Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA)
What is Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
If you are new to the Amazon world, let us introduce you to your new best friend: Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). Essentially, FBA is a service that helps sellers sell their products on Amazon. Through FBA, sellers can send their inventory to an FBA fulfillment center, where it is then stored, prior to being picked, packed, and shipped to a customer. With FBA, Amazon also handles any necessary customer service or returns that are needed.
Luckily, FBA is an Amazon feature available for most sellers. Whether you sell small, standard sized products, liquids, large items, apparel, and more, FBA is an option worth considering. One thing to note, however, is that certain products do require additional regulatory features, and may not be eligible for FBA.
What are the Benefits of Fulfillment by Amazon
There are so many benefits to FBA, we can hardly begin to cover them all in this blog. Below are some of the many benefits sellers experience while utilizing FBA services:
Cost: FBA is a very cost-effective option for selling products, regardless of what stage you are in with your business. To start with FBA, you need a Amazon Seller account. This is only $39 a month, and, depending on your product you may incur an additional fee per unit sold. Whether you are sending in 1 unit or 1,000, this monthly fee remains the same.
Packaging Services: Amazon has software embedded in their FBA dashboard that indicates a need for additional packaging, depending on the demand for packaging and the need. For example, if you sell sunscreen, often the bottle of sunscreen will open and spill in the box, often resulting in a negative customer experience that can affect your listing’s rating. Amazon will identify whether or not your product is more prone to damage, and, for a small fee (often hovers around 70 cents/unit) will package your product accordingly. For a small business to pay for this additional packaging on their end, it’s a no brainer to utilize Amazon’s packaging services.
No need for Third Party Warehousing: Supply chain management can be tricky, and having your product shipped from place to place, from manufacturer to warehouse, warehouse to brick and mortar, and brick and mortar to customer can be expensive. Luckily, included in the $39/month fee is warehousing capabilities. Amazon will store your product in a way your product should be stored, completely eliminating the need for third party warehousing. You can send in as much or as little inventory as you’d like, the fee remains the same.
Simplified Operations: As mentioned earlier, FBA simplifies your business operations. From receiving the product, storing it, picking it, packing it, shipping it, and returning it (as needed), Amazon handles it all. This streamlined process significantly reduces the amount of time you need to spend on your business operations, as the only consistent thing you need to do with FBA is to monitor your inventory levels and send in more products as needed. Heck, even with this, Amazon FBA has features that will notify you if you need to send in inventory.
Things to Keep in Mind:
While FBA may sound simple based on the above, there is a lot to it, especially if you are hoping to scale your business and maintain a good account health standing on Amazon. If you are looking to start selling on Amazon, submit a contact form, as Helm & Stern Branding is here to help.