Website Link: Example of Amazon aStore
Link to example: www.TheOrphanFoundation.org/store.htm
Our Sponsors for This Page:
To Order The Almanac of Fundraising Ideas eBook:
NOTE: You do not need a PayPal account to purchase. Part way down the right column of the payment screen, you'll see "Pay by credit or debit card."
Gift Certificates are available when you check out
|
Potential Revenues: |
$ |
|
Revenue Source: |
4-15% of sales made through your aStore |
|
Advertising: |
Social media, eNewsletter articles, news articles on your site, a dedicated page on your site for the aStore, internet discussion boards, press releases to local newspapers and radio stations, blogs, your non-profit’s homepage, in your email signature, all communications |
|
Equipment/Supplies: |
None |
|
Partners: |
Amazon and their network of sellers and partners |
|
Volunteers Needed: |
Your webmaster |
This is a very
simple and straight-forward program that’s easy to implement. The way you make money is by referring people
who are shopping in your store to the main Amazon store. Amazon handles the entire transaction, and
then sends you a percentage for the referral.
These programs are sometimes called affiliate programs, but the aStore
is more like a traditional online store that appears on your website.
To see an example, you can go to www.TheOrphanFoundation.org and click on their store link. Once you select the products that you want to appear from the enormous Amazon community, everything else is done on your behalf by Amazon, including shipping and billing.
Creating an aStore account is pretty simple. You simply go to http://astore.amazon.com/, and follow the instructions given. Some tips are there on how to create widgets and select products, but this is relatively simple to do. When you’re done selecting the products, you are given a couple of options on whether or not you want to link to a separate page, create a page on your site, or create a separate section on your site. After the product selections are made, you aStore is done, and you can get some simple HTML code to incorporate in your site.Ideas to Consider:
These referral programs are easy to start – and the aStore is one of the best from a “functionality, look and feel” perspective. However, one of the concerns about affiliate programs is that you don’t really get to know your customers, or even their names. All that type of information is hidden from you except for the number of transactions made from your site, the total revenue generated from your site, and your earnings. Once someone buys from Amazon through your store, Amazon begins a strong direct marketing campaign with those customers. That means that the customers will be likely buying from them direct, and you’ll no longer get a referral fee.
As a result, you’ll want to create your own list of buyers by arranging giveaways and other incentives for customers to give you their names and email addresses. For your existing mailing list recipients, you want to make sure that you remind them to buy ‘through’ your store, so that referral monies go to your cause.
Most of your referral fees will be capped around 4%. If you get enough orders in a particular month, your fee will go to 6%. When the next month rolls around, however, you have to start all over again. The 15% fees are reserved for special programs that Amazon is trying to push. These products may or may not be what you’re willing to offer in your store.
Source of Idea: This is a program that is advertised by www.Amazon.com on its website, and made available to both for-profits and non-profits.
Questions? Info@FundraisingAlmanac.com
Your Comments: