Like many other Internet marketers, one of the first things I do each day is check my Amazon Associates account to see how much I earned the day before. I also check to see how many and what products were ordered the day before, knowing that I will earn my commission on them once they are shipped. It’s just a routine of mine and, as I said before, is likely common for others that promote Amazon products.
However, about once a week or so, I really dig into the reports in my Associates Account. While most people are aware that they can see how much a tracking ID earned for any specific time frame, and they can see what products earned them a commission, many don’t know about a little hidden arrow button inside your reports that can really help you improve your promotions.
Let me show you where that hidden arrow is.
Uncheck Combined Reports
Once you are logged into your Amazon Associates Account, uncheck the button at the top left that says “combined reports.” You want your reports to be broken down at the tracking ID level so you can get more specific stats that will help you improve your promotions.
Orders Report
Now, choose the report type of “Orders Report” and isolate the time period to whatever you’d like. Then, click the “Display on Page” button and let the report generate.
At the top of the report, you will see the column titled “Items with Orders.” This shows all the products that were ordered via an Amazon Associate link with that specific tracking ID in it.
You can also see which products were ordered when someone clicked your link and bought the exact product you linked to. Additionally, you can see those products that were ordered once someone clicked an Amazon link of yours and browsed through the Amazon.com site to purchase a different product (i.e., not one you specifically linked to).
Once you get down to the end of the Items with the Orders report, you will see another orange header that says “Items with no orders.”
Underneath that are the words “Show all items” with a little down arrow icon to the left of it.
What many don’t know is that if you click that down arrow and let the report reload, you can scroll back down and see all the direct product links that were clicked with your tracking ID in it that were not purchased, as well as how many times they were clicked.
This hidden information in this report offers a wealth of information that can help you optimize your affiliate efforts.
Items With No Orders Report
Here is one way the Orders Report helped me recently with its “Items with no orders report.”
I have promoted a certain product from Amazon for years, and it always sold incredibly well. Recently, I noticed that I wasn’t making any sales of that product any longer.
When I clicked to see my “Items with no orders” report, I noticed a lot of clicks still going to the product page as normal; but, why weren’t they buying it anymore?
Turns out, once I clicked the product link from inside my report, I noticed that the product was no longer being sold on Amazon and only sold via an external website (and we don’t get commission for that).
That meant I was sending a lot of targeted “ready-to-buy” traffic to a site that offered me no commission. Once I changed my links to a very similar product that is sold on Amazon, my sales volume went right back to normal.
Another time this helps is when I am recommending a product and lots of people click through to see it, making a buying decision — but the “Items with no orders” report shows me that no one is buying it. That enables me to both see why the product might not be selling (bad reviews, price went up, item out of stock, etc.) and to also try a different product that they might like better based on what they are actually buying — which I can find out via the stats in my earnings reports.
This “Items with no orders” option in your Orders Report is a great little source of information for helping you increase your affiliate earnings with Amazon. Check it out next time you’re in your account.
Comments