Amazon ranks the top among the powerful eCommerce platforms with the most extensive client and worldwide reach and managing your delivery. For how to sell to Amazon directly, Amazon Vendor Central and Amazon Seller Central are the two methods.
The first party (1P) on Amazon hints at the users of Amazon's vendor program. Like how they might sell products to a physical store, these businesses serve as Amazon's wholesale suppliers. From a vendor's list of products, Amazon selects the items to be offered and notifies the vendor of the orders to be purchased. The products placed for sale display 'shipped by' and 'sold by' Amazon, establishing the platform as the official seller. Amazon chooses the estimated product cost; not everyone can become a vendor on Amazon. The program is only open to those invited.
Amazon Vendor Central is a platform with a web interface employed by dealers and manufacturers. The users who sell items through the Vendor Central platform are first-party sellers. When many products are sold to Amazon, the platform resells the items to customers making the user serve as a supplier. You can only be accepted as a vendor through invitation. By using the Vendor Central platform from
Amazon, you give the platform access to order and sell for Amazon and become the owner of the items after the orders are prepared. On the other hand, Seller Central is where you are the owner and manage all the areas of your business. In contrast, the Amazon Vendor program allows you to become a direct seller to Amazon and lets the platform handle the cost, selling, and distribution processes.
The main distinction between Amazon Vendor Central and Amazon Seller Central lies in the party responsible for selling your products. Opting for Vendor Central entails Amazon purchasing your products from you, or you can sell them to Amazon, which Amazon will resell to their customers. In contrast, with Seller Central, you are vending your products to customers employing the Amazon marketplace. These factors form the basis of the differentiation between Amazon's Seller Central and Vendor Central:
Your role in the sales process distinguishes Vendor Central from Seller Central on Amazon. As mentioned earlier, Seller Central requires you to act as the seller, supplying products and making decisions about your offerings. Conversely, Vendor Central involves working as the wholesaler, with Amazon being your customer.
Gaining entry to Seller Central is straightforward and involves registering correctly. In contrast, accessing Vendor Central is only possible by invitation from Amazon. If you receive an invitation, it will arrive through email and follow a predetermined pattern established by Amazon's A9 system. Ultimately, the decision to accept or decline your business relies simply upon Amazon.
On Amazon's Seller Central, you have full authority over the cost of your products. While market forces and rivalry can impact pricing, ultimately, the final choice depends solely on you. In contrast, if you choose Amazon's Vendor Central, when you sell stuff to Amazon, you don't have that authority, and Amazon takes control of pricing decisions, leaving you with no option.
The cost of selling on Amazon is a variable expense influenced by various factors, such as your business awareness and the types of items you sell through fulfillment. Using Amazon's Vendor Central involves several costs, including packaging fees, rebate fees, collaboration fees, and marketing and advertising fees.
Sometimes, these fees can surpass the total income earned from sales. Seller Central, on the other hand, involves fees such as a referral charge, closing fee, professional plan fee, and price of sold items (if applicable).
Regarding payment, Amazon Vendor Central provides several options. The primary option involves collecting the amount paid by the consumer within three months (90 days) of the cost. If you wish to receive the price sooner, Amazon will deduct 1% if the payment is made within two months or 60 days and 2% if held within the initial one month or 30 days of the price.
Only Amazon sellers who have received an invitation from Amazon can visit Vendor Central. Once they sign up, their items will be identified as "sold by amazon" across the website, likely boosting customer satisfaction. The following are the advantages obtained in Vendor Central:
If you sell items to Amazon through the Vendor Central program of Amazon acts as a first-party seller, then customers perceive them to be "sold by amazon." This badge of acceptance can enhance customer trust, which third-party sellers only sometimes experience.
Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) enables vendors to create keyword-targeted ad initiatives that drive demand and expand traffic to their product pages on Amazon. Although both sellers and vendors can utilize AMS, Vendor Central users have access to more extensive choices concerning the advertising initiatives of AMS. Effectively handling campaigns and incorporating keywords into product page descriptions is vital for success.
As a vendor, your top priorities should be to complete purchase orders, bill customers, and keep clear of chargebacks, which are penalties for not adhering to Amazon's standards. If you use fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), you will be accountable for sales redemption, missing stock, and tax obligations as a seller.
Amazon provides vendors with additional marketing resources if they sell through Vendor Central. One such tool is Amazon A+ Detail Pages, which allows vendors to create enriched content. Vendors can also engage in promotional initiatives like Amazon's subscription service, Subscribe & Save, and Amazon Vine, where the emergent reviewers receive their products. User-generated descriptions can result in significant sales growth.
Congratulations if you're fortunate enough to get accepted as an Amazon vendor! The approval process can be long and complex, but your items are immediately available on Amazon's website. If you are thinking of how to sell to Amazon directly, you may start listing your products right after approval.
If you're new to selling on Amazon, you should create an Amazon Seller Central account. This account lists and handles your items on Amazon's platform. You may view the Vendor Central Dashboard after you've logged in. You can now place the items, create your store, check your orders from here, and monitor the sales and profit charts.
Amazon's invitation-only 1P seller program is exclusive, meaning that most brands remain 3P sellers, even if they produce and sell their items. If your items perform well continuously, you might get an invitation. However, it is essential to remember that with this arrangement, if you successfully get accepted to become a 1P seller, you give up a lot of power on your side.
Amazon will handle the cost of your item, considering every other store's price (both online and offline), and make it at the minimum possible cost. They will also handle consumer notifications and returns and the logistics of your item sales. Nonetheless, considering how to sell items to Amazon, you still have to pay their fulfillment fees to deliver and pack your things, categorized according to size and weight.
Invitations take work to come by. Since the items you sell will be associated with Amazon's company, they treat this carefully. Frequently, Amazon chooses companies to join its initiative if they are brands with a significant online presence with high consumer demand, sellers who gained attention due to the success of their online store, and brands that Amazon is interested in carrying, as demonstrated through investigation or at trade exhibitions. However, being a first-party merchant requires that you:
You must either have a significant market share or a successful webpage to receive an invitation. This can be achieved by enhancing your website's search engine optimization (SEO), which might guarantee that you increase traffic, boost authority and confidence, promote content advertising, which accounts for over 90% of website traffic, and increase your chances of being noticed by Amazon.
Additionally, optimize your product listing optimization (PLO) for Amazon. PLO is comparable to SEO in that it aims at assisting you in gaining exposure, ranking well on Amazon's search results, and enhancing the percentage of visitors, all of which aid in driving traffic, sales, and consumer demand. The 60-character restriction for product names on Amazon must be followed, and you must have correct product information.
While considering how to sell items to Amazon, be aware that Amazon is where approximately 56 percent of internet shoppers begin their shopping searches. Since this is the beginning of their purchasing process, improving your listing and keyword searches could speed up the delivery of your goods to Amazon users.
Each of the details about your products may be stored using PIM for eCommerce. Additionally, you may keep your advertising information, including keywords, SEO components, and further, to assist you with producing optimized, precise, helpful, and PLO-friendly material, which will support your work to grow your online presence and Amazon list. As you put more effort into selling products to Amazon for the invitation, your offering will become more noticeable, raising your likelihood of being accepted to join Amazon Vendor.
Reasonable pricing was cited by more than fifty percent of Amazon customers as the primary justification for their purchases. You may employ this knowledge to become well-known in your industry. With several other businesses fighting for consumers' attention, providing your goods at the cost consumers are ready to spend will give you a competitive advantage. Reductions, delivery charges, or repricing can change pricing.
With a branded shop, you may alter an Amazon storefront to highlight the goods and narrative of your company. Additional visitors from Amazon's searches and detail sites may increase consumer involvement and brand recognition.
Since the Buy Box is the ultimate objective for most Amazon sellers, you are probably aware of it. It signifies that Amazon has taken note of your goods if it appears in the Buy Box, yet it's a success since it encourages additional consumer sales. Maintain affordable prices, and a high number of favorable reviews, ensure your shipping is quick and effective, and have minimal cancellation and return percentages if you want to appear in the Buy Box.
Consumers who subscribe to Amazon Prime are recognized to pay extra than regular consumers. Due to the Prime benefits, over one hundred million Prime customers effectively buy almost twice as much as those who are not members. You may use this to market your items and appear in front of clients more likely to make more purchases. Your sales may increase as a result, and Amazon may see this as an indication that the item you sell is well-liked, bringing you to the Buy Box and effectively asking you to become a vendor.
Related: How to Sell Services on Amazon
Selling directly on Amazon can be daunting at first, and it's essential to ensure you fully prepare your product and yourself to increase the chance of success. But with the proper knowledge and help, navigating the platform will no longer be something to fear. That's why we wanted to bring you this resource; By using what you've learned today and continuing to update your knowledge on Amazon, you can take control of your eCommerce business with clarity and confidence. Knowing how to sell directly on Amazon is critical for any modern eCommerce business, so get up-to-date quickly! If you feel overwhelmed and need additional help, Simpl can help with order fulfillment for eCommerce businesses of any size – get in touch with us today. Congratulations – You're one step closer to a successful Amazon strategy!
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