Sorry to burst your bubble once again online sellers! The Indian online retail scene is getting crowded and more competitive each day. The multiplication of online sellers isn’t seizing. Everyday new sellers join ecommerce in the hopes that they can derive more sales. We’ll give it to you straight! It’s a jungle out there and only the creative ones survive the longest.
Hold your horses! We didn’t say abandon ship or pick up a new form of trade. Yes the online seller society is expanding, but the full potential of online selling has not yet been realized. According to ASSOCHAM reports covered by the Indian Express, Indian ecommerce should hit the $38 billion dollar mark in 2016, from its $23 billion position in 2015. The 26-35 age group contributes to 52% of online retail purchases. Out of the total online consumer crowd, 65% of them are men, leaving the womenfolk at 35%. There surely is scope for new online retailers to make an impact.
With so many selling in the same category, you need to make yourself and your products stand out. Breaking the mould is a different task altogether. You can try discounts, but everyone’s offering. How about cash on deliver? Bet the rest have it too. So what can you possibly use to get your target consumers to look your way?
Sponsored Ads!
That’s the answer.
Sponsored ads are a form of promotion. They follow the same principles regular advertisements do. Only in this case, the ads are specific to the internet. Sponsored ads can be put up on Facebook, Google and even marketplaces like Flipkart and Amazon. Snapdeal is looking into this spectrum of seller promotion and is bound to have its own seller sponsored ads sooner rather than later.
Flipkart’s Product Listing Ads (PLAs)
The Flipkart PLAs are a form of ad campaign for online sellers. Every seller on Flipkart is entitled to this feature.
How does it work?
Flipkart sellers can easily create an ad campaign with the help of the seller dashboard. On completion your products will be promoted among relevant customers. All through the transaction cycle the seller will receive preferential treatment. The PLA charging model is in favor of the Flipkart sellers. That is, sellers will be charged only when a customer engages with the advertisement.
The Flipkart PLA Advantage
At Browntape we use the Flipkart PLA feature to promote our clients products on the marketplace. As a part of our many services to online sellers, we promise to help them increase sale and conduct hassle free online selling. Upon maneuvering the PLA tool from Flipkart ourselves, we learned of these benefits:-
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Targets the right people
You’ve noticed small time sellers chanting their wears and big time sellers subtly prompting people to buy theirs. What do the two have that you don’t? Promotion for the right crowd! Flipkart PLAs are tweaked in such a way that they are only seen by a seller’s target audience. This ensures the right kind of online shoppers are reached. Converting their clicks into sales is much easier. Giving you your money’s worth.
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Best Selling Combination
With the ability to create AD groups, our sellers were able to learn how their products were performing in the marketplace. It identified which products were promising in terms of sales and which ones were not. This information further helped manage more efficient ad groups within product families and subcategories. As a result it enabled the development of selling combinations that worked.
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Converting Bad to Good
We all know that on some days business is slow. It’s takes a bit of effort to get things going and just the right moment too. However, what if you’ve tried everything and the stars are all aligned, yet you have slow moving SKUs? With Flipkart PLAs we were able to experiment with perpetually slow moving SKUs. With frequent promotion to the right people, we began to see improved SKU performance. Sales took off and we were able to promote a great deal of non-selling products.
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A Fighting Chance
Being the new kid on the block certainly has its disadvantages. You cannot penetrate highly competitive categories despite the discounts and offers you have in store. The fact that you are relatively new to the market limits your visibility. The best example is the online fashion category. Consumers are more liberal with their money when they’re familiar with a seller. The solution is to popularize the seller and his brand and the best way to do that on Flipkart is through its PLA services. You now have the chance to prove your seller capabilities.
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Need we say more about improved sales?
Yes, we should! All every seller wants at the end of the day is to see his investments double. You cannot be satisfied with breaking even. Profitability is the ultimate destination. PLAs can encourage sales grow to a tremendous degree. The outcome is enough to set your plans in motions and keep them going. Your brand will be recognized and your sales will jump higher.
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Source to knowledge
We’ve already told you how amazing it is to know what your customers are thinking. Flipkart PLAs helps sellers analyze consumer behavior. Product level analysis provides intricate details. The impressions you make and the conversion of click help identify what’s hampering sales and what’s boosting them. Based on this information you can take corrective steps and accordingly arrange for appropriate inventory. High impressions per click showing higher sales told sellers sales are on the rise and stock planning is crucial. On the other hand, high impressions per click translating to low conversions told sellers they need to check their product images, descriptions and highlights. Allowing them to enrich their content and pick up conversions.
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Combined Efforts
The sales season is the time to make impressions. Offering discounts and attractive deals are of no use if no one knows you exist. PLAs give you a calculated idea of how people react to your products. Combining effective pricing, product quality, premium content and special offers with an exclusive ad campaign is the perfect way to guarantee sales and returns on your investment.
We at Browntape specialize in ecommerce and online marketplace selling. Over time we have experimented with PLAs and have constructed ad campaigns that give results. If you’d like to try it out for yourself, get in touch with a Browntape expert today! We are India’s leading ecommerce solutions experts and we are always happy to help online sellers.
If you want to jump start your sales on Amazon these is a sponsored ad solution for you. It’s called Sponsored Products.
