Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is poised to be the first chief executive of a trillion-dollar company in a world where more than half of US ecommerce sales is controlled by Amazon. To Sell on amazon..
It’s no surprise that Room 214 receives more requests from marketing agencies about selling products on Amazon.
The big picture is that experience and desire are perfectly matched. An Amazon customer is an example of experience.
They are conditioned to enjoy the convenience and lower prices that come with greater selection, faster shipping, and easier ordering.
Businesses also want to avoid the complexities of selling through traditional retail channels. Or simply to increase their sales via ecommerce.
While they may view Amazon as a threat in the long-term, they can’t ignore the immediate benefits of a direct-to consumer selling model that’s virtually plug-and-play.
Here’s a list of all the options available to you as an individual or company interested in selling products on Amazon.
“Here are the options for individuals and businesses interested in sell on Amazon.
Amazon Seller Central Account
Seller Central offers two options. This is how most people and businesses, whether they are new or experienced in ecommerce, go to Amazon to sell on Amazon.
You can choose Seller Central to be an Individual, or Pro.
These are the main differences:
- Amazon charges you for the following:
- The maximum number of products you can sell per month (not product lists, but actual products). Go Individual if you are selling less than 40 products per month. If you have more than 40 sales per month, you will need to go Pro.
- You are able to scale and integrate Amazon sales with other ecommerce/inventory platforms (e.g. Shopify or Big Commerce).
Both Professional and Amazon Individual accounts allow you to choose fulfillment by merchant (you ship), or fulfillment by Amazon FBA
You send your products to Amazon distribution centers and they pack and ship for you).
The following information is important if you want Amazon to fulfill your needs as a Professional or Individual customer:
- FBA fees will be assessed to your account. They are broken down into two categories: A per-unit fee covers shipping, packing, customer service, product returns and return shipping.
- A monthly inventory storage fee. To calculate your costs, see details about Amazon FBA fees.
- Sellers find the fees worthwhile when they consider the alternatives of shipping costs and requirements.
- This includes Amazon shipping credits (money Amazon credits to your account if your ship).
- FBA offers a significant advantage, aside from the fact that you are not in the shipping and packing business for every sale.
- It also gives you an opportunity to be listed on Amazon Prime.
- This is a huge advantage for shoppers who consider Amazon Prime to be a major decision factor when making a purchase. There are no guarantees.
Fulfillment by Amazon is something you may have heard of if you sell products on Amazon. Fulfillment by Amazon covers everything.
This includes picking up, packing and shipping your products to your customers.
It also helps your clients with any questions regarding shipping, payments, returns, or other issues.
These prices are based on the product size and weight that you sell on Amazon.
Amazon FBA can be used for products sold through other channels than Amazon.
Amazon FBA can also be used to fulfill orders if your product has a dedicated website.
Vendor Central
Vendor Central, an invitation-only platform that allows you to sell directly to Amazon as the supplier, is Vendor Central.
It is similar to Seller Central in that vendors can manage all their product data and purchase orders from one central hub.
This invitation is only for Amazon. You’re likely to make enough sales to attract their attention. Vendor Central positions you as a first party seller.
This means that you are acting as both a wholesaler and supplier to Amazon.
Amazon may negotiate to buy bulk quantities from you and then participate more actively in pricing and marketing your products within the Amazon ecosystem and beyond.
They might even choose to set up a Google Adwords account in order to sell your products on Amazon’s website.
Not to be confused: Vendor Express, the program that sits between Seller Central and Vendor Central, is now closed.
You may lose some control over inventory, operations and how you defend your brand against competitors selling older versions or knock-offs of your products as an Amazon Central Vendor.
As part of protecting their brand, Amazon Vendor businesses have been known not to use separate Seller accounts.
You are not paid every two weeks via a seller account. Instead, Vendors get paid on a 60-day basis.
Vendor Central is a volume business, and margins may be further negotiated by Amazon. The upside potential is huge as Amazon acts more like an agent with Vendor Central accounts.
This opens up a variety of new and more advanced marketing opportunities for your product (A+ content and greater use of images and video, increased AMS functionality, and AMG support options).
Your focus should shift to the supply chain. As any distributor or manufacturer, inventory levels can either be a sign of success or failure.
Additional Amazon Selling Functions
While the article is focused on selling on Amazon for sellers, vendors, and businesses, it also discusses how to promote what you sell on Amazon (through smart content or Amazon advertising strategies).
Other selling channels than the ones mentioned here include CreateSpace, which allows you to self-publish books on Amazon.
This is also the platform that we used for our Amazon bestseller, Transformative digital marketing.
Merch by Amazon is a new channel that allows you to create T-shirts on demand and sell your designs.
You must submit a request for participation in the program as of this writing.
This is not only an indication of its popularity but also sets the stage to disrupt the promotional products industry.
When you think about all the possibilities that Amazon offers, it is easy to either be afraid or excited.
Jeff Bezos’ quote “Your margin is my chance” will be forever remembered by some.
We prefer to concentrate on another statement that he is known for: “What’s dangerous? Not to evolve.”
Read More : Key objectives of Amazon listing optimization in 2021
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