Prime on Merchant Listings coming soon !!!
It’s been agreed in the EU that Amazon will change their Prime and Buy Box policies to favour merchant listings in June 2023. This will be offered to retailers in France, Germany, Spain Netherlands, Sweden, Poland and Belgium, however we believe it won’t be long before it’s in the UK also.
Currently to get the prime badge you have to send your stock into FBA or apply for Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) and this would guarantee you better placement for the buy box than a standard merchant listing. The big change is from June 2023 Merchant Listings will have equal offers to prime badge criteria as FBA or SFP levelling up the playing field.
To achieve this you will have to meet Amazon strict metrics, the service levels will be much higher than standard merchant KPIs. Expect to be measured to 99%+ shipping timeliness for same day dispatch (including first scan), subject to cut off times of 4pm for same day processing, having to shipping on a next day tracked service and being measured on whether the order meet their customer promise. Let’s not forget cancellations compliance also, which is usually their most strict measurement of less than 0.5% of orders.
If you fail to meet Amazons fulfilment standard on their premium product “Prime” then they will suspend your entitlement and you will have to produce a plan of action (POA) to explain what the root cause was, what corrective actions were taken and what preventative actions have been taken to be eligible again. There is no doubt that they will measure performance daily basis and reviewing accounts on a weekly basis therefore you must ensure you are capable of achieving the metrics as if you are not Amazon will know, there is no hiding place with the first scan by the carrier being part of the timeliness despatch and the customer promise being next day.
Using a third-party logistics partner that operates as a fulfilment centre can help you achieve the service levels set out by Amazon. These fulfilment centres have invested in their processes and systems and have geared up to meet the high standards set out by Amazon. When selecting a fulfilment centre ensure they have robust SFP knowledge and can demonstrate that they are already shipping Prime orders daily.
The benefits of having a prime service and winning the buy box are significant when selling on Amazon, making its worthwhile investing in your processes and systems to make sure they are strong enough to meet the metrics. Alternatively, you can buy this knowledge in instantaneously whilst also potentially saving money by outsourcing your pick pack and storage operation to a 3PL / fulfilment centre that already does prime orders.
This change gives retailers more control over where they place their stock, many 3PLs do not apply long term storage fees and have more flexibility around compliance and receiving direct containers from your manufactures.
Therefore UK retailers selling on Amazon need to keep their eyes peeled because all merchant sellers will have access to Prime and Buy Box in the near future.