Millions of products are sold on Amazon all categorized by product type and brand. Whether you’re the official brand owner or a reseller, anyone can sell on Amazon. Amazon allows any seller on it’s platform suggest product information which may show up on the product detail page. Brands of all sizes on Amazon face challenges from resellers who submit subpar or inaccurate information which show up on the product detail page, which destroys the customer shopping experience.
That’s where Amazon Brand Registry comes to play. This program ensures only the brand owner has the ability to set what information is displayed on the product detail page.
In this post, we’ll explain everything you need to know about Brand Registry so you can claim your brand’s product detail pages, unlock new marketing opportunities, and finally grow your business.
What is Brand Registry?
Amazon Brand Registry is a program which enables brand owners to control content and information on product detail pages under a specific brand and prevent resellers from changing any information on it. Brand Registry is a way for the brand owner to be the final authority in what should show up on the detail page which protects brand perception and ultimately the purchasing experience for the customer.
Being enrolled in Brand Registry does not restrict sellers from listing your products. It simply allows the brand owner to control the product detail pages and present Retail Ready information when customers are shopping your products.
How to Sign Up for Amazon Brand Registry
You can only apply to Amazon Brand Registry if you own a trademark.
Brand owners can apply through their Amazon account which will take you to the automated registration process. If you have multiple brands, you’ll need to have all the relevant trademark information, product and packaging images, owned website URLs, and legal company information.
Amazon’s Brand Registry Program is not limited to well-known household brands, but open to all private brands or white label owners with a trademark. Brand Registry is critical to prevent competitors from stealing your buy box and delivering best-in-class content to the customer.
Benefits of Brand Registry
Control Over your Brand Experience
Having rich, detailed, SEO-heavy content is the foundation of succeeding on Amazon. Inaccurate information can completely misrepresent your brand or product and lead to a terrible customer experience. This happens often when a customer orders a red shirt but receives a blue one. Brand Registry grants brand owners’ control of the informational inputs on the product detail page so they can maximize conversion potential and drive more sales.
Access to Data Analytics with Brand Registry Analytics
Under the Brand Registry Portal, enrollees have access to deeper search and reporting tools such as any notifications of Brand Registry infractions (e.g. unauthorized sellers’ using your trademarked logos and content), Store traffic data, and additional support from Amazon.
Proactive Brand Protection
Amazon uses information provided by the brand owners to prevent potential infringement and misuse of your trademark and removes listings as follows:
- Product listings that aren’t for your brand and incorrectly use your trademarked terms in their titles
- Images that contain your logo, but are for products that don’t carry your brand name.
- Sellers shipping products from countries in which you do not manufacture or distribute your brand.
- Product listings being created with your brand name when you have already listed your full product catalog on Amazon
Dedicated Amazon Support Team
Amazon provides a dedicated global customer service team to assist brand owners with phone calls and help tickets created for infringement issues. The team is quick and usually responds on the same day.
Advertising and Branding Opportunities
The following marketing and advertising tools are only available for brand-registered owners: A+ Content, Brand Stores, Sponsored Brand tools, and Amazon Brand Analytics, a reporting tool that provides key insights such as top search terms, customer demographics, market basket analysis, and most-clicked products.
Who is Eligible for Brand Registry?
Amazon makes it easy for brands to register for the program by requiring certain rules to limit resellers from obtaining brand ownership. The eligibility requirements are below as dictated by Amazon for the United States:
- Trademark organization: United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
- Statutes: Trademark must have a live registration issued and active in the principal register
- Text-based marks: 1 – Typeset Word(s)/ Letter(s)/ Number(s); 4 – Standard Character Mark
- Image-based marks: 3 – An Illustration Drawing which includes Word(s)/Letter(s)/ Number(s); 5 – Words, Letters, or Numbers in a Stylized Form
Other countries can be found here.
Additional Ways to Protect your Brand on Amazon
Project Zero
Amazon continues to face scrutiny over counterfeit products sold on its site. Many sellers list banned or unsafe products with fake certifications. Project Zero utilizes Amazon’s sophisticated technologies to monitor and automatically remove counterfeit products free of charge. Launched in 2019 in the US, Project Zero now operates in 17 Amazon marketplaces globally. Once a brand is registered in one market it is registered worldwide.
Transparency
Another key program is Transparency, a tracking and serialization service used to prevent counterfeit goods from reaching customers. It is available in seven marketplaces globally. Amazon provides serialized codes to a manufacturer who must have the ability to apply the code to every unit manufactured; these codes can also be applied to product sold to other retailers and authorized agents. Customers can interact with a brand by downloading the Transparency app and scanning the applied code to verify the product’s authenticity and receive unit-level information.
Transparency can be helpful across all product categories, but it’s worthwhile for brands to evaluate their annual cost of lost business due to counterfeiting first. There is a small fee (1-5 cents/unit), plus the additional operational cost for printing and applying the barcode. Additionally, because Transparency codes are applied to all units manufactured, Amazon can receive valuable information about a brand’s retail distribution that may need to stay private.
Conclusion: Apply for Amazon Brand Registry if Possible
Amazon is certainly taking steps to protect the integrity of its marketplace for brands and customers through programs like Brand Registry, Project Zero and Transparency. As you continue to evaluate your brand’s Amazon presence, it is imperative to enroll in Brand Registry and maximize all the benefits the program offers. Unlocking the key benefits that Brand Registry offers will not only help drive topline sales and conversions, but also improve the customer shopping experience and build long-term loyalty.
Are you exploring Brand Registry and how it can benefit your Amazon sales? Get in touch with us hello@flstudios.website