What is an Amazon Vendor?
Amazon offers not only the possibility to buy products on its marketplace but also to sell them to and from Amazon. If you want to sell goods to Amazon yourself, you are a Amazon vendor and you are called a first-party seller. A vendor acts like a supplier and sells its goods in large quantities to Amazon. Once Amazon is in possession of the goods, Amazon assumes responsibility for marketing, customer satisfaction and returns of the products. You can only become an Amazon vendor by invitation from Amazon. If you are qualified as a seller and meet the guidelines, you can use the so-called Vendor Central. In Vendor Central, orders can be managed and items can be added to the Amazon catalogue. Sellers and vendors are often looked after by Amazon marketing agencies.
What are the benefits of Amazon Vendor Central?
Customer satisfaction is one of the most important factors for successful selling on Amazon. First-party seller goods are marked “Sold by Amazon”, so customers tend to trust first-party dealers rather than third-party dealers. Amazon can buy a large number of products at once, which can result in a high sales volume. In addition, an Amazon vendor has the opportunity to participate in various marketing programs, such as Amazon-Vine or Subscribe & Save. Vendors can also use the Amazon A Plus extension.
What are the disadvantages of a vendor?
- Membership by invitation only
- Low price control
- loss of control
- Dependence on Amazon
- Paid Analytics
- Insights into the profitability and demand of a product via Amazon
Vendor Express as an additional service
Vendor Express offers special advantages to manufacturers and dealers. As a result of the fact that Amazon sells or delivers goods to Amazon as a vendor, Amazon really is very interested in selling the items. Amazon will ensure to generate as many sales as possible and increase the conversion rate through better placement and the best possible ranking.
By participating in Vendor Express, manufacturers give customers the opportunity to use Amazon Prime’s service – many customers use and appreciate this service.
Another possibility that a vendor/manufacturer could use is the “direct fulfilment” that currently (as of August 21, 2017) only exists in America. With direct fulfilment, the manufacturer keeps the goods in his warehouse and does not send them to Amazon like the Vendor Express. If products are sold, the manufacturer receives a notification from Amazon and must send it to the customer under strict shipping guidelines. The possibility of packing individual packages for bestsellers can strengthen the connection between customers and companies with the help of enclosed advertising material or flyers. Most of the time, however, small and young companies cannot keep up with the guidelines because their logistics are not suitable.