Amazon is opening up its customer data to third-party sellers and brands which operate through the site, enabling them to run free personalised email marketing campaigns, with the stated aim of allowing them to “unlock the value of remarketing”.
Until now, Amazon only allowed sellers to target individuals who opted to “follow” their store or brand through its website, but it is now trialling the new feature, dubbed “Tailored Audiences”.
This allows third-party sellers to target three customer groups with personalised marketing; Repeat Customers (ordered in the past 12 months), High-Spend Customers (top 25% of spenders), and Recent Customers (most recent 20%).
Sellers can choose which customer groups to target and how often to send them marketing emails.
As part of the plan, Amazon is offering sellers a free tool and easy-to-use campaign templates to help create the marketing emails, which can be sent every seven or 14 days.
Sellers will also be able to monitor the impact of all email marketing activity, including details such as open rates, click-through rates, emails delivered, opt-out rates, conversion and sales.
A beta test is currently underway, and Amazon expects a full roll out within six months.
After that, consumers making purchases on Amazon from a third-party seller or brands could automatically be opted-in; it seems the only way to opt-out is once customers have received the first email.
Amazon North America Selling Partner Services vice-president Benjamin Hartman said: “Brands are able to quickly acquire new customers in the Amazon store, but they expressed a need for improved tools to increase customer lifetime value.
“These improvements help unlock the value of remarketing as we further our commitment to helping sellers reach the right customer, at the right time.”
Amazon also recently rolled out Premium A+ Content, an upgrade to the standard content management system that supports new, larger modules on product pages, such as video, interactive hover hotspots, image carousels and Q&A, to all brands worldwide that meet the eligibility criteria.
The company claims participating brands have seen sales increase up to 20% for products with Premium A+ Content.
Related stories
Brands risk pushing shoppers into the arms of Amazon
Amazon ‘to rescue high street’ with mass store openings
Amazon’s tech and data combo could knock out big four
Supermarkets under pressure as Amazon Fresh expands
Warning for all data firms as Amazon faces €746m fine
Now Amazon faces full-scale CMA probe into data abuse
