As an Amazon brand owner, you’re always looking for ways to boost your product visibility and increase conversions. But even with one eye focused on growth, you still have to stay vigilant against bad faith actors and black hat tactics.
With increased competition and traffic, there comes a higher risk of counterfeit products and hijacked listings. Fortunately, Amazon has resources in place for sellers looking to protect their brands through Amazon Brand Registry.
In this article, we’ll review the latest benefits of becoming a part of the program. We’ll also walk you through the application process, and share proven tips to help you make the most of your Brand Registered status.
What Is Amazon’s Brand Registry?
Amazon Brand Registry is a special status on Amazon designed to help e-commerce sellers promote sales and protect their intellectual property. The current version was launched in 2017 as part of a series of initiatives to curb counterfeit selling.
In addition to offering protection against counterfeiting, trademark infringement, listings hijacking, and more, Amazon Brand Registry also offers a host of free resources for sellers. These include marketing and analytics tools, subscription service capabilities, access to a network of product reviewers, and more.
The Real Benefits For Sellers
Brand Registered status affords Amazon sellers a number of key protections and benefits. But what exactly are they, and how much of a difference do they actually make?
Brand Protection
When you enroll in Brand Registry, Amazon collects certain data about your brand. Then, it uses machine learning tools to automatically and proactively scan and remove listings that infringe on your intellectual property.
Amazon also provides support tools that let you search and report counterfeit listings yourself, and it offers Neutral Patent Evaluation services, to help you resolve any disputes without going to court. Brand Registry also gives you access to a dedicated support team that can help fix bad listings, escalate infringement claims, and more.
When you enroll in Amazon Brand Registry, you also become eligible for other brand protection programs. These include:
- Transparency: Amazon uses a serialization system to verify that only authentic units are shipped to your customers. Each individual unit of every product you enroll in Transparency is given a unique code, which must be provided by anyone who sells on your listing or creates their own. Under Transparency, products don’t ship if they don’t have the right code.
- Project Zero: A program that enables Amazon to remove any suspected counterfeits, and gives you the power to immediately remove counterfeit listings without contacting Amazon.
- Counterfeit Crimes Unit: Offers brands the opportunity to partner with Amazon in tracking down and stopping counterfeit sellers through legal action.
Better Control Over Your Listings
Being Brand Registered on Amazon can give you more control over your listings and help prevent unauthorized changes. Enrolling allows you to monitor your listings, ensure product descriptions, photos, and other details are accurate, and revert back to previous or original versions as necessary.
A+ Content
Sellers enrolled in Brand Registry get access to Amazon A+ Content tools, which lets you build brand and product detail pages with features like rich text, image carousels, banners, and HD video. You can add photos and charts, customize your branding, and experiment with flexible layouts to improve the customer experience. A+ Content also includes an A/B testing tool to help you choose how to best represent your brand.
According to JungleScout, using A+ Content for your product description can increase your brand’s conversion rate by an average of 5.6%. By using more detailed product descriptions, branded imagery and other features, you can also increase customer satisfaction, reduce your rate of returns, and boost your chances of getting good product reviews.
Amazon Brand Stores
If you sell multiple products, once enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry, you can create a Brand Store (aka Amazon Store or Amazon Storefront) on the platform. A storefront is similar to having your own website landing page within the Amazon ecosystem. This can help increase your visibility, upsell and cross-sell more products, and drive traffic from external sources. You may also be able to dramatically increase your ROAS by linking Sponsored Brand ads to your Brand Store instead of just your product pages.
Sponsored Brand Ads
Sellers enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry are also eligible to purchase Sponsored Brand ads. These ads appear above, next to, or within search results — more prominent, eye-catching placement than regular Sponsored Product ads. Sponsored Brand ad users can also create custom brand images with Amazon’s free AI image generation tool, which Amazon says can help improve click-through rates and branded searches by more than 50% over ads with only product images.
Amazon Live
Registered brands also gain access to Amazon Live and the Amazon Live Creator App. You can also get Amazon Live if you’re a Professional Seller and have an active Brand Store. With this resource, you can create shoppable livestreams, product demonstrations, and more. You can also connect directly with shoppers using the app’s chat feature. The app can even let your followers know whenever you go live.
Customer Insights
Brand Registry participants also get access to Amazon’s Brand Analytics tool. The tool lets you analyze search and buying behavior, engage customers to drive repeat purchases, study demographic data, optimize product listings, and more. It can help you choose the right keywords, track important metrics, and even analyze patterns in aggregate purchasing data to increase your average order volume. Amazon made quite a few updates to these analytics that were announced at Amazon Accelerate 2023.
How to Apply for Amazon Brand Registry
Getting your brand registered is a fairly simple process, as long as you meet the eligibility requirements.
Here’s a quick step-by-step guide to applying and enrolling in Amazon Brand Registry.
1. Meet Amazon Brand Registry Requirements
In order to qualify for Amazon Brand Registry, your brand will need an active registered trademark.
You’ll need one for each country where you plan on enrolling in the Registry, or in some cases, a trademark from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) or the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). Note that Amazon currently only accepts trademarks from about 20 countries, including the US, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Australia, India, Japan, Spain, and the UK.
To get a trademark in the US, you’ll need to register with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The trademark registration process can take up to 18 months. You can visit their website to learn more about the process, or check current processing times.
Due to the complexities and time commitment, many brands choose to hire a trademark lawyer to handle the process for them.
2. Expedite the Trademark Process
Brands who don’t yet have a trademark, but wish to enroll in Amazon Brand Registry immediately can get around the trademark requirement by joining Amazon’s IP Accelerator. This program connects sellers with vetted lawyers who walk them through the trademark process.
Joining the IP Accelerator only takes a couple of weeks, and brands in the Accelerator with a pending trademark application can enroll in the Amazon Brand Registry right away.
To join the IP Accelerator:
- Check out Amazon’s list of attorneys
- Read descriptions and compare reviews from other sellers
- Choose a trustworthy firm and click “Contact Provider” to get in touch
- Login with your Amazon Seller Central credentials to complete the process
3. Enroll in the Amazon Brand Registry Program
Once you have your trademark ready, or once you’ve begun the trademark process through the IP Accelerator, you can complete the following steps to enroll in Amazon Brand Registry:
- Head to the Amazon Brand Registry page
- Login with your Amazon Seller Central account details.
- Click “Enroll a Brand” and fill out a brand registry application. You’ll be asked for your information like:
- Your brand details
- Your trademark office info
- A registration or serial number for your trademark
- Wait for Amazon to verify your trademark
- Upload a high-resolution image of your brand logo
- Under “Product Information,” upload at least one clear photo showing your brand name or logo affixed to your product or packaging
- Enter in more details, such as the product categories you sell under, manufacturing and distribution documentation, and whether you’re a seller, vendor, or both
- Click “Submit”
- Wait for Amazon to send you a verification code, which will enable you to complete the enrollment process
Uplevel Your Seller Status with SellersFi
If you want to keep your brand safe and get it noticed, enrolling in Amazon Brand Registry is a no-brainer. However, between hiring a lawyer, designing your brand store, and buying PPC ads, the cost and time commitment can add up.
SellersFi can give you the capital you need to expand your business on Amazon, and beyond.
Check out our complete suite of financial solutions for sellers and learn how we can help you grow your brand. Or, for more ways to win on Amazon, head over to our Amazon Resources Hub.
