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Amazon FBA Sellers – Let’s Get Ready for Halloween 2022

Scaling Your Amazon Business

Posted on January 4, 2022
by Benedict Dohmen

Christmas, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Prime Day are not the only big sales days on Amazon.

Underappreciated by many sellers, Halloween is also a source of high profits that will increase your profit margins significantly—provided that you make sure your business is ready for everyone’s favorite spooky holiday.

So, Amazon sellers: let’s get ready for Halloween 2022 sales!

Consumer habits during Halloween

Before creating your strategy it is very important for you to understand the consumer habits and needs so you know which issues on your listing you should tackle first.

Halloween is the 4th most popular shopping season in the US. On Amazon, it kicks off the 4th quarter of the year buying spree, which is chronologically followed by Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas.

As Q4 is the most festive season on the calendar, it is also a golden opportunity for Amazon sellers to rake in revenues. Even as the COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted Halloween spending in 2020 and 2021, it wasn’t a particularly deep dent. Along with this, rising vaccination rates in 2021 raise hopes that our kids might be able to go out trick-or-treating once again.

In 2020, Americans still spent $8 billion on candy, costumes, and decorations during the Halloween season. This figure is down from $8.8 billion in 2019 but it has rebounded in 2021 alongside the economy.

The best news is that online shopping’s popularity is at an all-time high, as many people are still hesitant to visit their favorite brick-and-mortar stores. Besides, quite a number of these establishments have closed shop temporarily or permanently due to the health crisis. So as an Amazon seller, you would be wise to ride the tide.

Trick or treat yourself to a profitable year-end by offering Halloween products that Amazon buyers are ready, willing, and able to purchase. Here’s a list of those top-selling items:

Halloween product recommendations for Amazon sellers

For kids, Halloween is the sweetest time of the year as adults indulge them with sugary treats. Because of this, 90% of shoppers purchase candy. Costumes and decorations come next in the popularity stakes, both drawing the attention of 70% of shoppers.

Decorations

The Amazon community spent a whopping $2.6 billion on Halloween decorations in 2020. From classic pumpkins, spider webs, and skeletons to 10-foot ghouls, Americans went all out to deck their homes with indoor and outdoor decor. You can expect this trend to continue in 2022, as Halloween parties are more accessible and safer than before.

Lights

High-tech, pumpkin-shaped string LED lights are this year’s Halloween craze, and so are spooky bulbs in all imaginable colors, shapes, sizes, and designs. Not only are they great for decorating the outside of your home, but they also make for eco-friendly, reusable light sources for carved pumpkins, an old Halloween favorite.

Candy

In October 2020, the top 50 Amazon listings for Halloween candy enjoyed a monthly average revenue of $96,000. A big chunk of this figure went to chocolate, but non-chocolate sweet treats were not far behind. Sales experienced a large bump starting mid-October. Customers also preferred to buy these goodies in bulk.

Costumes

Virtual Halloween celebrations became popular when families and friends couldn’t get together in person. This prompted a rise in dressing up for the occasion and included even their beloved pets.

Since we are all encouraged to continue wearing masks when going outdoors, the Halloween 2021 trend of adding disposable masks, bandanas, and plague-doctor masks could roll over into 2022.

Keep in mind that costumes include footwear and accessories as well. So, if you are already offering these products, we suggest that you create versions of them.

Makeup

At the witching hour, authenticity is the name of the game. We predict that many will still unleash their creativity in looking as close to their favorite scary characters as possible. From the iconic Frankenstein and the Addams family to Voldemort and the Walking Dead, makeup is the indispensable tool that people will wield to make it happen.

If you don’t already carry these products on your Amazon store, you can add them to your list, but an alternative route would be to inject the Halloween theme into your current lineup. Either design a new version for the occasion or simply run promotions in celebration of the holiday.

Here are other wicked Halloween ideas to boost your Amazon store:

How to get your Amazon store ready for Halloween

Choosing the right products to sell is just the first step in staying competitive during this magical period. There’s a lot more you can do, which may be hard work, but you’ll reap the benefits if you make the extra effort!

Get a headstart by August

While Amazon customers have the luxury to shop at the 11th hour, sellers don’t enjoy the same advantage. You have a copy to write, images to shoot, inventory to manage, and promotions to plan and execute.

Another reason why Amazon FBA brands need to prepare their offerings no later than August is so they can catch the early-bird Halloween traffic. A lot of shoppers start stocking up, particularly on sweets, in late July. Top relevant search terms during this period already include “Halloween Candy” and “Bulk Halloween Candy”.

Because of this, having your spooky-themed products ready to go before August will give you a competitive edge. Running PPC (pay-per-click) campaigns on Halloween-related targeted keywords would be cheaper during this period due to the smaller amount of competition. And even if the search frequency is lower, they will still bring invaluable sales velocity.

The benefits of early preparation

The conversion boost to your listings will reflect on their rankings, consequently driving organic traffic. By the time October comes around, they would already be achieving lower BSRs (Best Sellers Rank). This, in turn, will drive more sales.

Launching a new product on Amazon is no easy feat, even for seasonal items, so proceed with caution. Do your due diligence in research and quality to ensure success. That’s another reason to start early.

Do thorough product research

Selling the right product is the most important decision you will ever make as an Amazon seller.

It must be something customers want to buy, though that probably goes without saying. Also, it should be of high quality to generate positive reviews—or, at the very least, not acquire negative ones.

There are various surefire methods you can apply to make sure you choose the best item that matches your budget and preferences:

Check the Amazon Best Seller list using ‘Halloween’ as a search term—or something more specific if you already have a product in mind.
Go to the product pages of the Top 5 listings and check out the “Customers Also Bought” section right below the bullet points. This will give you an idea of buyers’ inclinations.
Use the Amazon Trend Report to determine the demand for Halloween products in the past 12 months.
Google Trends is also a good place to find real-time popular products. You can filter the location or your time zone.
Third-party apps like Jungle Scout, Helium10, and ProfitGuru are dedicated to Amazon product research, and some offer basic plans for free.

Choose your niche

This is important because it will be your basis for selecting your listing’s category and sub-category on Amazon. The tone of your copy and the design of your images will also depend on the profile of your target market.

When deciding on your niche, three factors you must consider are:

Price

Compute your potential profit on any product at any price point using Amazon-centric apps such as SupplySpy and Profit Bandit. Afterward, determine whether you are satisfied with the revenues.

Market size

Would you rather compete with many sellers in a popular category where buyer numbers add up to millions, or with a few sellers in a niche category of a smaller customer base?

Your capacity to compete

Ensure you have enough cash to maintain a robust inventory until the last minutes of Halloween shopping. Earmark-related expenses, such as Amazon FBA fees, copywriter and graphic designer salaries, and shipping to Amazon’s fulfillment centers.

Is your website Halloween ready?

While having a website is not required for an Amazon FBA brand, it is an additional revenue stream where you can generate organic traffic. You may redirect this to your listings on the Amazon platform. Alternatively, you could convert your site into an online store and enjoy higher profit margins.

Whatever the case may be, switching to a temporary Halloween-themed design will attract potential customers. Change colors, add a banner with a catchy spooky phrase, and sprinkle images of jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, and witches on brooms all over your website pages. Maybe even upload some sound effects for a scream-worthy experience.

This doesn’t have to be a major revision. After all, Halloween is celebrated for only a few days. What’s important is for your site to convey the holiday spirit and encourage your visitors to engage in your seasonal promotions (more on this in the following section).

While you’re at it, update the mobile version of your site as well, especially if you have a mobile app. A simple icon or palette change update, along with a Halloween-themed landing page, can be well worth the effort.

Stock up on Halloween items

Prepare to manage a larger inventory, and seriously consider offering various sizes. As mentioned above, Amazon buyers purchase candy in bulk during Halloween. You shouldn’t miss a sale just because your product is not packaged according to their preferences.

Another risk you must not take is running out of stock. When this happens, all your efforts at moving your listings up the ranking ladder will be for naught. If you are not yet aware, Amazon automatically tags an FBA listing with ‘This product is currently unavailable’ the moment inventory runs out.

The unfortunate consequence of this is a sudden drop in your sales metrics, which could be damaging to your ranking, and maybe even send your product into oblivion. Not to mention the lost opportunity of increasing sales and reviews.

Discounts and promotions: ideas to boost Amazon Halloween sales

Running discounts on Amazon FBA brands is as easy and quick as a few mouse clicks. You can even plan it way ahead of time on your Seller Central account and create coupons that you could promote on other online platforms.

Here are other spooktacular deals you can offer your potential and existing customers:

Insert Halloween gift cards in your packaging to encourage early purchases.
Instead of a discount, bundle two or more products at a lower price tag.
Include free items in a specific minimum number of orders.

You can offer these promotional items on your website or online store as well, and even present your Amazon coupons as an attractive pop-up. For mobile users, a scannable QR code is a fang-tastic deal that’s impossible to refuse.

Offer free shipping

Another irresistible method to prepare your online store for an amazing Halloween is to shoulder all shipping expenses on your customers’ behalf.

Many shoppers are known to abandon their carts when faced with a shipping fee on top of the product price. Yes, even if it comes with a hefty discount. Conversely, most of them will be pleasantly surprised to see a ‘free shipping’ item upon checkout.

On the Amazon platform, Prime members automatically enjoy unlimited two-day free shipping benefits on at least $25 of all eligible products. Non-Prime members may avail of the same benefit minus the fast delivery. All that you need to do on your end is make sure your products fall under the eligible category.

Create Halloween-themed content

You may not have much free time to design your Amazon store or product pages, but you can still get into the magical spirit through small gestures that buyers will appreciate:

Halloween-themed packaging that shows up on your listing’s thumbnail image in search results, and on all the other images on the product page.
Spooky-themed copy on those images.
Product title with fun, seasonal keywords.
Themed bullet points and product descriptions, sprinkled with bat and spider emojis.

Studies suggest that the above updates not only make listings seasonally relevant but also attract more clicks and increase conversion.

Over on your website, you can change product names or page sections into more thrilling and chilling terms. If you have a blog, write several articles on how your product can be beneficial during Halloween.

Should it be impossible to make a connection, it won’t hurt to share historical facts about the holiday, or how your local community celebrates it.

Try to maintain a sense of humor when writing copy, whether on your Amazon product page or your site. Halloween is a season of fun, and your audience expects to be entertained. On that note, it’s also a good idea to share this content on social media.

Your social media plan

Maximize your brand presence on these platforms by posting teasers to your Amazon and website promotions days or weeks in advance. If your budget allows for it, running ads is also a great idea.

You could even consider customizing your marketing efforts by the medium. For example, a photo contest on Instagram, a meme contest on Facebook, a slogan contest on Twitter, and a dance-fashion contest on TikTok would all be great ways to boost engagement and draw attention to your brand.

Run Halloween-Themed email campaigns

Leave no Halloween tombstone unturned. Make sure that your loyal clients are included in the celebration. Here’s a simple 3-step campaign that you can tweak as per your own needs:

Begin your Halloween promotion 3 weeks before the big day. Send a straightforward promotional email with all the mechanics and details. Then include a promo code or coupon. End with a CTA button that redirects to your Amazon page or your website’s Halloween landing page.
The following day, and then every 2 or 3 days for the next 3 weeks, send out a short email highlighting your promotions. It can be an update on how many customers have been satisfied with your offers, a glowing testimonial, or the link to your latest Halloween blog post.
Right before your promotion ends, send several email reminders to your list in a countdown manner, e.g. the day before, the day itself, 12 hours before, and an hour before closing.

This will keep your customers in the loop, and will likely drive up brand retention by a great deal—without too much effort on your part.

Key takeaway

As we have demonstrated above, the witching season is one of the best times to reap high profits. We’ve enumerated ways on how to prepare your store for Halloween, both on Amazon and your online store.

P.S. You got tired of managing your Amazon FBA and you are looking to sell your Amazon FBA business?

Whatever your reason for arriving at this life-changing decision, Benitago is the Amazon FBA acquirer that can help make it painless and profitable. Find out how we do it better than any other Amazon aggregator by filling in this evaluation form!

Now it is your turn – do you have a question for the Benitago team? Or maybe you want to start a conversation with like-minded individuals? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below!