• by Josh Neblett , Columnist, May 11, 2018

Online marketplaces are the growing online platforms of choice for online shoppers with, 97% of online shoppers purchasing on marketplaces, such as Amazon and Jet. Here are four best practices that strategically position and protect your brand on the top online marketplaces. 

1. Be aware of your sellers

Unauthorized sellers popping up in your Amazon product listing is a common frustration. They can negatively impact your product by altering the listing content, undercutting prices of authorized sellers, and providing poor customer service that can lead to negative reviews on the listing. 

To combat unauthorized sellers, you must communicate regularly with your sellers and practice brand vigilance. 

• Let your distributors and authorized sellers know who is permitted to sell your products online. Authorized sellers want to maintain good listings as much as you do. They can be a great lookout for anything unusual and will let you know if anyone uninvited shows up to the party.

• Monitor your product listings. This will inform you of whether your product information is up-to-date, help you track duplicate listings, and identify counterfeit products that sometimes show up with unwanted sellers. 

Creating and enforcing a Minimum Advertising Price (MAP) policy helps protect brand image and ensure fair competition among authorized retailers. 

• Consider your margin and the prices among your competitors to determine your threshold. 

• Be competitive with your pricing but do not undervalue your brand.

• You can always run authorized promos or Amazon coupons to generate additional interest.

Once you’ve created your MAP policy, consider having a lawyer review to ensure it’s compliant with state and federal laws. Now, distribute the policy to your authorized sellers. 

3. Publish informative, optimized content 

You’ve seen the bare-bones listings that lack product details, or excessively long listings with so many bullet points that you don’t know where to start. Your listing content has a huge impact on your product discoverability and conversion, so getting it right is vital. 

• Every listing should have an informative title, aspirational bullet points, a keyword-rich product description, and A+ content that turns browsers into buyers. 

• When you’re writing content, there's a fine line between writing for human consumption and writing to optimize for algorithms. Both must be done in harmony.  

Clear information that inspires shoppers to hit “add to cart” is the easiest and most fundamental way to position your brand on any online marketplace. 

4. Ensure consistency across marketplaces

If you’ve taken the jump and expanded to online marketplaces other than Amazon, be sure to actively monitor your pricing, sellers, and content on those additional listings as well. 

• Too often, brands throw listings up on Jet, eBay, or Walmart and neglect them because the revenue is not as substantial as Amazon. 

• Inconsistent information across the other marketplaces causes a major headache on Amazon. Amazon strives to always offer the lowest price. For example, if their algorithms detect a lower price on Walmart, Amazon will occasionally “roll up” their buy box, making it more difficult for shoppers to “add to cart,” confusing customers, and decreasing sales.  

Implement these four practices and you’ll be on your way to protecting and positioning your brand when selling on online marketplaces.