Tips for Amazon Seller Central Sellers

Selling on Amazon is its own specialty. Being the platform responsible for nearly 40% of online sales, the retail giant needs to be a major consideration for anyone looking to get into eCommerce. But Amazon has its own way of doing things, so today we’ll look at some tips for managing your eCommerce brand that are specific to Amazon.

Understand Amazon’s Structure

First, to understand how to maximize sales on Amazon you need to understand what Amazon is. Amazon has two major branches to the company, Vendor Central and Seller Central. Vendor Central is Amazon’s First-Party seller platform. Available by invite only, it is for established brands to sell wholesale to Amazon and makes for a very consistent and hassle-free process for brands to work towards. Seller Central is their 3rd party platform, meaning it allows you to sell your own products directly through the Amazon site, and this platform is further split into FBM and FBA. Fulfilled by Merchant means they are your products in your warehouses simply being sold through Amazon. You have the most control over your product and are spending the least amount on Amazon fees, but you will need to provide your own shipping while still meeting Amazons strict shipping expectations and customer care policies. Fulfilled by Amazon on the other hand lets you take advantage of Amazon’s huge network of nation-wide warehouses and shipping services, but naturally FBA has elevated fees and a few hoops to jump through. Choosing between Vendor, FBM, and FBA depends heavily on your brands needs and the products themselves.

Navigating Amazon’s Fees

Everyone’s least favorite aspect of working with Amazon is the fees. Amazon has referral fees, storage fees, freight costs, fulfillment fees, and more. There are even fees that can come up due to events outside of anyone’s control, such as a fuel charge that went live right after covid. It is a confusing mess, understanding fee calculation and tracking gross profit margins is vital to understanding if a product is worthwhile for Amazon. FBA and FBM naturally have their own separate fees in addition to fees that are shared between the two services, but fees need to be tracked on a product-by-product basis. Certain smaller products can get a discount through their FBA Small and Light program, while other products get upcharged based on size, product category, or other factors to the point where it is simply not worth it to send to their warehouses. Knowing the Amazon fee structure inside and out while tracking profits can allow you to go through each product you offer and determine if it is worthwhile to place them on FBA vs FBM, figure out how much ad spend you have room for, which products are your winners, and which products can be phased out of Amazon for a more profitable platform.

Track Featured Offers

Finally, it is vital for (Seller Central) sellers to keep close tabs on featured offers. Anyone in eCommerce knows the importance of conversion, and understanding featured offer percentage on Amazon is going to make or break your Amazon conversion rate. Amazon’s product detail pages sell the product through its Buy Box, which is the box to the right of your product that includes the Buy Now button, Add to Cart button, price, and a few more key selling features. That being said, your product can lose access to the Buy Box from things such as a lower price competitor, not meeting the pricing guidelines, running out of stock too frequently, non-compliant products, and so on. Keeping track of your Featured Offer Percentage is the canary in the coal mine statistic for Amazon sellers. A sudden dip in featured offers is often the first sign that there is a problem in your product, even if temporary, so keeping an eye on this statistic will help keep you in the green. Happy selling!

Thank you,

Commerce Canal Team

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