Amazon Beginner’s Blueprint:Your Ultimate Selling Guide

Amazon Beginner’s Blueprint:Your Ultimate Selling Guide

Welcome to Selling on Amazon
It’s no secret: At Amazon, we obsess over customers. Moreover, our customers want a trusted destination where they can purchase a wide variety of goods—which is what makes sellers like you so important. We are always looking for ways to add value for our customers and be Earth’s most customer-centric company. As an Amazon seller, you take part in offering those customers better selection, better prices, and a top-notch customer experience. This eBook contains high-level information that will help you start your journey selling on Amazon. If you want to dive in deeper on any subject, visit services.amazon.com.ae for more information about all the topics covered here.

The Amazon edge
When you start selling on Amazon, you become part of a retail destination that’s home to sellers of all kinds, from Fortune 500 organizations to local startups with unique selection. They all sell here for a reason: to reach the hundreds of millions of customers who visit Amazon to shop.

• Since 2000, Amazon has been helping businesses increase sales and reach new customers.
• Sales through Amazon Marketplaces represent over 58% of all items sold on Amazon websites globally.

The short answer is Y es. The largest household brands sell on Amazon. So do emerging brands that will pop on your radar soon. Small and medium sized businesses thrive here, and they account for more than half the units sold in our stores worldwid e. Whatever your business is and whatever size it is we are excited for you to grow with us. Find your fit and start selling today.

Before you start selling

Consider your product selling strategy
Brand owners manufacture their own products or source goods to sell under a private label to offer shoppers unique selection. Resellers find popular products that already exist and offer them in Amazon’s stores. You can choose whichever method works for your goals.

How to register

With two selling plans (they are called Professional and Individual, but you can think of them as premium and standard), Good news is that for a limited time, we are offering our professional plan free of cost. There will be no monthly subscription fee for all Amazon sellers who would like to sell in United Arab Emirates. Sellers pay as they sell. With this promotion, you get free of cost the below mentioned benefits of Professional Selling Plan to grow your businesses with Amazon. When you register for a selling account today, you will be automatically entitled to a Professional Selling plan, which gives you access to inventory tools to upload batch files and manage your orders through feeds and additional business reports to give you insights on your performance. Additionally, some product categories are available only to Professional Sellers who apply for permission and meet requirements.

The Professional plan might be right if:

• You plan to sell a lot of items
• You want access to advanced selling tools
• You’re an established ecommerce seller
• You’d like to apply for add-on programs

The Individual plan might be right if:

• You don’t need advanced selling tools or add-on programs
• You’re still deciding what to sell

Tools for brand owners
If you own a brand, Amazon offers tools to help you build, grow, and protect it. Enrolling in Brand Registry can help you personalize your brand and product pages, protect your trademarks and intellectual property, and improve the brand experience for cust omers along with unlocking additional advertising options and recommendations on improving traffic and conversion.

Benefits of Brand Registry

What you will need to get started
In order to complete your registration, make sure you have access to your

• Business email address or Amazon customer account
• Phone number where you are reachable
• Government issued national ID (e.g. Emirates ID (identity verification protects sellers and customers)
• Bank account number,
• For Businesses – Trade License if you are an owner and a Power of Attorney only if you are a legal representative
• For Individuals – Either of recent bank account statement, credit card statement or utility bill

How much does it cost to sell on Amazon?
There are a few different types of selling fees depending on your fulfillment strategy and the types of products you sell

Referral fees
Sellers pay a referral fee on each item sold which varies by category. For all products, Amazon deducts the applicable referral fee percentage calculated on the total sales price, including any taxes calculated through Amazon VAT calculation services. The total sales price is the total amount paid by the buyer, including the item price and the delivery charges.

Shipping Fees (Fulfilling Orders)
Amazon Easy Ship is a delivery service for Amazon sellers. Amazon orders are picked up from the seller’s location by an Amazon Logistics delivery associate and delivered to the buyers’ location with minimal effort from sellers, for a small fee. Customers get track-able shipments and faster and predictable delivery time. In addition, buyers also get an option to pay for orders at the time of delivery using the Cash on Delivery (COD) feature that has been enabled for sellers using Easy Ship.
FBA fees: For products that Amazon fulfills for you from Amazon warehouse (known as Fulfillment by Amazon, or FBA), there are fees for order fulfillment, storage, and optional services. (More information about FBA can be found on page 6.)
To review the fees that may be associated with your account, visit the Selling on Amazon Fee Schedule

Get to know Seller Central

What is Seller Central?
Once you register as an Amazon seller and our team has verified your identity documents (can take up to 48 hours), you will have access to your Seller Central account. Think of Seller Central as your go-to resource for selling on Amazon. It’s a portal to your Amazon business and a one-stop shop for managing your selling account, adding product information, making inventory updates, managing payments, and finding helpful content to help you navigate your Amazon business. It’s also where you list all your products.
Below are a just few of the things you can do from Seller Central or watch Intro to Seller Central.

The Amazon Seller app Did you know you can keep track of your Amazon business even while you’re on the go? The Amazon Seller app lets you analyze your sales, fulfill orders, find products to sell, manage offers and inventory, respond to customer questions, capture and edit professional quality product photos, and create listings right from your mobile device. Never be more than a swipe away from your Amazon business. Download it for iPhone o r Android to get started.

1. Create new listing, or manage your selling applications from the Catalog tab
2. Keep track of your inventory and update your listings from the Inventory tab
3. Use Performance tab to watch Seller University videos or track customer metrics tools to monitor your seller performance
4. Download custom business reports and bookmark templates you use often from the Reports tab
5. Contact Selling Partner Support and open help tickets using the Case Log
6. Manage and track your daily sales for all the products you sell on Amazon on Orders tab

How to list products

Listing your first product
To sell a product on Amazon, you must first create a product listing. Either match an existing listing (if somebody else is already selling the same product on Amazon), or create a new listing (if you are the first or only seller). The specific way sellers upload and list their products varies depending on their selling plan and strategy. To put it simply: Sellers who would like to list multiple products and using a Professional seller account have the option of listing their products in large batches using bulk uploading or inventory management with third-party systems, while Individual sellers with few products list products one at a time.

What you need to start listing products
In most cases, products must have a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), such as a UPC, an ISBN, or an EAN. Amazon uses these product IDs to identify the exact item you’re selling. If you match a listing, you won’t need to provide a product ID since it already exists. If you’re adding a product that’s new to Amazon, you could to purchase a UPC code or request an GTIN exemption from Amazon. In addition to a product ID, here’s some of the important information that goes into each product listing:

• SKU
• Product title
• Product description and bullet points
• Product images
• Search terms and relevant keywords

What are restricted product categories?
It’s important that customers are able to shop with confidence on Amazon, which is why some product categories (like certain grocery or personal care products) are known as “restricted product categories.” Amazon might require performance check s and other
qualifications in order for you to sell certain brands or list items within restricted categories. You’ll be able to request approval from within Seller Central. To learn more about Amazon product categories, visit Seller Central Help

Successful listing = successful launch
Following best practices for adding listings can have a big impact on their success. Make it easy for shoppers to find your offers by adding descriptive titles, clear images, and concise feature bullets to your items. Ensure below things that would positively impact your launch:

• Variation issues: Products that vary only by color, scent, or size might be a good candidate for listing as variations. Ask yourself if the customer would expect to find the products together on the same page. If not, list them separately.
• Image compliance: Your images must be at least 500 x 500 pixels (increase the size to 1,000 x 1,000 for high- quality listings) and set against a plain white background. The product should fill at least 80% of the image area.
• Product IDs: Make sure you’re meeting the requirements for product UPCs and GTINs (Global Trade Item Number). Consistency in these codes helps promote confidence in the range of products shown in the Amazon catalogue.

The product detail page: what’s what?

A product detail page is where customers view a product sold on Amazon. If you have shopped on Amazon, you will probably recognize 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). You can propose product information on a product detail page, along with other sellers and manufacturers, and request detail page reviews if you think the information is not correct. As you’re building your product detail pages, try to think about what will best help customers find your products, discover answers to their questions, and make a purchasing decision. Aim for the ultimate customer experience by making your listings concise, accurate, and easy to understand.

1. The title of the product (use 200 characters, maximum, and capitalize the first letter of every word).
2. 3-4 Images recommended of the product (make sure they’re at least 500 x 500, and boost that size to 1,000 x 1,000 to increase the quality of your listings).
3. Any variations of your product you have available, which may include things like different colors, scents or sizes.
4. The bullet point information, which should be short, descriptive sentences highlighting the products key features / benefits and differentiating characteristics.
5. Featured offer (“Buy Box”) The featured offer on a detail page. Customers can add to their cart or “Buy Now”.
6. Other Offers, which is the section of the product page where customers can add items to their card. or “Buy Now.” If you’re one of multiple sellers advertising the same product, research strategies for “winning” the Featured Offer to improve your overall sales.
7. The description, which can be optimized for search engines

How to deliver products

Selecting the right fulfillment option
Amazon sellers have two options for getting shoppers their stuff: You can do it yourself, maintaining your own inventory and shipping products to customers (merchant-fulfillment), or have Amazon take responsibility for packaging, labeling, and shipping products through Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). Each method has its own set of benefits—you just have to decide which one is right for your business.

If you’re fulfilling your own orders
Merchant-fulfilled just means you store and ship products directly to customers yourself. Amazon provides last mile delivery services through Easy Ship fulfillment service where Amazon trusted network of shipping partners collect items from your store or warehouse. You could also opt for Self-ship where you could use your own delivery services. Amazon charges shipping rates based on the product category and shipping service selected by the customer, then passes the amount on to you in the form of a shipping credit. Visit Order Management Easy Ship & Self ship tutorials here.

The benefits of Fulfillment by Amazon
You sell it, we ship it. Amazon has one of the most advanced fulfilment networks in the world. With Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA), you store your products in Amazon’s fulfilment centers, and we pick, pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. FBA can help you scale your business and reach more customers. Your products will be eligible for free shipping and lightning deals. Its cost effective and simple.

How Fulfillment by Amazon works

1. Prepare your products to be “e-commerce ready,” so they can be safely and securely transported all the way to the customer’s hands.
2. Ship your inventory to Amazon. It will be scanned and made available for sale.
3. With each order, Amazon packages and ships the product directly to the customer.
4. Amazon’s customer service team handles questions, returns, and refunds.

Fees for using Fulfillment by Amazon ( There are two types of FBA fees: fulfillment fees (which are charged per unit sold and include picking and packing your orders, shipping and handling, customer service, and product returns), and inventory storage fees (which are charged monthly, and are based on the volume of inventory being held in an Amazon fulfillment center). For more information, refer to the FBA fees and rate structure page You’ve made your first sale. What’s next?

Managing your Amazon business
Your first sale is a big milestone—but it’s just the beginning of your growth opportunities selling on Amazon. Once your store is up and running, there are a few important things to keep in mind.

Performance metrics (and why they matter)
Amazon sellers operate at a high standard so we can provide a seamless, delightful shopping experience. We call it being customer-obsessed, and as an Amazon seller it means keeping an eye on these key metrics:

• Order defect rate (a measure of a seller’s customer service standards): < 1%
• Pre-fulfillment cancel rate (initiated by the seller before shipment): < 2.5%
• Late shipment rate (orders that ship after the expected date): < 4%
• You can keep tabs on your performance and make sure you’re meeting your targets in Account Health Dashboard.

Customer reviews
Customer product reviews are an integral part of the shopping experience on Amazon, and they benefit both customers and sellers. Make sure you’re familiar with the right way and wrong way to get more product reviews and avoid policy violations.

Seller University
Seller Univers ity is an online resource from Amazon, with videos featuring step by step guides, tutorials, and training to help entrepreneurs start (and grow) their Amazon Visit the and start learning today.

Opportunities for business growth
This is only the beginning.The moment you’re selling on Amazon is the moment you can start growing your Amazon business. Once you’ve launched your business, Amazon has tools in place to help you take your business to the next level (or the next couple of levels).

Advertising
Amazon’s advertising solutions create new ways for you to reach and engage shoppers, regardless of whether they’re just starting to compare products, or ready to make a purchase. Ads show up right where customers will see them (like the first page of search results or product detail pages). Amazon offers three advertising solutions, and all of them are accessible through Seller Central.

1. Sponsored Products
   Sponsored Products are ads for individual product listings on Amazon, so they help drive product visibility (and product sales). They appear on search results pages and product detail pages.

2. Sponsored Brands
   Sponsored Brands showcase your brand and product portfolio. They are search- result ads that feature your brand logo, a custom headline, and up to three of your products.

3. Amazon Stores
   Stores are custom multipage shopping destinations for individual brands that let you share your brand story and product offerings. (And you don’t need any website experience to use them.)

4. Offer Promotions and Coupons
   Customers want to save, and promotions are an incentive to make a purchase now. There are different types of promotions, you can access the Deals in order to get an up to date details regarding promotions.

5. Stay in control of price changes
   Setup free automatic pricing rules, helping you to remain competitive on the marketplace. Watch this video to know more.

6. Global expansion
   Selling globally is a huge milestone for any business. It means hundreds of millions of new customers and the potential for a big boost in sales. Global expansion has a lot of moving parts, but with Amazon Global Selling, you get to use Amazon’s global infrastructure to get your products in front of a worldwide audience. When it’s time to take your business to the next level, use Amazon Global Selling to list and sell your products on any of our online stores in MENA, Europe, and Asia or North America.

What makes a great seller?
A checklist for growth Opportunities for growth are all around you—but here are a few things to try in your first 90 days as an Amazon seller. Keep an eye on your account health in Seller Central Use Fulfillment by Amazon and offer great delivery options for self-fulfilled products Advertise your listings or offer deals and coupons Enroll in Brand Registry and create enhanced brand content Expand your selection by listing more products Use the Automate Pricing Tool in Seller Central

Your first 90 days
The first three months after you launch your Amazon business are an important time for establishing practices that will boost your performance from there on out.

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