How to Ship to Amazon FBA: Complete Guide for Sellers

How to Ship to Amazon FBA: Complete Guide for Sellers

Amazon stores and ships your goods from their fulfillment centers to your consumers if you utilize Fulfilment by Amazon. However, how are your goods delivered to the Amazon warehouse? What procedures must be followed to ship goods to Amazon FBA? You only need to follow the special protocol that Amazon has set up to allow you to ship goods to their fulfillment centers. This article explains what an Amazon delivery plan is, how to build one, and how to submit items to Amazon FBA. 

Preparation before shipping to Amazon FBA

Before you begin sending products to Amazon FBA, be aware of how shipping on Amazon functions and what there is for you to prepare precisely. So, let's start with this basic awareness!

Understand how shipping to Amazon FBA works

Shipping to Amazon or using the "Send to Amazon" program requires the following key steps below:

  • Prepare your inventory: You prepare your products according to Amazon's packaging and labeling guidelines.
  • Create a shipment: In your Amazon Seller Central account, you generate a shipping plan detailing the products you're sending and the quantities of each.
  • Ship your products: Amazon will provide you with shipping labels and instructions. Next, ship your products directly to an Amazon fulfillment center.
  • Amazon handles the rest: Upon receipt, they take over – storing all your stock, processing any orders for it, as well as delivering it to buyers in due time.

What Inventory to Ship for Amazon FBA?

The inventory you send over to Amazon FBA determines your performance in business and on inventory management, so, think over the inventory very carefully to be shipped:

  • Analyze your sales data to know which products sell with constant demand. Shipped out the high-demand products so that they could be sold quickly to the customers, hence minimizing space cluttered by slow-moving products. Seasonal and trend-related products should also be shipped in smaller amounts in case of overstocking.
  • Take your items' weight and size into account. It is more economical to ship small, light items that sell fast since Amazon FBA charges storage costs based on the portion of space your items take up. If they don't sell right away, larger, heavier products cost more to store and ship, which decreases your profit margin.
  • Make sure the things you ship to FBA are in good shape because if they are not, people may return and leave bad reviews, which can hurt your business's image. Therefore, to lessen the likelihood of such an issue, it is advised to carry out thorough quality inspections before delivery.
  • Make sure the products you ship to FBA are in good shape since faulty or damaged goods may result in returns and bad reviews from buyers, which might harm your brand. To reduce the possibility of such problems, please conduct comprehensive quality inspections before delivery.
  • Make sure your product complies with Amazon FBA policy. Some products are banned or require special permission. You should check Amazon's guidelines to avoid any pitfalls.

Get to Know Labeling and Packaging Essentials

The correct labeling and packaging of your products are also important to confirm that they are handled properly throughout the journey of how to ship items to Amazon FBA. There are some factors you need to comprehend deeply:

  • FNSKU Labels: A Fulfilment Network Stock Keeping Unit label is necessary for every product you ship to Amazon FBA. In the Amazon system, your goods are identified by this barcode.
  • Label Your Product: Ensure your product labels are clear and legible, and have any applicable product name, description, ingredients, warning messages, etc. This allows both Amazon and customers to easily and correctly identify your product.
  • Expiration Date (if needed): If your products have a date by which they are no longer good or likely for purchase, this date must be shown per Amazon's requirements.
  • Packaging (if applicable): Some products, for example, need plastic packaging if they are small or may leak. For those kinds of products, please see Amazon's guidelines to check if your product comes in this category.
  • Label your Boxes: Label your shipping boxes with the correct FBA shipping number and seller information. This allows Amazon to quickly identify and process your package.

Related Blog: Pros and Cons of Amazon FBA Shipping

What are the benefits of using Amazon FBA? 

Advantages of Amazon FBA

Online retailers may automate their order fulfillment and delivery procedures with Amazon FBA. An e-commerce business that registers with Amazon FBA has the distinct benefit of receiving all services, including picking, packing, warehousing facilities, shipping, returns, and refunds, which are all handled by Amazon.

You don't have to worry about running your business on a daily basis as long as you control your sales and maintain your inventory on Amazon.

Effortless fulfillment

In the case of outsourcing the fulfillment, shipping, and customer support process, all important components of an e-commerce business, Amazon FBA offers some impressive benefits. The need for logistical innovations grows as a firm reaches a point where it receives a significant volume of orders each day. 

Affordable Shipping

Delivering goods to customers at lower rates is the main advantage of Amazon FBA. Amazon is able to send things at a cheaper cost by negotiating significant shipping reductions with all of the main delivery companies. A percentage of the discount will be reflected in the fulfillment fees, enabling businesses to make more money per transaction than they would if they sent the goods themselves. Businesses benefit from this as they don't have to pay for shipping supplies, and FBA makes the process easy and economical overall.

Effective Return Processing

Amazon FBA treats full returns as an extension of the fulfillment process. If sellers use Amazon FBA, their workload of disappointed customers is transferred to Amazon's domain, and it becomes their responsibility to handle refunds, shipping labels, and logistics which is a very engaging aspect of e-commerce businesses and serves their purpose of cost-effectively relieving their workload.

Customer Service

Customer service management is one of the best advantages of Amazon FBA. Customers can communicate directly with Amazon's customer-service specialists, and as Amazon provides excellent customer service, online sellers prefer to delegate everyday client service to them. This not only saves time, but it also gives the customer more options, as Amazon is accessible via email, chat, and telephone 24 hours a day, seven days a week, allowing your consumers to receive assistance whenever they require it.

Unlimited Storage Space

You don’t need to rent a warehouse or turn your basement into an Amazon warehouse; Amazon will ensure that it stores your products with security and guarantee. This service fits right in the cost-benefit analysis as the service is worth the investment. The advantage is that if your inventory is performing well and your products are flying off the shelves, you will have unlimited space at an Amazon warehouse. This will help you enhance your services and increase your output. 

Faster Delivery Service

With hundreds of fulfillment locations and warehouses around the world, Amazon FBA promises to ship an item promptly to an out-of-the-way location. This is much faster than a company shipping a product using its warehouse setup, in which the orders would take much longer to arrive and would adversely affect the customer satisfaction rate.

Multi-channel Order Fulfilment

The most popular feature of Amazon FBA is that you can process orders through multiple sales channels. This service is called Multi-Channel Fulfilment (MCF). Once you sell your products on multiple online marketplaces, Amazon automatically receives the order from the respective channel for its fulfillment. Amazon FBA lets you consolidate the fulfillment and shipping procedure across multiple sales channels and smoothen your order management.

Steps to Sending Products to Amazon FBA

Step 1: Create a Product Listing

Make sure your inventory is listed on Amazon before uploading them. You can make a new list or add products to the existing list if the product is already in the Amazon catalog.

Step 2. Preparing Your Products

Amazon has guidelines regarding how to prepare the products; among them are packaging, labeling, and making sure your item is ready for fulfillment. 

We'll apply a unique barcode needed by Amazon: UPC, EAN, or FNSKU, to the items we're going to label.

Step 3: Create a Shipping Plan

Under the Inventory section of Seller Central, click FBA Inventory; create a shipping plan and decide the goods you wish to ship. Choose whether you are shipping a single item or a packaged item, then enter the number of each product.

Step 4. Getting Ready to Ship

You will receive precise instructions from Amazon on how to get your shipment ready, including how to make mailing labels and pack it. To prevent delays and problems, please carefully follow these directions.

Step 5. Submit your Inventory

  • You can choose your preferred shipping carrier or use an Amazon partner carrier that offers shipping discounts.

Step 6. Track your Delivery

After delivery of your inventory, control the shipment rate in the Central Seller Central on the shipping page to provide it without issues. Once the item is received, Amazon will notify you and your items will be listed for sale.

Ship Smarter, Not Harder with MapMyChannel!

In conclusion, our step-by-step guide on shipping to Amazon FBA has been incredibly informative and helpful in making this otherwise very complicated task much easier. By following our expert advice, you can navigate the complexities of FBA shipping with trust and efficiency. Ultimately, this saves time and decreases potential errors.

Are you facing multi-channel sales management challenges beyond Amazon FB shipping? If so, discover how MapMyChannel makes selling across multiple channels easier than ever before. Contact us today for valuable advice.

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