Selling on Amazon is as hot as it ever was, making it the perfect time to start or expand an Amazon store. If you sell on Amazon, or if you’re considering starting, you’ve probably wondered how Amazon’s distribution works. This is understandable, and wondering how the planet’s single largest online retailer manages their shipping, receiving, and storage can help you optimize and streamline your overall strategy.
We’re going to take a look at how the Amazon fulfillment network works, how they can consistently promise such fast delivery, and why FBA is almost always the best strategy. In the end, we’ll also point you toward a trusted resource for managing your Amazon store, that is built on proven results.
How Does Amazon Distribution Work?
Amazon is the source of a vast array of fulfillment centers spread throughout not only the US but the entire world. Each of these centers is an incredibly massive warehouse where Amazon and third-party sellers can store their inventory and subsequently have it shipped. Every time someone places an order, the appropriate item is picked from the seemingly endless aisles, sent to a packing station, and shipped to the customer. This is often called Fulfillment by Amazon, or simply FBA.
How Do Amazon Fulfillment Centers Work?
The backbone of Amazon’s ability to get just about anything shipped just about anywhere in two days or less. These enormous facilities are stuffed with the latest technology and research in efficiency. Robotic picking assistants, instant scanning and tracking, and automated labeling make short work of managing inventory across millions and millions of products.
Why Is FBA So Popular?
FBA is such a popular service for small and mid-sized sellers because it greatly reduces or even eliminates the entire burden of not only packing and shipping inventory effectively but storing that inventory in the first place. Amazon manages all of these tasks, leaving the seller responsible for finding the products to sell and creating solid listings.
FBA even makes it easy to get your items to the right facility, with Amazon telling each seller how many of each item should be shipped to which fulfillment centers. When a customer purchases one of the items online, Amazon automatically retrieves it from its warehousing space, has it inspected and packed by a person, then shipped directly to the customer.
Benefits Of FBA
There is a long list of benefits that using the FBA framework provides. While we don’t have time to go over them all, here are some of the biggest benefits of how Amazon fulfillment centers work:
- Prime Eligibility: Working with the Amazon FBA framework allows sellers to make their products available for Amazon Prime, which offers expedited shipping and makes it visible to the world.
- Reduced Workload: When leveraging FBA, most sellers can outsource large portions of their entire order fulfillment process, including shipping, customer service, and even returns & exchanges.
- Automated Inventory Management: Another huge benefit that FPA provides is the complete and automatic management of its inventory by Amazon. This includes providing tools that help manage and track inventory while planning for the future.
- Simplified Shipping: FBA means that sellers can provide consistently fast and reliable shipping promises. This means fewer problems and complaints, while also boosting the speed and accuracy of the delivery process.
- Customer Service: Another significant upside to using FBA is that when a customer says there is a problem, you have Amazon’s 24/7 customer service line to handle things like inquiries, returns, and more.
The Amazon Junkies Can Simplify It All
While FBA makes inventory management simple, there’s a lot more that goes into running and maintaining a profitable Amazon store. Reach out to the Amazon Junkies today to learn how we can help take your brand to the next level.
