There are a lot of ways to continue to sell your product after a successful Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign. Recently, I’ve been getting a lot of questions from crowdfunders about the Amazon Launchpad program.
Of course, this program isn’t only for entrepreneurs that have raised money on a crowdfunding platform. It’s also for startups and innovators that are looking for new channels to get customers.
There is a growing culture of innovation around the world. Believe it or not, but when Amazon Launchpad went live in India, they received 400 applications within the first two weeks.
I’m going to go through how the Amazon Launchpad program works, along with how I think you can benefit by being a part of it. Of course, there are pros and cons, which I’ll also discuss in this blog post.
How does Launchpad differ?
There are a few key benefits for joining the Launchpad program. These include:
- Assistance forming a direct retail relationship w/ Amazon.
- Enrollment in the Amazon Vine program to get reviews.
- Larger images, video, and more detailed product pages.
Who can participate?
At the time of writing, there are some restrictions on who can actually join this program. Right now, Amazon is accepting members who:
- Startups funded by crowdfunding platforms.
- Startups funded by venture capital firms.
- Startups funded by accelerators.
- Products must be ready to ship now.
According to the website, companies will be accepted on a case-by-case basis if they are supported by a company outside of the Amazon network.
How much does it cost?
Nada! It’s free. You’ll be selling your products to Amazon at a wholesale price, and Amazon will sell it to the customer at a retail price .
So… who’s a part of it?
I’ve been watching a lot more companies join this program. In fact, I recently published a blog post, the Ultimate Amazon Launchpad Post-Kickstarter Guide, which shares how you can get the most out of this program.
Kickstarter has notably joined this program. Now, creators can sell their products on Amazon after successfully raising money on Kickstarter. You can see the categories from the Kickstarter Collection below.
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Indiegogo has also joined this program. Now, entrepreneurs can sell their products on Amazon or InDemand after their crowdfunding campaign has finished. At the time of writing, there are 117 products in this collection.
Finally, there are a lot of other collections. Launchpad includes products from ProductHunt, CircleUp, HAX (hardware accelerator), and more.
What are the benefits?
Overall, I think that there a lot of benefits to selling on Amazon. There are also some drawbacks, which I’ll highlight below. By selling your product on Amazon, you’ll:
- Increase brand awareness. Amazon has SO MANY customers. You can quickly build up the social proof around your product with positive reviews.
- Gain access to a marketplace. If you do Amazon SEO right, you can build up a consistent flow of new customers.
- Easy storefront and fulfillment management. You don’t need to host a website. You can use FBA if you want to make things super simple (or another fulfillment provider).
At the same time, not everything is fairy dust and rainbows. There are some things that you have to watch out for.
What are the drawbacks?
Amazon is certainly the 1,000 pound gorilla when it comes to ecommerce. However, just because they’ve built a robust marketplace doesn’t mean that you NEED to use it to sell your products. There are some cons, like:
- Amazon owns the customer, not you. You don’t gain access to the customer’s email address. It’s harder to market to them in the future. First and foremost, the customer trusts Amazon.
- Algorithms can change, along with your rankings. Just because you’ve had a good year or a few good months doesn’t mean that this will continue. You’re going to face competition down the road from other sellers on the platform.
- You have less control over the direction of your brand. If you’re trying to build a thriving and stable ecommerce business, you don’t want rely on one sales channel.
Getting reviews for your product
Amazon is now working to help entrepreneurs get product reviews with their Vine Program. At the same time, I talk with creators all the time who struggle to get bloggers and YouTuber to try out their products.
For a limited time, I’m going to be reviewing products on this blog from the Amazon Launchpad program. If you want to have your product reviewed, shoot me an email at sbriggman@crowdcrux.com.
The biggest Amazon MISTAKE
I am continually impressed with the caliber of entrepreneurs and creative types that reach out to me. Some of y’all are working on some REALLY cool projects.
But, having a cool product isn’t enough. You also need to market it effectively.
If you listen to my podcast, watch my YouTube vids, or have read any other post on this blog, you’ll know that I talk about this mistake A LOT.
You need to create desire for the product. You need to sell the product with high quality images, video, and copywriting.
Amazon is a huge marketplace, but that doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed sales. You have to put in the work to present the product in an attractive manner.
I talk WAY MORE about this in this blog post.
Where else can you sell online?
Aside from selling your product through a marketplace like Amazon, you can also sell your product through your own website! In the long run, this is the best way to build a brand, leverage your success, and grow your ecommerce business.
I recommend looking into Shopify to set up your online store. I’ve had a lot of readers who have been happy with the software. The ease of use of the store builder is a big leg up on traditional methods, like setting up a WordPress website and installing Woocommerce.
