July 2012 Fulfilment by Amazon Merchant Update
Propel your business forward with Amazon Selling Coach
On the look out for the next possible best seller? Not sure what else to list with FBA? Amazon Selling Coach can help provide you with tips on how to improve your sales with weekly e-mail notices addressing your
specific interests and needs. To get started, simply sign into your seller account and go to Settings>Notification Preferences.
Enter an email address and tick the appropriate boxes to receive the weekly notices of interest. Here are four updates which are specific to Fulfilment by Amazon:
• FBA Inventory Opportunity: Grow your category selection
• FBA Fast Track
Nudge
• FBA Opportunities in fast-growing categories
• Ship your products for free
with FBA’s Zero Fee Fulfilment*
*Selling on Amazon, storage and other applicable fees still apply.
Let Amazon help you increase your international sales by delivering orders EU wide which originate from your own or other third party sites
With Amazon’s Export for Multi-Channel, you can offer your customers ordering from outside the UK a smooth and reliable delivery almost anywhere in the EU using Amazon’s renowned and extensive supply network.
Once you submit a multi-channel shipment request, you will see the estimated delivery date which can then be shared with your customer.
Amazon FBA sellers now have the option and flexibility to fulfil domestic on and off Amazon orders as well as international on and off Amazon orders from one single local inventory pool.
For associated fees, please refer to our rate card, Section Export for Multichannel.
Updated Packing Slips for FBA shipments
Recently the packing slips which accompany FBA shipments in Europe have been enhanced and now include price, seller name and return instructions. The name of the document has been changed to ‘Receipt’ and
should reduce customer contacts concerning warranty and tax issues.
International bank accounts now possible if you sell on Amazon.it and Amazon.es
Amazon is making selling internationally even easier.
Until recently, it was only possible to receive payments from Amazon if selling on Amazon.it and Amazon.es.
with a local Italian and Spanish bank account.
Now, you can use bank accounts located in a large selection of Eurozone countries to receive payment on your sales on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.it and Amazon.es. This makes deciding to list on all of Amazon’s EU marketplaces from one seller account and using
Amazon’s European Fulfilment network to deliver your orders a much simpler affair.
You can now receive payment in your local bank account if it is located in one of the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
Find more information on the European Marketplaces Account here, including details on how to update your bank account details in Seller Central.
German seller Tri.balance enjoys a sales increase of almost 70% on his Amazon orders since switching to Fulfilment by Amazon
Tri.balance started selling on Amazon.de in April 2010 and added FBA to his account in September 2011.
Mr Schrecker, the founder and owner, attributes the impressive increase in his Amazon sales of close to 70% following adoption of FBA to Amazon’s excellent reputation for customer service and the fact that many FBA orders are eligible for free Super Saver Delivery, Amazon Prime and next day
delivery. Tri.balance found FBA shipping costs significantly more attractive than the parcel post service the company was previously using. As a supplier of health food supplements, Tri.balance is also seeing the benefit of Amazon customer loyalty resulting in repeat orders and
increased turnover. In the coming months, the company will evaluate extending its market reach and offering its products for sale on Amazon’s other European marketplaces.
New – Cross listing tool makes expanding your international offers easier than ever
As a Seller using the Europe Marketplaces Account you have access to sell on all of Amazon’s European
Marketplaces.
To reduce the initial friction of listing products on other Amazon Marketplaces and to help you expand and grow your business, your original offers can now be listed in the target Marketplace against existing products (ASINs).
We will provide you with a listing loader file for the target Marketplace, containing your SKU and additional information required to make a pricing decision.
If the file contains FBA offers, we will automatically link the offer to your European Fulfilment Network inventory pool.
Click here for more information on how to expand your offers internationally. This new cross listing tool which can be accessed from the Manage Your
Inventory tab in Seller Central will help you more easily list selection on multiple marketplaces.
Before listing items on Amazon as an international seller, you should also understand all laws that apply to you and only list and sell products that comply with those laws.
Please read and understand the EU Import & Cross-Border Sales Information page for more details.
German fee change as of 15th September 2012. If you are an FBA seller on Amazon.de or using the European Fulfilment Network to deliver orders to customers in Germany, do check
this out
Changes to the FBA fee structure in Germany will come into effect on September 15th, 2012. Updated fees will be better aligned to local logistic practices.
Oversize items will see a fee reduction as well as many standard-size items which can ship in an envelope.
For other products eg.
media and standard-size items up to 1 kg which are not suitable for envelope shipment, fees will increase.
Three new weight bands have been introduced for envelope shipping.
Oversize has been split into two different bands.
The outbound shipping weight will be used to calculate the weight handling.
Examples of the fee changes before and after, in a variety of different categories, are available to make it easier for sellers to gauge the impact on their business. Learn more.
New – Cross-border report simplies international sale
We recently launched a new FBA cross-border Inventory Movement report for sellers in the EU and the USA.
The report contains detailed information for FBA export shipments and for orders fulfilled using the European Fulfilment Network (EFN). The report can be found in your seller account under the tab Reports>Fulfilment by Amazon.
Tools and Tips
Changes to Destination FC
From time to time it is necessary for us to review our network of Fulfilment Centres and make changes to the way in which we allocate your FBA shipments.
This may mean that you will find that the normal destination Fulfilment Centre for your inbound shipments which you may have been used to will change.
We try to minimise these changes but they are sometimes unavoidable and essential to the smooth running of our fulfilment services, ensuring that we can receive your shipments and dispatch your customer orders as efficiently as possible.
When creating your FBA shipments, please pay particular attention to the Fulfilment Centre that your shipment has been allocated to.
You can see this during the shipment creation process, on the address section of the FBA shipping label, and also by reviewing the destination column in your shipping queue. Amazon Fulfilment Centres are named with a 4 character code which usually relates to their closest airport.
Here is a list of all current European Fulfilment Centres and their locations.
Please note, shipments delivered to the wrong Fulfilment Centre will be delayed and may be rejected or re-delivered at your cost.
In order to avoid these issues and make your items available for sale in the quickest possible time, we strongly recommend that you ensure all shipments are delivered to the Fulfilment Centre indicated.
Packing fragile items for shipping to a Fulfilment Centre
Protecting your inventory is top priority in our fulfilment centres and during shipment to customers, so it is important that you package fragile units so they will not break and possibly create a safety hazard during
storage, shipment preparation or shipment to the customer.
• A fragile unit must be packaged in a six solid-sided box so the unit is not exposed in any way.
• All units must be individually wrapped to prevent damage.
For example, in a set of four wine glasses, each individual wine glass must be wrapped.
Drop test: Any breakable unit must be able to pass a 125 cm drop test onto a hard surface without the unit
breaking. A drop test consists of five drops:
• Flat on base
• Flat on top
• Flat on longest side
• Flat on shortest side
• On a corner
FMVS Test: All breakables must be able to withstand a full minute of vigorous shaking (FMVS) test without the units breaking. For more details, please refer to help section 5.8 Packaging Requirements in your seller
account.
Please note that some electronic items may also be breakable eg.
hard drives and therefore need appropriate packing to withstand the rigours of transportation.
Optimal listing and labeling of Apparel items
To make it easier for buyers to choose the right product and reduce possible customer returns, and for our Fulfilment Centres to process your orders in the smoothest possible way, please ensure that the title of your
product includes the same size as shown on the product itself. If say a t-shirt is showing size ‘M’ on the product, please list this also in the title and not just for example ‘Size 38’.
We wish you much success selling on Amazon and using Fulfilment by Amazon.
Sincerely,
The FBA Team
