Amazon recently changed the look and layout of their product ads in a way that should benefit online vendors. Rather than separating Product Ads and Marketplace Offerings, the two categories are now competing for the same space.
Up until now, Amazon Product Ads have been featured on a “Product Ads from External Websites” section on product pages.
That might sound good on the surface, but those ads were located towards the bottom of the page, so users had to scroll through all the similar product offerings on Amazon before they could get to anything from outside vendors.
Now Amazon has announced that they want “to enhance the comparison shopping experience for customers” by mixing in Product Ads with Marketplace Listings.
When a Marketplace Listing for a particular item doesn't exist, a Product Ad for that item will get its own product page. Both product types are laid out in a very similar way so that they fit together seamlessly: the price is listed on the right, followed by the condition, seller information, and buying options.
The main difference is that under Seller Information, Product Ads will say that they are available for purchase on a specific website, and users can click a call-to-action button saying “Shop This Website” instead of “Add to Cart.”
What’s the Difference between Amazon Product Ads & Marketplace Listings?
While there are only a few differences in the appearance of the new Amazon Product Ads and Marketplace Listings, there are a couple of key changes that matter to retailers. When users
purchase something directly from Marketplace Listings, Amazon owns the customer data, which can leave online retailers who use those listings somewhat in the dark. When users click on a Product Ad, however, they’re taken directly to the seller’s website, making it much easier for the seller to track customer data.
The other major difference between Product Ads and Marketplace Listings is the way retailers pay for the service. While marketplace sellers pay a percentage of each purchase to Amazon as a commission, retailers using Product Ads pay on a cost-per-click basis. That’s obviously good if most of the users who click on the ad end up making a purchase, but it’s not so great if users are clicking the ad and quickly bouncing away.
It’s up to individual retailers to decide whether they’ll get the best results from Marketplace Listings or Product Ads.
New Ad Placement Benefits Online Retailers
It might sound counter-intuitive for Amazon to give greater exposure to competitors, but the new ad placement is benefiting both Amazon and outside retailers. Since Product Ads work on a cost-per-click basis, the more clicks a product gets, the more retailers are paying Amazon.
The good news for those retailers is that the new placement of Amazon Product Ads should results in more qualified leads being directed to their site. Web users who search for products on Amazon are typically more prepared to make a purchase than those who may just be doing a Google search to learn about products before they make a buying decision.
If an Amazon user is already planning on buying a blender, for example, and they see that an outside retailer offers a better price than Amazon vendors, they can easily get to the outside retailer’s site to make that purchase.
It’s still early days for this new Product Ads layout, which was announced in January, but it has given online retailers a lot to get excited about. While the new ad placement isn't currently available for all products, it’s something that vendors should continue to watch as Amazon seeks to improve exposure for their CPC advertisers.
Get the Bullet Point
Bullets points in Amazon are not just a space-filler. They are indexed, which greatly increases product visibility in search. Bullet points will appear in the description if the product is listed as the page owner,
as shown in the example screenshot. If it were not for the bullet points, this space would be empty. According to Amazon’s feed specs, the bullet point information “will be displayed directly under, or next to, your product photo on the Detail Page, so it is useful to put interesting information in these fields. Do not include the bullet point [characters], they will be inserted automatically.
Why You Should Use Amazon to Sell Your Products
If you have not yet added your products to Amazon, whether in the form of Marketplace Listings or Product Ads, you should really
consider doing so prior to the upcoming holiday season. Amazon is not only the world’s largest online marketplace; it is growing at one of the fastest rates ever seen in the online retail space. A growth rate at 4 times faster than other online retailers and the expected forecast is that Amazon will increase 30% year over year for the next fifteen. Adding your products to Amazon now would be one of the best investments in your business that you could make.
Still have doubts? GoDataFeed client, US-Mattress has seen 180% higher conversion rate from Amazon Product Ads as compared to other shopping channels. Take a look at the US- Mattress Case Study for more impressive details from this client.
If you would like to get into the waters of Amazon and potentially grow your business to new levels or you are interested in optimizing and expanding your current Amazon presence, sign up for Amazon Product Ads and receive $75 in free clicks.
Want to find out more? Contact GoDataFeed to get your products not only on Amazon but Everywhere.
