As one of the most popular categories on Amazon, clothing is considered one of the most profitable niches for third-party sellers. Just in 2020 alone, almost $40 billion worth of clothing products were sold on the website (Source: Scribd). If you are thinking about selling clothes on Amazon, today is the best moment for you to work on this goal. The pandemic has changed the dynamic of online shopping. Most shoppers today prefer buying online because it is convenient, fast, and readily affordable too.
Almost a third of all the clothing sold in the whole U.S. comes from selling clothes on Amazon (Source: Zonguru). If that isn’t an indication that AMZ is one of the best platforms to sell ready-to-wear clothes, what is? Every figure points to that selling clothes on Amz is still one of the most profitable businesses today. It is a lucrative business right now, but it doesn’t mean that it is easy to make money off of it.
If you are someone who is looking for a guide about selling clothes on Amazon in 2024, this is the right place for you. Many newbie sellers don’t want to jump the gun and make bad business decisions quickly. So take your time and understand how selling clothes on Amazon works before starting your online store.
Ready to jump right in? Then let’s start.
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How to Start Selling Clothes on Amazon
Selling clothes on Amazon is not difficult at all, it follows the same steps as selling anything else on Amazon. We have outlined the steps involved in selling clothes on Amazon below.
Create an Amazon Seller Account and Choose a Selling Plan
The first step to selling anything on Amazon is to create a seller account. Here’s a simple breakdown of how to create your seller account.
The next thing you should do after creating your seller account is to choose a selling plan. Amazon offers two selling plans; the individual and the professional plan. The individual plan costs $0.99 on every sale and is best for sellers who do not intend to sell more than 40 items per month while the professional plan costs $39.99 per month and is best suited for sellers who intend to sell more than 40 items per month.
Choose a Business Model
Next, you’ll have to choose which business model you want to use. There are five business models to choose from, all of which are outlined below.
Private label: The private label model involves selling clothes under your own brand name. This will require you to reach out to suppliers, then ask them to manufacture the clothes under your brand name.
Retail arbitrage: This business model involves buying products in batches from physical or online retail stores, then reselling them on Amazon at a higher price.
Wholesale: If you opt for this model, you will have to order your merchandise in bulk directly from manufacturers and then sell in relatively large quantities on Amazon.
Handmade: This option is best for artisans who would like to design customized outfits and resell them on Amazon.
Dropshipping: This is the least stressful and expensive business model. Here, you’ll have to contact suppliers and have them ship orders directly to your customers.
When choosing a business model, ensure you factor in the startup costs. Private labeling and wholesaling require more capital investment compared to dropshipping and retail arbitrage.
Choose a Fulfillment Method
After choosing a business model, you will have to decide how you want to fulfill orders. Amazon offers two fulfillment options; FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) and FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant). If you choose the FBA option, Amazon will store your merchandise and ship orders on your behalf while also providing customer service for you. The FBM option on the other hand means that you will be solely responsible for your business fulfillment.
Get Approval and Create Your Listing
You’ll need to get Amazon’s approval to sell clothes. So, the next thing to do is to apply for approval to sell clothes on Amazon. Once this is done, you can go ahead to create your product listings and start making sales.
7 Tips To Make Selling Clothes on Amazon Easier
Now that you know why it makes sense to start selling clothes on Amz, the next step is to make it easier for you to do so. There are many reasons why you would want to follow these steps. But mostly, it is to make your life so much easier and lessen all the difficulties when handling your business. Here are some of them:
Always Group Your Products Via Model or Style
One of the easiest ways to get traffic is through pay-per-click (PPC) marketing. And when you are using this platform to advertise, it is essential that you group your products via style or model.
If you are selling a shirt of many different sizes, for example, you should never segment this product in different campaigns. Instead, make sure that you put all of them under one keyword group. That way, you can easily create an advertisement that targets all the characteristics of these products in one go.
Make Sure To Segment The Sizes In Your Product Listings
We cannot stress how important this is. We have seen so many products with different listings, and the only difference between them is that they are different sizes. This is not a streamlined and optimized way to do your business.
When all of your multiple sizes are in one listing, shoppers will have an easier time browsing and selecting your products. They don’t have to go to another listing just to choose a different size. Yes, this is just a basic thing that most people don’t usually make. But there are still many new sellers unfamiliar with the platform who are still making a mistake.
Always Use High-Volume Relevant Keywords
Using relevant, high-volume keywords is important for acquiring targeted traffic. The only way for you to get sales is to target people already interested in your product. And the easiest way to do it is to use relevant keywords that people are using to find products related to your niche.
Of course, you also want to target only high-volume keywords to make it worth your time. If you don’t target high-volume keywords, you won’t get enough traffic to make it worth your while.
Use High-Quality Images
I Can’t stress this enough. And this is probably one of the most important factors you have to consider when selling clothes. Since people can’t hold, check, or wear your products beforehand, the only way to entice them to buy is to use high-quality images.
Nothing works better than a listing with great quality images. If your images are clear, big enough to see the details, and show all possible wearing angles, people will be more inclined to purchase the products in your store. Great images probably contribute the highest when it comes to conversion rates. Make sure to add high-quality to your listings to get great results.
Set up your A+ Content
If your store is registered on Amazon Brand Registry, you should make the most out of this by creating your A+ Content. The A+ Content is like a customized landing page for your products that you can create in addition to your product’s default listing descriptions.
A+ Content is also one of the contributing factors that can highly influence your conversion rates. Using this unique feature, you can add different modules and styles to your listings. However, you need to be a registered brand on Amz before using this feature.
Don’t Sell Seasonal Products
If you want your earnings to be consistent all year long, don’t try to sell seasonal products. Seasonal products make it difficult for you to make a sale during non-peak seasons. Another thing that can affect you is unloading and selling the products to avoid the long-term storage penalties.
If the products on your FBA inventory aren’t sold within 365 days, AMZ charges you a “long-term storage fee”. This fee is different from the monthly storage fees that AMZ already charges you every 30 days. You don’t want your inventory lying around in your warehouse unsold. And products that are out of season usually sell poorly. Don’t make this mistake if you are just starting.
Read Reviews and Listen To Your Customer Feedback
The Reviews and Rating section of your store is probably one of the most important, yet overlooked, parts of your business. This place is a gold mine if you want to know how to improve your business and keep customers happy.
Make it a habit to read your Reviews section at least once a week and try to sort out the problems that your customers point out if you can. Criticism do not always mean negative energy. Sometimes, you just need to look at it from the outside looking in.
Why do Consumers love Buying Clothes on Amazon?
While there are many possible answers to this question, below are some of the most obvious reasons why this is the case: Let’s discuss each one of them:
There are lots of available options
First on the list is the simple fact that there are many options available on Amazon that you can’t find anywhere else. Whether you are looking for branded clothes or generic ready-to-wear merchandise, it is quite hard to beat the availability of products on Amz.
When you go to a shopping mall, you are limited by the number of stalls and brands selling in the mall. But when you got to AMZ, you have millions of sellers waiting for you to add to the cart and check out your item. It’s not even a competition anymore. AMZ just has better overall options for shoppers.
Easy and convenient to buy online
Think about it. If you decide to purchase your clothing in a shopping mall or a physical store, you’ll have to undergo a lot of inconvenient things before you can push through. You need to drive to the actual store and look for a parking spot (which can take hours), walk long lines, get lost while looking for anything decent to wear, etc.
With online shopping, all you need is to browse for a clothing product on a search bar, browse through the results, filter your choices, and check out. No more long lines, hassle parking, and long drives. Because of this convenience, combined with the risk caused by the recent pandemic, online shopping has never been better.
Easy to return items
So you’ve had a change of heart? Have you decided that you don’t like the authentic look and fit of the item you bought? If you bought your items from a physical store, returning items could be such a hassle.
If you buy online, however, you’ll have an easier time returning your stuff. And take note that Amazon FBA also has its own “A to Z Guarantee”. This means products that fall under the qualifications of the A to Z Guarantee can be returned with no questions asked. Isn’t that great?
Fast and Reliable Shipping
Gone are the days when you had to wait several weeks for an item that you ordered to arrive. One of the best things about buying on AMZ is that the shipping is quite fast and reliable. Some products that FBA sellers offer can even be shipped within the same day or the next day. If you are a buyer, that is one of the best things for you.
Why Consumers Hate Buying Clothes on AMZ
Of course, not everything is sunshine and rainbows when selling clothes on Amazon. There are also reasons why customers might not want to shop online. And listed below are some of the reasons that you need to be wary of before you decide to start selling clothes on Amz.
You cannot fit the clothing items
Perhaps the biggest hurdle to selling clothes on Amz if you are a vendor is that customers might have a larger return rate than in physical stores. Why? Simple. It’s because you can’t really fit the clothes when shopping online.
More people are likely to return their items if they find the clothes too tight or too loose. They might also return it if they feel like the colors do not match compared to the ones shown in product listing images.
You cannot check the quality of the items
When you are shopping online, you don’t have the luxury nor the opportunity to check the quality of every item that you buy. Because of this, it can be easy to be disillusioned by the items you purchase.
When “buyer’s remorse” kicks in, customers are more likely to return the products and ask for a refund. Which is not something you want if you are selling clothes on Amazon.
Why You Should Sell Clothes on Amazon in 2024
There are multiple reasons why this strategy works. Aside from the reasons we have already stated above, there are also several factors and variables why we think selling clothes on Amz in 2024 is still a lucrative business.
Aside from the fact that the demand for online products has grown throughout the pandemic, the massive shift from the mall and retail stores to online shopping is inevitable. Most people today own a smartphone, and the easiest way to purchase goods is to have your orders online.
Sellers who take advantage of this technology shift are the ones who will ultimately benefit in the long run. And if you can build your name, brand, and customer service well, customers will be flocking to your store for repeat purchases, too.
Another reason why this strategy works is because of FBA (fulfillment by Amazon). Under this selling model, AMZ will be the one to do the heavy lifting for sellers like you. You need to send your products over to AMZ’s warehouse or fulfillment centers. As soon as a customer makes a purchase, AMZ will be the one to pick, pack, ship, and deliver the items to your customers.
Because of the FBA business model, selling clothes has become easier. With this in mind, you don’t need to work as much on the fulfillment side of your business anymore. All you have to do is find ways to market your products and make more sales.
Conclusion
Being an online seller is not an easy feat, especially if you are trying to sell on one of the biggest marketplaces in the world. With these tips and best practices, you can set your business up for success without many difficulties. However, you still need to make sure that you can confidently do the other aspects of your business with ease.
If you need help in keyword optimization, product research, listing optimization, and product validation, Zonbase is the solution to your answer. This Amazon seller software can help you accomplish these tasks with just a button click. This will make selling clothes on Amazon so much easier!
