As people’s lives change due to the pandemic, they are buying appliances to help themselves adjust. Whether for entertainment (buying a breadmaker to try out a new hobby) or necessity (buying a larger refrigerator to compensate for not eating out), consumers are snapping up appliances at an increased rate.
And, they are largely buying online. In June, online sales saw a year-over-year increase of 76%. As we noted about the grocery and baby verticals, online buying habits will likely outlast the reopening of stores. Even consumers who buy in-store are researching online more than before to limit the amount of time and interaction at the store.
This puts Amazon appliance brands at a crossroads. With increased demand and the spurt of online buying, smart brands must tackle the challenges that have historically faced the appliance vertical and address any gaps that are left in their online marketing.
Challenges for the Appliance Vertical
Large appliance brands and small appliance brands face different challenges. Large appliances have been a brick-and-mortar holdout, as many consumers prefer to pay for installation services and shipping can be cost-prohibitive for larger items.
Smaller appliances, such as pasta makers or spin dryers for swimsuits, considered specialty items, are seeing more widespread demand.
Now that Amazon has begun offering installation services and consumers are being forced to shop online, appliance brands need to carefully evaluate their online strategy.
Examples of Good Appliance Content on Amazon
Though COVID-19 has undoubtedly electrified online appliance shopping in an unexpected way, smart brands were prepared with a solid content strategy. Effective content helps with organic search and conversion.
At the beginning of August, countertop ice makers were the primary Amazon appliance bestsellers. This GE Opal ice maker has excellent essential content, with a nice array of images, a clean title, and well-crafted bullets. It was the third bestseller.
The #1 bestseller was the Igloo ice maker. While it targets a different price point and ice style, this Amazon appliance has well-done enhanced content that sets it a step ahead.
Advertising Your Amazon Appliance
In addition to solid content, brands need to use advertising to get a jump on the competition. Amazon offers self-service, keyword-driven ad campaigns that can help drive demand. While there are many different approaches, given a brand’s budget and unique goals, smart ad placement should bring the right customers to your products.
In this search for a portable washing machine, two sponsored products top the list to receive the earliest consideration, though the KUPPET and Giantex are both bestsellers. With Amazon, the uphill journey to the top of the search rankings gets easier and easier, as the retailer rewards clicks and sales with higher placement.
Tips for Making Your Appliances Stand Out
As brands grapple with the fast switch to online purchasing, a solid content strategy will give them a firm foundation. Create a plan by evaluating each of these.
Essential content. If your brand does not have good essential content, there is no better time than now to get it spruced up.
Enhanced content. Basic A+ content is free to publish on Amazon, and the right content goes a long way toward enticing would-be buyers. (Premium A+ content comes with a fee and should be considered carefully with the product and goal in mind).
Amazon Advertising. Good content will help improve organic search, but it may not be enough to get your products in the limelight. Use Amazon Advertising to help your products get discovered.
Product Page Insights. Amazon provides details about how your products are doing. This is a great tool to make sure you have the right content and to help you adjust your strategy, set goals, and keep your strategy updated.
