Analysing & Planning Your Amazon Deal Events Like A Boss + 2023 Key Dates Calendar

Christmas time can be a very hectic period for sellers. But what should you do now all that is over? In this blog, we will go through; how to analyse Q4 events, how to deal with excess inventory, and we have created a 2023 Amazon events calendar to help you plan the next events coming throughout 2023.

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HOW TO ANALYSE YOUR SALES EVENTS

At Sitruna, we believe that there is a lot of information gained by taking the time to properly analyse how well your products sold over deal event periods. The answers you find could be key to increased success this year.

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Firstly, you’ll need to step back and review how the event went.

• Did sales increase?
• Did shipments get in the FCs in time for the event?
• How much stock did you sell through?
• How did your PPC campaigns perform?
• What deals did you submit?

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The answers to these questions will help you plan for the same event next year. We have outlined below how you find the answers to the above questions.

Did sales increase?

• Look at your business reports to view your sales. View WoW, MoM and YoY sales history to see if you were on track, beat expectations or came through lower than expected – for most big sales events, you should expect a 20-50% uplift in sales.

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Did shipments get in the FCs in time for the event?

• We recommend that you have your stock in the FCs at least a week before the start of the event.  So, look at your shipment plans and see if you meet this timeframe. Then for the future, you know if you should ship sooner/later/same time.

How much stock did you sell through?

• Look at your inventory report and download it. Did you run out of stock before the event was over? Or do you have more than 90 days’ worth of stock left over? More than 90 days’ worth of stock is considered excess by Amazon.

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How did your PPC campaigns perform?

• You can also look through your PPC performance in campaign manager. Compare your paid vs organic sales (we recommend 30% ads sales & 70% organic sales split). Did your campaigns run out of budget on deal days or perform well? Depending on your ACoS/ spending targets, reviewing how you could improve next year is essential. Look at highly converting terms and optimise your campaigns to include event-related messaging.

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What deals did you submit?

• We always recommend submitting deals over event periods, but some sellers have access to more than others. So in priority order, we recommend submitting: Top Deals (invite only), 7 Day Deals, Lightning Deals, Prime Exclusive Discounts and lastly, coupons  if no other deals are available. Throughout the year it is a good idea to test different deal types to see which are more impactful for your product. Take into consideration your profit margins combined with your PPC budgets.

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WHAT TO DO WITH EXCESS STOCK?

Historically end of year sales events, like Black Friday and boxing day sales, were designed for retailers to clear out old seasons’ stock, ready for the new year. However, with the increased popularity of these events from buyers, we now see retailers stocking up ahead of the event to cope with the increased demand.

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So, what do you do now if you have stock that hasn’t sold over the event dates? There are so many other options out there for you!

• OUTLET DEALS: This is an excellent place for customers to shop for clearance or heavily discounted products. The Outlet deal page can be accessed via the “manage excess inventory” page on Seller Central to see your recommendations.
• LIQUIDATION: The “FBA Liquidation Programme” is an option for sellers to help recover value from excess stock and customer-returned inventory.
• FURBISHING: The “FBA Refurbishing Service” takes items your customers have returned, refurbishes them and returns them to sellable inventory.
• RETURNS (domestic): You can remove your inventory and have it returned to you at any European address (UK, FR, DE, ES, IT, CZ & PL)
• RETURNS (international): The service Provider Network offers options for international sellers to manage their overstock inventory.
• DONATIONS: Sellers can choose to automatically donate unwanted inventory via the “FBA Donations Programme” to selected charitable organisations rather than have it destroyed (only inventory in UK & FR).

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If you choose to do nothing, your IPI score is likely to be impacted. You want to keep your score as high as possible for Amazon to grant you more storage space in the next quarter.

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‍YOUR PLAN FOR 2023 + CALENDAR

Lastly, it is vital always to think ahead when planning your Amazon strategy. Below we have created a calendar for upcoming Amazon Deal Events in 2023. This is based on last year’s events timings and should be viewed as a guide.

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We hope this has given you some insight into how to manage your previous and upcoming events. If you have any questions, please get in touch!

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