“Everyone is looking to both grow or start and protect their Amazon revenue stream,” explains Scott Margolius, founder of product research tool INDBL and online retailer consultant with Feedback Repair. Anyone who sells on Amazon can create his or her own product list. You provide information about the products you’re selling such as size, height, weight, color, packaging, etc., so that consumers can know exactly what they are purchasing. Simple enough. However, unless you have a Brand Registry, your product listings are actually open to others and can be edited by companies other than you.
“Let’s say another seller is offering a similar product,” explains Margolius. “They can go in and adjust your listing so that it matches what they are selling. Now there are two of you selling slightly different products under the same description.” If a shopper purchases your product based off of the description the other seller wrote, they could be unhappy with you and your product. Consumers will not know the other company changed your listing, they will just see that the product they received does not match the product description they purchased.
Amazon’s Brand Registry allows manufacturers, authorized resellers, and private label retailers to maintain control over their product listings to avoid this problem. “If you have a brand registry and create a product list, no other seller can come in and change that,” says Margolius. “If nothing else, it will save you a lot of headaches down the road. It’s common for manufacturers and brand owners who are selling their products wholesale to let it go unrestrained all over Amazon. The price is all over the place; other people are creating listings that may not be correct. What I see are negative reviews for listings that may not be correct. When a brand owner lets that happen without any attempt to control the descriptions, it hurts them and it hurts their sales. 60% of online sales are on Amazon. A lot of consumers go to Amazon to do research, even if they’re purchasing elsewhere, to read the product reviews. They go, find your product, see the negative review, and then look for something else. It’s important for all manufacturers, brand owners, and retailers to protect themselves,” explains Margolius.
As a retailer, whether you’re on Amazon, another online retailer, or brick and mortar only, make sure the companies you are sourcing from register their products on Amazon’s brand registry.
One thing Amazon’s registry cannot control is pricing. “There are multiple benefits for manufacturers setting minimum prices,” says Margolius. “It protects brands and retailers from being devalued. It reassures retailers that competitors won’t undercut them. However, Amazon does not care about minimum prices.” Amazon’s goal is to make the end-consumer happy. Low prices mean happy consumers, so Amazon does not regulate pricing. The brand registry helps protect copyrights and trademarks, and ensures accurate product descriptions.
At the end of the day, “people don’t know what they don’t know,” says Margolius. “A lot of these decisions and opportunities can be overwhelming and lead to inaction.” For additional information and help with any aspect of Amazon retailing, visit www.feedbackrepair.com.
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