Should Amazon Sellers Worry About List Price Removal?
How Amazon’s List Price Removal Will Affect Sellers
In case you haven’t heard, Amazon has been testing eliminating list prices—a.k.a. the “suggested retail price”—on product pages. On Amazon, list prices look like this:
Here’s an example of a product description without a list price:
On the Seller Central Amazon Forum, many sellers were pleased with the potential change. “It is about time. I’m sick of seeing $8 products advertised with $50 list price with some outrageous percentage off. I also believe shady seller (sic) were manipulating rankings by doing this”, one seller wrote.
Others were not quite as happy, claiming this reduced their selling power and even resulted in a drop in sales.
Will the removal of list prices on Amazon negatively affect your bottom line? The short answer: probably not. Three experts at CPC Strategy share why.
The List Price Isn’t a Priority for Amazon Customers
List prices may not have the impact they once had, especially when it comes to Prime subscribers, which Consumer Intelligence Research suggests may number 54 million in the U.S. alone.
“I think Amazon customers, especially Prime subscribers, assume Amazon has low prices but they are loyal because of the convenience,” Rick Backus, CEO of CPC Strategy, says. “Amazon has customers much more “locked in” to their digital ecosystem than [most brick-and-mortar stores].”
The Amazon List Price Change is a Natural Move
Although many sellers seem to be OK with the change, others have complained that this is just another way for Amazon to cut into 3P profits. That’s missing the point, and more specifically, recent list pricing lawsuits.
“This [change to list prices] is Amazon ardently staying true to who they are, listening to customer feedback, complaints, and lawsuits, and optimizing the platform for them—not for sellers,” says Pat Petriello, Senior Marketplace Strategist at CPC Strategy.
The removal of “list prices” also hints at other developments, according to Backus.
“This [change] coincides with a pretty big effort from Amazon to build out their deals section which is actually real.”
Notice Lower Sales on Amazon? Pay Attention to Other Factors
“If sellers noticed a dip in sales over the 4th of July weekend, and they’re attributing it to the lack of list prices on some of their products, they should consider the effect that a holiday weekend has on sales,” Nii Ahene, Co-Founder and COO of CPC Strategy says.
In other words, wait it out, and know that there may be other factors at play.
It’s not time to panic, but it is a good time to make sure you’re optimizing your listings overall. If the list price disappears, the “Sale” and “You Save” sections will likely follow suit, reducing some valuable product page real estate.
Here are your next steps to prepare for the pending removal of list prices:
- Focus on optimizing the rest of your Amazon content
- Stay away from dishonest practices
- Strive to keep the customer experience at the forefront
Have questions related to the Amazon list price change? Email [email protected]
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