eCommerce companies that sell on Amazon must always know where their products are. Are they in the warehouse, waiting to be shipped? Have they arrived at the customer? Are there any bottlenecks causing delays? Your Amazon FBA reserved inventory is a critical metric for tracking this. Understanding and tracking reserved inventory are vital for fine-tuning your company strategy.
Reserved inventory Amazon refers to any products in an Amazon seller's inventory that are unavailable for fulfillment for various reasons, including a recent customer order or a pending investigation. They may still be available for purchase, but their delivery date may be delayed.
When you list an item for sale on Amazon, the company reserves a certain amount of inventory as part of its quality assurance. This reservation ensures that your customers don't receive damaged items or products that don't match the listing's description.
The reserved inventory amount depends on your seller account and the specific product you are selling. When Amazon processes customer orders, they check if the reserved units can fill it; otherwise, the system will look at merchant-fulfilled and FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) to find more stock. If none can be found, it goes into an unfulfilled state and becomes a backorder until more stock is available.
If you notice a discrepancy between what was sold versus what arrived in your shipment from Amazon, remember to check your Reserved Item report to see how much was selected from your account during this process. Knowing this information helps make managing your inventory more straightforward and successful when selling products through Amazon Marketplace!
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There could be several reasons why your inventory was placed on reserve. Amazon separates customer orders, FC transfers, and FC processing.
Customers have ordered the product in this scenario. When a customer orders an item, it is added to your reserved Amazon FBA inventory. You cannot resell these units because they have already been sold. If you've depleted your stock of that item, an "out of stock" message will appear until you replenish it.
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) Transfer is a service offered by Amazon that enables companies of all sizes to send their products to one of the FBA warehouses for storage and fulfillment. This process, commonly called an FC transfer, stands for "facilities center transfer."
This program helps businesses cut down on their logistics and saves them time so they can focus on other aspects of running a successful business. With FBA Transfer, Amazon picks up the product from your facilities center or warehouse and delivers it directly to one of its many Fulfillment Centers worldwide. The status associated with this process depends on the origin of the delivery and is typically monitored through Logistics Tracking System (LTS).
The following statuses can be associated with an FC Transfer:
Pick-Up Requested: You've requested pick-up from your facility location; however, Amazon may not have yet begun collecting your items.
In Transit: This indicates that Amazon has collected your items but hasn't yet delivered them to a fulfillment center. It usually takes about 1-3 days before goods are received at the fulfillment centers depending upon where your item was picked up from and where it's going in transit.
Received at Warehouse: Your goods have arrived at a fulfillment center! At this point, they will begin processing these items to be available for sale shortly after arrival (typically within two days).
Ready For Sale On Site: Congratulations —all necessary tasks, such as labeling options, have been completed successfully here! Your item(s) are now ready to be sold via Amazon sites!
Shipping Delay: If there's any delay due to availability/stock issues or any other reason related to Amazon's operations/logistics, then you should see shipping delays showing up in LTS, which indicates delays between picking up shipments from merchant locations till delivering them into respective DCs.
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Accessing reserved inventory on Amazon is the key to understanding your product performance and reducing lost sales. Here's a step-by-step guide on how you can do it:
1. Log in to your Amazon Seller Account.
2. On the Inventory tab, find 'Reserved Quantity' at the bottom of the page next to 'Current Available Quantity.'
3. Click on Reserved Quantity and select 'View Details' for an overview of what products are included in that inventory count and their quantities.
4. Alternatively, you can click on each SKU (stock-keeping unit) listed under Reserved Quantity for more specific details about how much stock is presently reserved for any product or variation you offer (e.g., size).
5 . If available, take advantage of features such as auto-restock, which automatically sends customers additional units from your reserved inventory when supply runs low to keep up with demand and prevent potential lost sales due to stockouts!
In conclusion, understanding what it means when an item is "reserved" on Amazon FBA is essential for the success of your business. With the right strategies and adjusting inventory, you can effectively manage your products and grow your business. If you want to learn more about Amazon FBA, consider reading up on other topics like automating product fulfillment or finding cost-effective ways to manage multiple orders. To ensure that you manage and fulfill Amazon orders efficiently, don't hesitate to reach out to experts experienced in Amazon FBA services. Need help fulfilling Amazon orders? Get in touch with Simpl today! Now that you have the tips, tricks, and skills needed to manage "reserved" items on the Amazon FBA platform, it's time to use what you've learned and build a successful business.
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