Amazon fulfiment centers and their integration with other online marketplaces

Multi-Channel fulfillment (MCF)

When shopping online, customers expect fast and affordable delivery options. Free and quick shipping is one of the main reasons why shoppers turn to marketplaces like Amazon to purchase. The “Fulfilled by Amazon” logo makes such a difference for shoppers because it guarantees that the seller will meet their shipping expectations.

Amazon’s advanced fulfillment system is their biggest plus. Amazon has the resources and technology to provide customers with free and fast, even within 2-hour, shipping. Amazon FBA is a service that businesses can pay for to have all their order fulfillment needs taken care of. Packing, shipping, returns, and customer support are all handled externally with Amazon FBA, meaning all you need to look after is shipping your products to Amazon’s fulfillment centers.

You can use Fulfillment by Amazon to store your inventory at and fulfill your orders from an Amazon.com fulfillment center. Before you set all this up, you'll need to have an Amazon Seller Central account. Although you do need to be an Amazon Seller to set up the FBA program, once you have done that, you can use it across multiple channels. That means if you sell a product through your eBay or Shopify store or elsewhere, you can use Amazon’s fulfillment services to have the item shipped to the customer.

Once you are registered at the Amazon Seller Central, what you need to do is the following:

1

Go to Multi-Channel Fulfillment in the FBA settings

2

Submit your order fulfillment requirements

3

Lastly, ship your inventory to an Amazon fulfillment center

Multi-channel management means you have listings in multiple locations. Different marketplaces allow you to reach unique customers, so listing each of your items on multiple marketplaces is a great way to boost sales without additional listings. Using Amazon’s Multi-Channel Fulfillment, or MCF is a great way to leverage your FBA account. It’s simple to link your FBA account to other profiles, like eBay, Shopify etc. Selling on eBay then becomes a quick and easy way to expand your reach and offer the professional services of Amazon.

Once you’ve become a seller on eBay, you’ll need to transfer your listings from Amazon. Consider using order fulfillment software to make the transfer simple and effective. Otherwise, you’ll spend lots of time copying, proofreading, and checking listings to ensure all the information is accurate and up-to-date.

The advantages of using the Multi-channel management are the following:

  • Speed
    Amazon is a world leader when it comes to fast delivery and dispatch times, which your customers (even eBay ones) would also benefit from.
  • Increased customer satisfaction
    Fast shipping and dispatch times result in happier customers who are also more likely to leave a positive review, which only boosts your good reputation as a merchant.
  • Access to a global fulfillment network
    With huge distribution centers across the globe, you’ll reduce the effort and time involved in selling internationally, potentially resulting in increased revenue for your business. Amazon has thousands of fulfillment centers everywhere.

Some important disadvantages you might want to keep an eye out for are:

  • Amazon branded packaging
    your customer’s orders will arrive in Amazon branded packaging, potentially causing customers to compare prices on the Amazon platform for future orders. You can pay an additional $1 per item for non-branded packaging, however this leads to…
  • Lack of brand awareness
    Whether orders are being shipped and delivered in Amazon packaging, or non-branded packaging, either way, you’ll be unable to use this part of the process as a way of boosting brand awareness.
  • Inventory management
    Amazon charges additional storage fees for any products that are held in their distribution centers for long periods of time. To reduce this risk, you’ll need to sell and move your products within approximately 6 months.
  • Additional fees
    Amazon charges a fee to fulfill orders that haven’t been bought directly through Amazon itself, plus Amazon reserves the right to increase their fees at any given time.

Once businesses start selling beyond eBay and Amazon, implementing order management software that integrates with eBay is the most logical next step. You’ll be able to fulfill and ship orders from one centralized system, and update inventory levels across all your channels as well. Having a software doing this on your behalf saves a lot of time and effort.

In conclusion, as tough as it sounds, handling a multi-channel seller account proves to be very effective into boosting your sales and benefiting your business

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