Businesses that wish to use Amazon as a way to connect with customers in a global way should be familiar with Amazon FBA. This is a feature offered by Amazon that is meant to make it easier for sellers to store and sell their products to interested buyers worldwide. However, these sellers need to be familiarized with the process of setting up their Amazon seller central accounts so that they can proceed with the creation of their product listings and shipping their products to the Amazon fulfillment centers.
Benefits Of Amazon FBA
Before going through the process of shipping your products to the Amazon fulfillment centers, it is important for you to understand the benefits you are receiving for choosing Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA). It is also possible for you to handle your own shipments since Amazon also offers its sellers the Fulfillment By Merchant (FBM) option. However, there are certain benefits that you can get with Amazon FBA which can help your online selling business run efficiently.
- Amazon FBA fulfills most of the shipping requirements to export your products to other countries.
o It is normal that sellers wish to offer their products to any buyer that has an Amazon account. Amazon follows exportation laws and ensures that only products that can be legally sold internationally will be shown to customers all over the world. This is done via the Amazon FBA Export program. What it does is it helps sellers by fulfilling their international orders as long as the products are eligible for FBA Export. Amazon handles the shipping and the customs clearances for these products. For the products included in the FBA Export program, the seller does not shoulder the costs for the customs and shipping of the items. Amazon ensures that these charges are paid by the international customers.
- With Amazon FBA, customer service issues are handled by Amazon.
o One of the main benefits that Amazon FBA gives its sellers is that it handles all the issues that are related to customer service. When the seller’s products have been approved by Amazon to be part of the FBA program, Amazon takes accountability of all of these products. Amazon packs the products before they arrive at the customers’ addresses. If there are damages or delays in the delivery, Amazon will be the one to face the customers and not the sellers.
- Sellers do not need to have their own warehouses to store their products.
o One of the main benefits that Amazon FBA gives its sellers is that it offers its own warehousing for all of the products that the sellers send to their fulfillment centers. This is very important for many businesses because buying or renting their own warehouses can be costly. Sellers can mainly focus on the production and the sales of their products with Amazon FBA. With production, most of the resources can be allocated to ensure that the sellers are able to build products that are made from high-quality materials.
- If the seller’s products are approved for Amazon FBA, then this helps improve the reputation of the seller.
o When it comes to the customers of Amazon, most of these people prefer to purchase products that are being shipped by Amazon. This is one of the best ways for these customers to be assured that they would be receiving items that were advertised. Since transactions are happening online, customers are now more cautious against scams. Seeing that Amazon FBA has approved to store, package, and ship the products from certain sellers, this would signify that the sellers are honest in producing goods as they were advertised. As the reputations of these sellers grow, more customers will prefer to buy products that have been manufactured by them.
Step-by-Step Guide: Ship To Amazon FBA
Before sellers can directly send their products to the Amazon fulfillment centers, they have to finish various steps in registering their accounts and products in Amazon. It is crucial that businesses that are interested in starting selling via this eCommerce platform know how to use their Amazon seller central accounts. Sellers have to remember that there are certain fees they have to pay when they register their products for Amazon FBA. You may refer to this guide to start your online business with Amazon:
- Create an Amazon seller account
- People all over the world are known to access the main website of Amazon, which is amazon.com. This is where most products and sellers are registered. There has always been stiff competition in amazon.com, especially for sellers who are into online arbitrage and drop shipping. This is due to the fact that the items being sold are identical but with price differences. For businesses that are located in Canada, they may follow this route and focus on selling on amazon.com. However, with the availability of the North America Unified Account, sellers from Canada have been given the option to also sell in other Amazon marketplaces. The marketplaces amazon.ca and amazon.com.mx marketplaces are the other North American marketplaces in Amazon. For those businesses who register as either individual sellers or professional sellers in Canada, they may gain access to the three marketplaces. This is crucial to know since the product listings can be posted in all these marketplaces, which gives the sellers more chances to sell to more customers. The amazon.ca and amacon.com.mx marketplaces are known to have lesser competition as most sellers are focused on selling in amazon.com
- Enroll your account for FBA Export
- This is a necessary step for you to be able to effectively sell products on the three Amazon marketplaces. With FBA Export, sellers will be informed which of their products are eligible to be sold in the other marketplaces. There are certain trade compliance and in-country regulations that Amazon has to follow when it comes to the types of products that may be sold in various marketplaces. For businesses that wish to sell on the three marketplaces, they must first research the restricted, prohibited, and dangerous products that will not be allowed to be sold in the three marketplaces.
- Enroll your inventory to the Remote Fulfillment by Amazon program
- This is a step that is necessary to sell across the three marketplaces in Amazon. What this program does is to ensure that all products in the seller’s inventory that are stored and available at the fulfillment center, which are eligible to be sold in the different marketplaces, can be sent directly to customers from the other marketplaces. The products will be pulled directly from the inventory in the fulfillment center. The seller’s current inventory will be kept up to date by the system to prevent mismanaging future orders.
- Create a shipping plan
- Once you have set up your Amazon seller central account, you may now start the process to ship your products to the Amazon fulfillment center. The first thing that you need to do to create your product listing if it does not yet exist in your Amazon seller central account. This is necessary because this is the time when you will be informing Amazon about the details of the products that you plan to sell and are sending to its fulfillment center. When creating your product listing, you just have to produce all the appropriate information Amazon asks from you. After the product listing has been created, then you can create the shipping plan in your Amazon seller central account. At this point you will be informing Amazon that you plan to send or replenish the inventory of the product listing that you have just created.
- Prepare the products
- This is very important since you must follow the packaging guidelines Amazon requires from you. There are certain packaging and preparation requirements that are meant for products that would be sent to the Amazon fulfillment centers. Any products that do not meet the requirements set by Amazon may be refused or returned when they arrive at the fulfillment centers. Some of the most important requirements that sellers have to always remember include the following:
- FNSKU should be unique to each unit of an assortment type of a product. Products that have different sizes or colors will have their own specific FNSKU.
- Each unit of a product should have an exterior scannable barcode or label. The barcode or label should be easily accessible and should be clear.
- Each unit of a product must be secured with its own packaging.
- Fragile items should be tightly wrapped with bubble wraps.
- Amazon does not allow sellers to include marketing materials such as pre-priced labels, price tags, or non-Amazon labels.
- Ship your products
- This is the part wherein sellers will be informing Amazon if they plan to choose Amazon-partnered carriers or 3rd party shipping companies to deliver the products to the Amazon fulfillment centers. If you prefer to go with a shipping company of your choice, you should first ensure that they are aware of the processes and requirements imposed by Amazon. This is important because shipping companies that have already experienced shipping to Amazon fulfillment centers know what they need to bring and show to the centers so that the deliveries will be approved and received by Amazon. One of the most important things Amazon will be looking for is the bill of lading of the deliveries. Sellers must give the complete and correct details for their bills of lading to their preferred shipping companies since these companies have to contact Amazon before they can set their delivery schedules.
Ask Help From Reputable Shipping Companies
The process may seem hard to ship your products to the Amazon fulfillment centers. However, it can be done easily with the help of a reputable shipping company that has already handled deliveries to the Amazon fulfillment centers. If you are looking for a company that you can trust will help you successfully send your products to Amazon, then it is highly advised that you get in touch with RoadLINX at 905-760-1141.
