This year has been a rollercoaster ride for online sellers. With all its twists and turns, owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, the phase has tested and stretched the E-commerce supply chain limits like never before. The dependency on prominent online platforms such as Amazon has grown significantly over the course of the year with various protocols and lockdown measures put in place by governments, thereby restricting the movement of people. According to an official statement released by Amazon, the Q3 of 2020 saw the E-retail giant earn a staggering $96.1 billion in net sales, a 37% increase, compared to $70 billion this time last year. With the holiday season in full swing now, the numbers are expected to rise further up. To meet the surge in demand successfully and leverage the most out of this period, sellers on Amazon must ensure that they fulfill and ship the orders on time. An efficient way of doing this is by enrolling in the Amazon FBA program.
What is the Amazon FBA Program?
FBA is a program that gives sellers access to Amazon’s highly advanced fulfillment networks. The sellers are only responsible for creating product listings and sourcing the inventory to the fulfillment centers. From thereon, Amazon handles the storage, shipping, customer service, and other logistics involved.
Like any other service, there are costs attached with FBA, but it is incredibly beneficial to sellers who intend to move higher quantities of items during peak holiday sales. Moreover, it also provides them the breathing room to focus on other essential activities such as choosing new product categories or strategizing promotions for their current listings. We will touch upon these points in detail in the next section of this blog.
Benefits of Registering as An FBA Seller
1. Ship Faster, Pay Less
Instead of paying high shipping costs for each item you sell, you can register as an Amazon FBA seller and leverage the discounted shipping rates. The widely connected network of their fulfillment centers ensures faster shipping at lower prices. Being an FBA seller, you also gain a competitive edge over other brands selling the same product for the same price. Simply put, a consumer is more likely to choose your offering over the competing brands because it is almost guaranteed that they are going to receive your product much sooner without having to pay a high shipping cost.
2. Detach Yourself from Administrative Work
One of the most significant value add-ons with FBA is that they take care of various administrative tasks such as coordinating with different fulfillment centers, tracking orders, managing consumer returns, etc. When done manually by sellers, these tasks are time-consuming and leave little to no time for other crucial areas of the business.
3. Save Inventory Storage Costs
As a brand selling on Amazon during the holiday season, you must remember not to underestimate the soaring consumer demand. You need to be prepared in every sense of the word, especially when it comes to stocking higher product quantities well in advance. If you are handling inventory for your products, this basically implies high storage costs, which can eat a chunk of your profits.
However, by participating in the FBA program, you can avoid the trouble as you just have to ship the products to a fulfillment center, and the rest is taken care of.
4. Gain Easy Access to Prime Members
Being an Amazon Prime member has its own set of perks, including fast shipping at no extra costs, and access to many select brands that aren’t available to regular consumers.
These brands are those that only FBA sellers can list. So, if you join FBA, you get a golden opportunity to expand your product line and gain easy access to Prime members, which are out of reach for regular sellers.
5. Ensure Great Customer Service
Providing excellent customer service to customers can be a big hurdle for sellers. But if you enlist your brand with FBA, you don’t have to worry about this part of your business. Amazon provides 24/7 customer service to the FBA members and handles all consumer queries on orders placed.
Note: For the feedback received on a product listing, you need to respond and take action on your own. It doesn’t fall under the scope of Amazon FBA.
The Verdict
Just think of FBA on the lines of reliability. Customers are more likely to trust and choose a product backed by Amazon over one which isn’t. So, suppose your brand’s ambition is to build trustworthiness and gain access to millions of consumers on the platform during the festive season, including the exclusive Prime members. In that case, FBA is definitely worth investing in.
Moreover, by enlisting yourself in the program, you can leverage the customer service and proficient shipping capabilities of the world’s most established fulfillment network.
Facing trouble? Talk to our Amazon marketplace experts today!