The most common mistake
When positions and sales fall, most sellers start pulling every lever at once: discounts, promotions, ads, price. Until you find the real cause, you are just losing time and burning money.
That is why the first step is always an audit, not advertising. Only an audit can honestly show the errors and the growth zones: why your ad cost share (ACOS) is 20% while a competitor runs at 5%, or why you sell $8,300 a month while a competitor moves $130,000 to $165,000. Most importantly, the audit lays out step by step what to do.
What the audit checks
- product cards;
- price;
- traffic;
- conversion;
- logistics and stock;
- promotions.
The output should be a clear strategy: what to fix first, what second, and an action plan for today, for the week and for the month. An audit does not have to be long: we have had cases where a single call on a store took 90 minutes and produced a mini-course with a step-by-step strategy.
What to do when everyone around you is complaining
Lately I hear more and more: commissions are rising, something is off with the platform, we are thinking of closing. Commissions jump, logistics gets more expensive, rules keep changing, and all of it hits margin, ours included. But we do not stop:
- we keep refining stores;
- we look for the balance between promotions and advertising;
- we push products into the top so prices can be raised without pain;
- we keep improving every metric that affects ranking.
The number one goal in a period like this is not endless revenue growth but protecting the profitability you have already built. Some projects we grew, others we deliberately slowed down to absorb the new economics and hold positions. In my view, that is a normal strategy in turbulent times.
The minimum markup to trade at a profit
In 90% of categories we now treat a markup of 5x on purchase cost as the minimum acceptable, and closer to 10x is better. Why: the cost side on Ozon today is such that at a 2x to 3x markup you are guaranteed to trade at a loss. A 4x to 5x markup often lets you break even or make a small profit. Anything above 5x is a chance at 10% to 20% net return.
The conclusion is simple: look for products where a good markup is possible. Otherwise the return on your Ozon sales will be minimal. Check your own economics: enter purchase cost, commission and logistics and see the result for your category.
Order of action when sales fall
- Do not launch ads or change the price right away.
- Audit the cards and the store, find the cause.
- Fix what blocks growth, starting with the most important item.
- Check the product economics: markup, commission, logistics.
- Only then bring in advertising and promotions.
