Overview
Amazon’s Supply Chain and Operations
It is important to understand how Amazon operates in order to recognize the benefits and functionality of the Sellercloud integration.
Amazon is a shopper-oriented marketplace designed to make it easy for consumers to access products without having to navigate their virtual shopping cart through throngs of vendors hawking their wares. To this end, Amazon has created the Single Product Detail Page where there one listing has multiple sellers.
Creating a new listing on Amazon is a complicated process. A seller is required to submit the product with specific values in order to list properly. Amazon provides the templates to upload but they are changed every so often. While any seller can join in any product, it is cumbersome to export that data into a third-party software for inventory management. Sellercloud accomplishes this easily as explained below.
Amazon created the ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) and assigns one ASIN per product. ASINs are used to reference catalog data, track product inventory, and index catalog pages for search and browsing. Products can only be listed once – in one category – even when they relate to two categories. Duplicate products are deleted by Amazon technicians and engaging in duplication may result in being barred from selling on Amazon.
Sellercloud works to overcome these limitations and has developed features to benefit Sellercloud users.
The Add Product via Amazon feature “captures” a product from Amazon with all values required for listing. After adding the product to Sellercloud you would launch the product on Amazon and the product will be listed. Click here for more information on adding products via Amazon.
The Shadow SKU feature overcomes the one ASIN per product challenge by creating two product profiles for a single product while maintaining a shared inventory. For example, a cellphone charger that works for two different phones is likely to have separate listings. Nevertheless, you will not be able to list them under both listings unless you create a shadow product. Amazon will recognize them as two different products and allow multiple listings. Click here for more information on Shadow SKU.
FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant) is a fulfillment option offered by Amazon where, as a seller, you are responsible for storing and shipping your own products to customers. This means that you must handle your own packaging and shipping logistics. With FBM, sellers are in charge of all aspects of fulfillment, which allows for more control over branding and customer communication.
FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) is a fulfillment option that allows sellers to store their products in Amazon’s warehouses and have Amazon handle the picking, packing, and shipping of those products to customers. FBA is a good option for sellers who want to take advantage of Amazon’s logistics network and customer service while minimizing the time and resources they need to spend on fulfillment and logistics.
Click here to find out how to configure your fulfillment options in Sellercloud.
