When it comes to outsource Amazon tasks or projects you need to come up with suitable strategies based on few considerations. Which tasks should I outsource, is the first question that comes to mind when thinking of outsourcing. There are no predefined strategies or set of rules that can be suitable to any seller. It depends on number of things such as your short and long term goals, available time, personal interests, strengths and weaknesses and the budget to outsource these tasks.
Take a look on few important tasks you could outsource and the best practices.
Product Sourcing
Amazon product sourcing is an important task and requires lots of time for the whole process from finding the supplier to finalizing the terms and placing the order. There are many things involved such as defining product features, getting quotes, collecting samples, making of agreements, terms and payments and so on. Therefore hiring a freelancer expert is a wise decision after completing the product research. Sourcing experts will get you the desired product at right terms and price and they also do it fast due to their contacts with the agents.
Tips:
- Find the experienced sourcing expert who knows all the negotiation tricks and connected with several suppliers.
- Be involved in the sourcing process and stay in touch with the supplier too at different stages of the process. This will save you much headache in case your virtual assistant quits working with you. Then you or the person who is replacing can easily continue.
- Another important point is if the sourcing agent is from the supplier’s country then make sure that the supplier also understand the English well or you will not have clear understanding of the actual terms and agreements.
Related: Tips to hire right Amazon sourcing agent
Advantage and Disadvantages of Outsourcing Amazon Selling Tasks
Copywriting
Amazon copywriting task for the listing is not liked by many sellers as it requires keywords research and consumes lots of time. You have to carefully craft the title, bullets and description of the products to improve your Amazon SEO and keywords rankings.
Moreover, when selling in multiple marketplaces then you have to outsource listing copy to professional translators in different languages.
Tips:
- Find the native language speaker for each of the language in which the listing copy needs to be translated.
- If you find experienced translator, they will not only research the top Amazon keywords but also carefully place in different areas of the listing.
Inventory Management
Managing inventory is strategically important task which can either make more or less profit per sale or sometimes can be worst and drop the Amazon keyword ranking. Sellers have to be very careful and continuously keep an eye on the inventory levels. Sellers do understand that if they run out of stock they can risk the losing of rankings and if they have too much stock at the Amazon’s warehouse that can enormously increase their storage costs.
If you are busy in other business tasks then you should hire a virtual assistant to maintain inventory on optimum level and the relationship with suppliers. A dedicated inventory expert can ensure the profitability and rankings through keeping the inventory at desired level.
Tips:
- Find an experienced assistant specially the one who is working in the ecommerce industry as inventory manager.
- You must also research and set some goals to keep a performance check on the hired person.
Product Photography
Most of the sellers outsource this task as not everyone can take professional photographs of the products. You can also do it by yourself as Amazon product photography tips and guidelines are available by the Amazon. But it is always good to get some professional product photos and some product usage images.
Tips:
- Hiring a professional photographer is the better idea but before that you should take a quick look at their portfolio.
- You may also have to show some specific usages and befits to the photographer because in-action photos will help you increase conversion.
Amazon PPC Management
Running and managing an Amazon PPC campaign is a time taking tasks and it also require some skills. If you think you are not doing any justice with your ad dollars then think about outsourcing it to the PPC expert. You can easily find freelancers and give them access to your Seller Central as a user.
Tips:
- Before you hire a freelancer, it is recommended to set up and run the campaign first. This will give you firsthand experience of paid advertisement, then the freelancer will organize and manage it on daily basis.
- Interview thoroughly before finalizing your virtual assistance to make sure that they know their job or it could turn out to be very costly.
- Set up your budget to make sure it won’t be exceeded and get weekly reports.
- Define some rules to keep things transparent such as how much should be Advertising Cost of Sales, daily budget and cost per click.
More resources:
Amazon PPC Advertising Campaign Structure Guide
Amazon Sponsored Products – Amazon Ads Campaign Optimization Guide
Customer Service
New sellers think that when sign up FBA program then Amazon takes care of the customer support, Amazon does offer customer support but that is nowhere near the good. As an experienced seller you might know about the Amazon’s customer support and you don’t want to leave your customers with that poor support.
Outsourcing customer support among the Amazon sellers is very common because it is not very expensive too. On the other hand your hired assistant can be more focused to deal with customer’s complaints or issues. This will increase the chances of negative Amazon feedback removal and in some cases converted to the positive ones by the customers.
Tips:
- Find the assistant with general customer support experience and the one you feel is easy going with positive attitude.
- All you have to do is setting up some policies for some situation such as returns and refunds.
Conclusion
There are always limited working hours in a day and its hard to go beyond those hours by putting in your important personal time. Outsourcing helps you to balance your work and life by giving extra work to the freelancers. It also helps you to hire skills that you lack or not interested in acquiring.
I hope that Amazon tasks outsourcing tips will help you to find the expert virtual assistant and free up some time in your life. Share your experience about outsourcing with other readers!