New Product Launch on Amazon: Use the “Born to Run” Program

Because Amazon values order history a lot, launching a new product on Amazon with no reviews and no purchase history is a real headache for brands today.

For Vendors and Sellers the goal is to gain visibility to generate sales and trigger a virtuous circle. For Vendors, it is also necessary to convince Amazon to stock quickly and sufficiently to anticipate future demand.

The Born to Run program

One of Amazon’s solutions to help Vendors overcome these challenges during product launches is the Born to Run program.

What is the Born to Run program?

The Born to Run program is dedicated to Vendors and allows them to launch products on Amazon at an accelerated speed, without having to wait for an increase in traffic for Amazon to stock these references.

With this program, the Vendor commits to Amazon on an initial stock over 10 weeks (Launch Buy Quantity or LBQ). It is the Vendor’s responsibility to generate sales for these products to drive Amazon’s algorithm to recommend them. If the stock is not sold out at the end of the 10 weeks it can be returned to the Vendor. 

Eligibility requirements for the Born to Run program

The Vendor is bound by 3 main obligations to participate in this program:

• The obligation to use Amazon’s advertising program for at least 90 days.
• The ASIN cannot be considered hazmat, heavy or bulky and must display a selling price lower than €5 per unit.
• The total cost of the LBQ product (the initial stock that the Seller wants to launch) cannot exceed €50 000.
• The products do not have to be considered “new” to the market.

If you don’t have access to the Born to Run program from a central vendor, don’t hesitate to turn to your VM (Vendor Manager) or an AVS (Amazon Vendor Specialist) to make a specific request. 

The key to success: advertising

Amazon recommends that providers create their own advertising content to drive sales. The idea is to use the advertising tools provided by Amazon (Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Products, Display) to drive the product up on strategic keywords, generate traffic to the page and thus increase sales. 

My opinion on the “Born to Run” program

#1: The ability to launch a new product without worrying about them going “out of stock”

One of the main advantages of the Born to Run program for a vendor is that it ensures that sales can increase quickly thanks to advertising without being out of stock during the strategic period of product launch.

#2: Distributors’ knowledge of their own product lines

“Born to Run” offers suppliers the opportunity to quickly learn about new products that have been released for sale. If suppliers have confidence in their products and markets, they can translate this into larger, initial purchase quantities.

#3: “Launch Buy Quantity” may not be the only purchase order received by ASIN

The initial “LBQ” is not necessarily the only purchase order the ASIN will receive during this first 10-week period. If the ASIN reaches sales traction before 10 weeks, then Amazon will reorder the ASIN as it normally would. 

At Seelk we strongly recommend this program to all our Vendors wishing to launch new products on Amazon. 

Of course, before any launch, you need to make sure that everything is ready: Perfect Product Page, Stock ready to ship, keyword analysis for your advertising campaigns… 

And you, what are your best practices for launching your products on Amazon? 🙂