There are plenty of opportunities for FBA sellers to get together these days. There are big conferences and smaller meet-ups, and there are conferences which focus on different areas – sourcing, marketing, or tech. There are even conferences for small business and for those just getting started.
But with so many opportunities, how do you pick the right one?
For instance, Amazon itself hosts a massive conference, Accelerate. With 26,000 attendees at the September 2022 event, it’s a monster. You’ll need to do your prep weeks in advance to make the most out of it. If you want to get a taste of the last one, you can see videos and the program at https://sell.amazon.com/events; Amazon made some big announcements, and its top people were all there.
Accelerate is probably best for the experienced Amazon vendor who wants to go further, faster. If you are really into the technology, the search engine, the way things work, this is a really great conference to attend; if you’re just trying to get launched in a skincare niche, it might be overwhelming. This year’s date hasn’t been announced yet so watch this space.
White Label Expo will be on the 3-4 May in Las Vegas, and it’s aimed squarely at the branded product seller. There’s a lot about sourcing, there’s a Pro Seller Summit where experts share their best tips about how to grow your business, and there will be sessions about Amazon ads and fees. You can even get start-up masterclasses. If I was relatively new in the business, this is one I’d choose ahead of the big Amazon conference, as it delivers more actionable information you can apply fast to get your business moving.
The Prosper Show, also in Vegas, takes place from March 13 to 15. This show is a great place for finding software and service providers who can take your business up a notch, and getting ideas on how to make your operations more efficient. While it’s Amazon-focused, if you’re interested in Walmart and other marketplaces this is a broad-based show that can help you get your channels diversified. It’s also a good place to network with other FBA sellers and perhaps start some interesting partnerships.
ETail Palm Springs is Feb 27 to March 2, four days of high level hard work focused on e-commerce. Over half the audience are director level, with nearly a fifth of them CEOs or Presidents, though the size of businesses starts at under $5m and goes all the way to the biggest. It’s not an Amazon conference, it’s an e-tailer conference, with some deep thinking about brands, technologies, and marketing.
This is the conference that will make sense if you already have an Amazon business but you’re thinking about setting up your own branded website, or if you want to see what’s happening in the e-commerce world outside Amazon.
The 2023 Sellers Summit takes place in May, in Fort Lauderdale, and it has a dual focus on Amazon business plus running your own e-commerce business. Many of the speakers run their own online businesses while others come from ad agencies or social media marketing. This is not a conference to learn about the long term technology future, it’s a conference to grab some inspiration and ideas and take them straight home to get to work.
Sellers Summit even has mastermind groups for businesses making over $250,000 or over $1m online – small groups that will focus on the members’ businesses and generate new ideas for productivity and sales growth. If you have the chance to get on to one of these groups, take it!
But you don’t have to go to a conference or even step outside your home to network with other FBA sellers. You know what? You can visit the Seller Forums at Seller Central and interact with other sellers there, too. Why not start doing that today?