Q4 in Amazon: Consumer Shopping Behaviour and Amazon Advertising Tactics
Q4 in Amazon: Consumer Shopping Behaviour and Ad Tactics
Q4 is an incredibly busy, competitive and, if done right, fruitful time for brands no matter where they are selling. This quarter houses the highest volume of peak events and holiday periods of the whole year, including Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas. Consumers also tend to behave and shop differently during this period. A willingness to spend and a penchant for browsing behaviour in gift searching and deal grabbing means brands need to adjust their targeting strategies to best engage and convert consumers.
This article will break down how consumers surf and shop differently during this time, why Amazon is a key consideration to make within your marketing mix, and how to best adjust and tailor your advertising strategy to support success on Amazon in Q4.
Consumer Behaviour
Consumer purchase behaviour changes with seasons and events. This can relate to general seasonality such as Summer vs Winter, peak events such as BFCM or psychological and social trends such as “new year, new me”. In summary, consumers do not shop at the same rate and in the same manner consistently throughout the year. It is imperative that brands are not only aware of these trends, but adjust their strategy accordingly to take advantage of these ebbs and flows.
In Q4 specifically, consumers tend to engage in a lot of browsing behaviour: researching and scouring for the best products and the best deals. This aligns to the storm of peak events scattered throughout the quarter. Online, you can expect a lot of views, page or product clicks and potential add to carts without the related conversion. Over the peak events themselves, there will be a large increase in consumer volume and purchase driven behaviour to grab the best deals. This volume can be more impactful than other peak events earlier in the year (such as Prime Day) to also align with the gift giving season, especially in categories traditionally associated with gifting such as jewellery and gourmet food and drink.
Although peak events are abundant throughout the quarter, it is important to not only focus on the key events in Q4 as consumers will be browsing, planning and considering your brand and products throughout. Building a brand that stands out and supports this browsing behaviour and having an “always on” Q4 advertising strategy to complement your peak strategy is imperative for best success.
Amazon as a Marketplace
In considering that browsing behaviour, when it comes to Amazon, brands should appreciate Amazon as a search engine in its own right. The same way consumers might search Google to find products / brands relative to specific search terms, they are using Amazon in a similar manner. Simply searching for generic seasonal terms in Amazon proves this thought, and clicking into each shows the bounty on offer for each search.
While as a brand, you may prefer purchases made on your own website, or in retail stores, Amazon should certainly not be overlooked as a high potential revenue driver. You may be missing out on consumers who use Amazon as their only search engine, on desktop or via their app.
Savvy consumers may also do comparisons with Amazon relative to product reviews, price and delivery options with other options. If you are selling on Amazon and your brand and products are not well optimised, you could be working against yourself in convincing consumers against purchasing from you, on or off Amazon.
Therefore, it is important to not only consider Amazon during Q4, but to engage with it properly as part of your wider marketing mix.
Tactics for Success
There are various tactics you can undertake to support your Q4 success in the Amazon space.
Always On
Optimise your product pages - clear content, high quality imagery and positive supporting ratings and reviews
Have a clear brand story - using brand stores and ad tactics that clearly outline who you are, and who you want to serve
Be seen - remember the importance of SOV and visibility. Take up space using all available ad units and effective targeting such as cross-sell and competitor tactics
Peak Events
Do your research - understand where you should focus your efforts with your highest volume and potential terms
Start early - begin building SOV and rank pre-peak events. Bid aggressively on high volume terms to support a solid foothold pre-peak
Take up space - again, use all add units on your highest volume terms to support SOV
Consider more generic searches - if you have extra budget, you can consider wider searches such as “gifts for women” etc. Note that these terms can have high competition and CPCs, research to understand if it is worth playing on these terms first, and only if you have extra budget!
Want to know more about Amazon in Q4? Get in touch with us at zeal@zealagency.co.uk or at www.zealagency.co.uk.
