Do not fear the Amazon Sesh-ocalypse!

Amazon Sessions are falling - the end is nigh! Well... not quite. It is true that compared to last year’s Covid-based buying bonanza, sessions are down nearly 40% year on year but that’s not the full story. (Sessions are not Glance Views; it’s one per customer, per day - no matter the number of page views)

Here at Nozzle, we’ve looked at key categories where we think there are some really interesting insights regarding sessions over time - starting at July 2019 through to the end of May 2021. We’ve standardized the figures so that the data begins at base 100, so that we can compare like-for-like.

Why this is so important

Last year was an anomaly by just about any standard, and Amazon is no exception. We have to be conscious of the fact that for a large part of last year, the only thing we could spend our money on was ‘stuff’ (rather than eating out/experiences/holidays etc.) - and Amazon famously has more ‘stuff’ to buy than anyone else!

A lot of our clients have seen month on month/year on year decreases in sales and sessions since April 2021, the good news is that sessions are actually up since 2019  -  despite the relative disruption we’re still experiencing. Consumer confidence is at the highest level it has been since the pandemic began, though the opening of physical retail and other spending opportunities is a risk factor when it comes to forecasting to the end of 2021.

The Results

We selected supplements, toys, pets and beauty for slightly different reasons but they’re all categories that have been affected by the pandemic in some way or another.

• Toys enjoyed their biggest year in UK revenue last year as well as the US 
• Over 2 million people (in the UK) became pet owners and the US has seen huge growth too
• Sport supplements have bounced back after slower growth in 2020
• Beauty brands were primarily sold through Amazon, despite a relatively rough 2020 for cosmetics

The drop off in sessions and sales so far this year tells us a few things; namely that consumers have shifted their focus from things they can buy on Amazon to things they can experience or do offline and in person, that the record-breaking year on Amazon was an anomaly and that despite this, Amazon continues to become more competitive every day.

What can I do about it?

Stay calm! Turning PPC campaigns on and off will adversely affect your ranking very quickly and it’s only getting more expensive to get it back later down the line. We’ve also started comparing some clients' sales figures from 2019 to this year so it’s something closer to a baseline. On top of that, creating more efficient Ads campaigns mean that you can ensure your spend is giving you maximum value.

Seeing this problem, we created a free audit tool that you can use to assess the last 60 days of PPC activity. We’ll take the time to run you through the report and discuss the key points with you - on average we see nearly 30% of ad spend is wasted - so that you can give yourself the best chance of coming out on top.

If you’re interested in discussing your Amazon account in more detail, please do get in touch - before the Sesh-ocalypse comes for us all!