From Amazon Dependence to Direct Reader Relationships

Photo by Tierra Mallorca on Unsplash

Remember when I said that my Amazon sales are down, but I’m not worried?

My direct sales have increased every single year since I started my Shopify store. I think that’s because I’m able to innovate there, charge higher prices, and move quickly in response to customer demand.

So these days, most of my focus—and most of my ad dollars—are going toward my direct sales efforts.

My bestsellers on my store are my book bundles. These bundles contain at least six books, and I’m currently experimenting with bundles as large as twenty-five books. My other strong sellers are omnibus paperbacks and hardcover special editions.

We all know there’s a spending cap on retailers. But readers regularly spend $30 and $60 on my Shopify store because the offers are different and the experience is different.

I’m very certain that much of this financial success comes from selling higher-ticket items and from having clean, complete data.

When we run a traffic ad to Amazon, we don’t get the guest list to the party we paid to send people to. Amazon doesn’t share that information. Same with Amazon AMS ads.

Their house. Their rules.

Now listen—I love Amazon. That company changed my life. But I’m in a season now where I want to build on my land and fortify my house.

So my focus has shifted toward:

• Increasing visibility to my store

• Encouraging repeat customers

• Raising customer value over time

Those are all things I can control.

And because I own the data, I can make decisions based on information instead of emotion. That alone has been incredibly freeing.

I’ll be chronicling my direct store glow up here. In the meantime, here is the layout of my best performing Product Page.

PS: Late pledges are still open on my Kickstarter. So if you’re having fomo…