独家优惠奖金 100% 高达 1 BTC + 180 免费旋转

3 Reasons My Amazon FBA Project Failed And How You Can Learn From It

In 2019 I launched what I thought was going to be my big break into the business scene by launching my first product on Amazon.

I’d spent hours researching products to launch until I found what I thought would be a cash cow,

It turns out I was very wrong.

But it did teach me a harsh lesson about business which I feel is worth sharing.

Why Amazon?

Last year I wrote an article about Amazon and how there are 3 types of sellers:

The reason I know this is because I’ve spent hours researching how to buy and source products for Amazon using tools such as Jungle Scout.

In my article, I explained how Amazon is a fulfillment center for businesses offering next-day delivery for their customers in exchange for a fee.

If you want to read more about my article, I’ve attached the link below.

The reason I was researching so much about Amazon was that I’d accidentally come across some videos on YouTube boasting how these entrepreneurs, had made tens of thousands of pounds by private labelling products and then selling them on Amazon.

They made it sound so easy and exciting and I wanted a piece of the action.

I was fed up with waking up every day making money for others when I could be making it for myself.

Instead of going through step by step the journey of the product and how I designed and developed it, I’ve put together 3 key reasons my product failed.

Finding a product to private label and sell on Amazon is not as easy as it looks.

I’ll be honest, I must have gone through 20 different product ideas ranging from coffee canisters, yoga blocks, and even magnetic phone holders. I was very close to placing an order for 1000 units of coffee canisters, and I still have the sample products upstairs in my house.

The product I ended up developing was a set of reusable food storage bags. I bundled together 2 small, 2 medium, and 1 large set of bags with a silicone brush to clean them.

I believed that they would solve a problem for the consumer, allowing them to easily store food and reduce their use of single-use plastics.

This was my first mistake.

The product itself was good, the quality was fantastic, they were easy to use, they were very light and easy to package and distribute.

The issue was how I’d decided to bundle them together.

I didn’t do enough consumer research into exactly what size bags and what quantity customers wanted. I presumed a bundle of 5 would be good enough.

I was wrong.

My rivals were selling 12pcs sets for half the price I was charging for a ‘premium’ product.

I’d instantly put myself at a disadvantage before they’d even gone on sale.

My biggest downfall.

I thought I knew how to market the product just because I had an Instagram account.

There’s a reason why brands like Gymshark or Nike do so well, It’s because they invest millions into their Marketing strategy. Gymshark was one of the first brands to introduce influencer marketing by attracting stars to wear and promote their brand on Instagram.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have a strategy, and when I finally did, it was too late.

I first tried to use Amazon Ads by spending £5 for keywords to enable my product to list on the first page as a sponsored ad.

Apart from 1 sale, it was a costly learning curve for me and my small budget.

I decided to do more research into how to get my sales, and the results I found were extremely concerning…

On Amazon, your listing will bump up the order depending on how many sales your product does a day. The top listings for my rivals were around 70 sales a day.

That meant for me to get to those first 2 pages, I’d need to figure out a way to increase sales to 70 a day.

Or make it look like I’d increased them.

I messaged as many friends as possible and asked them to place an order for 5 items each and leave a review. I’d then reimburse them for their troubles.

Thankfully a few of my friends were happy to help and kindly left my product a nice review.

I then tried Facebook Marketing by creating a Facebook Ad to promote my product. In the first couple of months in Lockdown 2020, I’d managed to get around 15/20 sales a day. A huge improvement from the previous months.

It wasn’t until June/July that the sales dramatically dropped, my ads were no longer converting to sales and I had no idea why.

That’s when I learned that you can’t rely on one ad to convert for months and months, you need to adapt and constantly create more content.

I eventually turned my attention to influencer marketing. I’d researched online fitness coaches and environmental influencers to see which direction I should go.

I stumbled across a fitness influencer who had over 100,000 followers on Instagram and sent her a message. She was very active and seemed to get a lot of feedback from followers with her giveaways, so I decided to see if she would be interested in doing a giveaway for me.

I spent £100 on a giveaway in which she posted 2 pictures of herself holding my item, the images looked amazing and I sat back and waited for the sales to come in…

They never came.

As it turned out, the comments were not about my product, they were more about the influencer and how she looked.

Another £100 in the bin…

I’d also not spent any time trying to build an email list before launching my product. I should have been promoting the product before launch, offering sneak peeks into the item and building up interest and demand. Email Marketing can be hugely profitable and it’s such a key marketing strategy.

How many times have you read an email from your favourite shop and instantly bought something because they had 50% off?

I know I have!

Yes, that’s correct.

I am the major reason this product failed.

The product had so much potential, they were profitable online, easy to market, and cheap to make.

However, the issue was me, I couldn’t tap into the potential of the product

And I can tell you why.

I didn’t use them.

How could I expect someone to buy my product when I didn’t use them myself? How could I convince anyone these were good for the environment when I didn’t even know how they are made?

I should have invested in some coffee canisters, I drink coffee every day and I use them in my house. I would have been able to market and present my product and idea to the rest of the world to buy into, as it’s something I’m passionate about.

Unfortunately for me, I didn’t, and I hope you don’t make that mistake too.

Top tips for anyone looking to build their own business:

1 — Consumer research is vitally important, there’s no point in making a product no one wants to buy

2 — Email Marketing is the key to a successful launch and increases the chance of repeat customers. If you can, build an email list now!

3 — Invest in something you use daily, it’ll help you build a brand to show the world

4 — Influencer Marketing can be expensive but it can also be rewarding if you get it right. I made the mistake of going with fitness coaches when I should have given them to environmental activists and influencers.

5 — Make sure your product solves a problem, don’t invest in something that’s already been done.

I hope this helps someone in their journey to entrepreneurship and helps you to avoid making the mistakes that I did.

One more thing,

If you get the chance, read ‘Starts With Why’ by Simon Sinek.

You’re welcome.

Many Regards,

Owen

Add a comment

What is your view?

Send

Related posts:

Where Is Heaven Actually?

Heaven is way out there in space, where the universe first began and where it ends. For now, the only way to get there is through your own imagination. The further out you try to reach into space the…