Here’s a juicy fact for you! To remain competitive with other ecommerce sites, and of course, third-party merchants selling on its marketplace, Amazon.com makes millions of automated price changes every single day, but during Q4 that will skyrocket even further. That’s a lot of repricing going on!
Experienced sellers who understand how repricing works always gain way more sales at a profit in Q4. 🤑
Now imagine having to make each of those revisions manually. It doesn’t bear thinking about, does it? It’s all very well for Amazon sellers who have a couple of decent products selling in relatively uncompetitive niches, as the work involved in making price changes is minimal. Still, for many sellers, inventories can be vast, and so the need for automatic repricing is critical to running a successful, and competitive, Amazon business.
Ecommerce is not merely the process of buying at a low price and then reselling at a higher price. Behind the scenes of many a successful Amazon business runs an extensive, finely-tuned strategy that includes constant research, planning, attention to detail, coordination and execution—all this to ensure business sustainability and growth.
Repricing is a massive part of this, yet it’s more than simply ensuring you have the lowest priced product.
What is Amazon Repricing?
Repricing is synonymous with Amazon even though it is possible to reprice automatically on other marketplaces, including eBay and Walmart. On Amazon though, repricing is far more common and the technology to facilitate this is far more mature with the option to use repricing software.
In simple terms, repricing is when a seller makes changes to the price of the products they offer on venues including Amazon and eBay. You might automatically assume that this ‘repricing’ involves a decrease in price. That’s an easy mistake to make with the common misconception being that repricing software is just an automatic ‘race to the bottom’.
In fact, repricing can work either way with a price moving up or down. Sellers may price upwards when a competitor’s product price is increased or is out of stock or when they hold the Buy Box, and down when stock levels are high from all sellers and a little more aggressive selling is required.
Typically, though repricing occurs in response to, yes, you’ve guessed it … any sort of competition.
Why Use Amazon Repricing Software?
Unlike products listed on a stand-alone website, Amazon products are easily comparable like for like because similar products are listed side by side in the catalog, with one set of images and one listing, right next to your competition!
There is little to distinguish between sellers, so it’s vital to take control of the elements accessible to you, and that includes your product pricing.
If your offer is not competitive, then it’s easy to become invisible. Amazon repricing software can help your products remain competitively priced, resulting in more sales.
To remain relevant, keeping an eye on your competition is a critical part of running an Amazon business. But scouring listings, cross-referencing your competitors’ prices and then making manual changes is hugely time-consuming, not to mention mind-numbingly dull. And quite frankly, most Amazon sellers have got far better things to be getting on with, so repricing software can take what is an essential, but mundane and lengthy task out of your hands.
Now here’s the ultimate reason to use Amazon repricing software.
It increases your chance of winning the ‘Buy Box’. That holy grail. The magic box that all Amazon sellers covet! The Buy Box is the box positioned at the top right of the Amazon product listing page and contains the “Add to Cart” (or Basket) button.
Being in sole charge of the Buy Box on Amazon will guarantee that you, the seller, gets the order when a buyer adds to their cart and checks out.
Securing the Buy Box should be your ultimate aim, but many other factors come into play in ensuring this. Of course, it’s a closely guarded secret as to exactly what these factors are, and Amazon’s Buy Box algorithm is highly sophisticated and continually being updated and fine-tuned as you would expect.
However, this is where Amazon repricing software can be a massive advantage because what is known is that the main criteria which will help win the Buy Box include:
- Your product availability. All you have to do is simply ensure your product is in stock!
- Your reputation. Make sure your shipping times, product quality and customer service are all excellent, so ensuring your reviews are top rated.
- Your fulfilment setup is favourable. Using Amazon FBA is advantageous because you will be seen as trustworthy and reliable, and Amazon rewards FBA sellers with visibility – which equals sales.
- And yes, the price of course! So being competitive on price increases your chance of winning the Buy Box, and that is the job of repricing software, so you’ll always be one step ahead of your competitors.
How Does Amazon Repricing Software Work?
All repricers allow users to define a set of rules that tell the software what to do for a specific product. This could be, for example, to beat the price of the current Buy Box winner by a particular amount, aim to be in one of the top three pricing positions or only compete against new items rather than used.
Alternatively, if you don’t wish to set specific rules, you may provide a minimum, and maximum price for your products and the repricer will use its own predefined processes and data to find the optimal price.
What’s important to remember is that Amazon repricing software can offer more than a chance to simply ‘be the cheapest’.
After your rules have been defined, it’s a simple, seven-step automated process using the magical technology of the repricing software.
- A price change occurs on a competitor’s product on Amazon
- Amazon communicates this to the repricer software
- The repricer software analyzes the data
- A new price is calculated by the software
- The software sends the new price to Amazon
- Amazon makes price checks against its criteria
- The latest price goes live!
This cycle is repeated whenever there are any changes made by any of the top 20 sellers of your product on Amazon.
Is Repricing Software Suitable for all Amazon Sellers?
The short answer is yes if your Amazon inventory is large and you don’t have time to manually track and adjust prices, and you have massive competition within your niche which is affecting your sales.
That said, pretty much every Amazon seller has some competition, so it’s likely that repricing software will be beneficial to your business even if your inventory is small.
How to Succeed With Amazon Repricing Software
So, now you know all about Amazon repricing software. But before committing, it’s a good idea to embrace the advantages and be fully aware of the potential benefits to you and your Amazon business.
It’s hard to relinquish control and put your faith in a piece of software after all. Your Amazon business is your livelihood, so to put your mind at rest, help you achieve success and to put you in a positive frame of mind, here are some common repricing myths quashed.
- Myth 1: It’s a race to the bottom. No, it’s not. Every sale can be maximized using repricing software because your price can move up (if a competitor goes out of stock, or prices increase) or down. Re-adjustments can be made multiple times.
- Myth 2: I can’t define my prices. Yes, you can. You can set minimum and maximum prices when you set up your rules, and the repricing software will stay within those boundaries.
- Myth 3: I will lose money. Wrong again! Repricing software factors in all your costs to ensure your product remains profitable.
- Myth 4: I don’t have enough inventory. Not so. Repricing software is viable for one product or 10,000 products if you want to free up some time and have the repricing task taken out of your hands.
So, it’s pretty flexible, right? But what else can you do to ensure you’re utilizing your Amazon repricing software for maximum benefits? Here are four ideas.
- Use Amazon FBA alongside your repricing software. You will be able to price above non-FBA sellers and still win the buy box. Yes seriously!
- Make sure your reputation doesn’t drop below par so that you can compete at higher prices against sellers who have fewer reviews or a poor reputation.
- If your competition comes only from international sellers, put your price up as Amazon favours domestic sellers!
- And here’s a no-brainer. Put your prices up when your competitor is out of stock.
Implement these tweaks, trust the software and the potential is there.
Still have questions? That’s natural, and you’ll find answers to common queries below
Your Amazon Repricing Software Questions Answered
Does the repricing process start as soon as a competitor makes a price change?
Yes! The process swings into action immediately after a change is made by one of the top 20 sellers of the item. This includes price, shipping and handling, T&C’s, discounts and offers.
How long does it take for Amazon to conduct security checks, analyze the data and calculate a new price?
This part of the process is extensive and can take between 5 and 15 minutes.
When does the new price become live on Amazon?
The new price will first be queued and must pass pricing rules and error tests before it can go live. Amazon’s pricing criteria must also be met, so if your new price is deemed too low or too high, the repricing will not complete.
With this in mind, it’s best to set a floor and ceiling price on your products to avoid creating issues with automatic repricing. Once matched, the new price will typically be live within approximately 15 minutes under current rules but can take up to an hour if there are new rules or changed parameters involved.
Are there any occasions when repricing won’t happen?
Yes. The repricing process won’t take place on products that are flagged as fixed price, are set not to reprice or are out of stock.
Final Thoughts
Using Amazon repricing software to boost your sales has the advantage of helping you deal with the constant pricing war often seen on the Amazon platform. It’s a hugely competitive marketplace, and any process which provides a stress-free solution to help you stay competitive is always going to be a welcome relief to most sellers.
The nature of Amazon is such that there will always be competition between sellers in whichever niche you choose to sell, so it’s vital to monitor your prices and stay competitive. Manually monitoring competition is not a good use of your time, and Amazon repricing software perfectly helps out in this respect.
That’s not to say that Amazon repricing software will shoot you to the top of the tree! Successful Amazon selling is not all about price with sophisticated algorithms also looking at your reputation, keywords, fulfilment and a host of other factors being of influence. So, the decision to use Amazon repricing software should be carefully considered as part of your overall strategy. Importantly, remember that the seller with the lowest price does not always sell the most!
Repricer.com is the fastest Amazon repricer on the market and a proud member of Amazon’s Marketplace Developer Council. Try repricing free for 14 days and increase your profits on Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Shopify and more.
