inventory projection so that you can make sure you're on the prepare side of the fence, rather than the fail side.

D8aDriven drives profitable growth for brands on Amazon by executing a tailored strategy using the right data. If you feel like you've peaked and need a helping hand pushing your business to the next level, check them out and have a chat with their team.

That's it for this week. Happy Halloween and thanks for reading.

Have a great end to the week and may your listings be haunted with buyers!

Rich

Partnership Manager and newsletter ghost-writer at Seller Candy