Amazon Direct Fulfillment – What is the Vendor Merchant Program?
Amazon offers a few other programs in addition to the traditional merchant account. There are a well-known for everyone, available for an extra fee – Prime, and a much less accessible Vendor. To be able to sell through Vendor, you need to stand out with sales and general account operation in a basic form. The Amazon Direct Fulfillment is a sales model where a seller delivers a truckload quantity of merchandise to Amazon who sells products on its behalf. The cooperation is based on B2B. After receiving the invitation, more opportunities will open up to sellers. One of them is participation in the Amazon Direct Fulfillment program.
Amazon Direct Fulfillment program, the so-called “Drop Ship” is used to send orders from the manufacturer’s magazine directly to customers. Dropshipping is a logistics model that transfers order fulfillment to the supplier, and in this case to Amazon. Excluding the “Fulfillment Center”, where orders placed by Amazon are sent. However, this is not a program for every seller registered in Vendor. To join the program, you have to wait for an invitation. But if we achieve good sales results, there is nothing to prevent you from submitting your willingness to participate. It is possible with our determination and good argumentation, we will be able to get to the program earlier.
What does the process from ordering to shipping look like?
1. The customer places an order through Amazon who previously purchased our brand’s products
2. The seller prints the label and collects the ordered products into an unmarked box.
3. Shipping through courier sent by Amazon. Now Amazon takes care of delivering the package to the customer.
4. Generating an invoice.
5. Transfer of all order fulfillment obligations to Amazon.
6. Shorter delivery time of the order to the customer.
7. Amazon buys products from suppliers and ships them. This makes it possible to sell on a large scale with a proven partner.
8. Amazon handles order returns.
What are the advantages of Amazon Direct Fulfillment?
- Increase in sales: Your offers will become more visible and competitive. Your products will be eligible for Amazon Prime, Free Shipping, and a host of other benefits to help boost your sales.
- International Sales: You can expand your business beyond your country’s borders to reach customers on all Amazon’s European sites.
- 24/7 Amazon Customer Support: Worldwide, Amazon customer support is available at all times and in your local language.
- Fulfillment of Orders from Other Sales Channels: enables fulfillment of orders from other sales channels using inventory stored in Amazon Fulfillment Centers.
- Selling In Your Out: With these settings, you can sell while you’re on vacation, which is not possible on competing platforms.
- Many additional benefits: also for your customers who can try an ever-expanding range of additional services such as gift wrapping.
To place your products in Amazon Direct Fulfillment, you need to copy them from the general catalog and then complete their inventory. And that’s all! Now it remains to wait for the first order.
In the case of this program, it is extremely important to ensure fast shipping. In the beginning, we get 3-5 days from Vendor to fulfill the order. If we are good with shipping, this period will be reduced (upgrade) – even to 0 hours. If our results are worse than assumed, the period will be extended (downgrade). As is always the case with Amazon – the faster the shipping, the better for each party. Your company can show timeliness and the customer is satisfied with the comprehensive service. The evaluation of the operation in the program is mainly based on shipping and adjustment to what Amazon Vendor assumes. If the products are not shipped on time, the seller will face penalties, which are currently € 10 / £ 8. If the situation with delayed or rejected shipments repeats, the seller will have the account blocked. That is the reason why it is so important to keep your inventory levels up-to-date (recommended daily) and prioritize shipping orders with a faster shipping date.
What to do if we know that we will not be able to process orders?
It is best to set the stock of a given product to 0 as soon as possible. The advantage of the program is the seller has a direct impact on the stock and the visibility of the offer. After the change, customers will not be able to order the product. Unfortunately, there is no other way that would not affect the quality of your account.
Is participation in the program for everyone?
In fact, yes! If our magazine works efficiently, can handle an additional pool of orders, there is nothing to prevent you from taking part in the program after invitation and increasing your turnover. Check out our Amazon Direct Fulfillment service.
