Interested in starting an Amazon Business? This post summarises the stages required to set up an Amazon business, with links for more information.
Stage 1: Account opening
While opening an Amazon account is not difficult, it can take a few days, getting started early is best. In addition, Amazon can reject a submission, so be careful to submit high-quality documentation.
Stage 2: Product selection
Needless to say, before launching your business, you should research quality items for which you believe there will be a high demand.
A great tool for finding inventory opportunities on Amazon is Jungle Scout
Bear in mind that not everything can be sold on Amazon. Furthermore, some categories are also restricted, and a merchant will need to apply to sell. For more details, consult the Amazon website:
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/200301050
https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/external/201730840
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/200164330
https://sellercentral.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/external/201743940
Stage 3: Building a brand on Amazon
Amazon has become a significant way for brands to launch and reach new customers. Brand registry enables brands to register their brand on Amazon and control how their products are presented. Once registered brand can add rich content such as storefronts and A+ content.
If you are a product reseller, you will not need to register a brand on Amazon however, if you are selling your own branded products on Amazon, to list these, you will need to register your brand first.
- Create a brand for your business
- Register a trademark for your brand
- Sign up for Brand registry
- Create Storefront
- Create A+ content
Stage 4: Product creation
Once you have set up your account, you will need to create your product inventory. If you are a product reseller, you can create products by matching them against Amazon’s product catalogue. Any new products will need to be created from scratch.
- Matching against Amazon’s catalogue
- Maximising Amazon natural search performance
- Creating optimised listings
- Creating listings in bulk
Stage 5: Order Fulfilment
Fulfilled by Amazon or Fulfilled by Merchant
As a merchant, you need to decide how to fulfil your orders. The options are Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) or Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM). FBA is where your inventory is sent to the Amazon warehouse and they take things over from there. Fulfilled by Merchant is where the merchant ships items from their warehouse. Both have pros and cons.
- Fulfilment options – FBA and FBM
- FBA – YouTube mini course
Managing orders
If you are managing orders yourself, you will need to respond to any customer service queries along with any A-Z claims. If you opt for FBA, you can either do customer service yourself or let Amazon do it for you.
Managing stock levels
Managing stock is a major task for online retailers, but luckily Amazon has some tools to help with the process:
Section 6: Driving sales
Product listings’ natural search performance is based on the listing’s historical performance in terms of sales and reviews. Many sellers use Amazon sponsored ads to drive sales and traffic to build sales. Another option is to use promotions such as deals and vouchers to attract customers.
Section 7: International expansion
Amazon has sites in 17 different countries, so expanding internationally is a big opportunity for sellers. Amazon works in a very similar way across the world, and in Europe, a single account allows merchants to sell in the UK, DE, FR, IT, ES, NL, PO and SE.
Need help?
If you need help launching your Amazon business please contact us
