Blast Off: The Basics of Amazon Launchpad

From vegan lip butter to the Shark Tank-approved Bug Bite Suction Thing, Amazon Launchpad offers a catchy program name and a way for smaller brands to boost their business on Amazon. The dedicated Launchpad store is a marketplace within the Amazon website where customers can shop the program’s products. Plus, members get increased placements elsewhere on Amazon, such as category pages, marketing emails, and deal submissions.

Of course, this comes with a fee, so is Amazon Launchpad worth it? This article will provide details about the program, the criteria, and the costs involved to help small businesses make an informed decision.

What is Amazon Launchpad?

Amazon Launchpad is an internal Amazon program designed to assist Amazon sellers looking to jumpstart their business on the platform. According to Amazon, “Our program is designed with startups in mind and to help drive brand awareness.” Launchpad offers the following benefits:

Helps drive discoverability via marketing placements in a dedicated Launchpad section of the site, plus emails to customers, and other features.
Allows sellers to customize and personalize their pages with Premium A+ Content. This opens up some modules not available to regular Brand Registry sellers, like images with hotspots, carousels, and larger images.
Allows access to a special interface, called The Brand Portal, where Amazon gives users guidance on product launches, optimization, guides, and more. This is an extra level of assistance above Amazon Seller Support.
Assists with expansion into other global Amazon locales by identifying opportunities and helping with applications and typical hurdles sellers face when trading in another country.

Who Can Apply for Amazon Launchpad?

Amazon welcomes “entrepreneurs and brand owners with unique and innovative products” to apply for the program. They especially encourage businesses with Climate Pledge Friendly certified products and certified Black-Owned businesses to apply. The Launchpad program accepts brands from all product lines, with a special focus on “innovative” products. Think brands who’ve seen traction on Kickstarter or Indiegogo.

Applicants must have a Professional seller account that has been active for less than four years and has generated less than $5 million in gross merchandise annual sales on Amazon to qualify.

Amazon Launchpad Benefits

Amazon's marketplace is massive, with more than 200 million products being offered for sale from millions of sellers of all sizes. It’s easy for new brands and smaller businesses with niche products to get lost in the jungle of competition.

Small businesses may not have the resources to fully take advantage of Amazon’s marketing levers, such as Amazon Advertising, deal scheduling, or global expansion to other locales. Amazon Launchpad offers an approach that gives interested sellers a bit of hand-holding for an additional cut of the business’ sales.

How Much Does Amazon Launchpad Cost?

After a business applies for Amazon Launchpad, they will hear within two weeks if they’ve been accepted. Once they decide to join the program, it requires a 12-month minimum commitment. Upon joining, Amazon will add a 5% premium to the Referral Fees described on the Selling on Amazon Fee Schedule. The Amazon Launchpad fee applies to all sales associated with your account. If your 12-month sales exceed $1 million, your brand may negotiate with Amazon to reduce this fee to 3%, but this is at Amazon’s discretion.

Those joining Launchpad also must meet certain criteria in regard to seller performance to ensure they meet Amazon’s customer experience standards. Products must maintain a 3.5-star rating, have at least five reviews, and be Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) with Prime badging. This ensures a good customer experience and that all products are retail-ready for merchandising.

Need to boost your review numbers to be eligible for Amazon Launchpad? FeedbackFive by eComEngine automates the review process for you, allowing you to request more reviews from more buyers in a fraction of the time it takes to manually send out messages for every order.

Is Amazon Launchpad Worth it?

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to Amazon. Depending on the particular business, Launchpad could be a great solution for some brands and a waste of money for others. At eCommerce Nurse, we see the main benefit as extra visibility. Amazon will waive fees for a weekly Lightning Deal or 7-Day Deal. It will also feature Launchpad products in marketing emails to millions of customers. The Premium A+ Content inclusion is great, but unless you have the resources to build on those beautiful images or hire an agency to do so, it’s not going to do the pages justice.

In the dedicated Launchpad store, Amazon also does a nice job of sharing startup stories and putting a face with the business. Much like the Amazon Brand Story widget, this can be a great way to set yourself apart from the competition, especially for brands that have a unique selling proposition such as eco-friendly or sustainable products.

Some brands may really need logistics help or assistance navigating the complicated ins and outs of Seller Central. The higher level of support is nice, but much like Seller Support, you may not get the answers you need. This type of contact will still require time and resources for a startup, as selling on Amazon comes with a lot of questions and information overload. You will also still have to pay for other Amazon perks on top of Launchpad. Depending on your situation, all of these fees may add up to more than your business can handle.

Deciding on a Business Strategy

Where some businesses might find Launchpad to be a great solution, others might want to consider attempting Seller Central alone for a bit (remember, you can apply for Launchpad for up to four years after joining the platform). Other businesses might want the personalized attention of Amazon agency support. For hands-on attention, eCommerce Nurse is a one-stop shop, able to handle everything you need for global or local eCommerce success. For assistance with strategy, Amazon programs, full account management, marketing support, and more, check out our range of services.