Order Delivery: How to Work with Amazon Fulfillment Network
Given: a small company (or even an emergency) in the United States, Britain, Germany, France or Japan. You have just opened with the goal of selling ... well, let's say, nyashny cell phone covers. They picked up the site, billing the cards on it, opened an account with UPS / FedEx (underline), overstocked, bought a bunch of packaging material, and sat down to wait for the first order.
And so it happened. The sensation, I will tell you, is non-transferable ... especially if it is an order for something that you produced / assembled yourself. With trembling hands, we climb into the admin panel of the site, pick up the order data - no need to fraud, even billing and shipping addresses are the same. We print UPS Shipping Label online, sculpt it on the box, put the goods in there, check everything three times, lovingly attach a greeting card on top ... And now the order has been sent, and your favorite beer opens to the sound of fanfare.
Then comes the second order. Then the third. Then three more. Then another five in three hours. And then you realize that instead of developing your business, you are engaged in sending goods. You do not need to be a rocket scientist to understand that this strategy is mutilated. If you are smart enough to open your business, then spend your time on packaging - this means throwing money into the tube.
')
So, we have options:
1. Hire a person to pack and ship the goods. Plus: everything is under control. Cons: what if his child is sick, and he did not come out? And what to do with% f cubic meters of goods - to live in a warehouse? How to control logistics? Who will deal with delivery errors? Who will watch over all this at last?
2. Hire a firm to send goods.
I chose option 2 for myself. A search for providers of such services almost immediately led to the Amazon Fulfillment Network. The name spoke for itself - if these guys can cope with the volumes that are sent every day, then my volumes are not exactly puzzling them. So, register!
Amazon Fulfillment Network (AFN) is a service that allows entrepreneurs and small firms to ship a batch of goods to Amazon’s warehouse and then request delivery of certain goods to customers using the specified parcel urgency class (Ground, 3-Day, Overnight). Amazon usually manages to send the goods within 24 hours from the time of the request, sometimes faster. Here is all the information:
www.amazonservices.com/content/fulfillment-by-amazon.htm#features-and-benefits
Advantages of this system:
1. Does not require a minimum amount, and does not imply a fixed monthly payment. All you need to pay is from 45 to 60 cents per month for each cubic foot of the amount of goods stored in the warehouse. It slightly disciplines fans to solve questions a year in advance at someone else's expense.
2. Extremely favorable shipping rates. Example: express delivery of a box, say, with a video card, the next morning through the USA will cost you about $ 50 ... and through Amazon - around 20-25. This is due to the fact that Amazon has huge shipments, and UPS gives them tariffs that mere mortals have never dreamed of ... and Amazon uses this as a commercial advantage of its delivery services.
3. All disassembly and risk for improper delivery Amazon takes over. Parcels are automatically insured for the cost of the goods (which is indicated when the goods are registered in the system), and if the parcel is lost, Amazon will refund you the money (which you will then have to reimburse the client - or send a new parcel to it). This happens very rarely - we have about half a year :) About twice a year there are errors such as incorrect indication of the urgency class, and the parcel is late. Amazon solves the issue in a very primitive way - it fully returns the money for the delivery, which you then return to the customer. Everyone is as happy as possible.
It all starts with the creation of an Amazon Seller Account:
www.amazonservices.com/content/sell-on-amazon.htm?ld=SCSOAlogin
The same account will also allow you to sell your goods on Amazon (and Amazon will send them yourself, you just count the money), but this is a topic for a separate conversation (it costs some money - about $ 40 per month). I note that to use the delivery service it is not necessary to sell your goods on Amazon. When opening an account, we indicate the data of your company, as well as the data of a credit card from which the payment for the delivery system services will be charged.
After opening an account, we register our products on Amazon, indicating the following data for each product:
- SKU (part number), as well as UPC barcode
- name, description, etc.
- price
- picture, if any.
Then there are two options for sending a batch of goods to the Amazon warehouse:
1. Login in the browser, and fill out the delivery form, where we indicate the quantity and part numbers of the goods being sent. Amazon gives you three things:
- its internal barcodes for the goods. You must close your bar codes on products with these new Amazon bar codes. There are exceptions, but they are rare and complex. Then the whole product is folded in large cardboard boxes.
- inventory of goods with a barcode for each external box in which the goods will go.
- Packing address label (shipping label), which you paste on top of the outer cardboard box with the goods. Again, Amazon uses its (very good) UPS tariffs to create these labels.
We use all this for its intended purpose, and all we have to do is bring the packed boxes to the UPS dispatch center (or just catch the UPS driver somewhere along the way and hand him the boxes).
2. If you replenish your warehouses on Amazon often enough, you can use the API. The final product is supposed to be the same three things as above — but we didn’t try to do that.
A week later, the goods arrive in Amazon. You immediately receive this email. When they start to sort and sort them - another email. When finished - one more. All this can also be viewed in real time on the website of Amazon Seller Central. As soon as the goods arrived, you can begin to place orders for delivery. And here again there are two options:
1. Login to the same Amazon Seller Central, fill out the form, and click OK. Plus - no need to fence integration with your site. The downside is that the main advantage is lost is the automatic processing of orders, which saves you time every day.
2. Smoke two dozen pages of Amazon documentation, and integrate their API into your website:
developer.amazonservices.com/gp/mws/docs.html
The system turns out to be simple as a slipper - on our website we see once in a while on the krone whether there are any unprocessed orders, collect data for each such order, drop it into Amazon, mark the order as “sent”. After a day, using another method of the same API, we begin to be interested (preferably not more than once per hour for each order), whether the order has not been sent - if the API returns “sent” status, mark the order accordingly. It is worth noting that if you use some kind of ready-made solution for e-commerce, then it is better not to go into the engine database directly, but deal with the code, connect the necessary modules, and find the magic method like Order-> ChangeStatus () - then in addition to changing the status of the order, your engine is likely to send a notification to the client, and take the remaining necessary actions.
Amazon API recently went through an upgrade - before there was the usual SOAP, now they are switching to something else. Old and new will work for several more months. I still did not understand, but the new seems to be quite simple.
Uptime: three years, normal flight. Difficult problems that would have challenged further cooperation were not noticed - those that were resolved by technical support within a reasonable time (from 1 day to 1 week) and with reimbursement of any direct losses.
The only disadvantage of the Amazon Fulfillment Network is that everything is not a media product (i.e., everything except books and DVDs) Amazon USA is sent exclusively in the USA. Those. even for the American Amazon delivery service, even Canada disappears - I did not check the services of Amazon in other countries. Because we have a global company :), then we had to look for options, and they were found almost instantly:
www.wefulfillit.com
The idea of ​​the system is the same, except that everything is much simpler and less bureaucratic, plus delivered all over the world. If Amazon has three options for the urgency of delivery, then these guys have about 15 (any UPS / FedEx / USPS services). There is also an API, and much easier to implement than Amazon. They also deliver in the US too - but unfortunately they have higher tariffs, so for now we’re keeping Amazon for delivery in the USA.
What we have in the end: the almost complete absence of problems with automatic delivery of goods - it is enough just to replenish warehouses once a month. Customers are satisfied - delivery almost always works like a clock, which would be difficult for a small company. We are satisfied - we have a minimum of problems. Amazon hope, too, happy :)
And so it happened. The sensation, I will tell you, is non-transferable ... especially if it is an order for something that you produced / assembled yourself. With trembling hands, we climb into the admin panel of the site, pick up the order data - no need to fraud, even billing and shipping addresses are the same. We print UPS Shipping Label online, sculpt it on the box, put the goods in there, check everything three times, lovingly attach a greeting card on top ... And now the order has been sent, and your favorite beer opens to the sound of fanfare.
Then comes the second order. Then the third. Then three more. Then another five in three hours. And then you realize that instead of developing your business, you are engaged in sending goods. You do not need to be a rocket scientist to understand that this strategy is mutilated. If you are smart enough to open your business, then spend your time on packaging - this means throwing money into the tube.
')
So, we have options:
1. Hire a person to pack and ship the goods. Plus: everything is under control. Cons: what if his child is sick, and he did not come out? And what to do with% f cubic meters of goods - to live in a warehouse? How to control logistics? Who will deal with delivery errors? Who will watch over all this at last?
2. Hire a firm to send goods.
I chose option 2 for myself. A search for providers of such services almost immediately led to the Amazon Fulfillment Network. The name spoke for itself - if these guys can cope with the volumes that are sent every day, then my volumes are not exactly puzzling them. So, register!
How it works
Amazon Fulfillment Network (AFN) is a service that allows entrepreneurs and small firms to ship a batch of goods to Amazon’s warehouse and then request delivery of certain goods to customers using the specified parcel urgency class (Ground, 3-Day, Overnight). Amazon usually manages to send the goods within 24 hours from the time of the request, sometimes faster. Here is all the information:
www.amazonservices.com/content/fulfillment-by-amazon.htm#features-and-benefits
Advantages of this system:
1. Does not require a minimum amount, and does not imply a fixed monthly payment. All you need to pay is from 45 to 60 cents per month for each cubic foot of the amount of goods stored in the warehouse. It slightly disciplines fans to solve questions a year in advance at someone else's expense.
2. Extremely favorable shipping rates. Example: express delivery of a box, say, with a video card, the next morning through the USA will cost you about $ 50 ... and through Amazon - around 20-25. This is due to the fact that Amazon has huge shipments, and UPS gives them tariffs that mere mortals have never dreamed of ... and Amazon uses this as a commercial advantage of its delivery services.
3. All disassembly and risk for improper delivery Amazon takes over. Parcels are automatically insured for the cost of the goods (which is indicated when the goods are registered in the system), and if the parcel is lost, Amazon will refund you the money (which you will then have to reimburse the client - or send a new parcel to it). This happens very rarely - we have about half a year :) About twice a year there are errors such as incorrect indication of the urgency class, and the parcel is late. Amazon solves the issue in a very primitive way - it fully returns the money for the delivery, which you then return to the customer. Everyone is as happy as possible.
It all starts with the creation of an Amazon Seller Account:
www.amazonservices.com/content/sell-on-amazon.htm?ld=SCSOAlogin
The same account will also allow you to sell your goods on Amazon (and Amazon will send them yourself, you just count the money), but this is a topic for a separate conversation (it costs some money - about $ 40 per month). I note that to use the delivery service it is not necessary to sell your goods on Amazon. When opening an account, we indicate the data of your company, as well as the data of a credit card from which the payment for the delivery system services will be charged.
After opening an account, we register our products on Amazon, indicating the following data for each product:
- SKU (part number), as well as UPC barcode
- name, description, etc.
- price
- picture, if any.
Then there are two options for sending a batch of goods to the Amazon warehouse:
1. Login in the browser, and fill out the delivery form, where we indicate the quantity and part numbers of the goods being sent. Amazon gives you three things:
- its internal barcodes for the goods. You must close your bar codes on products with these new Amazon bar codes. There are exceptions, but they are rare and complex. Then the whole product is folded in large cardboard boxes.
- inventory of goods with a barcode for each external box in which the goods will go.
- Packing address label (shipping label), which you paste on top of the outer cardboard box with the goods. Again, Amazon uses its (very good) UPS tariffs to create these labels.
We use all this for its intended purpose, and all we have to do is bring the packed boxes to the UPS dispatch center (or just catch the UPS driver somewhere along the way and hand him the boxes).
2. If you replenish your warehouses on Amazon often enough, you can use the API. The final product is supposed to be the same three things as above — but we didn’t try to do that.
A week later, the goods arrive in Amazon. You immediately receive this email. When they start to sort and sort them - another email. When finished - one more. All this can also be viewed in real time on the website of Amazon Seller Central. As soon as the goods arrived, you can begin to place orders for delivery. And here again there are two options:
1. Login to the same Amazon Seller Central, fill out the form, and click OK. Plus - no need to fence integration with your site. The downside is that the main advantage is lost is the automatic processing of orders, which saves you time every day.
2. Smoke two dozen pages of Amazon documentation, and integrate their API into your website:
developer.amazonservices.com/gp/mws/docs.html
The system turns out to be simple as a slipper - on our website we see once in a while on the krone whether there are any unprocessed orders, collect data for each such order, drop it into Amazon, mark the order as “sent”. After a day, using another method of the same API, we begin to be interested (preferably not more than once per hour for each order), whether the order has not been sent - if the API returns “sent” status, mark the order accordingly. It is worth noting that if you use some kind of ready-made solution for e-commerce, then it is better not to go into the engine database directly, but deal with the code, connect the necessary modules, and find the magic method like Order-> ChangeStatus () - then in addition to changing the status of the order, your engine is likely to send a notification to the client, and take the remaining necessary actions.
Amazon API recently went through an upgrade - before there was the usual SOAP, now they are switching to something else. Old and new will work for several more months. I still did not understand, but the new seems to be quite simple.
Uptime: three years, normal flight. Difficult problems that would have challenged further cooperation were not noticed - those that were resolved by technical support within a reasonable time (from 1 day to 1 week) and with reimbursement of any direct losses.
The only disadvantage of the Amazon Fulfillment Network is that everything is not a media product (i.e., everything except books and DVDs) Amazon USA is sent exclusively in the USA. Those. even for the American Amazon delivery service, even Canada disappears - I did not check the services of Amazon in other countries. Because we have a global company :), then we had to look for options, and they were found almost instantly:
www.wefulfillit.com
The idea of ​​the system is the same, except that everything is much simpler and less bureaucratic, plus delivered all over the world. If Amazon has three options for the urgency of delivery, then these guys have about 15 (any UPS / FedEx / USPS services). There is also an API, and much easier to implement than Amazon. They also deliver in the US too - but unfortunately they have higher tariffs, so for now we’re keeping Amazon for delivery in the USA.
What we have in the end: the almost complete absence of problems with automatic delivery of goods - it is enough just to replenish warehouses once a month. Customers are satisfied - delivery almost always works like a clock, which would be difficult for a small company. We are satisfied - we have a minimum of problems. Amazon hope, too, happy :)
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/134543/
All Articles