How to Find an E-commerce Consultant

July 15th 2019 By Kim Kohatsu

Thanks to Nicole Terborg of Awesome Dynamic for contributing this guest post on finding an e-commerce consultant.

E-commerce consultants are experts in the world of online marketing, often specializing in specific tools or platforms. They have the skillset and knowledge to help you thrive in an ever-changing digital world.

Hiring a reliable, professional e-commerce consultant is one of the best things you can do for your online business. Anyone who has ever sold online, through Amazon, eBay, their own website or another e-commerce platform knows that the internet is a competitive, fast-paced environment; one that is tricky for most businesses to navigate on their own.

That being said, there are some important considerations as you think about how to work with a trusted e-commerce consultant.

Which One Won? Even in nonfiction, sex still sells

July 10th 2019 By Laura Melchor

Even though we’ve all heard the saying “don’t judge a book by its cover,” that’s exactly what most of us do. That first glance decides whether or not we pick up the book and peek inside. So it’s crucial that authors choose book covers that convince readers to do just that!

This principle applies to both physical books and ebooks. When nonfiction author Greg Cayea wrote a book to sell on Amazon, and he used a PickFu poll aimed at nonfiction readers to figure out which cover won them over.

Option A shows a traveler walking along a path that winds through a bright orange background. Option B shows the same traveler at the edge of a blue-sea beach.

Can you guess which one won?

4 Ideas to Improve Your Product Imagery

July 8th 2019 By Kim Kohatsu

Improve your product imagery with these 4 ideas

Thanks to Andrew Maffettone of Seller’s Choice for contributing this guest post on improving your product imagery.

When people shop online, your product is only as good as its pictures. Photos are one of the most powerful tools you have to create a compelling narrative which will convert your brand into sales. Product imagery is a key component of a complete brand strategy that can dominate e-commerce sites.

There is no such thing as a good product image. There are only images that contribute to compelling brand stories, and images that don’t. A non-blurry image with a white background may sell screwdrivers, but an out-of-focus shot in a forest might sell mountain bikes. The good image is the image that works. Consumers make decisions by locating products in values, goals, and strategies. Let’s go through four ideas to help you move toward compelling, story-driven images that sell products:

Have a diverse portfolio of images to use for different situations.
Use the right tools, either through in-house setups or outsourcing.
Tell a story with bold images
Work from images to brand, not brand to images

Which One Won? How to display your Amazon bundles

July 3rd 2019 By Madeline Raynor

When marketing Amazon bundles of, say, hot chocolate (as in this week’s example), remember that our eyes like variety.

In a recent split test, 50 Amazon Prime members were asked to consider two product images for a three-pack of Maltesers hot chocolate pods. Option A shows three boxes in a row, while Option B shows the three boxes in a pyramid.

Can you guess which one won?

Amazon Product Photography: How to Get Started

July 1st 2019 By Madeline Raynor

How to get started with Amazon product photography

Since Amazon shoppers can’t hold your product in their hands, they rely on photos to experience an item and decide whether to buy it. That’s why high-quality Amazon product photography is essential.

Amazon product pictures need to convey the basics — size, shape, texture, what’s included — but they also need to create positive feelings in your audience. When shoppers look through your photos, are they attracted to the product? Do they trust the quality of your brand? Do they feel the drive to buy?

This guide will tell you everything you need to know about how to take product pictures for Amazon.

Which One Won? How to choose a brand color palette

June 26th 2019 By Robyn Petrik

The design of your app can make or break your business. No matter how good your app idea is, it must have a great design behind it. The app functionality is important, but so is the user experience, layout, and brand color palette.

After coming up with two different color schemes for the HappySeller app, this mobile app developer used a PickFu poll to determine which was more popular. Since this was a main screen in the app, it was important to get the color palette right the first time around.

Amazon Split Testing with PickFu

June 24th 2019 By Robyn Petrik

how to use PickFu for Amazon split testing

Split testing is a common method to optimize your Amazon product listings and increase sales. Since there are so many aspects you can test in each listing, split testing can become complicated. We’re going to look at the basics of Amazon split testing and how PickFu polls make split testing easier with reliable results.

Which One Won? Book cover designs that appeal to working moms

June 19th 2019 By Laura Melchor

If you’re a parent who also works, you know how hard it is just to survive some days. So when a book comes along promising to help you navigate a career, kids, and holding onto your self-love in the process, you’ll want to buy it. But which book cover designs will attract your attention the most?

One author created a PickFu poll with a special target audience — parents of 1, 2, or 3 children — to find out.

While both book cover designs feature the same photo, the layout is different. Option A has small orange lettering above the unframed photo and more orange lettering below. Option B chooses a bolder all-caps font, frames the picture in yellow, and adds a background to the author’s name and credentials.

Can you guess which one won?

What’s the Best Amazon A/B Testing Tool for You?

Modified: June 19th 2019 By Laura Melchor

Figure out which Amazon AB testing tool is right for you

An Amazon A/B testing tool helps e-sellers figure out what exactly about their product listing drives customers to act. In a traditional Amazon split test, sellers run variants of their product listing, collecting data over time to figure out which listing garners more conversions and sales.

These four tools can help you carry out an Amazon A/B test. The first three gather data from live tests on the Amazon marketplace. The data comes from actual customers who browse your products—although they do not know their shopping behavior is being monitored for a test.

The fourth helps you choose which variants (such as title, images, and description) customers will like best before you go live with your product and outside of the Amazon marketplace, giving you more control.

Which One Won? Mobile app designs that appeal to players

June 12th 2019 By Robyn Petrik

Mobile app designs are a crucial component of user engagement. Everything from your app icon to the user interface can affect how addictive an app becomes and whether it drives revenue. In a pay-to-play game, your in-game store must be visually appealing and easy to use in order to encourage more purchases.

A mobile app developer created two mobile app designs and tested them in this PickFu poll. The two in-game shops had different color schemes. Option A had a tropical background while Option B had a plain background. The differences were fairly subtle but made a big difference in the poll results.