Has Amazon’s recent announcement limiting receiving to ‘essential’ products got you panicking, wondering how to continue receiving and fulfilling orders? You’re not alone, Jungle Scout estimates that 53% of Amazon sellers are affected by the current receiving freeze. As COVID-19 continues to disrupt supply chains around the world, there are alternative options worth exploring.
As most of you know, Amazon offers a hands-off approach to storing and fulfilling orders from the ease of your home, the widely-popular program called Fulfilled-by-Amazon (FBA). But what happens when Amazon’s COVID-19 response stops inbound receipts of your ‘non-essential’ products? How can you continue to fulfill orders and remain profitable?
Fulfilled-by-Merchant (FBM) is an increasingly popular way to fulfill orders placed through the Amazon platform. It’s quite simple, really: Your products are listed and orders are placed on Amazon, as usual, but they are stored and fulfilled by someone else. It could be you in your garage or a specially designated warehouse that handles multiple clients looking for this type of service, called a Third-Party Logistics (3PL) provider. They can even get Prime badging guaranteeing 2-day shipping.
Added benefit: You can significantly save on storage costs by using a 3PL vs FBA. Storing 100 pallets of standard-size product at Amazon costs an estimated $4,800/month during non-peak (Jan-Sept) and a whopping $15,360/month during peak (Oct-Dec)! Meanwhile, storing 100 pallets at a 3PL averages ~$1,500/month through both peak and non-peak seasons*.
So how do you find a 3PL that fits your needs? That’s where we can help. Supplied has curated a wide network of reliable 3PLs, across the US, that meet the highest standards in order accuracy, shipping SLAs, technological advancement, etc. We know what industries they serve best and can recommend partners who have a proven track record handling your type of product(s). And good news! Our service is free for brands.
Supplied is helping Amazon sellers adapt to the impact COVID-19. Contact us if we can help.
*Estimates based on 4’ x 4’ x 4’ pallets of standard-size, non-hazardous product.
Read here for more info about the recent Amazon announcement.
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