Getting to know Fulfillment by Amazon and the Advantages

Fulfillment by Amazon, usually called FBA, is a service provided by Amazon. By paying a fee for this service, Amazon sellers can ship their inventory to Amazon’s warehouse and then Amazon will cover the storage, logistics and the post-sales service for them. Once you send your products to Amazon, your inventory will be stored in one of their warehouses and when an order is placed, they will pick the item, dispatch it and ship it to your customer. That means you only have to take care of selling your products and Amazon will handle the shipping for you. This is one of the reasons that FBA is popular among Amazon sellers. To learn more about the benefits of utilizing Fulfillment by Amazon, read on!

Huge Inventory with Fulfillment by Amazon

There is no minimum or maximum limit to your inventory, which means you can sell as much as you want without worrying about a storage limit. Your products are stored in the Amazon fulfillment centers for quick delivery. However, you still have to consider the FBA fee when calculating your cost and deciding your pricing.

Amazon Prime shipping benefits

Amazon customers can enjoy a multitude of shipping benefits associated with Amazon orders including: Amazon Prime – free 2-day shipping on selected items and free shipping. If you are selling on Amazon US, you can also enable FBA for Amazon CA and MX to access the whole North American market. Sellers who sell on multiple Amazon EU marketplaces also have access to a service akin to Fulfillment by Amazon called Pan-European FBA. This service enables sellers to store their inventory in different Amazon fulfillment centers across Europe, including the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia. These products can be delivered to customers in different European countries without delay.

Selling overseas

If you are not located in the countries that you want to sell in, sending your inventory to Amazon’s warehouse is certainly an easy solution. For example, if you are not living in the States but you would like to sell in the biggest Amazon marketplace in the world – Amazon US, you can simply ship your products to Amazon’s fulfillment centers in the US. Not only can you avoid the chore of product shipping, but your products can also be more competitive with faster delivery through Fulfillment by Amazon. Likewise, if you are a US seller and plan to expand your business to European marketplaces, FBA can surely save you a lot of time and effort.

Customer service after delivery

After your consignment is sent to the Amazon warehouse, Amazon will handle everything to make sure your item is handled with the utmost care before delivering Fulfillment by Amazon orders to your customers’ doorstep. Packages that come with the FBA logo have Amazon’s  quality assurance. The packing, delivery, customer service, and returns are all handled by Amazon. Therefore, customers will reach Amazon via phone or e-mail if they need any help post-purchase. After you make the sale, you are pretty much free.

Online returns

FBA Online returns are easy and convenient for both buyers and sellers. Amazon will handle all the hassles from returns. Amazon uses their Returns Policies to determine whether an item is eligible for return. However, Amazon always wants their customers to be satisfied with their purchase, so there may be exceptions.

Fulfillment consolidation

Multi-Channel Fulfillment, an optional feature provided by Fulfillment by Amazon, enables you to fulfill orders that are placed from other sales channels with your inventory stored in Amazon’s fulfillment centers. That is to say, even when your customers make orders on your own website or other e-commerce stores, Amazon will pick, pack and deliver the items to the buyers for you. This helps you ensure smooth inventory management and order delivery.

Instant credibility

Buyers will be informed that the order is handled by Amazon with a Fulfillment by Amazon sticker on the product. Buyers associate the brand of Amazon with stability and reliability, so you gain a competitive advantage by allying yourself with Amazon.

Win More Buy Box

Having Amazon managing your inventory and shipping is a good way to ensure a high quality shipping service. Your chance of winning the Buy Box increases when you enroll in Fulfillment by Amazon. You will most likely hold an edge over your non-FBA competitors in securing the Buy Box.  (Key note: only FBA sellers can win the Buy Box for the category of books)
With these benefits, FBA makes selling that much easier for you. You know that Amazon will take care of everything after your customers make a purchase on your store. Your seller rating should also increase as you gain more satisfied buyers from more and more transactions. Less stress and hassle, coupled with these listed benefits, should make FBA a very lucrative option for you if you haven’t already enlisted.

BQool is a SaaS company offering great software solutions that help Amazon merchants resolve daily business challenges. The BQool suite so far consists of Repricing, Feedback, and Review Central.