Selling on Amazon Europe: 7 optimization tips to boost sales

Selling on Amazon Europe Marketplaces is an exciting milestone for any brand looking to grow internationally.

At the same time, it also comes with several unique challenges for sellers, who must now optimize listings for audiences in up to eight countries.

But why is it essential to optimize your listings as a brand owner preparing to sell on Amazon Europe? Let’s discuss the importance of local translation for each of your listings and share Amazon listing optimization tips to help grow your product sales within Europe.

Why should Amazon Sellers expand into Amazon Europe?

Amazon Europe includes several marketplaces within the EU and the UK. Each European Amazon Marketplace is experiencing considerable growth, making it a fantastic time to expand your business to new locations.

Optimizing your Amazon Europe listings gives your business a competitive edge as it grows its international sales operations.

Here’s a list of Amazon’s European Marketplaces and the latest traffic statistics:

That’s almost 1.5 billion visits every month to European Amazon Marketplaces!

In comparison, the US site Amazon.com received 2.7 billion visits in July 2021. Thus, more than one-third of all Amazon visits happen in Europe, where there’s a good mix of English-speaking and non-English speaking countries.

Selling on Amazon Europe Marketplaces in Germany and the UK offer Amazon sellers enormous opportunities to grow sales and profits, but it takes considerable effort.

Preparing your Amazon listings for European markets must go beyond simple translation. The most successful sellers are those that optimize their listings in several ways.

7 optimization tips to boost sales while selling on Amazon Europe

Now that you understand why optimizing your brand’s listings is essential for selling on Amazon Europe let’s cover seven optimization tips that boost sales.

1. Analyze the competitive environment of each target country

The competitive environment of Amazon Europe Marketplaces differs from country to country. There is no one size fits all solution when it comes to competing in European markets. Instead, it’s best to research how similar brands generate sales in each marketplace.

Popular products in Spain’s Amazon…

Good upfront research will save your business time and effort. Suppose you know that your competition hasn’t entered markets in Germany or the Netherlands, for example. In that case, you may find it easier to start in those markets.

Are very different from popular products in Germany’s Amazon!

Be careful, though. It’s also possible that your competition hasn’t set up shop in those countries because there isn’t enough demand.

This situation explains one of the most significant risks for sellers looking to expand internationally. It might take several months or years for your products to catch on in other countries. Amazon listing optimization increases the likelihood that your brand’s products will become popular in new markets throughout time.

With that said, what’s the best way to analyze the competitive environment on each European Amazon Marketplace?

Checking reviews in the local language of each marketplace can offer insights into what customers from different cultures enjoy and dislike about various products.

From there, your brand can offer products and highlight benefits based on an understanding of cultural differences.

2. Use a localized service to translate your listings

When you hire native language speakers to translate your listings into local languages, you increase the likelihood of generating sales.

Only local people fully understand the culture and the language. So, they can pick up nuances that non-natives cannot.

Native language speakers also understand the perspective of locals that comprise your target audience. With this knowledge, localized translators are better than non-natives at optimizing and marketing your listings to grow sales revenue.

Why does cultural listing localization matter?

There is a difference between translating and localizing a product listing and consumers will notice the difference.

Culture and language differ. Consider this, a speaker of Castilian Spanish with a background in Spain and one from South or Central America can understand each other linguistically, but is the culture the same? The fact is these cultures are very different.

Culture changes the keywords and phrases that your target market uses to locate products and services. Failure to choose the correct localized keywords is the main reason why many sellers don’t make it on Amazon.

Your aim as a seller is not just to create a well-translated listing. You want people who visit your brand’s product listings to buy. So, what you want is a localized listing, not one with a simple translation.

A localized listing includes translation and copywriting designed to generate sales. It is tailored to the culture and aims to encourage people to buy the product.

3.  Split test for each marketplace

Amazon offers split testing (also known as A/B testing) free of charge. Make good use of it by testing performance and analyzing product listing changes in each market. As we pointed out initially, one size does not fit all, so what works in one market may be a dismal failure in another.

You’ll find the “Manage Your Experiments” link in the brand section of your Seller Central Account. Use it to test different versions of your content. Amazon presents different versions of your brand’s listings randomly to check customer response.

4. Optimize Amazon search terms in each country

Optimizing search terms for every country requires more than simply translating your English keywords. You must choose the best keywords for Amazon listing optimization in each country in which you sell.

Keywords are localized. Thus, you must include appropriate localized keywords and backend search terms in your brand’s listings to increase profits.

Complete and adequate keyword research involves finding the principal terms customers use to search for similar products. After locating the correct keywords, you can generate related ones from the main search terms.

Successful keyword research in every listing’s local language is possibly the most critical part of selling on Amazon Europe. If you fail to identify all the keywords, you will lose sales. Product listings without the correct keywords are challenging for prospective customers to find.

Therefore, it is essential to find the right people to translate and assist with your brand’s Amazon product listing optimization.

5. Localize your video ads

Amazon allows sellers to create video ads for Amazon EU Marketplaces. Yet, some sellers have been slow to take up the option.

Video offers you a fantastic opportunity to connect with buyers. Why wouldn’t your business use it as a selling feature?

With video ads, your brand can show customers how products work. Sharing videos is a great way to connect with an audience by offering a more life-like shopping experience. However, there are some rules to follow on European Amazon Marketplaces.

For example, your brand must translate video text and voiceovers in the correct language before Amazon displays them on product pages. Treat your videos the same as your listings when it comes to localization. In other words, localize, don’t just translate.

Localizing your video content can play an essential role in converting traffic to sales. Let’s face it, sometimes images of your brand’s products cannot compel buyers to make a purchase. Video is a powerful sales tool when used effectively.

Videos can also convey to your customer exactly what the product does and doesn’t do. Showcasing your brand’s products in video form can reduce the number of negative reviews that customers leave. It’ll give buyers an accurate understanding of how your products work.

Use video to make your listings stand out from the competition. It’s a sure way to make more sales.

6. Use A+ content to optimize your listing for Amazon Europe

An example of Amazon A+ Content

Amazon A+ content helps Amazon Sellers design more effective listings that attract buyers. Your brand will use A+ content for storytelling, which makes it easier to connect with prospective buyers.

Use your reviews and feedback to address their concern or highlight your product’s best features. A+ contents are created separately for each country, so your A+ content will vary per country after a few months and updates.

Get creative to develop beautiful modules that make an impact. You can also create descriptions that give buyers all the information that they need. Include charts and images to attract attention from passing traffic.

7.  Optimizing images for Amazon in the European Union

We have excellent news for sellers already present in the EU and for those looking to start. Until now, Amazon shared listing pictures across all the EU and UK marketplaces for each ASIN.

Previously, when customers typed in an EAN number, Amazon would search for the image for that barcode. The only way you could tailor the picture was to add a short line of text to reflect the respective country’s language. Unfortunately, adding text to images was not the best aesthetic.

Now, every seller in the Brand Registry Program can upload different listing pictures for each country separately. Sellers have been waiting for this feature for a while. Some sellers are even paying a fortune to consultants in the Amazon Selling Partner 360 to access this feature.

As of today, uploading different photos for each EU country has not been announced officially by Amazon. Only seller central’s geeks like us stumbled upon this helpful feature.

The image changes add more context to standard photos

We recommended adding eye-catching graphics and text to your supplemental images to build customer interest and inform buyers of your brand’s products.

Why is it so important to focus on images while selling on Amazon Europe? About 50% of online shoppers believe that not examining a product in person is the worst part of online shopping.

Although photographs are not the same as trying something on, Amazon images can help shoppers experience a product, which drives sales.

Providing accurate and detailed product photos can also benefit sellers after a sale. Through photographs, shoppers will have a better sense of what their purchase looks like, and they won’t get any nasty surprises upon delivery. For this reason, localization makes good business sense.

Optimization is critical when selling on Amazon Europe

If you’re about to enter European markets, you will have to translate your listings to the country’s language in which you plan to sell. You could decide to use freelancers, but you would have to locate quality translators and test their skills.

The freelancers your business locates to translate product and brand pages on Amazon would have to understand how to use keyword research for Amazon SEO and paid media.

However, the main problem is more significant than that. Your brand will need seven freelancers as there are currently seven languages that comprise European Amazon Marketplaces.

Don’t leave the success of your business to translation apps.

Additionally, your brand would also have to train them to use Amazon optimization tools. How would you know that your freelancers provide localized translations rather than charge you for simply using Google Translate?

These are the reasons we recommend working with an agency is they handle all the translations and keyword management, plus the monitoring, tweaking, and improvement of your listings. Emplicit can provide that kind of support through our translation and localization partners.