4 Best Practices for Creating High Converting Listings for Amazon Germany

If you’re thinking of expanding your business and selling on Amazon Germany, you’re on the right track. Amazon Germany is the second largest platform in Europe, next to Amazon UK. In fact, almost half of German nationals shop on Amazon, and that’s a huge pool of potential buyers. Thus, as difficult as it sounds, the potential rewards of catering to the German market are well worth exploring.

You might think that all you need is a quick session on Google Translate to convert your listings to German, and that’s it. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy to jump right in. 

German is a complex and nuanced language, and Google Translate just won’t be enough to help you create optimized listings. Your listings might be successful on Amazon US but a dismal flop on Amazon Germany if you don’t know how to tweak them for German customers. 

My name is Omar Deryan, CEO at OJ Digital Solutions, an agency that offers amazon listing optimization services. We’ve optimized and translated over 9,000 listings in the past 4 years, and in this guide, I’ll show you what the typical German shopper is like and how to craft optimized listings that can boost your conversion rate on Amazon Germany. 

Let’s begin.

What Are German Customers Like?

Excellent sellers know that the first step to creating a high-converting listing is to put themselves in their customers’ shoes – in this case, German customers. 

That’s why it’s essential to first understand Germans’ buying habits and preferences. 

German Customers Have High Standards and Sharp Research Skills

German customers are among the most difficult to convince when it comes to shopping. They have high expectations and a low level of frustration. They expect fast and simple transactions because they value efficiency. On top of that, Germans take the time to research a product online before purchasing. They also carefully evaluate pricing, features, product reviews, and competitors. 

They Use Critical Thinking to Assess Quality and Value

German customers are known for being intelligent, conscientious, and unyielding when it comes to the quality of the items they buy. In fact, they are one of the most demanding customers in the world in terms of quality assessments. And they have no second thoughts about returning a product if they aren’t satisfied with it. 

The upside is, that they are also willing to pay a bit extra for quality and are loyal once they’ve found a brand that meets their standards. Thus, your listing and product must be impeccable if you intend to sell on Amazon Germany. 

They Are Direct and Straightforward

German consumers value efficiency not just in transactions but in communication as well. Germany has a restrained culture, which means they do not usually display emotions and rely heavily on speech when communicating. This means that customer-centric businesses need to shift to a direct and straightforward communication style to capture the attention of German customers. 

Best Practices for Creating High-Converting Listings for Amazon Germany

Now that you have a picture of the German shopper’s mindset, let’s explore the strategies for creating listings that will click with German consumers.

Pay Attention to Your Keyword Use

As any savvy Amazon seller knows, amazon listing optimization begins with proper and in-depth keyword research. This holds true for Amazon Germany as well. But here’s the catch – your keyword research should be done in German. 

Using English words for your Amazon title would not work as well on Amazon Germany for the simple reason that customers there search for products in their native language. 

On this platform, English keywords are best moved to the back end. Once you have your relevant German keywords, place them wisely. Add them to the title, bullet points, description, and backend to maximize their power to drive your product to the top of the search results. However, take care to avoid mere repetition of keywords throughout your listing. 

Using the same keywords repeatedly is a waste of conversion optimization. Instead, use the outlying keywords, which have high relevance but lower search volume, in the bullet points and descriptions. That way, you’re using keywords connected to your product but generally neglected by your competitors, giving you an edge in product rankings. 

Make Sure Your Copywriting Is Polished and Consistent

As mentioned earlier, German customers like direct and efficient communication. When creating your listing, strive to employ this communication style as well. Prioritize correct grammar and a consistent tone all throughout your listing. 

Grammatical errors convey a sense of carelessness as if you don’t care enough to get your message across clearly in their native language. Similarly, aim to tell a consistent story from start to end. 

Information needs to flow seamlessly to give your customer a smooth shopping experience and convince them that your product is worth their money. 

Stick to Facts

Rather than making opinion-based statements and claims like, “This product is the best in the market,” stick to facts. 

Remember that German consumers are analytical, stoic, and logical, so avoid flowery, clunky, and overly descriptive language. Everything on your listing needs to be precise and grounded on truthful information. 

Use the Tone That Matches Your Product

Using the right tone for listings is tricky, especially in a foreign language. The German language tends to be formal and reserved, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you should always adopt a formal tone in your listings. The key is to use a tone that matches your brand’s personality or product category. 

You have to think about your target market and imagine how they would talk. For example, if you’re selling quirky and funny novelty items, it’s probably best to use a casual tone. On the other hand, if you’re selling high-end luxury items, a more serious and formal tone would be a better fit. 

Use Human Translation 

Translation errors will make your listing look unprofessional and untrustworthy. Unfortunately, this is what will likely happen if you use machine translation. As convenient as machine translation is, it cannot quite capture the nuances and complexities of the German language. 

Some English words take on a different meaning once translated to German. For instance, to describe a body spray mist, you might think of using Google to translate the word “mist.” However, this word would then be translated to German as “nebel,” which actually means “fog.” That’s certainly not in line with what you’re selling, and it’s highly doubtful you can convince a customer to buy the product.

In contrast, a human amazon translation service would be able to understand the context of your message and accurately adapt it for the German market. 

Simply put, human translation will always trump machine translation for localizing product listings. 

Bottom Line

Hitting your stride in Amazon Germany can be an uphill battle if you’re not creating product listings tailored to the German market. 

Simple translations of English listings to German would not be enough to improve your conversion rate on the platform. 

Hopefully, this guide has shown you what steps you can make to attract these meticulous and intelligent consumers. 

An optimized product listing gets you more visits, boosts your sales, and improves overall efficiency, which is, after all, something that the Germans can appreciate.  

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By Omar Deryan (wordpress/gravatar email: contact@ojdigitalsolutions.com)

Omar is the Co-founder and CEO of OJ Digital Solutions, an agency that helps Amazon sellers 2X their conversion rate by creating high converting product images and copy.You can connect with Omar via his website and Linkedin