How to successfully prepare for Q1 2024 on Amazon

Amazon has an average daily sales revenue of 1.4 billion dollars with 310 million customers worldwide. These figures show how significant Amazon truly is in the world of e-commerce. 

The holiday season is a very stressful time for most sellers. With Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas, it's easy to forget about preparing for the new year. However, the start of the new year can also bring you a lot of sales.

In this article, we will give you some tips on how to ideally prepare for the first quarter of 2024.

How you can prepare for January

Early preparations are essential for any seller on Amazon. Although the holiday business is still ongoing, you should start preparing for the time after.

Even before the holiday season, ideally in October to the end of November at the latest, you should give your manufacturer an estimate of your expected stock requirements for the new year so that they can adjust to the appropriate product quantity. For this prognosis, it is helpful to analyze sales data from the past to see which products were particularly popular at which time and focus on them accordingly. Likewise, it is important to perform an analysis of your inventory, especially after holiday sales. You should subsequently increase the inventory accordingly.

Tip: Analyzing your past sales performance can also be important for inventory costs if you are using the FBA program. You should base the size of your inventory and the corresponding warehousing space on your sales figures so that you don't waste money on unnecessary storage expenses. 

You should always expect delays in the supply chain and should therefore take care of all orders with your manufacturer early on. As already mentioned, early predictions can be helpful here. If you sell products that are manufactured in China, you should keep Chinese New Year in mind. This holiday is celebrated between the end of January and mid-February and can cause major delays in the supply chain. 

Furthermore, it can be useful to optimize your product listings. Especially for products that did not perform well before and during the holiday season in Q4. 

When optimizing, the four main elements, product title, product images, product description (or A+ Content) and bullet points are especially important. You should make your listings as informative and intuitive as possible. In product listing optimization, keyword optimization is also essential, as it is one of the best and most cost-effective ways to make your products stand out from the competition. Here, both the backend keywords and the keywords you use directly in the listing are crucial.

Note: You should be prepared that there may be many returns in January, as some Christmas gifts tend to be returned. To avoid complications and keep customers happy, you should have a well-developed process for returns.

What to do once January arrives

Usually there is a slump in sales in January after Black Friday and the holiday shopping season. However, you can use your success from Q4 and reinvest your profits in Q1 for example in ads, so that you can keep your sales high in the long term. 

You should be sure to take active promotional measures. To do this, you can analyze your past sales data and performance to appropriately tailor your advertising for the right products. For example, you can run Sponsored Display Ads or Sponsored Brand Ads. Video Ads also attract a lot of attention. In general, you can use ads to increase the visibility and reach of your products. The different types of ads help you target customers at different levels of the buyer's journey. 

When you run ads, you should ensure continuous analysis and optimization so that the best possible performance can be guaranteed. To achieve this, advertising platforms like BidX can be helpful. BidX continuously analyzes the performance of your ads with self-learning algorithms and makes them more profitable through bid and keyword adjustments. 

We also recommend that you prepare for various events that will take place in Q1. These include, among others, Valentine's Day on February 14 or Easter on April 09. These events can be great opportunities to increase sales, especially if you sell products that are suitable as gifts, for example. 

Even after sales events like Black Friday, you can continue to offer promotions and coupons to your customers. These make your products especially attractive for Amazon customers.

Staying abreast of the latest trends in 2023 can be invaluable as you prepare for Q1 2024. A significant trend to watch is the growing inclination of consumers to make purchases on social media platforms. More and more customers are now making buying decisions based on products they discover in social media posts or advertisements.

This shift has created a fertile ground for influencer marketing on Amazon, with video campaigns gaining increasing popularity. To remain competitive and make the most of Q1 2024, it's essential to stay in tune with these evolving trends.

Consider exploring influencer partnerships tailored to your niche and product offerings. Collaborating with influencers who align with your brand can amplify your reach and drive sales. Additionally, invest in video marketing to engage your audience effectively.

Remember that adapting to these trends may give you an edge in the competitive Amazon Marketplace, setting you up for a successful start to the new year.

The bottom line

The post-Christmas season may be a humbling time for many sellers on Amazon. However, with the right preparations, you can start the new year well and get the best out of the first quarter. And remember: Early preparation is key. 

We wish you many sales successes in 2024!