When a product is first launched on the platform, it’s universally agreed upon that Amazon allows it to rank well for an abundance of keywords rapidly – for a limited amount of time. If this initial boost did not exist, imagine how difficult it would be for anybody ever to have a chance at selling their products when competing with established ASINs, all with powerhouse sales history, tens of thousands of reviews, and sales velocity equivalent to a speeding train.
Enter the land of “The Honeymoon Period.”
Honeymoon Refresh
Topics I ultimately end up chiming in on are often inspired by chatter I consistently come across often. Disagreements about whether it is possible to reset this priceless honeymoon period or not, and if so, how it can be done, have been popping up a good amount lately.
It absolutely can be done, and anybody with a product that could benefit from such a boost will benefit tremendously from a refresh if they are prepared to reinvest their time, money, and energy into it.
How to Refresh an ASIN
There are many opinions about whether or not this can even be done. For those who know it can, there are even more opinions about the best method.
Allow me to share with you a quick how-to for what I’ve found to be the most effective method:
- Open a case – request access to Categories Listing Reports – Wait 10-15 minutes – Generate “All” report.
- Delete everything from the flat file that isn’t related to the ASIN that is being refreshed. This makes it much easier to work with the file.
- Utilizing the downloaded report, create a completed listing that will be used to upload not long after. *IMPORTANT*: be sure to utilize the same merchant SKUs that you already have for the given ASIN. Make sure to obtain the bullet points, image URLs, descriptions, etc. The file should be completed as if you were creating a brand new ASIN.
Stay the Course
If all of this were simple & easy, everybody would be doing it.
Download the “Inventory Loader” flat file (link below to download for reference) – Add every SKU that you have for the ASIN being refreshed, and state which unique identifier you used to list the ASIN (UPC, EAN, GTIN, etc.). Add the relevant unique identifiers. For the “add-delete” field, enter an “x” for each row that is populated. Upload. This deletes the offers on a deep level from the catalog. Head back to that flat file that was created from that Category Listing Report. For the “update_delete” column, enter a “Full Update” value. For the field “ product_site_launch_date”, enter the next day’s date in the following format: MM/DD/YYYY. Save the file.
Ensure that one hour has passed since you uploaded the Inventory Loader. Upload your beautiful, impeccably filled-out flat file. Remember, the ASIN is not set to launch until the next day, so upon uploading, it will not go live at that moment. When the clock strikes 12:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time (3:00 a.m. EST), the gates are opened, and your ASIN will be unleashed. Your EBC will be present – all of the product reviews will be there. Your ASIN is being indexed again, and it will now have an abundance of relevance for far more keywords. The countdown clocks begin from there, though. The refresh is the first power-play move. Following up with all of the ninja tactics that you have to continue to build velocity and to have buyers convert on a wide variety of targeted keywords is essential for there to be any lasting effect.