It’s easy to see why shoppers might eagerly await Prime Day every year. Prime members worldwide can enjoy epic prices on quality products and free, fast shipping on eligible orders. Not only are there deals to be found on big name brands, but shoppers can also find savings with Aussie brands through our Shop Small Businesses Store.

When shoppers are ready to buy, the last thing you’ll want is to run out of products to sell. Here are a couple of key inventory management steps you can take to help prepare.

Customer engagement and online selling go hand in hand, and when there’s the potential for a high volume of sales it’s particularly important to pay attention to the following aspects.

If you’re about to have great deals available to your customers, let them know! Plan to drive traffic to your Amazon listings through all of the channels you use to engage with shoppers, be it through social feeds or paid traffic.

Everyone’s busy in the lead-up to a sales event, and you won’t want to be waiting for your creative content to be approved when shoppers are actively looking for deals. Be sure to leave plenty of time for moderation and changes when it comes to creative-based shopping experiences like Stores and A+ Content.

Time is of the essence when it comes to a major shopping event, and if buyers have questions they need answering it’s important to be responsive to avoid missing out on that interest. Plan to provide quick, clear and helpful support for potential customers.

Promotions and advertising are often a key part of growing an online store, and it’s worth considering these as part of your sales strategy when a big deal event is round the corner.

Customers that advertised throughout all phases of Prime Day were better able to build their brand presence with shoppers and see a 216% median increase in awareness and 214% median increase in consideration.*

The weeks or months before Prime Day is also a great time to set up your marketing strategy to reach customers. In a 2022 Kantar survey, 71% of shoppers said they discovered new brands in the lead-up to Prime Day. The benefits don’t stop once Prime Day has passed, either. Even after the event concludes, 53% of shoppers said they’re likely or highly likely to repurchase again after Prime Day.*

You can use coupons to help drive sales for your products, either with a dollar-based discount or with a percentage off full price that will be displayed alongside your product. You can also create Prime-exclusive discounts to appeal specifically to Prime members.

You may notice that your ads receive more traffic and clicks during a peak sales event, so your daily budget might max out sooner. You might choose to increase your advertising budget during sales events to keep your campaigns active and effective. You can easily set schedule-based rules to set your budget ahead of busy times.

During Prime Day¹, campaigns² with a schedule-based budget rule applied show on average 39.8% increase³ in impressions, 45.8% increase3 in clicks, and 122.2% increase3 in sales, compared to the campaigns with no budget rule.

Learn more with our interactive guide for Sponsored Ads Prime Day 2023: Tips for small business owners.

Increased traffic can bring with it increased competition for a product’s relevant keywords. As such, you may wish to adjust your bidding strategy for a major shopping event and temporarily raise the limit of what you’re willing to spend on a bid.

If you’re preparing in the lead-up to a major sales event, consider how you’ll be fulfilling orders if you have a sudden influx of sales.

Perhaps you’ll choose to use Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) for some of your products, or all of them. Maybe you plan to fulfil all orders yourself and increase your staffing during the busy time. Perhaps it will work best to have Amazon Easy Ship handle the delivery from your door to your customer’s, so you can focus on other aspects of your business.

If you’re using FBA, rest assured that Amazon will handle customer service, returns and refunds for these orders. For all seller fulfilled orders, it’s worth keeping time aside in a busy sales period to manage all after-sales support. Doing so can help you maintain that positive customer feedback and provide the best possible experience for shoppers from start to finish.

See our guide for beginners for more tips on how to provide amazing customer service.