Protect your brand on Amazon the right way
As an Amazon Vendor, you work incredibly hard to grow and protect your brand on Amazon - and scammers work equally hard in order to steal from you.
It’s estimated that over 100 fake accounts pop up on Amazon every day and, unfortunately, Amazon is not always able to identify these in time to prevent harm.
This means that, at any given time, one or more fake accounts may be fraudulently using your products or brand without your knowledge.
Needless to say, this kind of activity can seriously damage your reputation as a brand owner - through no fault of your own - so, how do you stop scammers getting their sticky mitts on your brand?
Protect and observe
For every great advance in technology, there’ll be an army of unscrupulous folk looking to make a quick buck.
Thankfully, there are some ways in which you can protect your brand on Amazon and, putting these into practice, should be an integral part of your Amazon operation:
Amazon Brand Registry
If you’re the manufacturer or owner of a branded product then you’ll most likely be eligible to apply for this program. Enrolling with Amazon Brand Registry is vital for owners of branded products as it means that it becomes very difficult for other sellers to make changes to a product page.
While this won’t, unfortunately, prevent other sellers from listing your products, it can certainly help to make sure that your product pages are represented properly.
As well as certifying you as the brand owner, Amazon Brand Registry gives you access to some valuable tools including:
- You won’t have to use UPCs to list your products
- Your ‘content contribution’ will be favoured above other sellers - in plain speak, this means that all of your product listing content will override that of anybody else trying to sell your product
While getting on board with Amazon Brand Registry can absolutely help to protect your brand on Amazon, it can only do this if the registration - and each and every product - is completely accurate. If in doubt, it's a really good idea to enlist the help of an Amazon agency to help make sure that your registration is rock solid.
Your own website
Amazon Vendors should always have their own dedicated website as well as selling on Amazon’s platform (and Amazon will ask to see this during Brand Registry enrollment). Even if you don’t actually sell your products from this website, it’s a great way of providing ownership of your brand and products should you need to.
Put your stamp on it
Where possible, ensure that your brand name or logo appears on all of your products and your product packaging as this can really help to identify counterfeit products and can protect your brand’s reputation.
The fine print
If you sell your products through retailers or third-party distributions, it’s super important to have an iron-clad contract in place that explicitly prohibits them from selling your goods on Amazon themselves. This is pretty darn easy to put in place and allows you very real recourse should they go ahead and breach this clause.
Sticking point
For Sellers using the Amazon FBA program, never use stickerless commingled inventory. Ticking this box means that your inventory will be shipped without Amazon barcode labels, making it easy for your fabulous official product to be shipped shoulder to shoulder with counterfeit items.
Proactive protection
Don’t wait for your brand to be compromised before putting protection measures in place. It makes good sense to have a contingency plan ready for instances of fraud and, this should include a cease and desist letter template and a ‘test buy’ validation.
Partner against crime
For those serious about protecting their brand’s interests when selling on Amazon, it’s a great idea to use a reputable Amazon agency. Not only will this potentially save you time and money but, it gives you the advantage of advanced knowledge and experience when it comes to protecting your brand against Amazon villains.
Selling on Amazon can be extremely lucrative for legitimate Amazon Vendors but, unfortunately, the same can be said for illegal use of your brand. With tens of millions of products on sale on the platform at any time, it’s impossible for Amazon to take immediate action in the event of a breach so the protection of your brand is, ultimately, your responsibility.
By putting these simple measures in place, however, you can go a long way towards keeping the baddies at bay.
