Amazon has come miles since its inception as an online bookstore in 1994. Now one of the world’s biggest companies, it dominates western eCommerce, cloud computing, streaming services, and more, and, in 2021, was valued at a whopping 1.7 trillion USD.
As a Hong Kong business, you’ve probably heard of Taobao and Alibaba. The two chinese tech giants dominate the eCommerce market there much like Amazon does in the US. While setting up your HK business on Amazon can be a little more complicated the pros heavily outweigh the cons.
Here’s why.
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Amazon’s growth over 2020
For the past couple decades, eCommerce has been a growing industry. Year after year, more people realised that the convenience, selection, and ease of shopping online outweigh nearly every aspect of brick-and-mortar shops.
And then COVID-19 hit.
The way the world operated changed vastly – from restaurants pivoting to the food-delivery world to eCommerce receiving more orders than ever. While more traditional face-to-face businesses struggled, eCommerce companies like Amazon grew faster than ever.
In fact, Amazon’s market value surged $570 billion USD in 2020 alone – that’s nearly a 50% growth in under a year. In terms of sales, there were 43.6% more than last year – a figure that clearly indicates the sheer growth Amazon has maintained.
But it isn’t just Amazon that’s been capitalising on the pandemic. Companies that use Amazon are the real drivers behind this growth, and those that have been forward-thinking enough to pivot away from physical sales to the eCommerce world (if not already there) have seen their business thrive.
4 Crucial Advantages of Amazon for Hong Kong companies
If you’re a Hong Kong company active in the eCommerce world, there’s a few reasons why using Amazon to sell your products could be to your advantage.
1. More people use Amazon than Google when making purchasing decisions.
The typical online customer journey is as follows:
Awareness → Consideration → Acquisition → Service → Loyalty
Each of these steps are vital if you want to run a successful business that makes money from online sales – even if acquisition is where the actual purchase takes place.
People need to know about your product. This could be from word of mouth, seeing a well-placed advertisement, or anything else. It is at the next stage in which many businesses fall short. Customers will do their research on a variety of online platforms in order to find out which product is best, which suits their needs the most, and which is the best value for money (among other factors). There’s been a big shift towards the digital world under COVID-19, and many more businesses are making the smart move of investing in services like SEO and SEM for Google, Facebook, Instagram, and more.
But the truth is, up to 55% more people use Amazon than Google when making purchasing decisions – i.e. if they want to compare different products.
Having a presence on Amazon is absolutely vital if you want to ensure that your product will be part of the competition.
2. Increase your customer base
Amazon has 300 million active users – 150 million of which in the US.
No matter how many sales you’re currently making, a platform with 300 million active users is bound to increase your sales significantly.
3. Enter the global market with a bang
Plenty of Hong Kong businesses already operate on Chinese eCommerce giants like Alibaba and Taobao. These, like Amazon, are huge for smaller businesses who can’t generate a significant amount of reach without a 3rd party platform.
But despite having such a huge presence in Asia, companies looking for a truly global reach must look at Amazon as well.
Amazon dominates eCommerce in the US, accounting for 38% of all online sales. It also has a colossal presence in much of the Western world like the UK, France, Germany, Canada, etc.
4. There’s no need to have your own warehouse with stock
Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) is part of Amazon’s service to sellers. All you need to do is ship your products to Amazon directly – they will help you store them, distribute them when customers buy them, process returns, and more.
FBA allows your business to spend more time focusing on growing, improving your products, and innovating, rather than being dragged down by costly logistics.
Alternatively, you can arrange your own logistics partner in the US, which can be cheaper and equally reliable alternative to Amazon’s own service.
Getting your products listed on Amazon
To get your products listed and sold on Amazon’s marketplace, you’ll need to complete the following steps.
Note – if you are interested in a step-by-step, detailed guide to the entire process below, you should download our Amazon setup eBook.
1. Incorporate your company
To legally sell on Amazon (in the US), you’ll need to become incorporated in the US. You’ll need:
- A valid credit card number
- Phone number
- Tax ID information
You can either set up an LLC or a C corporation, depending on your needs. We also highly recommend incorporating your company in Delaware, thanks to tax flexibility, modern corporate laws, and simple set ups.
2. Get your GTIN
In order to sell on Amazon, you need a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN). These are the numbers you see beneath barcodes, and can be used to identify your products online.
Amazon requires all products to have a barcode, and recommends you obtain them directly from GS1 – a non-profit global organisation that registers every single barcode.
3. Solidify your Asia logistics
As a Hong Kong company, you’re going to need to find a way to get your products to the US in order to be handled by Amazon. Asia logistics involves the movement and storage of your goods before they arrive in the US.
4. Solidify your US logistics
If you aren’t going to go with Fulfillment By Amazon, you’ll need to organise your own logistics and fulfillment partner in the US. They will be in charge of distributing items to customers, handling returns, and more. Outsourcing your logistics to a dedicated company who are experts in the field typically makes the process easier and more efficient from start to finish.
5. Market your products
At this point, you’ve paved the way for your products to be sold on Amazon. If someone saw your product, they would be able to buy it and get it shipped to their home.
But therein lies is the challenge – people need to actually see your products.
At First Page, this is our specialty. We have spent the past year mastering Amazon marketing -we offer a full suite of Amazon SEO, Amazon PPC Ads, and Amazon backlink services in order to get your products in front of your target audience. .
Want to learn more about our Amazon digital marketing services? Download our free Amazon e-book where you can find out more detailed information on how to take your company to the next level with a solid Amazon strategy. .
For any further questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our specialists today. We’re more than happy to offer a quote or put you in touch with our partners to help kickstart your Amazon journey.
