Whether you want to earn some extra cash with a side hustle or start a full-time ecommerce business, you have many options when it comes to making money with Amazon. This post covers different methods for selling products in the Amazon store, as well as other strategies.
You can try some of these ideas without selling anything. Others might not require much upfront investment or inventory. With the right strategy, you can hit your profit goals.
You can try some of these ideas without selling anything. Others might not require much upfront investment or inventory. With the right strategy, you can hit your profit goals.
- Specialize in one product or choose a niche
- Sell refurbished products
- Sell customizable products
- Sell handmade products
- Try reselling
- Source wholesale
- Team up with a dropshipper
- Earn passive income through affiliate marketing
- Be an influencer
- Connect with business customers
10 ecommerce marketing strategies to boost online sales
1. Specialize in one product or choose a niche
Some sellers prefer to start by driving sales for a single product, while others like to diversify and offer a variety of different product types. Starting with one product or a few offerings in a single niche can help you focus your efforts and give you insights you can apply when you want to scale. In terms of strategy, here are some considerations:
- Inventory management: How much volume do you expect to move?
- Demand: Is there an audience for what you want to sell? What’s the competition like?
- Price points and margins: Will you be able to turn a profit after covering all your expenses?
To find the right balance for how to make money on Amazon and get some inspiration, try running the numbers with our Revenue Calculator.
Did you know?
You can find product ideas through Product Opportunity Explorer
Professional sellers can access our Product Opportunity Explorer tool in Seller Central and use it to identify seasonal trends, unmet customer demand, and untapped niches. Sellers can use these insights to help guide decisions about what products to sell within a given category.
2. Sell refurbished products
You can list new products for sale in the Amazon store, and in some cases you can also sell repaired, refurbished, or pre-owned products through Amazon Renewed. This program allows you to ship products backed by the Amazon Renewed Guarantee, which can help you earn the trust of loyal customers. Phones, cameras, and power tools are examples of products that are often eligible.
3. Sell customizable products
Some customers are looking for products they can customize with their own text, images, or logos. Amazon Custom supports customization of products through logos, images, engraving, embroidering, and more.
4. Sell handcrafted products
If you’re a pro at sewing, woodworking, or another skill, you can turn your passion into an ecommerce business. Amazon Handmade is a community for makers who want to sell unique goods. This program comes along with perks for artists and creatives who want to share their work with the world.
Pro tip
Sign up for a Professional selling plan
When you sign up as a seller in Amazon’s Canada store, you can choose between an Individual selling plan for $1.49 CAD per item sold, or a Professional selling plan for $29.99 CAD a month no matter how much you sell. We recommend the Professional selling plan to unlock an array of advanced tools and programs that can help you grow sales and reach more customers.
5. Try reselling
Reselling is an ecommerce method where you procure products from various sources, then sell them directly to customers for a profit. You might hear about two different kinds of reselling: retail arbitrage and online arbitrage. With retail arbitrage, you source from retailers. With online arbitrage, you get products from online sources.
Note that some forms of reselling aren’t permitted in the Amazon store, but reselling can be lucrative if you find high-quality products, maintain high customer satisfaction rates, and follow applicable policies for success.
Note that some forms of reselling aren’t permitted in the Amazon store, but reselling can be lucrative if you find high-quality products, maintain high customer satisfaction rates, and follow applicable policies for success.
6. Source wholesale
Wholesale supply gives you the ability to buy large quantities of a product at a discount and potentially turn a profit by selling the goods to customers at a markup. If you want to move lots of inventory, wholesale selling could be for you. You can work with a manufacturer or another type of wholesaler to get products into the hands of as many customers as possible.
7. Team up with a dropshipper
Dropshipping might be a good sales model for your business if you don’t want to store or handle inventory yourself. To outsource storage, packing, shipping, returns, or customer service, work with a reliable dropshipper who can take care of these tasks on your behalf. A dropshipper might be a manufacturer, another type of supplier, or a print-on-demand specialist who can send products in response to customer orders.
Did you know?
We offer incentives for new sellers
As a new seller, you can get 10% back on your first $70,000 CAD in branded sales, then 5% back through your first year until you reach $1,350,000 CAD. You can also get credit to create ads.
8. Earn passive income through affiliate marketing
You don’t need to sell products to make money with Amazon. One alternative option is Amazon’s affiliate marketing program, Amazon Associates, which lets you monetize traffic through social media, blogs, and other channels. Recommend products for sale in the Amazon store and earn up to 10% in associate commissions from qualifying purchases.
9. Be an influencer
Do you have an online following or want to build one? Harness the power of online channels like social media to become an influential thought leader by focusing on a specialty and growing your networks. The Amazon Influencer program can help you monetize your skills and passions by creating content, recommending products, and earning commissions on qualifying purchases.
10. Connect with business customers
Selling products like office supplies can give you the opportunity to reach business customers who are looking to buy large quantities and save with great prices. You can get started with business-to-business (B2B) selling through Amazon Business, which gives you a suite of tools and features for pricing, business certifications, and other strategies that can help drive sales.
9 Amazon strategies to help you scale
1. Register your brand
As you look to increase revenue, you might consider building your own brand. Trademarking products and developing a brand can be a big step, but it can help you stand out from the competition and earn customer loyalty.
If you’re interested in going this route, check out Amazon Brand Registry—a free program to help you build and protect your brand. Enroll your brand to start unlocking a suite of brand-building tools and protection benefits.
If you’re interested in going this route, check out Amazon Brand Registry—a free program to help you build and protect your brand. Enroll your brand to start unlocking a suite of brand-building tools and protection benefits.
2. Advertise digitally
Digital marketing techniques like cost-per-click (CPC) ads and coupons can help a wider audience discover products and learn about your offerings.
3. Run experiments
Wouldn’t it be great if you could find out what type of content resonates the most with your audience? With Amazon’s Manage Your Experiments tool, you can compare different versions of a product title, image, or other parts of a listing to see what drives the most sales. Then, based on conversion and other metrics, you can optimize your product listings by publishing the winning content.
4. Make optimizations
You can improve product descriptions, photos, keywords, and other types of content with search engine optimization (SEO) for enhanced visibility and higher conversion rates. Learn how to use SEO best practices to help products rank in search results. You can also explore related ways to grow your business.
5. Outsource fulfilment
One option for packing and shipping customer orders is Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA). For eligible products, FBA lets you outsource order fulfilment to Amazon and offer customers free, two-day shipping through Prime. Once you send your inventory to our fulfilment network, we’ll handle picking, packing, shipping, customer service, and returns for your orders. The program can help you streamline your operations and reach more customers both domestically and around the globe.
6. Expand internationally
If you want to reach customers in different countries and regions, check out our guide to global selling for an overview of tools and resources for making sales across international borders.
7. Build an online Brand Store
Brands enrolled in Brand Registry can use our Brand Stores builder to customize a branded mini-store within the wider Amazon store. Learn more about building an online store.
8. Create A+ Content
Bring your products to life with A+ Content by adding advanced components like videos, enhanced images, and comparison charts to your product detail pages. You can use this tool to improve your listings, drive brand awareness, encourage repeat purchases, and increase sales.
9. Use automation
You can make use of ecommerce automation for setting prices, managing inventory, and other essentials. Save time and simplify time-consuming tasks like analytics reporting to keep your business running smoothly. Explore Seller Central for tools like Automate Pricing, which you can use to automatically set and adjust product prices.
Pro tip
Manage your business on the go with the Amazon Seller app
The Amazon Seller app lets you manage sales, find products to sell, and more—all from your mobile device.
Start making money with Amazon
Amazon offers a variety of ways to earn a profit, whether you want to start small or are ready to establish your own brand. We also offer several programs and tools to help you get started selling and scale your business when you’re ready. So if you’re ready to take the leap into the world of ecommerce, start by taking your first step with Amazon.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I make money with Amazon?
Yes, selling with Amazon can be very profitable in helping you reach millions of customers and giving you access to tools and services to fuel your growth. To increase your chances of success, be sure to develop the right strategy for your ecommerce business.
How can I make money in the Amazon store without investment?
There are many ways to make money on Amazon with little-to-no upfront investment. You might be able to turn a profit by working with a dropshipper or a print-on-demand supplier, or by selling digital or downloadable products like ebooks, just to name a few examples. Learn more in our guide to ecommerce.
Can I sell with Amazon as a side hustle?
Yes, Amazon can be a great way to supplement your income or open up a new revenue stream for yourself. If you’re looking for ideas for making money with Amazon, explore the rest of this article. If you’re passionate about a particular niche or skill, you could find that what starts as a side gig can quickly become your livelihood.
*A Professional selling plan is $29.99 CAD a month + selling fees Learn more
