Introduction
In e-commerce, we divide the market into four sections -
1. Quarter 1 - January - March
2. Quarter 2 - April - June
3. Quarter 3 - July - September
4. Quarter 4 - Oct - December
Businesses work according to this bifurcated calendar. It gives better insights into various perspectives to push a particular range of products/services during certain quarters.
For instance, I am an e-commerce seller on Amazon selling clothing, accessories, gifts, electronics, and household things.
As I prepare my e-commerce site for Q4 (October - December), I will check the trends and see what products will be in demand.
Apart from taking help from data, a seasonal perspective would also give an idea about what range of products shall be in demand.
For instance, Q4 in India means winter. It is the time where air purifiers, heaters, geysers, blankets, gloves, face shields (holiday season means traveling), and many more would face a surge.
7 Expert Tips for a Profitable Q4 on Amazon
Try not to go out of stock!
For instance, your e-commerce sites sell the best of the clothing range for millennials, and the fur coat and Valentino boots score most of the sales on your site. You must keep them in stock always when you know that the demand is going to peak.
Therefore, load the essentials in needed amounts.
Tip: December is busy for the right sellers because the season hovers around Christmas and New year. Similarly, January can also be a busy month because shoppers would avail Amazon gift cards to make more purchases.
Q4 does not end in December. Period
Even though October - December is accounted as Q4, you should always consider January.
Stephen Smotherman, the top Amazon Seller, believes that November to January is the happening for Amazon sellers. Also, Amazon sellers must prepare themselves for a busy November and don’t bother much if the October sales graph goes a bit lean.
Let not the sales ranking fool you!
Every quarter has different dynamics, and they work differently.
For instance, in Q3 (July - September), the sales for toys and confectioneries were less, and they ranked at an average level.
The sales ranking of Q3 cannot determine the product flow for Q4. If I move according to the sales ranking of Q3 and don't bother to spend much on toys and confectionery, my business would be at a loss.
The reasons are - Diwali, Dussehra, Christmas, New Year, Durga Puja, etc, fall between October - January.
Stock at the right time
Stocking at the right time doesn't mean stocking during peak hours. Instead, stock when the demand is least, which means if you are stocking up for Diwali then, don't wait until October to refill the reserves.
If you stock non-perishable products such as
1. Home decor related things
2. Paints
3. Diyas and candles
4. Gifts
5. Toys
6. Festive clothes
And other things, at least a couple of months before the festive season, you can provide the customers with products that other stores can't because they ran out of supply.
Scan through the sales trend in Q4 and understand the emerging trends
This stage needs patience and quality research. Look for the following things while scanning through the Q4 trends:
1. Is there a pattern?
2. What are the rankings of different product categories (maximum and minimum)?
3. What are the emerging product categories for Q4 in the Indian and international markets (if you have a global footprint)?
4. What are the variations followed by your competitors?
5. Can a new category or product be portrayed as a necessity during Q4?
6. Can your e-commerce site be a trendsetter?
7. What is the pricing cycle? How does it create an impact on traction and sales?
8. What should be the ideal pricing?
Reach the one-time shoppers
There is no guarantee that the one who shopped for ₹5000 would trail back to your e-commerce site again. There could be many reasons such as:
1. Flashy sale/offer
2. Unavailability at other e-commerce sites
3. First-time customer
4. Good service
5. Tried upon recommendation
6. Have no other resort
However, there would be numerous reasons why the existing customers are not returning to the site, such as - high prices, payment limitations, checkout crisis, etc.
To sort this crisis, you should address their objection reasons and curate practical responses that will assist the customers in dissolving the barrier and making the purchase.
Therefore, you should get back to them always with luring offers or molding the messages that derive necessity and need rather than product/service endorsement.
Buck up your marketing tactics
Q4 is the stage where the seller expects to close the best possible deals and gain good sales. To reap impactful sales, you should conduct outstanding marketing.
By outstanding marketing, none are asking you to spend millions on advertising. Just follows these points to craft good marketing:
1. Frame it as a need/necessity (how will they benefit?)
2. Intertwine that expensive necessity with captivating offers
3. Offers could range from coupons, discounts, free goodies, and referral codes (coupons might encourage shoppers to shop again)
4. Offer better payment solutions (if international the feasible cross-border payment solutions)
5. Use influencer marketing or testimonial marketing (adds personal and authentic touch)
6. The benefits for customers should be loud and clear.
7. Add qualitative materials, such as - how-to videos, testimonials, feedback, images, etc.
The product combined with good marketing results in a sales spike, never forget. Therefore, these were the few effective measures to use to reap a successful Q4 sales.
How was 2020 for Amazon India?
We are aware of the catastrophic year 2020, but it wasn't a stressful 12 months for all.
Facts!
According to the reports submitted by Amazon India:
1. Over 4,152 sellers turned into millionaires as their online business on Amazon crossed ₹ 1 crore in sales.
2. It means the tally of millionaire sellers escalated by 29% year-on-year (YoY).
3. Apart from this, Amazon India witnessed a surge where 1.5 lakh new sellers enrolled themselves and more than 50,000 sellers registering in Hindi and Tamil.
4. Despite COVID19 employment and economic crunch, Amazon grew by 85% YOY in sales.
5. Amazon Global Selling witnessed more than 70,000 exporters crossing $2 billion in cumulative e-commerce exports and over 1 lakh developers from India building for Alexa globally.
Trending Products of Amazon India - 2020
COVID19 Mandates!
From 2020, face shields sales have soared up, making it one of the necessities along with N95 masks, masks, PPE kit (travel majorly), disinfectants, and sanitizers.
Pet beds
India has witnessed a surge in pet adoption. With mental health becoming a mandate and social media posing pet-owning as a sane and mandate deed, people are becoming proud pet owners.
Fact!
As per the reports, the pet furniture market predicts to register a CAGR of 5.8% during the forecast period (2021-2026).
Home Gyming Equipment
Due to the closing of the gym for a prolonged period, many gym freaks have started home gyming. Apart from the regular gyming souls, the latest fitness nerds have also joined the cult.
This section in the society has raised the demand for gym-friendly clothing, running shoes, yoga mats, protein shakes, shakers, and other gym equipment.
Groceries
Due to complete lockdown, people had to shift their offline grocery purchase to online stores. While a few were already using online stores for groceries, a whole new bunch of offline audience enjoyed the lavish digital shopping for veggies and fruits.
This also includes buying other household things – soaps, brushes, snacks, beauty care products, other food items, etc.
They understood the hassle-free, convenient, time saving, and secure method of shopping and have adopted online as the new shopping station.
Electronics
Not only shopping, even education took a dramatic shift from offline to online pushing parents to purchase smartphones and laptops for their kids.
It also resulted in the rise of routers, fibre cables, dongles, earphones, etc.
With the closing of cinema halls, a lot of people shifted from TV to OTT platforms. Therefore, to surf on OTT platforms you either need TV or mobile. Hence, the electronics category witnessed a rise in demand than the regular.
Home and kitchen appliances are also a part of them.
Trending product categories to sell on Amazon in Q4 2021
- Electronics: Mobile, smart watches, voice assistant tools (Amazon & Google), earphones (wire and wireless).
- Lightweight mesh shoes: People are opting more for this because it’s comfortable for everyday use and exercise-friendly.
- Home and Kitchen Appliances: People are becoming more concerned about their décor, transforming their home and kitchen with urban touch.
People are utilizing Covid phase as the time to cater their mental health and improvise lifestyle.
- Fitness Equipment: As we said, people are investing more time on themselves and family well-being. A major reason that is pushing them to adopt fitness as their priority is – social media.
Equipment like – plates, bars, weights, dumbbells, etc.
- Toys & Games: Gifts for kids during festivals and games for teens (boys preferably). Apart from them, India has witnessed a spike in newborn children, so if you are visiting you will not go empty handed, we believe.
Fact!
In 2020, Amazon India witnessed a 30% growth in indoor games.
- Clothing, Accessories & Skin Care: This combo never fades. Festive clothes, office-friendly clothes (as offices are re-opening), wedding season, complimenting accessories, etc.
- Work From Home accessories
- Camera accessories
- Laptop Accessories - adjustable laptop stand, adjustable armrest, orthopaedic backrest cushion, etc.
- Gaming accessories - RGB gaming mouse pad, game controller with cooling fan, etc.
- COVID19 Essentials - PPE kit, digital pulse oximeter, vapor steamer, etc
- Cleaning Appliances - kitchen and bathroom cleaning tools, spray mop, etc
These are the few product categories that you could sell in the Q4 stage.
What does PingPong offer the Amazon Seller?
If you are an aspiring Amazon Seller who wishes to be a billionaire soon then, let PingPong India assist you in your digital business journey.
Benefits of using PingPong for Amazon Sellers:
- If you have international business via Amazon then you can manage multiple Amazon accounts from one single PingPong account.
- Receive payments in INR, USD, GBP, EUR, JPY, AUD, and CAD.
- Round the clock efficient customer service
- Free digital Foreign Inward Remittance Certificate (FIRC) after every cross-border transaction (no more standing in tiring bank queues).
- Pay your VAT and GST without any calculation confusion.
- Easy to pay your suppliers and vendors.
All these services are available to you at a highly competitive rate (better than the renowned moguls in the fintech market).
Brace your Q4 sales with these researched mantras and prepare your business to seal a crore worth sale. Don’t you wish to be a millionaire via Amazon?