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We chose 50 brands selling on Amazon.de across five Close-up and lifestyle images were also widely used by 88% and
categories: smart home, home & kitchen, tools, home 90% of brands, respectively. All brands used only high-quality
appliances and baby. For each brand, we reviewed its top images on their listings, a standard that we haven’t seen reached
three listings against a list of criteria related to the quality of on other Amazon country sites. Your product imagery needs to
its product content, seller proposition, ratings and reviews, be of a high standard to compete on Amazon.de
customer service and search engine ranking.

The top-scoring brand—Philips Hue—scored 70% of the
total available marks. The lowest scoring brand achieved 34%,
and the average across all brands was 60%. Based on our
findings, there are some clear areas of improvement that even
the best performing brands listing on Amazon.de could make.
For international brands that are localising their listings to
sell cross-border into Germany, this is even more true.

Crowded market
The first thing to note is that Amazon.de is a very crowded
marketplace. 42% of the brands in our study had an average of
six or more sellers on their top three listings, and a further 56%
of brands had an average of between two and five sellers on their
top listings. While choice can be good for consumers, it can
also confuse them as to who to buy from. It also increases the
likelihood that they might buy from an unauthorised seller who
doesn’t provide the level of customer experience the brand would
want.
However, there is room for improvement in product information.
Competition for Amazon Advertising placements is also higher Only 54% of brands were providing useful product descriptions
than in other European markets. All brands reviewed were using on all of their top three products. We recommend that product
the Sponsored Brand ad type, but 56% were competing against information is reviewed regularly, particularly for listings that are
other brands for placement of this ad type. 76% of brands were receiving adequate traffic but not converting. Taking information
using Sponsored Products ads, and here, 64% were competing that is being asked for in customer questions, plus anything
against other brands. Only 12% were winning the top Sponsored gained from customer review feedback, and adding this to the
Product ad placement. product description for the benefit of future customers is also
important.
The categories themselves are also crowded. Despite auditing
brands that are household names, only 2 of the 50 brands we In general, the brands analysed had very positive review scores
looked at had all of their top three products in Amazon’s Top 50 for their products. 94% had an average of four stars or more as
Amazon Bestsellers list for their category. the rating on all of their top three listings. Generating ratings
and reviews is crucial to driving the appearance of your listings
However, it’s also possible to provide prominence for products in search and aid conversion. The Smart Home category had the
in search results through the Amazon’s Choice badge, and here, highest average number of reviews, at 2838 per product, and the
our brands did score better; only 8% of brands didn’t have an lowest-performing category still saw 1323 per product.
Amazon’s Choice badge on any of their top three products,
while 30% had the badge for all three. This badge is awarded Finally, we would encourage all brands to include responding
automatically based on a set of criteria, including the popularity to Amazon.de customer questions within the remit of their
of the product, high customer ratings and a low return rate. customer service team. Only 26% of brands responded to all of
the questions asked on their top three listings; 42% responded to
Video converts some but not all, and 32% did not respond to any.
When it came to looking at how well the brands employed
product content and imagery within their product listings, a few If you have German speakers within your European customer
things stood out. The first is how widely product videos were service team, then this should be part of their remit to maximise
used; 76% were using product videos on at least some of their top the benefit of all the other work done to optimise your listings
three listings, and 36% were using them on all of their top three and ensure that customers feel confident to proceed with
listings. purchases. ••
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT FOR FREE AT: WWW.PRACTICOLOGY.COM/AMAZONDE21

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