Amazon Tests Its Own Social Media Influencer Program
Social media influencers often promote products they like to their network. It’s a powerful symbiotic relationship that has been expanded by platforms such as FameBit.
Now Amazon aims to get in on this. Last week, Amazon initiated a beta test of its own influencer program. It will offer influencers commission on products, but it’s not open to the public. This separates it from Amazon Affiliates — its exclusivity.
Anyone can submit an application to be an Amazon Influencer. But only influencers with large followers will be accepted according to Amazon’s program page.
Product selection seems to be entirely up to the influencers. As TechCrunch describes:
“We understand that Amazon is in no way working with the influencers on product selection, vetting products, nor providing free products. Brands are also not working through Amazon to reach these influencers either. Instead, the selection of products – which can be anything sold on Amazon – are entirely the influencer’s choice.”
For sellers, it remains too early to be seen as only a small group of influencers have joined. Currently it’s being aimed at influencers with larger followings but could open up to more group of influencers in the future. This will help widen the pool for influencers for sellers to work with.
But, it wouldn’t necessarily prevent you from building relationships with these influencers outside of Amazon.
Verified Sellers — the Future of Amazon Marketplace
Photo credit: Hugo-photography via Visual hunt / CC BY-ND
Marketplace Pulse made a case this week for enabling verified Amazon sellers. The website describes the issue:
“Today the only way to decide if a seller should be trusted is based on previous reviews and if they are using FBA for shipping or not. There isn’t much else to differentiate serious retailers from one-off sellers. Yet the concept of trust is key in the marketplace.”
Is this the future of sellers? It doesn’t seem to be in the cards yet. But check out the article for yourself and see if you agree.
Becoming a Top Amazon Marketplace Seller Takes Years
Our second featured article from Marketplace Pulse this week is less speculative. It did an audit on how many top Amazon sellers have joined in the past 365 years.
It found that only 5.6 percent of the top 10,000 sellers joined during the past 365 days. So getting to the top takes time. Its simply not possible to become a top seller quickly.
As a seller, it’s important to have patience. If you have a good product, perseverance should pay off over time, as most sellers simply give up too quickly.
Amazon Launches Amazon Cash
Cash is king, right? Not on Amazon, so far. But that might change. The ecommerce giant recently launched a new service that will enable customers to add cash to their Amazon accounts.
The move will allow Amazon to expand to other global markets where banking is less accessible. Particularly India with “165 million unbanked citizens and other markets in South East Asia.”
To do this, customers request a barcode from Amazon, which they then present at a participating retailer which currently includes CVS, Sheetz, and Speedway, to add cash.
This helps customers without credit or debit cards to make purchases on Amazon. Overall, this is good news for sellers, as it makes the buying experience more convenient, thus opening up to more shoppers.
