Selling Medical Supplies on Amazon

If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s how very precious and fragile good health really is. And what that means is that consumers of every age, ethnicity, gender, and social status are looking for new, better, and more affordable ways to cultivate long-lasting wellness. That also means that there has perhaps been no better time than now for clinics, healthcare facilities, and purveyors of medical products and services to consider selling medical supplies on amazon.

However, marketing your facility or your products on Amazon is likely going to require a markedly different approach to promotions than your business is used to. This article examines strategies medical practices and suppliers can use to achieve success selling medical supplies on amazon.

Making Money Selling on Amazon

It doesn’t seem to matter anymore what your industry is — if you’re not selling on Amazon, you’re missing out. In fact, reports show that 89% of Amazon sellers are profitable, and that 37% saw profits increase throughout 2022.

As more of the population become comfortable operating online, many of our needs previously defined by brick-and-mortar or in-person experiences are being revolutionized. Telehealth, for example, is facilitating long-distance connections between doctors and patients across the globe. In the same way, medical service and product providers are seeing success using the Amazon marketplace as well.

restricted categories on amazon: Getting the Appropriate Permissions

Amazon is, literally, the largest marketplace in human history. It enables sellers of every stripe to reach a truly global customer base. 

Perhaps not surprisingly, though, access to medical products and service providers has traditionally been quite limited and subject to extensive federal and international regulation. That does not mean, however, that medical product providers and practices cannot avail themselves of Amazon’s tremendous market reach.

What it does mean, though, is that if you want to market your medical practice or product on Amazon Stores, you’re probably going to need to jump through some hoops. For instance, if your product or service is regulated by the FDA, as many health-related ones are, then you’re going to fall into a restricted category

That will require you to meet certain conditions before you’re permitted to market your business, product, clinic, or service on Amazon. In most cases, this will require you to receive FDA approval, adhere to FDA standards, and comply with certain labeling requirements as defined by Amazon.

Using Data-driven Marketing

Once you have received the appropriate permissions and met the relevant requirements for marketing on Amazon, you can turn your attention to defining a platform that works. If you are a local medical practice or a smaller-scale manufacturer of medical products and devices, you aren’t likely to have much experience in marketing to a global audience.

The prospect may, indeed, be daunting, but don’t despair. Marketers today have more and better tools than ever before for understanding and reaching their target audience. The key to reaching your ideal client on Amazon is data. 

Data-driven marketing enables you to understand who your target client is, what they want, what they need, and what they require. But these aren’t the only insights to be gleaned through data. Data can also help you define patterns of behavior in your target audience, including identifying the types of online content that pique their interest and generate the most clicks. 

Once you’ve defined what kind of content your target audience is looking for regarding medical services, devices, and products, you can craft your Amazon marketing materials accordingly.  

Marketing Your Practice Through Online Relationship Building

One of the most important things to bear in mind when you’re learning to leverage the power of Amazon to market your medical practice is that your goal is not to advertise. Your goal is to build relationships. 

Marketing your medical practice, product, or service is, fundamentally, about starting an ongoing conversation with your target customer base. The Amazon Store is only one prong of a larger strategy in which you cultivate an engaging and engaged online presence in order to connect with your target audience. 

Thus, linking your Amazon Store with your business’s website is an ideal way to take your business relationships from merely transactional to truly transformational. You might use blogs, discussion forums, and even online events to help your target clients learn about your practice, your company, and the products and services you provide.

In the process, you will be building a sense of community in your client base. The more audience members connect with you and with one another, the better able you will be to identify and respond to their evolving health needs.

The connected Amazon Store, then, is the domain where you endeavor to meet those needs. Your Amazon Store becomes the locale where you are able to respond to the conversation you are having with your clients through your product and service innovations featured there.

Selling Medical Supplies on Amazon: The Takeaway

The provision of medical products and services is truly a labor of love and, now more than ever, medical practices and health product companies can serve a global market. Unleashing the tremendous power of Amazon Stores is an ideal way to access this international customer base. However, doing so effectively requires strategy, calling on stakeholders to improve their marketing strategy for a new, more diverse, and far larger target audience. This requires marketers to ensure they have the appropriate permissions and adhere to relevant guidelines for marketing on Amazon. 

This also requires marketers to tap into the tremendous power of data to define the target audience, understand their behavior, and align their marketing strategy accordingly. Finally, improving marketing through Amazon Stores means integrating Amazon into a more comprehensive and compelling digital strategy. Cultivating a robust digital presence enables medical practices and product purveyors to engage in an ongoing conversation with the target audience, building client relationships that can last a lifetime.

Viral Launch’s accurate data coupled with our powerful tools, provides Amazon sellers with everything they need to succeed. Create an effective marketing strategy, boost visibility, and see sales skyrocket with Viral Launch. Sign up today and get your first 14 days free!

Amazon Gated Categories: What You Need To Know

If you’re looking to become an Amazon seller, you’ll quickly learn that research plays a huge part in your success. From product viability to profit margins and keyword research, you’ve got a lot to do. One aspect a lot of first time sellers don’t think (or know) to research is Amazon gated categories.

Millions of products spread out over hundreds of categories are available to buy and sell right now on Amazon. From electronics to baby products and supplements to snacks, the possibilities are endless.

But not all categories and products are created equal. Some fall under gated or restricted categories. And before you source your Amazon FBA product, you need to be aware of what these categories are because they require special approval to sell.

If you don’t do your due diligence and source a product in a gated category you could be stuck with a ton of inventory and no way to move it.

To make sure you avoid this mistake, let’s dive into gated categories.

What Are the Amazon Restricted Categories?

The Amazon ecosystem is constantly in flux, but right now there are around 20 Amazon restricted categories and subcategories. The list of categories/subcategories that have some sort of restriction or approval/ungating process includes:

  • Automotive and Powersports
  • Beauty
  • Clothing, Accessories, Shoes and Luggage
  • Collectibles (Books and Coins)
  • Entertainment Collectibles
  • Fine Art
  • Fine Jewelry
  • Gift Cards
  • Grocery and Gourmet Foods
  • Kindle Accessories
  • Sexual Wellness
  • Sports Collectibles
  • Textbook Rentals
  • Toys and Games (during the holidays)
  • Video Media (DVDs, Blu-ray)
  • Watches
  • Wine
  • Supplements

Have you committed those to memory? There will be quiz later. Just kidding, but it would be a good idea to keep this list in mind when you’re perusing potential product ideas.

The next question we should probably answer is:

Why Does Amazon Put Restrictions on Certain Categories?

It’s pretty simple really. Amazon’s main goals, as is the case with any business (or it should be at least), is customer satisfaction and brand perception. Now with almost half of all sales on Amazon coming from third party sellers, the company has to have a way to protect its reputation. That’s why Amazon adds restrictions to categories which are susceptible to issues with safety, quality or counterfeiting.

While these restrictions are great for Amazon and in turn the shopper, it can make life difficult for sellers. That’s why you have to make sure you’ve done your research to figure out if that goldmine product you’re about to source would fall in a restricted category.

If it does and you’re fine with a few extra steps, these next parts may be for you.

How Do you Start the Approval Process?

Ok, so let’s say you’ve decided to sell in a category that requires an approval process. How do you get started down the path to getting approved to sell? Fortunately, this part is pretty straightforward. Typically, to get the ball rolling on the approval process you will follow these steps:

  1. Head to Seller Central, then click the inventory link and select “Add a Product.”
  2. Perform a search and look for any product you know that is listed in the specific category.
  3. Once you’re in the search results, click the link that says “Listing Limitations Apply.”
  4. Choose “Request Approval” and begin the application.

While some sellers get approved automatically or within a few hours, don’t worry if it take a little extra time for you. For some, getting approval can take up to a week. To check the status of your application all you have to do is go back to the Add a Product section of Seller Central and look for the “Selling Application Status” on the page.

What Does the Approval Process Entail?

Like a lot of things on Amazon, the answer is – it depends. While the approval and “ungating” process can vary from category to category, there are still a few blanket things you want to do to make sure you stay in Amazon’s good graces and increase the chances of getting approved. Some actions that can influence the approval process include:

    • Pro Selling Account: For nearly all restricted categories you must have a Professional Selling plan or agree to upgrade to a Professional Selling plan within a certain amount of time, typically 30 days after your application is approved.
    • Good Standing: In addition to having a Professional Selling account, Amazon also wants to see that your account is in good health. So keep your late shipment rates, defect rates and pre fulfillment cancel rates and returns as low as possible to increase your chances of getting approved. Unless there are quality issues with your other product(s), this aspect mainly applies to FBM, because if you’re selling FBA you should be hitting these metrics easily.
    • Invoices: In some categories, like Grocery and Gourmet food, Amazon requires that you provide them with acceptable documentation like product invoices and any other information they request about your products.
    • Images: For the Automotive and Powersports category, Amazon requires sellers to have compliant product images that can either be reviewed on an independent website or image hosting site.
    • Questionnaire: Some categories, like Sexual Wellness and Jewelry also require you to fill out a questionnaire in addition to providing images.
    • FDA Review: Some products are subject to FDA approval and may have additional requirements, like listing guidelines that you must adhere to.

 Want Some More Information about FDA Regulated Products?

Check out our recent podcast on the topic:

As you move through the approval process Amazon will indicate what of the above aspects it needs from you as the seller. Because this is done online with areas to upload or enter information, having all pertinent documents and info ready to go will help speed up this process.

Keep in mind, all categories will be different when it comes to what it takes to get approval to sell. For instance, sellers wanting to break into the Grocery and Gourmet Foods category have to follow specific guidelines.

Here are some of the guidelines straight from Amazon for the Grocery and Gourmet Foods category. As you can see from the image below, there are requirements for a number of aspects including packaging, labelling, shipment dates and much more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, as you might imagine for food products, Amazon also requires sellers to maintain proper temperature control, as you can see below.

Final Thoughts: Should I Avoid Selling in Restricted Categories?

Hopefully after reading this blog post, you have a little better idea of why restricted categories exist and what the process for getting “ungated” entails. Now, if you think the process for getting approval to sell in one of the gated categories is too complex and time-consuming, (especially if you’re a new seller) that’s perfectly fine. However, if you’re willing to go the extra mile, this could be a good strategy for you.

Think about it this way: There is a ton of competition across all categories on Amazon, right? But wouldn’t it make some sense to think that categories that require these extra steps and work, might be a little less crowded for the reasons I mentioned above?

What I’m saying isn’t necessarily profound, nor is it sure to make you instantly rich. That said, you don’t have to avoid restricted categories like the plague just because you can’t open an account and immediately start selling.

These are the types of decisions that you’ll have to make throughout your selling journey. To set yourself up for success, you’ll need to make sure you’ve done plenty of research and have gathered the right data.

Here at Viral Launch, we want to provide you with all the information you’ll need to become a successful Amazon seller. For more on Amazon selling strategies, we encourage you to subscribe to our blog, check out our Youtube channel, and listen to our Follow the Data podcast.

Selling FDA Restricted Products: What You Need To Know

Selling FDA Restricted Products: What You Need To Know

Picture this with me. You’ve found an incredible product market – an incredible niche. Search volume measures out, sales volume is PERFECT, reviews are extremely low, and you have enough capital to jump in tomorrow… So you do. You order 5000 units, ready to jump in deep. You spend a LOT getting everything ready, send your products into Amazon AND

Find out that it’s and FDA regulated product that you actually CAN’T sell without approval.

The answer to that is what we’re talking through today – something that’s pretty niche, but that you should know moving ahead with product research – FDA regulations and everything surrounding restricted products or markets.

We’re walking you through EVERYTHING you need to know concerning FDA Restricted products & categories!

Links from today’s episode:
Things FDA considers ‘dangerous’: http://bit.ly/FDA_01
Professional HCP Permitted Products: http://bit.ly/FDA_02
FDA New Dietary Ingredient: http://bit.ly/FDA_03

Listen on iTunes   Listen on Stitcher

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