BIG IDEA
When Amazon relaunched Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) earlier this year, sellers aired mixed feelings. Sure, SFP lets you take control of your order fulfillment while enjoying Prime-level speed and benefits—but is the added stress of meeting its requirements worth it?
Well, eCommerce Fastlane said it is! Here's why:
✨ Fulfilling sellers' needs
Originally, Amazon planned to implement a 2% extra fee per product shipped via SFP. Fortunately, the retailer scrapped that plan, so what's left are the program's competitive advantages:
- Reduced storage and fulfillment fees. Storing inventory through FBA can cost you $40–$95 per pallet. With SFP, you can bring that down to $20 or less! And if you want to fulfill orders from outside Amazon, say Walmart, you'll pay the same fees as opposed to the varying ones charged by Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF).
- Flexible product selection. All you need to do is find a logistics partner that accepts items not allowed by FBA. No more holding back on adding products to your catalog!
- Branding opportunity through packaging. SFP allows you to customize your packaging to showcase your brand identity. Not to mention, boosts your sales, as 40% of shoppers recommend a product that comes in branded packaging.
Should you explore SFP?
Yes—but with caution. 🫷
Like other Amazon programs, SFP requires you to meet high delivery and fulfillment standards. For starters, 93.5% of orders must be shipped to customers ON TIME.
So, before you commit 100% of your effort and resources to this fulfillment model, strategize your shipment process well. Only then can you enjoy 100% of the game-changing benefits SFP offers.
AMAZON NEWS
ICYMI: Amazon will drop Venmo as a payment option in 2024
Starting January 10, 2024, Amazon will no longer accept Venmo payments. Venmo’s owner, Paypal, announced on its website that customers can still use their Venmo debit and credit cards but not Venmo accounts.
❔ Why was it dropped?
ICYDK, Amazon added Venmo as a payment mode in October 2022. Back then, the company believed it would increase the flexibility and convenience of paying on the platform.
Yet after over a year of partnership, Amazon and PayPal haven’t disclosed why the payment option was suddenly disabled. What’s intriguing is that Paypal spokesperson Joshua Criscoe emphasized that they still have a “strong relationship with Amazon and look forward to continuing to build on it.”
Meanwhile, the retail giant urges customers to use other modes of payment, such as:
- Visa, including Prime Visa
- Amazon Store Card
- Amazon Secured Card
- MasterCard/EuroCard
- Discover
- American Express
- JCB
- China UnionPay (only for credit cards)
🎙️ The Venmo payment option will be completely removed from Amazon’s website on January 24, 2024. Spread the news to inform your customers of this change ASAP.
BITES OF THE WEEK
- Expanding Horizons: Amazon has big plans for its cloud application next year.
- ICYDK: Here are 12 fun facts about Amazon’s AI-powered robot helpers.
- Dismiss, Please: Once again, Amazon appeals for the dismissal of FTC’s antitrust lawsuit.
- 12 Days of Amazon: A seller turned the demerits they received into their rendition of the famous Christmas song.
- Small But Incredible Holiday: Did you know it only takes 7 things to make small businesses’ holiday merry?
ACTIONABLE ADVICE
4 reasons why you should target your own ASINs on Amazon
There’s no shortage of ASIN targeting strategies out there. But have you tried targeting your own ASINs?
✋ SellerApp raised this suggestion, highlighting that targeting your ASINs with Amazon sponsored ads can:
- Protect your brand from competitors who might steal your customers by placing their ads on branded search results or your product detail pages;
- Promote and/or upsell related and complementary products to boost your overall sales;
- Increase your organic ranking and sales velocity, which can put your products at better placements to enhance visibility and Share of Voice (SoV); and
- Reduce your Advertising Cost of Sale (ACoS) to guarantee the cost efficiency of your ad tactics.
So, how do you effectively target your ASINs?
It’s fairly simple—go to one of your high-performing product listings and target the best-selling items. 🎯
But while this is a fresh take on product targeting, you shouldn’t limit yourself to this approach. Instead, utilize Amazon’s ASIN targeting feature and try foolproof strategies, including:
- Targeting your rival’s better and inferior ASINs
- Creating offers while targeting your competitors’ ASINs with no offers
- Targeting high-traffic brands via Amazon brand targeting
💡 Last but not least, remember to understand your business requirements before trying different targeting strategies. Because no matter how good a method is, you can’t maximize its pros if it’s incompatible with your goals and capacities.
