Amazon Qualified Ecommerce Fulfillment
Three Reasons Why Your 3PL Needs to Qualify for the Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime Program
Ecommerce is disrupting the traditional retail world, growing faster than brick-and-mortar retail and accounting for a growing percentage of consumer dollars. According to Benzinga, “Amazon is the largest online retailer—Bank of America estimates that Amazon has about 44% of US the ecommerce market share, up from 40% in 2018. Walmart is a distant second at just 7% followed by eBay at 5% and Target at just 2%.” In Q2 2020, Amazon reported a 43.3% increase in North American sales and 33.5% worldwide revenue growth. What’s more, there are 112 million Amazon Prime members in the United States.
For Amazon online retailers, being a part of the Seller Fulfilled Prime program (Amazon SFP) gives them the ability to post the Amazon Prime badge next to their products fulfilled either from their own facilities or their third-party logistics provider’s facility, which can increase consumer confidence and boost sales. However, e-retailers need to meet Amazon’s stringent standards and ensure they meet the two-day shipping requirements.
ITS Logistics ecommerce fulfillment meets and even surpasses these high standards. Read on to discover three reasons your 3PL needs to qualify for the Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime program.
1. Amazon Has High Standards
Amazon Prime customers have high expectations of service, and Amazon has created strict shipping requirements to ensure customers aren’t disappointed. Providers must be able to provide free shipping with two-day time-in-transit, 98.5 percent of all orders must ship on time, and order cancellations cannot be higher than 1.5 percent.
Amazon monitors the metrics and key performance indicators, which apply to the entire online retailing operation as well as the SKU level, to determine whether or not a product is eligible to display the Amazon Prime badge.
That means service must be reliable. ITS Logistics ecommerce fulfillment meets Amazon’s Seller Fulfilled Prime Standards and can help e-retailers meet Amazon’s requirements in a cost-effective way. With ITS’s ecommerce order fulfillment services, e-retailers benefit from same-day shipping services, pick and pack, drop shopping, order processing and fulfillment and partnerships with small parcel carriers, helping to reduce costs and delivery times.
Additionally, ITS can handle returns management, customer notification, and catalog fulfillment. Our strategic location in Reno/Sparks, Nevada, offers overnight access to the largest western cities for fast delivery.
2. Online Retail is Expected to Grow
The upward trend of e-commerce growth is expected to continue, which means companies cannot afford to miss any opportunities within the sector. In August 2020, online sales increased 42 percent year over year, reaching $63 billion, according to Digital Commerce 360.
ITS’s ecommerce fulfillment services provide:
- End-to-end operations support from the order placement to order delivery and returns
- Multichannel fulfillment, including ship to store, in-store pickup, direct to consumer
- Same-day shipping
- Real-time of feed based integration with order management systems
- Live interaction with inventory management system for in stock/out of stock feedback
- Integration to remote ERP systems
- Real-time visibility to all transactions and inventory
- Customized shipping programs to minimize the shipping cost
- Order and shipping confirmation emails
- International shipping
- Branded packaging
- Product customization including build your own product assembly and gift wrapping
- Shipping performance: all orders scanned to provide near 100% shipping accuracy
- Other services: quality testing, warranty processing
3. Prime Members Spend More
Prime members spend an average of $1,400 annually with Amazon versus $600 for those without Prime, according to estimates from Consumer Intelligence Research Partners. For e-retailers, that additional spending can add up. Customers often look for the Prime badge and can even filter their search for Prime-eligible items only.
FBA Alternative: SFP with ITS Logistics
Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime is a great way to gain access to the large pool of Amazon Prime members if you are looking for a Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) alternative. SFP is a great way to still reach the large Amazon Prime audience, but there are extensive requirements that can be complicated and difficult to achieve in order to maintain your SFP status. At ITS Logistics, we have several SFP customers and our team members have expertise in meeting Amazon’s strict standards for this fulfillment method. We also have experience in helping businesses transition from FBA to SFP, something that many retailers are finding themselves needing to do as Amazon is prioritizing essential products for FBA services. Give us a call today if you’re looking for an alternative to Amazon FBA.
Learn about all Amazon seller shipping options, including FBM, SFP, and FBA.
