Series: Making A Strong FBA Brand.
Amazon's FBA program began in 2006, but the business has been setting the way for online shopping for many years. Despite its humble origins in the 1990s, the company has dominated the field of online sales and fulfillment and recognized a potential to assist others in achieving the same. Like Amazon, the FBA program is continuously developing and adapting to suit the demands of the evolving consumer landscape and online retail environment.
What is Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service offered by Amazon that assists sellers with storage, packing, and shipping. This relieves sellers of the burden and allows them to be more flexible in their selling methods. Sellers may utilize the program to transport their products to an Amazon fulfillment center, where they are kept in warehouses until they are sold. When a customer places an order, Amazon staff physically prepare the package(s) and ship the item(s).
The Amazon market is enormous, and it is expanding faster than ever as more people purchase online.
- Ninety percent of US customers have used Amazon, and 65 percent use it at least monthly.
- Amazon Prime has 121.3 million members in the United States.
- Third-party sellers accounted for more than half of Amazon's $280 billion in revenue in 2019.
Advantages of FBA:
Aside from the fact that Amazon handles fulfillment, there’s a very wide list for potential sellers to use FBA. Some of them are:
- Cost
The significant benefit of FBA is that it allows you to deliver your items to clients at a cheaper cost.
- Shipping Process
Customers save money since FBA items qualify for free delivery. They'll also get free next- or two-day shipping if they're a Prime member. This setup allows for rapid scaling. As the e-commerce market grows adjusting to buyer demands when it comes to shipping hasn’t gotten easier, so the shipping process is a no brainer.
- Storage
Another benefit of FBA is that you don't have to worry about renting a warehouse or transforming your basement into an Amazon storage facility. Amazon will keep your items safe and out of the way. Even if your inventory is tiny, Amazon can handle it.
- Customer Service
Customer service may be a full-time job at times. As a result, one of the most valuable advantages of Amazon FBA is customer service management. Customers may connect directly with Amazon's customer-service professionals rather than coming to you for every concern. Amazon is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week via email, chat, and phone, so your consumers can receive assistance whenever they need it.
Disadvantages of FBA:
- Limited Inventory Access
Sellers have less control over their items when there is no inventory on-site. In the event of an inventory problem or a delivery error, you must rely on Amazon to verify product information or have your items delivered back to you from Amazon's inventory.
- Storage Fee
Amazon goes through its inventory in February and August of each year, charging penalty fees for any goods older than 6 and 12 months. Keeping those units on hand will increase your expenditures if you have slower-moving items or more than six months of inventory.
- Shipping Mistakes
Amazon places a high priority on customer service. Thus shipping errors, such as a late or erroneous shipment, will result in penalties and possible account suspension for merchants.
Starting with FBA:
- Create an Amazon Seller Central account
- Choose a niche. Some are worthwhile, while others are not. Conduct research and generate product concepts.
- Find a supplier. Once you've decided on the items you'll be selling, begin establishing a working connection with a dependable supplier. Request a sample, determine the lead time, and determine the profit on your items.
- Create a listing for your product. Optimize your product page by including relevant keywords and content.
- Drive traffic. To enhance sales, direct your target audience to your product page.
How does it work?
- Sellers obtain the items and ship them to an Amazon warehouse.
- The items are then held in Amazon's fulfillment facility until a consumer places an order.
- When you place an order, Amazon handles the transaction and updates your inventory.
- Amazon will pack and ship the order.
- Amazon also handles returns and refunds.
- Amazon pays you the earnings from your sales every two weeks.
New Features
Amazon Fulfillment is continuously developing and adapting to meet the requirements of its consumers and the businesses that use the platform. Keeping up with the newest updates and additions may assist companies in meeting customer demand and being at the top of their game with the FBA service.
- Brand Registry
Becoming a brand-registered Amazon seller has several advantages. Registering your trademark with Amazon's Brand Registry protects it from counterfeiters and hijackers.
It will also allow the creation of A+ Content Descriptions. A+ content enables sellers to use pictures, custom layouts, and text placements in the descriptions of their listings.
Sellers will be able to "gate" their listings. This way, counterfeiters won’t be able to steal customers from honest sellers.
- Video Content
A vendor can display product characteristics in-depth via a video, providing buyers with a digital experience similar to examining the goods in person. Amazon enhanced its video offerings to include A+ content snippets as well as other robust video advertising choices.
- Improving Ad Features
Amazon is continually enhancing and extending its advertising tools for merchants. Amazon Attribution, Amazon Live, and Sponsored Display Ads are some of the most recent additions. To use these capabilities, you must be a brand-registered Amazon seller, just like with selling videos.
- Support for Small Businesses
COVID-19 has had a detrimental impact on thousands of small and medium-sized companies (SMBs) worldwide. There has never been a better moment than now to support small and local companies. Amazon is one of the world's largest corporations, and it enables thousands of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to access millions of prospective consumers. Even if it is a one-person operation, a tiny firm has enormous potential for success on Amazon.
Secrets to Succeed
There is more competition than ever before, and with almost no barriers to entry, almost anybody can sell their items on Amazon. Over the last several years, an extensive and established ecosystem of service providers, automation, research tools, and connectors has evolved, making it much simpler to find product opportunities and operate your organization effectively. With these considerations in mind, it’s critical to remember that there’s no silver bullet or single top secret to success on Amazon in 2021 or beyond. Continuous learning, offering plenty of value, making the most of technology, prioritizing, and, most importantly, taking action are the actual Amazon FBA success ingredients.
- Find the Best product to sell
It all boils down to selecting a product with high demand and little competition and ensuring that it’s in great demand. Finding the ideal product doesn’t happen overnight. It takes time and patience, but once you locate it, it is well worth the effort.
- Optimize Your Search Terms and Listings
Deliberate, thorough, and accurate product data might encourage customers to buy your items since they’re more likely to show up faster on the Amazon SERP.
- Price Listing
When you post a product on Amazon, you will simultaneously compete against hundreds of other sellers selling the same thing. Offering consistently low rates is one of the most acceptable ways to stand out from the crowd and remain ahead of the competition. This is true unless your brand registered.
- Product Reviews
A high customer satisfaction rating is critical for not just maintaining current customers but also gaining new ones. Amazon has a plethora of information on how your brand is performing in terms of consumer happiness. It is critical to keep an eye on the number of performance metrics.
Be A Strong Brand on Amazon Today.
Amazon FBA is an extremely successful platform for one reason, bringing convenience to its customers. It’s never been as easy to reach a strong base of buyers. This is an advantage that your brand should take. Talk today with Statehood to see how to setup and/or scale your growth on Amazon, so you’re not wasting time.
Leave a comment