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As you research your options for tapping into the Amazon marketplace, you might be wondering if and how you can participate in the growing Prime frenzy. The great news for retailers like you? Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime allows sellers to use the Amazon Prime badge to fulfill orders directly from their warehouses. In other words, it gives you access to coveted Amazon Prime shoppers.<\/p>\n
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Originally, online retailers who wanted a prime badge needed to go through Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)<\/a>. But this proved unattractive for sellers who either couldn\u2019t justify the cost of FBA or wanted to manage their own inventories. Recognizing the need for an alternative solution, the Seller Fulfilled Prime program is rolled out.<\/p>\n Currently, Seller Fulfilled Prime is not accepting new registrations, but they do have an active waitlist. If you\u2019re debating whether to join Seller Fulfilled Prime<\/a>, here\u2019s what you need to know.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Contents<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Obtaining a Prime badge can turbocharge a company\u2019s sales.<\/p>\n Some consumer firms have doubled their average monthly sales when they obtained the Prime badge.<\/p>\n Others saw monthly average sales increase by as much as 52% while a home and garden company said its product sales jumped 166% after getting the Prime badge.<\/p>\n Many online sellers are embracing an omni-channel marketing strategy so they grow their own sales channels and also sell their products through online channels to reach a wider audience. But to compete with all the other retail<\/a> companies or retailers in the marketplace, they need a way to stand out and boasting the Prime badge is a very good way to do so.<\/p>\n Of course, these sellers don\u2019t want to use FBA<\/a>, where they ship inventory to Amazon warehousesfor distribution as orders come in. They already have warehousing and logistics set up, and they don\u2019t want to double their spend.<\/p>\n With Seller Fulfilled Prime, as long as customer service metrics are met, companies can fulfill orders using their own operations and Amazon gets the benefit of delivery support without hindering its customer promise. A win-win scenario.<\/p>\n Amazon Prime members receive unlimited two-day delivery at no additional cost. Online sellers who use the Prime badge must commit to honoring this. In exchange, they get access to Amazon\u2019s most loyal customers.<\/p>\n Today, 82% of American households have an Amazon Prime membership, which costs $119 per year. Plus, Amazon consistently ranks number one in customer satisfaction studies. In other words, the company is very protective over its customer experience, and expects its Seller Fulfilled Prime partners to be that way, too.<\/p>\n Of course, Amazon supports its Seller Fulfilled Prime members with transportation solutions to meet this high level of customer service, which most non-Amazon e-retailers<\/a> struggle with. The company provides sellers with access to its approved shipping companies and carriers whose tracking can be validated. In fact, using these third-party logistics partners is a requirement for participating in Seller Fulfilled Prime.<\/p>\n Members of Seller Fulfilled Prime must also offer premium shipping options in addition to the standard two-day delivery. In the United States, Premium Shipping also includes one-day shipping.<\/p>\n In addition, there is a mandatory requirement for handling time, called Fulfillment Latency. Seller Fulfilled Prime Members must have a handling time of zero days, regardless of the system default of one to two days.<\/p>\n There are a number of other requirements sellers have to meet to be eligible to offer Premium Shipping:<\/p>\n Once Premium Shipping status is unlocked, eligibility is monitored on an ongoing basis.<\/p>\n You may be interested: For detailed information about Amazon Seller Central and Amazon Vendor Central, check out our article. <\/a><\/p>\n Amazon doesn\u2019t hand out its Prime badge to just anyone, and it\u2019s not afraid to revoke it later. The customer-centric company expects a lot of its sellers. Of course, it gets something in return from great sellers: bandwidth.<\/p>\n Despite Amazon\u2019s massive warehousing and logistics infrastructure – as well as its plans to invest another $1 billion on shipping improvements – the company needs the support of third parties to keep up with customer demand. Consequently, it\u2019s bringing companies with shared shipping standards into the fold.<\/p>\n As you can expect, those shared shipping standards are not low — one expectation is to ship more than 99% of orders on time.<\/p>\n Checkout how shipment rule automation<\/a> can help you reduce your shipping cost.<\/p>\n All retailers selling through Seller Fulfilled Prime must comply with Amazon\u2019s return policy. This isn\u2019t surprising since returns are the new frontier when it comes to dominating the customer experience. Generally, Amazon permits the return of items within 30 days of the shipment\u2019s receipt.<\/p>\n When a customer requests a return, his or her return is immediately approved by Amazon and they are sent a prepaid return mailing label. It\u2019s important to know that retailers are responsible for the return costs, with a few exceptions.<\/p>\n There are some items, like apparel and jewelry, where sellers must offer a return while others, like hazardous materials, are non-returnable. Whether or not an item is returnable is at the discretion of Amazon customer service representatives.<\/p>\n On a related note, all customer service inquiries related to products sold through Seller Fulfilled Prime go through Amazon\u2019s customer service team.<\/p>\n Joining Seller Fulfilled Prime isn\u2019t as simple as signing up and selling. After you\u2019ve signed up – or successfully moved off the waitlist – you have to go through a trial period. Only upon successfully passing the trial period do you get the coveted Amazon Prime badge on your listed products.<\/p>\n During the trial period, sellers must meet the requirements of a Seller Fulfilled Prime member (even though the badge isn\u2019t displayed on their products yet). This includes keeping a zero-days handling rate.<\/p>\n The Buy Box is the section on the right-hand side of the screen that gives customers the option to either \u201cAdd to Cart\u201d or \u201cBuy Now.\u201d Only some products get the buy box while others have to share the screen.<\/p>\n What exactly does this mean? Well, since Amazon is a marketplace, oftentimes there are several people or companies selling the exact same product. Since Amazon is famously customer obsessed, their priority is making it as easy as possible for customers to find sellers who offer the best value for money.<\/p>\n How does Amazon define value? While the exact algorithm is an internal recipe, the decision is based on two major factors: price and seller metrics. Generally speaking, Amazon will display sellers who offer a competitive price. That said, if a seller has outstanding product, delivery, and customer service metrics, then it can win the buy box with a slightly higher price.<\/p>\n 82% of customer sales go through the Buy Box, so it would be an understatement to say it\u2019s highly prized by sellers.<\/p>\n Products offered through Seller Fulfilled Prime have a much higher chance of winning the Buy Box since these sellers must meet and maintain such rigorous customer satisfaction standards.<\/p>\n\n
You Can Store Your Inventory In Your Own Warehouse<\/h2>\n
You Have To Commit To Honoring The Two-Day Shipping Promise<\/h2>\n
You Have To Offer Premium Shipping Options<\/h2>\n
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You Must Ship More Than 99% of Orders On Time<\/h2>\n
You Must Comply With the Amazon Returns Policy<\/h2>\n
You Must Successfully Complete a Trial Period<\/h2>\n
You Have Access To the Coveted \u201cBuy Box\u201d<\/h2>\n