Amazon Launchpad is Amazon’s program for new physical products and brands to gain visibility & success on the Amazon platform.
Your brand can sign up here.
The Program
The launchpad program itself is a (supportive) wholesale relationship between your business and Amazon.
While you won’t be fulfilling orders from Amazon Buyers one-by-one (as regular Sellers on Amazon’s Seller Central platform do) you’ll need to bear in mind that wholesale relationships have their own set of constraints such NET payment terms, no access to end-customer data, lack of pricing control etc.
However, like everything else, this is a trade-off and you are most certainly rewarded with significantly increased access to Amazon’s platforms in order to help push and establish your brand.
Amazon Launchpad – Collections
One of the program’s most fascinating recent developments has been the introduction of “collections”.
Collections group products together that have had a common genesis such as crowd-funded products on Kickstarter, curated products from Product Hunt, specific startup accelerators etc.
Discover-ability is often the most overlooked issue for most new brands on Amazon and any steps to address this issue by Amazon are to be welcomed and taken advantage of where possible.
Platform Access
Unlike traditional independent Sellers who are limited to selling via Seller Central, participants in Amazon Launchpad have access to a wider range of platforms.
Amazon Marketing Services (AMS)
Amazon marketing services allows access to a richer set of display advertising functionality – getting you in front of Buyers based on keyword searches, historical purchase patterns, interest in similar/competing products etc.
Amazon Vine
Whilst enrollment fees are hefty ($3k+ per product), Vine provides access to trusted reviews from Amazon’s top-rated Reviewers. A product on Amazon with no reviews simply does not exist in the minds of potential buyers.
Vendor Express
While VE has extensive limitations (it does not compare favorably to Vendor Central – the complete wholesale platform), enrollment for Amazon Launchpad takes place via Vendor Express and is used to manage purchase orders (POs).
Would you like to know more?
If you’re considering launchpad, or have particiapted in the program and are considering your next steps, contact us for further information.