Amazon’s blow-out quarter is partially a result of more merchants then ever selling on the fastest-growing marketplace West of the Mississippi. That is at best mixed news if you are already on Amazon.com as competition for the coveted Buy Box (the Amazon.com main Product Detail page) is growing. In fact, chances are high that most of your products are flying merchandising coach class already (the “New & Used” product listing page) alongside dozens of competitors. The only consolation of course is that Amazon grew their active customer base by 17% to 72 million in Q3 2007 so there are more shoppers to go around for everyone.

Unless you own the Buy Box your price and feedback on your product listing are by far the runaway criteria that will draw consumers to you. But how do you differentiate yourself if you don’t want to ruin your margins and everyone has a 90+% approval rating (other then buying something from your competitor and leaving bad feedback — wait, scratch that)?

The Condition Note Attribute

One important aspect of your me-too listing is the Comment field at the bottom of your advertisement.

Also called the Condition Note attribute in Amazon terminology, it allows merchants up to 1,000 characters to describe the condition of the product they are selling. While available to all merchants, the field was designed to give merchants selling used products ample room to carefully set the buyer’s expectation regarding the product and detail what is and is not included:

***Attention!!! Please Read Before Placing The Order.*** This purchase includes: Canon Poweshot SD1000 7.1MP Digital Camera, Rechargeable Battery, Battery Charger, USB Cable, Strap, and 16MB Card only. No other accessory will be included. Camera is in perfect working order and Good Physical Condition with scratches on covers. Ship via Priority Mail w/ Delivery Confirmation Number and insurance.

If you are an online retailer selling new products an Amazon you should consider the Condition Note a tremendous opportunity at the ad level to differentiate your product and your brand.

May The Best One Win

Let me give you an example: I am considering the new Nikon D40x on Amazon. The Buy Box of course belongs to Amazon.com (cough, cough) so I click on “New & Used” to view the best deal for this camera.

There are five offers displayed on the first page (I am only considering products in “New” condition) and, since these are sorted by price, I am unlikely to jump to the next page unless none of these five are appealing.

Here are the comments shown from each of the five listings:

1. 100% Brand New & Comes With 1 Yr. USA Store Warranty
2. Brand new , shipping same business day.
3. FACTORY WARRANTY!!!! BRAND NEW IN BOX SEALED GUARANTEED DELIVERY EXTREMLY FAST SHIPPING!!! 100% CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
4. BRAND NEW IN ORIGINAL BOX. LOADED. DONT MISS THIS DEAL
5. No comment.

If you solely had to buy based on the the comments shown, who would get your vote? My bet is on the first one since it is the only ad that emphasizes the one year warranty which at this price point is foremost on every buyer’s mind. It also is not in all capital letters or misspelled …).

Of course when you look at the listing you’ll have to immediately disqualify both NYDIGITALCITY (managed to get an 80% feedback rating on 10 transactions) and TACRASEA (despite a 100% feedback rating I will not entrust my $600+ investment to a brand new seller).

Here’s another good example. If you look at the product listings for the Canon PowerShot SD 1000 digital camera (great value!) you will notice that only 5 out of 25 featured merchants use the Condition Note field. Being featured helps (rumor has it this will be retired in 2008), but it still doesn’t get you a “Get out of jail without Condition Note” card. More encouraging is that 22 out of 39 New product listings show information under Comment.

Most comments highlight a warranty, several call out special shipping rules and a few must have fallen on their keyboard while entering the data. Random samples (ranked by quality):

1. Canon USA Warranty from a Canon Authorized Dealer
2. Brand new (not refurbished) in original box with 1-year manufacturer’s warranty. APO/FPO/HI/AK buyer, please select expedited shipping.
3. Now in stock ready to ship! Brand new! (considering this is listed under “New”, this is redundant)
4. Brand New! Still In the Sealed Box! (yeap, also redundant, just shorter)
5. Bluetooth? H350 Headset (huh?)

Condition Like A Pro

So what are some of the best practices for the Condition Note attribute?

1. Differentiate your message.
   • If everyone’s highlighting their rules for shipping to Alaska and Hawaii or calling out the manufacturer’s warranty, then stand out by offering a free additional warranty, same-day fulfillment or another value-add that will catch the buyer’s eye.
   • One seller stated “Buy Green. Part of our profits support environmental causes.” Another included “Se habla Espanol” to show that they provide multi-language customer support.
2. Combine product and company messaging.
   • Call out accessories that may not be emphasized in the product detail page. The Mother Of All Presents, the Nintendo Wii is a perfect example. Several sellers call out that the game includes five sports games for free in the Comment. That’s probably well known by now, but see if you can focus on a special feature for your products.
   • Say that you’re a leading seller of [product] or have been in business for many years.
   • A few listings included “Authorized resellers” which indicates trust from the big manufacturer. Buyers love that.
3. Highlight your business credentials.
   • Some sellers emphasized “ships from our retail store” or “Same-day shipping from our warehouse if ordered before 5 p.m. PST”. Conveying that you’re a real business that knows how to sell and fulfill products (not just fast) is good.
   • Beach Camera emphasizes its recent recognition as a Circle of Excellence Aware Winner. Do you have a similar industry recognition? Have a lot more feedback then anybody else or is your rating higher? Beat the buyer over the head with this important fact.
4. Call out fast service.
   • Your shipping policies will automatically be included in your listing right above the Comment field. However, what is not shown is the carrier you use and that you always insure and provide a tracking number with each shipment. Over-communicate to instill confidence.
   • Several listings highlighted same-day fulfillment. With Amazon Prime this can be a deal clincher for you.

Messaging Pitfalls

Some of these are no-brainers yet I continue to be surprised that online retailers (small and large) would fall into these traps.

1. Don’t state the obvious
   • “Brand new in retail package”. I sure hope so since the product is listed under “New”.
   • Avoid “Trusted Online Seller” or PowerSeller (not sure how the eBay association plays into this …). Repeat your strong feedback or number of Amazon purchases if you have space (and if they clearly set you apart from the rest of the competition).
   • Unless your experience warrants it, do not repeat your shipping policies already included under Shipping. Only matters that you ship fast and reliably.
2. Don’t confuse the buyer
   • One comment stated “New In Sealed Package. Package in excellent condition as well.” If the product is listed as “New” then the package is SUPPOSED to be new as well. Calling this out may raise questions about the size of your company and business practices.
   • The same goes for “Fast shipping from non smoking pet free enviroment!” I don’t want this product from your home but from your 30,000 sqf, secure and clean warehouse. Unless you have wild packs of animals roaming around in it. Works on eBay, not on Amazon.
   • Repeating, or worse, listing a slightly different product is bound to create chaos in the buyer’s mind and can not be good for your sell-through rate. Example in the Comment field: “Hoover Wide Path Tempo Bagged Upright Vacuum, 12A Motor, 3M HEPA Filtration Bag, Headlight, 15″ Cleaning Width, Includes Attachments.” Now I want to jump back to the product detail page just to make sure those are the specs of the product I am about to buy. And then I have to browse past all those other competitive offers again to get to yours (and compare the stats …).
3. Don’t scare the buyer
   • Two listings I have come across stated in the Comment “No returns or refund” for a product in new condition. That of course can only back-fire when Amazon covers most purchases with their A-Z guarantee. Better to use this policy to your advantage and guarantee “complete satisfaction or your money back” which is essentially what A-Z ensures.
   • “UPC in tact” — I am seeing a seller in a dark room cutting out UPC codes to redeem rebates. Not a good image.

So what does the perfect Condition Note look like? Here’s an example of what I would write for a widget:

Brand new with full 1-year warranty from [MANUFACTURER] and includes the popular widgets B and C. If you place your order by 5 p.m. PST we guarantee shipment to you today via FedEx but no later then the next business day. We always include free shipping insurance and delivery confirmation, and will send you a shipping tracking number as soon as your product leaves our warehouse. Order with confidence: we are an authorized reseller and have been selling [PRODUCT CATEGORY] for over 20 years with thousands of satisfied customers. Thank you for your business.

That’s barely 500 out of 1,000 allowed characters and one can argue about content, order or stats. The key components are warranty, special product features, fast fulfillment with tracking number and established, trusted retailer. Of course that is all product and retailer dependent (you may not be able to fulfill the same day). I would encourage to test ads to see how changes to your Comment field impact sales. Unfortunately Amazon does not allow you to reach out to buyers or you could even ask if they recalled the information and if it was helpful with making a buying decision.

And scan Amazon for best practices, in particular right now the New Wii listings, to understand how you should and should not differentiate your product.

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