In Amazon's efforts to expand its warehousing logistics business, the company will soon offer to keep sellers' inventory in bulk and ship it anywhere. As a blog post stated, this service automatically replenishes its FBA fulfillment centers and sends it to brick-and-mortar stores.
In a report from last fall, Amazon started testing this new program called Amazon Warehousing & Distribution (AWD). It is specifically designed to "upstream" inventory storage for automatic replenishment of its Prime-ready warehouses.
So, instead of shipping products to Amazon Fulfillment Centers (which impose strict storage limits), sellers could directly send their inventory to Amazon Distribution Centers for cheaper storage rates, especially for large quantities.
During the discussion of the beta program last August, Amazon mentioned that AWD would benefit FBA sellers and customers. For instance, if the product goes out of stock in the Prime-ready fulfillment centers, customers could still place the order if there is enough inventory in an AWD location.
To simplify operations, sellers using AWD can merge their global inventory, which they can view and manage on Seller Central. Those who are interested can start using this service in 2023.
In a blog post published on August 31, 2022, Gopal Pillai, Vice President of Amazon Distribution and Fulfillment Solutions, announced the launch of this new program. He added that Amazon would discuss AWD's pricing, fees, and other details during Amazon Accelerate, Amazon's annual seller conference held earlier this week on the 14 and 15th.
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In hopes of supporting sellers, more than 2,500 apps from third-party developers across 20 different countries have been vetted by Amazon. They are now available in its Selling Partner Appstore, formerly the Amazon Seller Central Partner Network, as described in this blog post.
On September 9, Amazon announced on its Seller Central board encouraging sellers to explore the apps as these can help them in their efforts to expand their businesses:
"Through the collection of thoroughly screened and constantly monitored third-party applications, sellers can now discover solutions to optimize listings, pricing, and shipping or to streamline other crucial selling operations. Add to this, the Selling Partner Appstore has a "Recommended for You" feature, which suggests apps that selling partners like you would enjoy."
In an introductory video on the Selling Partner Appstore, the company suggested the assessment of the "Amazon-approved" resources, "which seamlessly integrate with your seller data," by the sellers to help with listing, automated pricing, shipping, analytics, and other tasks. Amazon also added that third-party applications are currently being used by over 75% of sellers.
Hero Cosmetics, an Amazon-born acne care brand, was purchased for $630 million earlier this month, as MarketPlace Pulse reported. The company launched on Amazon in 2017 with a single SKU called Mighty Patch, which eventually became Amazon's no. 1 beauty product.
Over the past couple of years, the brand's success with multiple channels has prompted internal discussion for an acquisition, which Ju Rhyu, cofounder and CEO, knew would help ensure Hero Cosmetics' legacy. Now, the team is delighted to have found a new home with Church & Dwight, the manufacturer behind OxiClean, Nair, and XTRA.
Hero Success: The manufacturing conglomerate acquired Hero Cosmetics for $630M, 14 times the $45M earnings before the brand's interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) over the last twelve months. However, it is essential to note that it generated $115 million in sales. After SmartyPants in November 2020 and Zesty Paws in August 2021, Hero Cosmetics is their third $500M+ Amazon-native brand acquisition.
📶 Rhyu, who will remain Hero's cofounder and CEO, said the brand expects to accelerate its growth plans by maximizing Church & Dwight's infrastructure and back office capabilities. Some of these plans include continuing its US expansion and growing its international footprint.
🔥Beyond the promising future this acquisition holds for Hero, Rhyu hopes it will serve as an inspiration to other entrepreneurs - another success story demonstrating the development of a small idea and turning it into a thriving business.
There are numerous benefits to becoming an Amazon seller - one of them includes having access to an abundance of insightful reports right within Amazon. Awesome Dynamic outlines the best uses of Seller Central reports in this article:
What are the benefits of using these reports?
Which reports from Amazon are especially informative?
💡 Knowledge is power: How can you use the data from these reports to make adjustments and progress within your business? Using these reports to analyze your current seller status is a great place to start. These details will help you get a more precise idea of where your business stands and what areas to improve. Then, depending on how frequently the reports are generated, you can use the information to monitor your progress and make calculated decisions. View full article here.