I've written about the power of ClickFunnels for internet marketers but ClickFunnels is not limited to intangible products. Anyone who is selling products on Amazon, eBay, or any other 3rd party platform should get to know more about ClickFunnels.
Your business could very well depend on it (more on that later).
When it comes to selling physical products online via your own website, it seems that Shopify gets all the attention.
I appreciate Shopify but I am in love with ClickFunnels and the underlying concept of sales funnels over big, vague storefronts.
In this article I will to explain...
- Why Amazon sellers should diversify from the marketplace.
- All of the features that ClickFunnels has and how they compare to Amazon.
- Why anyone can expand onto ClickFunnels EVEN IF they have no set niche or brand (currently selling whatever makes money).
- Why building sites off of Amazon will help you grow your brand exponentially (**Hint: Build an email list!**)
- Why tools like Orderlytics and Shipstation solve the fulfillment problem.
Let's get into it.
Oh! Before I get too far into why you should be expanding off of Amazon, let me explain one thing very clearly...
I am in no way suggesting that you stop selling on 3rd party platforms!
If you're takeaway from this post is, "Amazon isn't a good business model and I need to dump it ASAP," you need to re-read! That is in no way what I am trying to articulate here.
This article is about expanding your business and giving it more staying power. Selling on 3rd party marketplaces like Amazon and eBay is NOT mutually exclusive to using your own platform like ClickFunnels.
Ok, clear there?
Let's move on...
The Dark Side of Amazon
Now, I have written a lot of articles about Amazon and how great it is. I'm assuming that since you're reading this article, you are already sold on the benefits of Amazon and their FBA program (there are plenty!)
It isn't all sunshine and rainbows though when selling on Amazon.
Selling on Amazon has several shortcomings.
Here are the 6 big ones.
1. You have a lot of competition (literally on the same pages!) On Amazon, you are victim to "the race to the bottom," and it is a struggle to differentiate yourself and your product from your competitors.
2. You don't have your own customers. If you are suspended, your business is gone. You don't have an email list of past buyers to retarget and sell more product to.
3. You can easily be removed from the platform. I have written at length about Amazon account suspensions (much of which comes from my own first hand experience) and the risks involved with selling on a "borrowed" platform.
4. You have to jump through too many hoops. Amazon regularly restricts brands and categories. When you sell off of Amazon, you don't have to deal with this!
5. You don't have as much brand resale value. Although it might not be on your mind right now, it is always wise to plan your exit. If you simply sell, "whatever makes money," on Amazon right now, you don't have much in terms of a brand that can get big money on a marketplace like Flippa.com.
6. You are limited in your marketing. Amazon sellers are spoiled. Amazon brings the traffic to them (this is why I don't want you to quit!) That being said, if you are someone who likes to get your hands dirty and wants to do a little bit of actual marketing, Amazon isn't conducive to this. Your marketing wings are clipped in terms of retargeting, using media, creating up-sells, developing continuity programs for recurring revenue, adding testimonials and a litany of other powerful methods that would lead to more revenue. ClickFunnels fills these gaps.
WHY CLICKFUNNELS IS PERFECT FOR AMAZON SELLERS
So Amazon isn't perfect, but fortunately, owning your own platform can help "fill in the gaps," and allow you to make even more sales than you are now.
Here is what Clickfunnels can do for Amazon sellers and why selling with Clickfunnels is so different than just selling on Amazon directly.
Using Clickfunnels to Take Your Brand off Amazon
Amazon is great but at the end of the day, you don't own the traffic. I have seen sellers lose their accounts overnight.
Even if you are comfortable with your place in the Amazon ecosphere, you can surely agree that diversifying to more marketplaces is smart on multiple levels.
Are You Ready to Expand off Amazon and Is Clickfunnels Right for You
Many Amazon sellers aren't prepared to expand off the platform.
To expand off the platform and onto Clickfunnels you should have...
- Your own branded products OR an understanding of drop shipping (or willingness to learn).
- A consistent "line" of items OR an understanding of drop shipping (or willingness to learn).
- The ability to handle your own customer support (this can also be outsourced very affordably).
Physical products that thrive on Clickfunnels include:
- Products that customers might buy multiple units in one transaction. The beauty of Clickfunnels is the upsell and downsell. If you sell a product you can encourage the buyer to purchase more than one and receive a discount offer.
- Products that compliment each other. If you have a product line you can easily sell complementary products.
Each of the scenarios above means you're going to increase the average cart size of each transaction.
Try doing that on Amazon! Your upsells are too often going to competitors.
Understanding the Sales Funnel Concept
The transaction that Amazon sellers are familiar with looks like this....
#1 Everyone in the world comes to Amazon (ok, a lot of people come to Amazon).
This is the real benefit of Amazon: their audience.
#2 They use Amazon as a search engine to find the product they want.
There are millions of items on Amazon. Whatever the customer is looking for is likely there or there is a very close alternative.
#3 The search comes back with potentially hundreds of possible items.
Each of the items has only a limited chance to separate itself from the competition. These include: price, image, headline, review count. Additional information is found only after a product is clicked and even then, the marketing fire power is lacking.
#4 The buyer browses the options.
Amazon is extremely competitive. Simply putting the product in front of someone who wants it isn't enough. It has to be better than all the other options (or at least appear better enough to most people).
#5 The buyer picks an item.
The buyer now chooses the item and quantity. If they want more items, those sales will likely go to another seller.
#6 The transaction is complete.
This model works at scale but it leaves a lot to be desired. There is no reason why we can't create another medium of selling our most popular products.
Here is what selling the same items through a sales funnel would look like.
#1 Seller builds their own website and combines pages to create a sales funnel.
This is where most people give up. Step #1....
#2 Seller gets their own traffic.
Most of the sellers who navigated their way around creating a website give up here. Amazon did all the heavy lifting before, but now, we need to get our own traffic. Believe it or not, it's possible (more to come on that).
#3 Traffic is shown the product landing page.
This is the first step of the sales funnel. This page is what isolates buyers from the heard.
#4 Buyers ascend a value ladder.
Products are shown and the sale doesn't stop at just one product (although it can if you want to leave money on the table).
#5 Buyers information is saved for retargeting.
Your best future buyers are your past buyers. Anyone who purchase from you can be retargeted when you have more products to sell them or you want to get them to come back and purchase products they passed on originally.
OTHER PERKS OF SELLING WITH CLICKFUNNELS
There are so many limitations with Amazon that ClickFunnels solves.
1. Drop shipping is no longer frowned upon. When you sell with your own platform, you can drop ship from sites like Alibaba, Walmart etc. without worrying about account suspensions. Drop Shipping IS a sustainable business model, just not on Amazon.
2. No more gated brands and categories. Amazon doesn't allow the sale of a number of very profitable brands and categories. With your own platform, that isn't an issue.
I hope you consider taking your brand off of Amazon with ClickFunnels.
If you're ready to give it a try, I recommend you go with the $997 Funnel Hacker option. This will give you 6 months of the full ClickFunnels suite of tools normally priced at $297/month!
