Ten things you need to know to sell online with Amazon

29th May, 2023
7 MIN

1.

What does it mean to sell online with Amazon?

More than 300 million customers shop in Amazon’s store, and every day, customers browse, purchase, and review products sold by third-party sellers right alongside products sold by Amazon. Since 2000, Amazon has offered this virtual shelf space to individuals and companies of all sizes, helping them reach hundreds of millions of customers, build their brands, and grow their business. Fast-forward to the present day, and these third-party seller products account for more than half of all units sold in our store.

2.

Who sells in Amazon’s store?

Amazon Selling Partners break down into two categories: vendors and sellers. A few quick definitions are in order:

Sellers

Independent companies or individuals who choose to sell their products in Amazon’s store. This relationship is considered “third-party,” since Amazon is not the seller of record—the seller is.

Vendors

Companies invited into a retail relationship with Amazon. Amazon purchases their products and then sells them to customers. This relationship is considered “first-party,” since in this case Amazon is the seller of record.
While an invitation from Amazon is required to be a vendor, anyone can be a third-party seller. Generally speaking, sellers fall into two camps: resellers and brand owners. Resellers find popular products that already exist and offer them in Amazon's store. Brand owners manufacture their own products—or source goods to sell under a private label—to offer shoppers unique selection. Many sellers do both. In total, third-party seller products account for more than half of all units sold in Amazon’s store.
Shout out to Amazon for freeing me financially.
Joshua EsnardThe Cut Buddy
hands drawing in a sketch book

3.

What are the different ways to sell?

Selling in Amazon's store

Amazon operates online stores worldwide, allowing sellers to grow their business internationally independent of where their business is physically established. Sellers are able to quickly grow their business in other countries, introducing their brand and products to millions of customers.

Amazon Launchpad

The Launchpad store is available for emerging brands to sell their innovative products to millions of Amazon customers all over the world. Amazon uses an application process to add new artisans to the Launchpad category to ensure customers are able to buy with confidence.

Ways to sell with Amazon

Selling Partners worlwide help us give shoppers more of what they love, every single day.
Video thumbnail featuring ways to sell on Amazon

4.

What types of products can someone sell in Amazon’s store?

Product categories

You can choose to sell a wide variety of products on Amazon. Some categories are open to all sellers, some require a Professional seller account, some require approval to sell, and some include products that cannot be sold by third-party sellers. You can take a look at product categories and details unique to each on the Sell page.

Restricted products

Prior approval may be required to list certain products in certain categories (also see the Sell page), and some products may not be listed as a matter of compliance with legal or regulatory restrictions (for example, prescription drugs) or Amazon policy (for example, tobacco products).

5.

Who are Amazon’s customers?

Customer-centric

Amazon has more than 300 million active customer accounts around the world, and Amazon’s obsessive focus on those customers is written into the leadership principles that define the company’s culture:

Amazon jargon:

Customer Obsession

Leaders start with the customer and work backwards. They work vigorously to earn and keep customer trust. Although leaders pay attention to competitors, they obsess over customers.

Prime members

Amazon Prime members receive benefits including FREE fast shipping for eligible purchases, streaming of movies, TV shows and music, exclusive shopping deals and selection, unlimited reading, and more. And many Amazon customers look for products with the Prime badge because it represents fast, free shipping. Third-party sellers can make their offers more attractive to more than 150 million Amazon Prime members worldwide using Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA). With FBA, sellers send inventory to an Amazon fulfilment center, and Amazon picks, packs, ships, and handles customer service/returns. Using FBA to ship your products is the easiest way to get the Prime badge for most offers.
Gif video of Amazon Prime package being delivered

Customer reviews

Customers write reviews of the products they purchase from Amazon or through other channels, along with an overall star rating out of five stars. Customer product reviews are an important part of the shopping experience on Amazon, and they benefit both customers and sellers. It's a good idea for anyone considering selling to make sure they're familiar with the right way and wrong way to get more product reviews and avoid policy violations (you must be logged in to you Seller account to view this guide).
man wearing a shirt holding a dog
We love getting good reviews and feedback.
Brian FosseLalabu

6.

What do sellers' products look like to Amazon customers?

Product detail pages

A product detail page is where customers view a product sold on Amazon. If you’ve shopped on Amazon, you’ll probably recognise the product detail page. It’s where customers can find all the relevant information about a particular item.

When multiple sellers offer the same product, Amazon combines data from all the offers into one product detail page so we can present customers with the best experience. Sellers can propose product information on a product detail page, along with other sellers and manufacturers, and request detail page reviews if they think the information is not correct.

A+ Content

A+ Content enables brands to describe their product features in new ways by including a unique brand story, enhanced images, and text placements which may result in higher conversion rates, increased traffic, and increased sales when used effectively.
Amazon.com product detail page with A+ content

Amazon Stores

Stores is a free, self-service, branded destination on Amazon for brands to curate content that inspires, educates, and helps customers discover their product selection. The feature allows third-party sellers to showcase their brand and products in a multi-page, immersive shopping experience on Amazon.
Example of an Amazon storefront using Amazon Stores

7.

Where do Amazon sellers manage or operate their business?

Seller Central

Seller Central is the website where sellers log in to monitor their Amazon sales activity. Sellers can manage most aspects of their Amazon business from Seller Central: inventory, update pricing, communication with customers, reviewing performance, contacting support, adding new products, and more.
Amazon Seller Central home screen interface
Amazon Seller Central interface with graph

Marketplace Appstore

The Marketplace Appstore is a one-stop shop that helps sellers find software solutions to help with their unique business needs, from automated pricing and listing tools to product research. Many of the applications focus on automating previously time-consuming and tedious daily tasks like product research, filling out tax forms, or building customised reports.

Service Provider Network

Amazon’s Service Provider Network offers a directory of third-party companies across the globe who can help businesses manage most aspects of selling on Amazon.

8.

How do Amazon sellers advertise their products?

Amazon offers sellers ad solutions to help find, attract, and engage Amazon customers at every stage of their journey.

Sponsored Products

Sponsored Products are ads for individual product listings on Amazon. They appear within shopping results pages and on product detail pages.

Sponsored Brands

Sponsored Brands showcase a brand and product portfolio. They feature a seller’s brand logo, a custom headline, and a custom selection of products, appearing in shopping results pages and helping drive both sales and product visibility.

Ways to advertise

See how sellers reach more customers, increase sales, and engage shoppers throughout their journey.
Video thumbnail featuring Amazon advertising on Amazon.com

9.

How else do Amazon sellers merchandise and promote in Amazon’s store?

Using advertising, promotions, deals, and coupons, sellers can help increase sales, launch new products, generate reviews, clear inventory, boost product visibility, and plenty more.

Promotions

Sellers can offer free shipping, percentage discounts, or buy-one-get-one promos on their products.

Deals

Sellers can run flash sales to encourage people to take advantage of lowered prices.

Coupons

Sellers can offer coupons in shopping results, product detail pages, and customer Shopping Carts.

10.

How do Amazon sellers deliver orders to customers?

When an Amazon customer buys a product, either Amazon can ship the order for the seller with Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA), or the seller can fulfil their own order. Many Amazon sellers use a mix of the two depending on the product.

Shipping Prime

Many Amazon customers look for products with the Prime badge because it represents fast, free shipping. Using FBA to ship products is the easiest way for sellers to get the Prime badge for most offers.

Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA)

When sellers sign up to sell in Amazon stores, they’re automatically enrolled in FBA. If they decide to participate, they send inventory to Amazon fulfilment centers, and Amazon handles shipping, customer service, refunds, and returns for those products.

Seller Fulfilment

Some sellers have products that aren’t ideal for FBA—for instance, hazardous goods that don’t meet fulfilment center requirements or seasonal products that would incur excessive storage fees. Others may already have a logistics network in place, or other business reasons to fulfill their own orders. You can explore more information about "Fulfilment by Seller" here.

Ways to ship

One of the first decisions sellers make when selling on Amazon is how to get shoppers their stuff.
Video thumbnail featuring Amazon FBA fulfillment
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