According to the Statista survey, during Q1 2022, Amazon generated total net sales of approximately 116.44 billion U.S. dollars, surpassing 108.52 billion U.S. dollars in Q1 2021.
Therefore, it’s no surprise that many brands sell their items on the platform. Nonetheless, selling on Amazon has become tougher lately due to an abundance of low-cost and poor-quality counterfeits and dishonest retailers.
If you sell on Amazon, you are aware of the intense competition in its markets. Therefore, the marketplace introduced a program for enrolled sellers to help them fight trademark infringement.
What is Amazon Brand Registry?
Potential buyers of FBA businesses are truly wary of purchasing existing businesses that can be smartly hacked or copied, which could result in the loss of the ‘buy box’ and associated income. Therefore, if you are a brand owner who manufactures and offers your private-label goods on the marketplace, you should register on the Amazon Brand Registry.
Brand Registry is a program that identifies sellers to Amazon and allows them to build and protect their brands in the marketplace.
Why Did Amazon Launch the Brand Registry Program?
Amazon has encountered lawsuits from businesses alleging that the work done to avert the sale of counterfeit goods and intellectual property infringements is insufficient.
Amazon launched Brand Registry to halt the wave of counterfeiting and IP violation problems on the Amazon website. Moreover, it shifts some of the burden of infringement control from the marketplace to sellers.
Since the program identifies sellers and their enrolled retailers, it facilitates for Amazon to start implementing its Standards for Brands Selling. Thus, it informs sellers that they can not sell directly to buyers using the Amazon Marketplace anymore. Instead, they can sell products directly to Amazon Retail as suppliers.
Updates to Amazon Brand Registry 2.0
Brand Registry 2.0 is a better service version. It is designed for resellers who own brands, producers of goods, and distributors. Moreover, it allows retailers to manage certain Amazon goods. If any of the three categories suits you, the program will not approve you.
The new version of the program – Amazon Brand Registry 2.0 – is Amazon’s method of proving it’s targeting sellers who take their brand seriously rather than offering waste products. The platform has updated its program substantially since May 2017. Whereas there will be constant upgrades, the main amendments are the following:
• Improved brand control over fakes. New instruments to detect violating goods. Sellers can search by brand, trademark, or item name and upload item images to see listings with identical images that may infringe on their copyright.
• Custom brand page. An Amazon storefront brings buyers who click on your brand name to your created brand page.
• Headline Advertising Brand Registry 2.0. Promotional headings allow you to attach a line of text to the left of the ad, along with three other products that get preference at the top of the results page.
What Are the Brand Registry Benefits?
Based on the information provided by Amazon, over 130.000 business people worldwide have registered their brands on Amazon. So what is the Brand Registry on Amazon designed for? With it, sellers detect and report 99% fewer alleged violations than before the program’s start. So let’s see how Amazon seller Brand Registry can help you:
Build Your Brand
• A+ Content. It allows companies to demonstrate their brand stories and product traits with formatted text and images on the Amazon detail page to increase conversion and boost sales further.
• Sponsored brands. Boost your brand awareness with advertisements with your logo, tailored heading, and up to three selling items.
• Amazon Stores. Promote your trademark and goods for free using your multipage Amazon Store.
• Amazon Brand Analytics. Your decision-making may be more productive with potent data from Amazon Brand Analytics, including customer search queries and behavior reports.
• New seller incentives. Recent brand owners who sign up with this program can receive up to $50.000 in bonuses and discounts.
Protect Your Brand
• Accurate listings. Better run your product pages, so buyers see authentic information.
• Proactive brand protection. Amazon’s automated protections leverage information about your business to remove violating or incorrect content in advance. As you provide more details, the program will better assist you with protecting and enhancing your brand experience.
• Report violations. Amazon’s potent search tools allow you to detect and report alleged infringements quickly.
What Are The Amazon New Brand Registry’s Drawbacks?
Do not consider the points mentioned below as real cons, but things Brand Registry won’t do for you.
Amazon doesn’t take action against brand owners who list your goods against your will. Instead, it works against those who offer counterfeit or violating items. Also, the marketplace doesn’t take action against those who market your brand’s goods at a minimum advertised price (MAP).
How Can Seller Central Brand Registry Help Me Promote My Brand?
Amazon-registered brands and verified companies have more control over the information displayed on a product page compared to other brands selling the same product. This way, you can improve your Amazon brand services and listings and make it easy for buyers to find your items.
How to Check if a Brand is Registered on Amazon?
Even though there is no public database of companies signed up with Amazon, Enhanced Brand Content (EBC) gives a more detailed description of goods with more images, complex layouts, and formatting. Nonetheless, EBC is optional, so it doesn’t mean the brand is not registered if it doesn’t have EBC.
The most straightforward way to verify Amazon brand ownership as a customer is to check if it has an Amazon Store or A+ Content on the product page.
How to Enroll a New Brand on Amazon?
Amazon Brand Registry is essential for new brands. If you wish to learn how to enlist a new brand on Amazon, here are some steps you should know:
STEP 1: Create a Brand Registry account by submitting all the necessary details.
STEP 2: Once you create an Amazon Brand Registry account, on the left-hand corner of the homepage, find and click on ‘Enroll a new brand,’ and you will see the list of information required for registering your brand.
STEP 3: When you have covered all the information, click on ‘Enroll your brand,’ and you will be led to a form wherein you have to fill in your brand name. Ensure the brand name you enter matches precisely with your trademark name. The characterization of the brand name you enter must be the same as your registered trademark name.
STEP 4: As the brand name is enrolled, it is unlikely that you or any other party of your brand will be able to make changes to it. If the brand is already registered, you will see a message saying so, and your details might be sent to the brand owner. If your trademark is not being registered or if you are applying within 48 hours of registration, the program will not enable you to proceed.
STEP 5: Once you answer the questions, you will be asked to provide the details of your trademark and the categories to which your items belong. You should also be able to verify yourself as an owner of the trademark.
STEP 6: Once you submit the application, you receive an email notifying you of your submission. Amazon will contact the person or entity that applied for the trademark. If you use the legal entity, the legal entity will receive a notification containing a code. You must obtain and submit that code to your Brand Registry application.
Once Amazon has both verification points, your Amazon brand ownership will be approved. You can repeat this process by clicking ‘Enroll Brand’ for each registry trademark you own. Once you enroll, you can begin receiving the benefits of being an Amazon brand owner.
How Can Your Business Benefit From Brand Registry?
Merchants can accelerate removing a doubtful or bogus item from a listing as they can quickly show Amazon that they are brand owners.
Fake listings are a prevalent issue for well-known businesses or merchants with high sales rates.
Removing dishonest merchants from the listing is not a problem if the seller uses FBA. Once in the Brand Registry, merchants can more quickly confirm whether someone has faked a product as the previous work of enrolling the brand on the website has been completed. In addition, Amazon will get rid of all counterfeit inventory if the brand owner uses FBA. In contrast, other brand owners may revert to a listing after they have been removed by opening another merchant account with another name.
Adjusting Marketing Strategy to the Brand Registry Enrollment
When devising an efficient Amazon marketing strategy, it would be best if you understand your audience through data analytics. For example, Amazon Brand Registry allows you to access your clients’ buying behavior, search terms, items that suit them, and essential demographics. By understanding these aspects, you can make reasonable adjustments to your Amazon marketing strategy, make changes to your store, and boost your sales.
Brand Registry is a viable option with a lot of potential for brand reputation. The point is, it’s not so easy to enroll in a new brand. It takes a carefully crafted business strategy to know for sure if the money and effort put into obtaining the ® symbol for their product.
While you see the benefits and drawbacks of having an enrolled patent or trademark, several options still protect your trademark and brand in the marketplace. For example, optimizing your listings, picking relevant keywords for your product names, and keeping a close eye on your competitors may reduce the risk of your selling items being hacked.
So an efficient solution is to find a reliable Amazon marketing agency that will make your life easier.
The Cost for Amazon Brand Registry Application?
No cost is required to enroll in the Brand Registry program at this time. Nonetheless, it would be best if you had an enrolled trademark to pretend to apply for a Brand Registry.
The fee for a registered trademark is usually between $225 and $400. Yet, these fees may range contingent on the class of protection you wish to purchase.
How Do Brand Registry’s Changes For The Better Affect Your Business?
The improvements made in the Brand Registry program are apparent. Strengthening pre-registration requirements and introducing trademark requirements must substantially reduce the likelihood of brands and goods faking. The addition of the “Report a Violation” search instrument facilitates detecting and reporting brand violations, which is a blessing for entrepreneurs on Amazon. The platform’s readiness to shift the challenge of verifying the authenticity of fake brands and items from sellers to themselves is supportive, the same as their readiness to set aside four hours to respond to complaints.
There are a few other issues, such as insufficient protection against MAP infringers and the incapacity to prevent unauthorized merchants from purchasing branded goods and selling them according to the MAP. Amazon Brand Gating enables sellers to own their listings and regulate which merchants can use those goods. It is done by requesting other sellers to apply for the right to sell your business and items and requesting them to pay a fee. Nonetheless, Brand Gating works by invitation for now.
Wrapping Up
Protecting your brand when working with Amazon is the topmost priority. Enrolling your brand under the Brand Registry program will save your goods from fakers, hackers, and other infringers and provide you with access to multiple instruments, thereby assisting you with boosting your sales and income. If you wish to understand the program better, feel free to reach out to us.
Shops on Amazon have a lot to gain from signing up for Brand Registry. From more excellent business protection to never-ending methods of attracting clients, you’ll have whatever you need to boost sales and increase brand awareness.
It all amounts to ensuring the most positive brand experience. With all the tools at your disposal, you’ll reach your full potential in the marketplace and surpass your competitors.
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About the Author:
Lana Parchuk is the Head of Project Management at Profit Whales, a full-service marketing agency for e-commerce brands that scales them on Amazon and beyond via a cross-channel approach.
With over two years of experience of work in Profit Whales, Lana went through all the stages from Customer Success Manager to Head of Department. She built a system of managing multiple marketing channels (Amazon and social media, search ads, etc) for e-commerce businesses to set clients up for success.
