Amazon Suspends FBA Shipments For Non-Essential Items In Response To Coronavirus COVID-19
According to Fulfillment by Amazon, the Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has been greatly impacting Amazon customers, sellers, and employees.
Since people are staying in their homes trying to prevent the COVID-19 from spreading any further, online shopping has increased dramatically leaving household items low in quantity or completely out of stock. Due to this dilemma, Amazon has chosen to temporarily prioritize household items such as staples, medical supplies, and other high demand products that have been entering their fulfillment centers in order to quickly obtain, restock, and deliver products to customers as fast as possible.
Amazon says that for any other products than these, they have temporarily disabled FBA shipments and they are taking a similar approach with retail vendors as well. This will be in effect until April 5th 2020. Amazon will communicate when they resume their regular operations. Any shipments created before March 17th 2020 will be received at Fulfillment centers. You can learn more about this on this Help page. It’s also important to note that Selling Partner Support does not presently have any further guidance.
Amazon understands how this change might impact our businesses and says how they most certainly did not take this decision lightly. They are working as hard as they can to increase capacity and are trying to quickly hire 100,000 new full and part-time positions at fulfillment centers across the US. They thank their Amazon customers, sellers, and employees for their understanding and patience as they prioritize the above products in response to COVID-19.
What Actions Could You Take?
- Consider increasing quantities on any pending orders by up to 5% without penalty
- Ensure that you have a back-up means of fulfilling inventory, such as your own warehouse or 3PL to do fulfillment. We advise all clients to create a duplicate SKU for each ASIN, one is used for FBA and one is merchant fulfilled or SFP. This is allowed by Amazon and is a good tactic to ensure sales momentum is not impacted greatly when you run out of stock in FBA. You should also be exploring alternative fulfillment to diversify into other channels such as Walmart, eBay and other marketplaces as a means of diversifying your sales revenue through multiple channels
- Consider adjusting your prices to maintain a run rate that does not run out of stock, but be careful not to increase prices too drastic or Amazon may suspend your buy box eligibility due to price gouging concerns
- If you have a regular cadence of planned inventory allocations to Amazon, you will want to account for this impact by increasing future shipments as needed
- Many sellers are seeing decreased sales of non-essential product sales recently, so you may find that additional inventory is not needed and this may be good to keep inventory balances in check
If you have questions about selling on Amazon, optimizing your listings and advertising campaigns to peak performance, please contact Prime Guidance for a free account consultation at info@primeguidance.com.
Author | Claudia Yates, Marketing Specialist
- Published in Other
How to Speak Amazonian
The Amazon Language
As excited as I am about Google’s language translation technology, unfortunately it will not translate any language into Amazonian. Fortunately for all of us, there is no need to learn a different language. By remembering just a few key points, you will be able to master the Amazonian language very quickly. Having been an Amazon employee, it was very apparent that my success or failure was hinged onto my communication and fortunately I thrived.
Often when you are communicating with Amazon, whether verbally or in writing, there are typically two common reasons. One is just a simple, or maybe not so simple question while the other, which more often is the case, is because Amazon did something like deactivate an ASIN, possibly removed product ratings or something else that has impacted your business. Either way, when you speak Amazonian, you will have a much better chance of achieving the desired outcome. It is also important to remember that Amazon is a very data driven company, so stick to the facts and back up your points with data.
Two Lessons For You
If your reason for communicating with Amazon is the latter of the two, take a few minutes to prepare before you get into Amazon’s system to file a ticket or have them call you. The first thing I have learned when filing a trouble ticket, writing a business proposal or even a simple email is to “take out all of the emotion”, especially any frustration that you might have. The second lesson is to have the Amazon Leadership Principles guide every decision you make.In this case, there are two of them that are key to learning Amazonian. First and foremost is Customer Obsession and specifically, “Leaders start with the customer and work backwards”. Following that, the second is Insist on High Standards.
Amazon Thinking
When obsessing about a customer, you are ultimately considering the customer experience and how you can make it better. Amazon’s thinking is not “how can we sell this item or any other item to a customer”. It is “how can we make the customer experience so good and gain their trust that they want to come back again and again?”
Insisting on high standards should be self-evident and needs to start at the top. If the top level’s standards are only at 80% by the time the “plan” makes its way to group or person who will execute the plan, those standards are probably at 60% because those people have the attitude of “it’s good enough”. If the top levels have standards of 120% by the time they reach execution, they should at least be at 100%. If you are insistent, then they will still be at 120%.
So… what does all this have to do with speaking Amazonian? Again, there are two things to remember. You are playing in Amazon’s sandbox. No matter if something is right or wrong or if something is good or bad, it’s their rules. They have the biggest hammer. Secondly, all you should care about is your company’s bottom line and how you can make more sales, more profit, and grow the business. Now is the time to accept the rules and swallow your pride.
Example #1
As an example, let’s say Amazon deactivates one of your ASINs because you did not adhere to their requirements for the main image, which essentially says that it needs to be an image of the product only on a white background. It can’t typically be an “in use” or lifestyle image nor can it have any wording on it commonly called an infographic. Here are two examples of letters I have seen written.I will let you decide which one is written in Amazonian.
“Hi,
My ASIN B001234ABC was deactivated because of an image problem, but we chose this image because it really shows how the product works, why it’s better than all the competition and the sales will be much higher. There really is not a better way to show this product other than using this image first, mostly because a customer just seeing the product won’t get it nor will they buy it. Can you please reactivate the ASIN with the main image we uploaded?”
Or
“Hi,
ASIN B001234ABC was deactivated because the image shows the product in use rather than just showing the product on white background, which we understand it not the normal Amazon requirement. In this product category, often there is confusion about products. We did an extensive consumer study using “product only” images and “in-use” images. Not only did we find consumers liked the in-use image more, but more importantly, it led to virtually no product confusion making the purchasing experience that much better. There are products on the market, including some of our own that look similar, but have different functionality and having an “in-use” image first drove the return rate down considerably. The second image is of the product only and the resolution is higher than your requirements so consumers can easily magnify it to see important details.”
I am not saying that using the letter written in Amazonian will guarantee the outcome you want, but put yourself in the seat of the person reading the trouble ticket. If they are “Customer Obsessed”, thinking of the customer experience and having high standards, you have a much better chance receiving the desired outcome.
Example #2
Let’s look at another example of an ASIN being deactivated. However, this time it’s because of a quality issue and a consumer has accused you of selling a used product when it is listed as new. This is a good example of where it is easy to be frustrated and because you know the product is new, you also know it was packaged in such a way that it could not have been damaged in shipping. You are just confused on how this could happen. I have had clients who immediately assume that it’s a competitor trying to mess with their Seller Rating, which could be the case, however your first response to Amazon will often dictate the outcome, even before you propose a full solution.
Amazon’s ninth Leadership Principle, which I believe should be the second, is Bias For Action. Anytime a mission-critical issue arises and Amazon is the one to notify you, be sure to acknowledge it as soon as possible, even if you don’t have a full solution. Any good Seller is in their Seller Central account multiple times a day and should be aware of this kind of situation. Using the example above this would be my first response to Amazon, or how I would speak Amazonian.
“Hi,
ASIN B009876ZYX was deactivated within the last few hours due to a condition issue and although we know we only ship new goods, package them well and have the highest standards, we take this situation very seriously. As such we are immediately launching a full investigation and will return to you a Plan of Action (POA) in the next ## days (or hours if it is 48 or less).”
Those two sentences alone address six Leadership Principles: Customer Obsession, Ownership, Insist on High Standards, Bias for Action, Dive Deep and Deliver Results. Just make sure you are realistic in what you promise and deliver it in the time frame you set.
The Next Step
The next step will be writing the POA, which I won’t do in this blog, but it is an artform to be able to take responsibility for something without saying you did something wrong. However, this is significant only if you truly did not. If you find that you do have some kind of issue, such as using inadequate packaging material, then admit to the mistake and detail out how you have fixed the issue.
Finally, as I have already stated but want to reiterate, this is Amazon’s playground and they make the rules. Even if you don’t agree with them and can even prove them wrong, it’s important to treat Amazon as if they are still right. The Amazon employee you are working with to solve your issue may be able to bend them a bit, but he or she can’t change them. Speaking Amazonian may give them the backup they need (and can document) to rule in your favor.
If you have questions about selling on Amazon, optimizing your listings and advertising campaigns to peak performance, please contact Prime Guidance for a free account consultation at info@primeguidance.com.
Author | Robert Baron, Senior Consultant
- Published in Other
Strategically Thinking Beyond Amazon in 2020
The Current Landscape
The competitive landscape on Amazon is greater than it ever has been. If you are an authorized re-seller or an online retailer of various brands and products, you are dealing with an ever-increasing amount of legacy and traditional brands going direct to consumer.
These omnichannel moves by legacy brands was once prevalent only on their own D2C website, but over the last 5 years has rapidly increased on marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay.
Amazon private label sellers, some who pretend to be untouchable, are now faced with a formidable foe with the largest wave of Asian direct manufacturers, launching private label products on Amazon.com. Marketplace Pulse reported, in January of this year, that 49% of the top Amazon sellers are Chinese, while the U.S. has dropped to 47%.
Along with increased competition, these Asian sellers often employ “black hat” tactics to gain advantage in product rank and reviews, leaving U.S. merchants with few choices left except to increase ad spend and merchandising techniques.
Security Through Diversity
As much as I love Elon Musk dancing or his podcast interview with Joe Rogan, I would never put my entire IRA 100% allocated in Tesla. As much as no other marketplace or shopping engine can seem to match the might of Amazon, sellers and merchants must secure their future through diversity, just as you would with your investment portfolio.
Engage and expand on marketplaces such as:
- eBay
- Wal-Mart
- Target+
- Wayfair
- Google Shopping Actions
- Rakuten
- Wish
- Overstock
- Back Market
- Sears
- Jet
- TopHatter
Check out Channel Advisor’s List of Channels as inspiration:
Being involved in the ownership, management, and operations of over a dozen multi-channel e-commerce retailers over the last decade, I have found that almost 100% of the time secondary marketplaces were more profitable than the #1 sales channel. Analytical data points on financial statements such as return %, marketplace fees, and advertising as a % of sales were almost always higher on Amazon.com, sometimes even double, that of secondary channels.
Building a business through these secondary channels can be done, but it requires a different strategy than Amazon and employing the usual strategies or pretending like it’s a mini-Amazon is never successful.
What To Really Do
Before the world of selling goods revolved around 5-star ratings and info graphics, business was done by merchandising and relationships.
While analytical strategies such as page rank, reviews, images, video are still extremely vital on any channel outside of Amazon, these secondary marketplaces require daily attention by someone in your company that cannot be replicated by some automated software or cheap virtual assistant.
In my experience, relationships, in person meetings, dinners, etc. are also extremely vital to representatives from companies mentioned above. A lot of the decision makers and representatives from these companies are open to having monthly or weekly calls with you and your team members to create a roadmap to success.
Unique marketing opportunities often present themselves as well, such as, but not limited to:
- Daily deals
- Front page or category page placement for your business and/or select merchandise
- In app marketing
- E-mail marketing
- Ability to advertise products through affiliate channels
After that, it requires a well-trained team that understands each marketplace in depth, deploying and testing multiple strategies and then continuing to work on improving sales performance across each site.
If you have questions about selling on Amazon, optimizing your listings and advertising campaigns to peak performance, please contact Prime Guidance for a free account consultation at info@primeguidance.com.
Author | Matt Kubancik, Direct of Partnerships and Senior Consultant
- Published in Other
Helium 10’s Latest Update – June 2019
Posted by Wes Beckwith
What is Helium 10?
If you are an Amazon Seller and you have not heard of Helium 10, you really should spend more time looking into 3rd party tools to help you drive the Amazon Marketplace.
Helium 10 has been around since early 2016 when they launched with 7 tools.
- Trendster – Trend Analyzing Tool
- Magnet – Keyword Research Tool
- Misspellinator – Misspelling Extractor
- Frankenstein – Keyword Processor
- Scribbles – Listing Optimization Tool
- 5K Checker – Keyword Checker
- Brand Gate Checker
Today Helium 10 has added many more tools, that quite frankly, I use every day to assist clients in finding new keyword terms, better focus their advertising while exploring new keyword phrases and more.
Helium 10 has been adding tools more frequently in 2019 as well as significantly improving their existing tools like Scribbles and Cerebro.
They also have a fantastic Chrome Extension plugin that if you are not using it, you are really missing out on some tremendous free data.
If you want to skip to the focus of this article, go ahead and skip down to the June 2019 update section. But I felt it was important to cover the Chrome plugin briefly, as I recently had a few clients tell me they were not using the “Review Downloader.”
Helium 10’s Chrome Extension
Let’s take a look at the functionality of the Helium 10 Chrome Plugin, and you can decide if you want to install it if you have not already.
Once you install the tool, it is available at the top right with your other extensions or plugins in Chrome.
As you can see, the available tools are:
- Xray – Amazon Product Research
- ASIN Grabber
- Profitability Calculator
- Inventory Level
- Review Downloader
Some tools will work in a “Category” on Amazon while others will only work on a Product Detail Page.
For example, in the below image, I am looking at a Search Result page for one of my favorite hobbies, my DJI Mavic Pro drone.
What do these tools do?
Xray – Amazon Product Research
This tool can be used on a Category, Search Result, or Product Detail Page. It will show you, with the best accuracy it can using external Amazon data, what the following details are for the product(s) shown.
- ASIN
- Brand
- Title
- Category
- BuyBox
- Number of Sellers
- FBA or FBM
- Price
- FBA Fee’s
- Number of Unit Sales per Month
- Sales Rank Preview
- Revenue for this Product or Variation per Month
Now, as I mentioned above, this data is pulled in from several sources, and I would advise you to use the details as a guide and not a concrete statistic.
Below is a preview of an Xray snapshot.
ASIN Grabber
This tool is similar to Xray, but it is not designed to show as much detail. If you don’t need FBA fees, the number of sellers, etc.
I use ASIN grabber to get a snapshot of my items category for a specific date. Let’s say you are running some social media campaigns and want a snapshot of your product’s performance and the competition before your campaign and after. This is an excellent use for ASIN Grabber.
Other events I would suggest to use ASIN Grabber for, Prime Day, or any other seasonality time frame for your business.
Here is a look at ASIN Grabbers details.
Profitability Calculator
As the title says, this tool shows you the pricing structure and Amazon fees for a specific ASIN.
This is a handy tool if you are investigating selling something similar and want to check profitability margins. Maybe you sell a similar product and want to compare your FBA fees with another seller’s item.
Inventory Level
The Inventory Level tool can be utilized on the Product Detail page to see the sellers inventory in stock at Amazon. This tool will also let you know if the seller has a “Max Order Quantity” set.
For the below image, I selected an ASIN that had multiple sellers.
Review Downloader
This tool is very powerful and really underused in the Seller Community, in my opinion. I use this tool daily when working on my listings optimization or researching new keywords, etc.
As you can see here in the tool, you can specify a date range to pull in the review detail, as well as filtering your results by:
- Only Verified Purchases
- Only Helpful
- Only With Images
- Only With Videos
I think it is also important to note that after setting up the filters you want, it gives you a percentage for the reviews 1 Star through 5 Stars right here in the tool preview.
If you don’t set filters, the Review Downloader tool will extract and download all the reviews for this ASIN.
This is a powerful tool! If you are not using it, you are missing out on areas of Amazon that can help you improve your listings and give you a distinct advantage over the competition.
The Latest Update – June 2019?
Now let’s get to the fun stuff, the reason I felt writing this article was necessary.
Helium 10 has added another little addition to the Chrome Plugin today, and I absolutely love it! Check out the image below, see the “Evaluation result” icon in blue next to the products images. That’s the new feature I want to discuss today.
Let’s dive deeper into this new feature of the Helium 10 Chrome Plugin. As you can see in the below image, the tool’s score above 7.7 out of 10 is scoring you on the completeness of your product. This is a great reminder of things you can easily do to improve your listings ability to convert clicks to sales on Amazon.
This product listing scored a 7.7 out of 10 with the below-suggested corrections to score higher.
- Number of Images
- Title Character Count
- Description – Fewer than 1000 Characters
While this information might seem like a no brainer for some sellers, I find it valuable when looking at competitors. It now gives me a quick snapshot into their listing without having to click further. This is just another time-saving feature for me, bravo Helium 10!
For others, this new feature can help remind you to jump into Seller Central, and edit that listing more. Take a little time to complete your description, add more images or work on your title more.
NOTE: If you have brand registry, the Evaluation Tool does loo k for Enhanced Brand Content or A+ Content, see below.
Other Cool Features of the Helium 10 Plugin
Did you know…
Yes, the Xray, ASIN Grabber, and other tools screens block your view of the Amazon product screen or search result screen while you are doing research. This tool works in the browser, that’s the nature of the tool. But, did you know… if you want to temporarily see through the tools page, click and hold the blue top title bar, the screen will turn transparent, allowing you to see the details behind it.
Additional Tools of the Plugin:
Also, when you install the plugin, you will see it introduces a few really nice features like being able to see a products BSR or Best Seller Rank as well as a Revenue Calculator (just below the main products bullets/images).
As you can see below, you can look at the BSR as well as products price over time in intervals of 24 Hours, 7 Days, 30 Days, 90 Days or All Time.
NOTE: If you subscribe to the full Helium 10 suite of tools, you can quickly access the Inventory Levels, Xray, Listing Optimizer (Scribbles) and Profitability Calculator from the top of this BSR tool, right above the time filters (24 Hours, etc.).
Lastly, and this is a tool I just can’t live without now. Adding the Helium 10 plugin also adds a handy feature that shows the Category Rank, ASIN, Sellers and FBA/FBM details above listings on Category or Search Results pages.
See below for an example of these details on a search result page.
Lastly, if you don’t like seeing some of these items by default in your Amazon browsing experience, you can adjust what you see by clicking on the Settings Gear in the lower right corner of the Helium 10 Plugin. Simply click the gear to the right of the plugin’s version (here 4.2.1).
When you click on this gear, you will be presented with the below screen where you can toggle off and on the following features.
- The extended information on the search page that we just discussed above.
- The Listing Health Score – the New “Evaluation result” item
- BSR Graph – The Graph we discussed above in Other Cool Features
Want to know more about Helium 10?
If you have questions about selling on Amazon, optimizing your listings and advertising campaigns to peak performance, please contact Prime Guidance for a free account consultation at info@primeguidance.com.
About the Author –
Wes Beckwith is a Sr. Consultant at Prime Guidance with more than 15 years of experience in digital marketing, driving success through SEO, vertical marketing, and design. Wes has a diverse background from web advertising to Apple Engineering/Analysis, and Amazon Marketing giving him a broad perspective into Amazon’s algorithm.
- Published in Amazon Tools, New Features
Amazon’s New Listing Policies – Organic Classification
Whether you’re a new seller or have been selling on Amazon for years, you know the only consistent detail about Amazon, is they can be inconsistent. Being able to stay ahead of the curve on Amazon’s ever-changing product compliance team can be a challenge as well.
Who Needs to Read This?
In May 2019, Amazon made a significant shift in their policies on Organic Products if you have any products in the grocery categories or other areas where organic is a term used read on.
If you sell a product that, like organic items, is regulated by a Government Agency or is close to the regulations, like supplements, or vitamins, you need to read this article.
Amazon’s Policy Change – Organic Classification, May 2019:
From Amazon:
- “Important: If you supply products for sale on Amazon, you must comply with all federal, state, and local laws and Amazon policies applicable to those products and product listings.”
- NOTE: The above page links to “Restricted Products, for the Food and Beverage category. However, we would urge caution for any seller who is in a category where “Organic” is a term frequently searched for or it relates to a segment of the products in the space.
To be sold, labeled, or represented as “organic” in the United States, agricultural products — whether raw or processed — must be certified to either the USDA organic regulations or to an international standard that the USDA has named as equivalent. In either case, the products must:
- Be produced according to the USDA organic requirements;
- Comply with organic labeling requirements; and
- Identify the name of the product’s certified.
USDA’s organic regulations describe the specific standards required for you to use the word “organic” or the USDA organic seal on food, feed, or fiber products. For more information on the organic regulations and labeling requirements, please see the following websites. Amazon provides these resources for informational purposes only. We encourage you to consult with legal counsel if you have questions about the laws and regulations concerning your products.
What is Amazon Currently Doing?
Amazon is turning off, suppressing or restricting listings making the above claims without having an Organic Certificate on file. The time to get this issue corrected is currently over a week, 7 or more days due to the volume of listings being turned off and the impact this is having on the Product Compliance Teams at Amazon.
What to be cautious of:
- Using the term organic in any way in your backend search terms.
- Using the term or similar terms loosely in the title’s, bullets, images or A+/EBC areas.
How to Fix This Issue:
Two issues could cause Amazon to restrict or suppress your listings:
- You are and claim to be organic and do not have an organic certificate on file with Amazon.
- Your listing using the term organic in its details and Amazon is now classifying you as Organic incorrectly.
If your product(s) are Organic, contact Amazon, and submit your Organic Certificates immediately.
If Amazon has Incorrectly Classified your listings as Organic:
We have found that, currently, the quickest way to correct listings affected by this policy change is to do the following:
-
- Request a Category Listing File
- Make your adjustments, removing any reference to ‘Organic’ or ‘Organically Grown’ from any areas in the public or backend areas of the listings.
- Upload the file and contact Amazon immediately letting the team know of your corrective changes.
Here is a sample email from Amazon regarding this issue:
<begin email from Amazon>
Hello from Amazon,
We are writing to let you know that the following detail pages have been removed from our catalog:
ASIN: XXXXXXXXXXX, SKU: XXXXX-XXXX, Title: “YOUR PRODUCT TITLE HERE”
This product has been identified to include organic claims. Products that are sold, labeled or represented as “organic” in the United States must be certified to either the USDA organic regulations or to an international standard that the USDA has named as equivalent. It is against Amazon policy to sell products that make organic claims without proper certification. We believe that the required USDA organic certification is not in place for this product. To be considered for reinstatement, please provide a copy of the organic certificate for this product.
For more information, please see our Organic Products Seller Help Page:https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/external/WK5PALSS4EM4MCT?language=en-US&ref=efph_WK5PALSS4EM4MCT_cont_200164550 and the following resources:https://www.ams.usda.gov/grades-standards/organic-labeling-standards and
https://organic.ams.usda.gov/integrity/
For more information on our policies, search for “Restricted Products” and “Listing Restrictions” in Seller Help.
*FBA Notice: If any of the above ASINs are Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) offers, please initiate a removal request for the ASIN(s) referenced above to have your inventory sent to a location of your choosing. If this inventory is not removed within 30 days of this notification (by 14 Jun 2019), we may dispose of it in accordance with FBA policies.
For more information on our policies, please search “FBA Policies and Requirements,” “FBA Product Restrictions” and “FBA Prohibited Products” in Seller Help.
**Action Required: Within 48 hours of this warning, please review your listings and close, delete, or archive any listings that do not comply with our policies.
Please note that moving a restricted product listing to Out of Stock (OOS) does not make the listing compliant. Failure to properly close or delete all restricted product listings from your inventory may result in the removal of your selling privileges and permanent withholding of funds. If you think your product was incorrectly identified as a restricted product on Amazon, close the listing immediately, to ensure compliance while you appeal the restriction with Seller Support.
Failure to comply may result in the removal of your selling privileges, and funds may be permanently held as a result of these violations.
We appreciate your cooperation and thank you for selling on Amazon.com.
Amazon Services
Please note: This e-mail was sent from a notification-only address that cannot accept incoming e-mail. Please do not reply to this message.
<end email from Amazon>
Additional Useful Information
- USDA organic regulations, including the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances
- USDA National Organic Program, regulatory program responsible for overseeing organic agricultural products
- Organic labeling standards
- Organic labeling fact sheet
- Importing organic products to the U.S.
- The Organic INTEGRITY Database, listing all USDA certified organic operations worldwide
- USDA-accredited certifying agents
Have Questions about Amazon’s new policies?
Contact your Prime Guidance consultant today for clarification and what actions to take next.
About Prime Guidance:
Prime Guidance Advisors help sellers navigate the challenges of e-commerce on Amazon, including selecting the right strategy, optimizing content for faster growth, improving operations to meet Amazon requirements, and leveraging technologies to improve visibility and profitability.
About the Author –
Wes Beckwith is a Sr. Consultant at Prime Guidance with more than 15 years of experience in digital marketing, driving success through SEO, vertical marketing, and design. Wes has a diverse background from web advertising to Apple Engineering/Analysis, and Amazon Marketing giving him a broad perspective into Amazon’s algorithm.
- Published in Organic