How Amazon Launchpad Can Help You Sell More

Creating new and innovative products is tough. 

It is even tougher to sell them and turn a profit.

E-commerce and sites like Amazon have made accessing the consumer easier than ever, but there is a catch. 

While selling online is an open opportunity for small brands and creators, it has also created a highly competitive atmosphere where it is tough to get the attention of prospective buyers.

Amazon recognizes how tough it can be for new brands and products to gain traction and decided to do something to help. 

That is where Amazon Launchpad comes in.

As the name would suggest, it is designed to ‘launch’ new products. 

Launchpad exclusively works with products that have come to prominence through crowdfunding campaigns, or are the product of accelerators and incubators.

This is an opportunity to potentially reach millions of customers, but before diving in head first you should fully understand how Amazon Launchpad works.

How Does Amazon Launchpad Work?

Crowdfunded products in particular begin with a bang and get a lot of attention in the beginning, but this tapers off fast once the first products are delivered.

For one of these niche products to survive long term, they need sustainable sales through platforms like Amazon. 

Achieving this is not an easy feat and great innovators are often not great marketers!

That is why Launchpad is so important. Once you get approval to join Launchpad, you are given access to dedicated help with marketing from the Launchpad team, a massive marketing launch package and a wealth of education and training materials.

Basically, Launchpad is a dedicated team from Amazon who will provide you with all the marketing services, help and advice you need to get your new product flying off the shelves.

Let’s get into the nitty gritty details of exactly what Launchpad has to offer.

The Benefits of Using Launchpad

The benefits of Launchpad are almost too numerous to list, but we will go over the main ones here and explain how they can help you launch your product with a bang.

1. Onboarding Support

Actually getting your product onto Amazon in the first place can be tough, especially for first timers.

The Launchpad onboarding team helps get your products listed and in the Amazon warehouse ready to be sent to customers.

By the end of onboarding, your products will be in the Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) and Amazon Prime programs. 

This ensures that once the real marketing push begins the customer experience will be positive, with rapid fulfillment.

2. Amazon Launchpad Brand HQ 

If some of the terms above are unfamiliar, then while you are waiting for the onboarding process to be completed, you need to check out the Brand HQ.

This is an online learning portal with courses, consulting services and webinars designed to teach you the ins and outs of marketing and selling products online.

The value of these educational materials cannot be understated. If you can take advantage of the help and knowledge on offer, you will be an Amazon marketing whizz in no time.

Once you have used the knowledge on offer to develop your products listing to the required standard, you are moved into the next and most exciting phase.

3. Launch Marketing Package

When your product listings are fully developed, Amazon is ready to ‘launch’ your product with the following promotional opportunities:

• Placement on the Amazon Launchpad homepage in the ‘New Releases’ section.
• Placement on your relevant Launchpad category homepage.
• Your product will be linked in email communications with Amazon shoppers.
• Potential placement in Amazon corporate events, such as Prime Day and holiday specific sales.
• The opportunity to be featured in offline events and to work with other Amazon teams as necessary.

It is hard to understate the value of these placements. 

For regular products listed on Amazon, it can take months of effort to rank number one on a product page and being featured is almost like winning the lottery.

The aim of the entire program is to give you the knowledge to succeed, while also accelerating the usual process by pushing your product out there as much as possible.

The typical product stays in the Launchpad program for about a year and by the end they have solid, sustainable sales.

But, how exactly do you qualify in the first place?

How to Qualify for Amazon Launchpad

The first thing to understand is that Launchpad is not for everyone. This is only for new products and brands. Resellers of existing products don’t qualify.

To ensure only qualifying sellers are enrolled, there is an application process and it can take up to 7 days for a decision to be made.

Once you are in, you must work towards meeting the following criteria, or else you will risk being kicked out:

• Maintain a 3.5 star rating.
• Have at least 5 reviews.
• Enrollment in FBA and Prime.

With all the benefits of Launchpad, you would think there would be a high price tag, but you would be pleasantly surprised.

How Much Does Amazon Launchpad Cost?

You can join Launchpad for the all time low price of FREE if you are already signed up as an Amazon vendor.

If you only have a seller account, then you will have to pay the very reasonable fee of $39.99 a month.

There is no better value marketing package for a new product on the internet!

How to Get Started Right Now

As briefly mentioned, signing up is a process that takes up to 7 days, simply due to the manual review of new products.

You can begin the process by heading over to the Amazon Launchpad signup page.

If you are trying to launch a new product, getting into the Launchpad program should be a top priority.

You will get knowledge and help that money can’t buy. By the end of the process, you will have a successfully launched product and the knowledge to replicate the process for yourself.