Friday, July 6, 2018

Predicting Amazon Sales through Price, Volume, Discounts, Reviews and Sentiments

Sellers often want to know what will predict a product sale. According to a study in the International Journal of Operations & Production Management it is possible to predict products ales through online reviews, consumer sentiment and discounts often influence total sales (Chong, et. al. 2016). Of course they used large data sets.

The findings don't necessarily indicate that price doesn't matter. Other research has show that price almost trumps all with price conscious consumers. However, if we to also look at reviews, sentiment, and discounts we can have a better understanding of potential sales.

Consumer reviews and sentiment help determine how much consumers like the production and whether or not they are receptive to it. When products have a positive impression of a product they are more likely to buy than if they do not.

Likewise, discounts can increase volume of sales when used appropriately.  You don't want to damage your brand but you do want to encourage increased sales of products. Consumers see these discounts as a "deal" to be made.

Big data has made its way into analyzing Amazons offerings. While Amazon themselves may be collecting this information there are not a lot of studies that help us understand how sales are encouraged. Thinking along these lines we can conduct similar reviews within the genre of products we are selling.

Chong, et. al. (2016). Predicting online product sales via online reviews, sentiments, and promotion strategies. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 36 (4).

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