What Is Amazon Retail Readiness?

Each product available on Amazon has its detail page and assigned ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number). Moreover, is the so-called “Retail Readiness” which decides If and how well a product gets sold on the Marketplace.  Amazon Advertising is then linked directly with this since only Amazon products that are also “Retail-Ready” should be strategically advertised.

How Do I Make My Product Retail-Ready on Amazon?

One can classify the Retail Readiness on Amazon as soft and hard facts. In principle, every ASIN advertised with, for example, PPC campaigns ( hard facts) must be in stock. The BuyBox also belongs to the hard facts, because anyone who offers available products in the warehouse, but has not won or lost the BuyBox, e.g., due to a too a high selling price, is not Retail-Ready.

The soft facts of Retail Readiness on Amazon include everything concerning content and ratings: product title, bullet points, and product description, images, average overall rating, and several reviews. For brands registered with Amazon, optimized Enhanced Brand Content (EBC) for sellers as well as A+ content for vendors also count as Retail Readiness. All these areas can be influenced directly (content) or indirectly (reviews) and affect how well Amazon sells an article. Ultimately the hard facts are the deciding factor since the foundation is the availability of a product.

Amazon Retail Readiness – Ratings

The total number of customer reviews, as well as the average rating of an Amazon product, have a significant influence on the sales probability. As a general rule, the more positive reviews an item has received, the better the Retail Readiness of that individual item will be. Amazon itself recommends at least 15 ratings with an average of 3.5 stars and higher.

In addition to the official recommendation from Amazon, one should also consider the position of competing products. If the products of the first SERP (Search Engine Result Page) got an average of several hundred reviews in a niche, the general recommendation of 15+ reviews might be too low. However, there are also product categories in which even articles can sell very successfully without a review. However, in most cases: many positive reviews make article retail-ready.

Amazon Retail Readiness – Content

A product’s content is essential not only for the A9 relevance rating logon but also for the actual customer. A meaningful and style guide-oriented product with a well-built title, consisting of brand, model, main features, and relevant key words, are the most important factors for Retail Readiness.

The bullet points should also be optimized concerning keyword relevance and potential buyer conversion. Important characteristics of the product (e.g., size, color, volume, etc.), as well as additional search words and phrases, should be listed here. This product information must be administered carefully in each product. Sellers can do this either directly via SellerCentral or Flatfile. Vendors can change the content of their products via VendorCentral or their Amazon contacts (e.g., Vendor Manager).

Amazon Retail Readiness – Product Images

In e-commerce, good, high-resolution photos of products replace the tangible feel of the retail and specialist trade; this is no different for Amazon. Retail Ready” means articles with professional images that show the product from as many different perspectives as possible and are accurate in terms of color. Even slight color deviations between the product image and the physical product can quickly result in returns.

For product images on Amazon, it is also important that sellers and vendors adhere to the general image guidelines. The first photo is the most important because this is usually also displayed in the search results and is, therefore, an important eye-catcher. Only the sold products can be displayed and no examples of use, alternative articles, Logos, or other marketing-strategies.

Amazon Retail Readiness – Warehouse Availability

As mentioned earlier, the most important factor for Retail Readiness is the availability of an item in the warehouse. Sellers who use Amazon’s (FBA) fulfillment should always provide enough goods in time and send them to the warehouse. If a seller uses its warehouse (FBM), it must also be ensured that a product won’t get “out-of-stock.” Vendors, on the other hand, do not manage the availability of the Amazon warehouse themselves. However, they must be able to deliver an order if it is purchased.

In general, the following applies to sellers and vendors: the demand from potential buyers must be well planned or anticipated. Small stock quantities can be a problem, for example, with seasonal products. If, for example, advertising campaigns (e.g., sponsored brands) are switched to products and the products are out-of-stock, the campaign is paused, and significant sales are lost. Therefore, sufficient availability at the warehouse is a critical factor regarding Retail Readiness.

Amazon Retail Readiness – Buybox

The winning or losing of the BuyBox is particularly important for Retail Readiness about ongoing PPC campaigns. For example, if a vendor places a sponsored brand ad on a product for which he (or Amazon itself) does not own the BuyBox, then he will pay for every click on the ad, but the sales will not be attributed directly. Sponsored Product Ads would pause if the BuyBox gets lost but would not generate any impressions or traffic for the brand or the advertised products.

While a vendor cannot influence whether winning or losing the BuyBox, a seller can control this solely through the selling price (including shipping costs). The BuyBox is therefore often only won because the offer is the cheapest compared to all other sellers with the same product. The sales price can be automatically reduced and increased through the use of a so-called repricer. The “Prime” status of a product also influences the BuyBox and therefore the Retail Readiness.

Conclusion – Retail Ready in Amazon

Whether and how effectively the advertising campaigns run on Amazon is almost always determined by Retail Readiness. Amazon defines products with professional images, relevant and high-conversion content, and many good reviews as “retail-ready.” Time and experience have shown that it is possible to advertise these products much more effectively via PPC. Factors such as the visibility of displayed Ads and the profitability of the advertising campaigns are strongly related to Retail Readiness. Finally, it is important to keep in mind, that for sellers and vendors a clean ASIN optimization, as well as an ambitious campaign are required.