If Amazon Did This, it Could Be Huge!
Two-and-a-half years into my foray going from consultant to owning my own e-commerce business, I've realized a few things. No matter what we do, what other platforms we do business on with Premo Guard, Amazon.com is still the 800-pound gorilla in the room. And that frustrates the (insert expletive here) out of me.
Now I'm not here to slam Amazon. I just think it could do better.
In fact, if you’re reading Jeff Bezos, I have a way for you to exponentially increase Amazon's revenue … and it would help businesses like mine that sell on your platform!
Ready?
Open it Up to …
Open your marketplace to allow business owners like myself to market to their (oops, your) customers. I get it, they are your customers, on your platform, not mine. But think of the revenue you can generate by allowing sellers to:
- Drive customer activity to upsell and cross-sell them via email. I'm sure you could easily have your IT team create a closed email system to do so. And even automate it! You could charge a pretty penny for it and we would all pay! And I mean all of us!
- Allow us to do retargeting via your pay-per-click (PPC) program to drive folks back to our product, offer complementary products, etc. Another revenue generator for you, Jeff. Imagine the bidding wars for that!
- And how about some better analytics on a customer level? It would be nice to be able to know some lifetime value statistics, repeat purchase info on a customer level, etc.
REAL WORLD How This Could Work …
Let me share an example from my company, Premo Guard. We sell products that get rid of bed bug and mite infestations. We have a lot of front-end business. However, when our customers are done dealing with bed bugs or mites, unless they missed a nest, they rarely come back. That presents a challenge. We've innovated new products to our same customers, and they've become hits. It has increased repeat business and become new profit centers on the customer acquisition side as well. Win-win!
But imagine if we could send out emails via Amazon to let our customers know that, for instance, our Laundry Additive is another product you need when you buy the spray? And visa versa? Or have PPC campaigns for the same? The possibilities are endless, and we all make money … right Jeff?
- Categories:
- Marketing
- Marketplaces
- Companies:
- Amazon.com
Jim Gilbert has had a storied career in direct and digital marketing resulting in a burning desire to tell stories that educate, inform, and inspire marketers to new heights of success.
After years of marketing consulting, Jim decided it was time to “put his money where his mouth was" and build his own e-commerce company, Premo Natural Products, with its flagship product, Premo Guard Bed Bug & Mite Sprays. Premo in its second year is poised to eclipse 100 percent growth.
Jim has been writing for Target Marketing Group since 2006, first on the pages of Catalog Success Magazine, then as the first blogger for its online division. Jim continues to write for Total Retail.
Along the way, Jim has led the Florida Direct Marketing Association as their Marketing Chair and then three-term President, been an Adjunct Professor of Direct and Digital marketing for Miami International University, and created a lecture series, “The 9 Immutable Laws of Social Media Marketing,” which he has presented across the country at conferences and universities.
