Amazon is a sizable, dynamic marketplace where new possibilities are discovered daily. In fact, 58% of buyers claim that Amazon would be their only choice of retailer if they could only purchase in one place. But where there is an opportunity, there are always those who want to profit from others’ labor. This is where Amazon “hijackers” come into play.
Competitor listing hijackers can only be effective if a seller is unaware of their presence. Some individuals may attempt to hijack your Amazon listing, but you can take preventative measures to make it more difficult for them to succeed.
We’ll go over what Amazon hijackers do in this piece, how to safeguard your listings, and what to do if something goes wrong.
What Does It Mean To Have Your Listing “Hijacked”?
This indicates that a product bearing your private label is being sold by someone else as a counterfeit or similar product. Private label vendors will find this, especially aggravating because they tried to develop their own brand and product to avoid competing with other Amazon sellers for ownership of the Purchase Box.
With Amazon sellers, getting your listing “hijacked” is a considerable worry. In fact, according to our 2021 State of the Amazon Seller Report, 48% of sellers are concerned about copycat listings being created by hijackers.
Fending Off Amazon Hijackers
1. Monitor Your Listing Closely
You should consider your listing from the perspective of your customers in addition to simply reviewing your Seller Central dashboard daily. If you want to know how many retailers are offering your private-label product, check your listing. If there are several (other than you as the sole vendor), you might be dealing with a hijacking issue. Weekly checks will do, especially if your sales start to pick up and rivals start to take notice of your accomplishment.
2. Build Your Own E-Commerce Site
You can fortify your company against Amazon hijackers if you can establish your own e-commerce channel independent of Amazon (it’s simple to do so on websites like Shopify or Square Space). You will always have a home base outside of Amazon to sell your things online because being able to validate your business through your website increases credibility and confidence with your clients.
3. Improve Your Product Branding
You might dissuade the skulking hacker if you improve your branding on your product listing and demonstrate that you have a distinctive brand and logo on the authentic product and packaging. The buyer will be presented with your brand identity clearly, and if they order your goods from a vendor selling counterfeits, they will be able to see right away that it is not your brand.
Make an effort to highlight both the product’s logo and the branding on the packaging while taking product shots. In any case, this is a competent practice because you are spending money on building your brand and your marketing materials. You put a lot of effort into developing your brand, so why not boldly display it to your customers?
4. File A Complaint With Amazon
One form is all you need to do to lodge a complaint with Amazon. You must collect your proof, which entails actually buying the item from the violating vendor, list all the ways it is fake and deceptive, and then submit it to Amazon.
In order to compare your goods to a fake, be as thorough as you can by gathering as many images and details as possible. Remember that Amazon strives to safeguard the client experience as much as possible. They will take action if it is evident that the fake will upset the customers.
5. Enroll In Brand Registry
Enrolling in Amazon’s Brand Registry is one of the best methods to protect yourself and your brand on Amazon. You’ll have more control over your listings and have access to some highly effective marketing tools.
Brand Registry offers a specialized internal staff for submitting and escalating IP infringement cases if you have concerns about intellectual property (IP) or counterfeit goods. Remember that even when registering your brand, you will still need to be careful about hijackers accessing your listings. Nonetheless, you will be better protected.
The Amazon Transparency Program, a product serialization program that enables Amazon to authenticate each of your things before it is dispatched to the buyer, is another resource available to brand-registered merchants. In this manner, the final customer receives a genuine product rather than a low-quality copy.
Endnote
One poor aspect of selling on Amazon is dealing with Amazon hijackers and their dubious morals. Everywhere you go, there will be those looking to take advantage of other people’s success and make a fast buck.
Yet, there is far too much income to be made to make worrying about these individuals your top focus. Your success will outweigh the hijackers who scavenge for your leftovers if you take the abovementioned measures and keep working toward building a solid brand with carefully chosen items and marketing tactics.
Navigating the terms and agreements as a business on Amazon can be tricky to work through. Companies like SalesDuo, a leading Amazon marketing agency, work to help propel businesses to success by offering powerful insights on ways to optimize a business’s presence through account management, operations, creative services, and finance.