Are you new to selling on Amazon? Or perhaps you already have an Amazon business but are wondering how to use Amazon FBA services. 

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)  is an excellent way to streamline your operations and increase visibility on one of the world's largest online marketplaces.  

In this Amazon FBA guide, we will show you just how to use fulfillment by Amazon to boost your sales. 

What is Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)? 

Fulfillment by Amazon or Amazon FBA is a service designed by Amazon to help sellers automate the process of fulfilling and shipping their orders. 

You will agree that the process of fulfilling orders can be daunting and time-consuming. With the FBA service, Amazon will handle the process of storing, packing, shipping, and customer service, allowing you to focus on other areas that can contribute directly to sales and revenue. 

How does Amazon FBA work? 

As we mentioned earlier, Amazon handles the fulfillment process. From storing products to packing, shipping, and customer service. 

Here's how Amazon FBA works: 

• Firstly, you will need to decide on what products to sell. This is critical to your FBA success on Amazon. You can research some of the best products to sell on Amazon using product research tools to see which products have high profitability. 
• Once you find a product to sell, find a supplier or manufacturer that is excellent and reliable to supply you with products. 
• Next, you can create your product listing and sign up for Amazon FBA using your Amazon seller account.
• Next, send your products to Amazon fulfillment centers. You can do this yourself or through third-party logistics. 
• Once done, Amazon will take care of the rest! Amazon will handle the process of distributing the products to warehouses, packing, shipping, customer service, returns, and refunds. 

Benefits and drawbacks of fulfillment by Amazon

Selling with Amazon FBA comes with its rewards and drawbacks. Here's a non-exhaustive list of the benefits and drawbacks of selling with Amazon FBA: 

Amazon FBA benefits 

• Logistics services: Perhaps one of the biggest benefits of selling with Amazon FBA is that Amazon handles everything (Well, almost). With FBA, you can outsource the fulfillment process to Amazon for a small fee. With Amazon's top-notch fulfillment network, you can be sure of getting quality service. 
• Access to Amazon Prime: With Amazon FBA, you automatically have access to Amazon Prime. This means you can sell your products to millions of Amazon Prime customers who pay more for fast shipping. 
• 24/7 customer support: Amazon FBA sellers have access to 24/7 customer service. Through the FBA service, Amazon will take care of your customer service needs which can save you time and manpower. 
• Unlimited storage space: Storing your products at your warehouse or renting one can be difficult to manage and also very costly. Amazon has many warehouses/fulfillment centers all over the world. With Amazon FBA, you have access to unlimited storage space at a cost. 
• Easy tracking: Amazon offers easy tracking and management of orders. With Amazon FBA, you can see just where your products are throughout the process which can give you a good level of confidence. 

Amazon FBA drawbacks

• Could be costly: The FBA service comes with many benefits. However, this comes with some fees. Amazon FBA for beginners could be quite costly. If you sell low-priced items, FBA fees could also lower your profit margin. 
• Limited branding: Amazon packs and ships your product. This means that the first thing customers will see when your product is delivered is the Amazon branding and logo. This limits your branding opportunities. 
• Strict order preparation processes: Amazon has FBA guidelines and requirements that you will need to follow before sending your products to fulfillment centers. Before sending your products to Amazon, you will need to follow all guidelines to avoid having your products sent back to you. 

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Amazon FBA fees

While numerous benefits come with using fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), all these come at a cost. Amazon FBA fees include fulfillment fees and Storage fees. 

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See also: 2022 Amazon FBA Fees Increase- What You Should Know 

5 ways to sell more using Amazon FBA

If you use the Amazon FBA service the right way, you can maximize sales and increase profits. Need more convincing? Read on as we look at tips and strategies for maximizing sales with Amazon FBA:

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1. Carefully select a winning product
2. Optimize product listing to increase your customer base
3. Increase visibility with Amazon advertising 
4. Use tools to automate your FBA business
5. Drive external traffic 

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Carefully select a winning product

To sell more using Amazon FBA, the first thing you need to do is select a great product. You want to invest time to research and carefully select highly profitable products. Product research can be quite rigorous. However, keep these two things in mind: high-ranking products are highly competitive but will sell out fast, and keep your inventory moving. On the other hand, low-ranking products have low competition and may cause stagnant inventory. 

Having inventory stuck in Amazon FBA warehouses can lead to long-term storage fees which can be bad for business. As you carry out your research, you want to find a good middle spot. Consider choosing products that have a high demand but low competition. You can go through Amazon's best sellers list and invest in product research tools like Jungle Scout and SellerApp. 

Optimize product listing to increase your customer base

Optimizing your product listing is essential for maximizing sales with Amazon FBA. Doing so increases your visibility, allowing more customers to see your product and buy them. 

Here are Amazon FBA tips for optimizing your product listing: 

• Research relevant keywords using keyword tools and add them to your product title, bullet point section, product description, and meta descriptions. Include short-tail keywords and long-tail keywords. Short-tail keywords are more generic and highly competitive. Long-tail keywords are more streamlined and have a higher conversion rate. For example, “cake stores” is a short-tail keyword while “best cake store for weddings in California” could be an example of a long-tail keyword. 
• Use high-quality images on your product listing. Capture your products in various angles and sizes. You can include videos to bring your products to life. 
• Invest in Amazon A+ content to improve branding and increase the conversion rate
• Generate more Amazon reviews using emails, social media, and Amazon review tools

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Increase visibility with Amazon advertising 

To increase sales and succeed on Amazon, you need to make your products visible to more customers. One way to do this is to invest in Amazon advertising. 

Amazon offers three advertising options. These include Sponsored Products Ads or Pay-per-click ads which allow you to promote individual product listings. 

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Sponsored Brand Ads feature your brand logo, headline, and multiple products. This type of ad helps you increase brand awareness and drive traffic to your Amazon store. 

Lastly, Amazon Display ads allow you to promote your products and brand both on and off Amazon. 

With these advertising options, you can increase your visibility, drive traffic to your store and increase sales with Amazon FBA.

Use tools to automate your FBA business

As you grow, you need to identify Amazon FBA tasks to outsource. This will help you save time and channel your energy to more revenue-generating tasks. 

Thankfully, some tools can help you automate the FBA process. Tools like RepricerExpress and Jungle Scout can help you with various tasks including listing optimization, repricing, and product research. 

Drive external traffic 

To increase your conversion rate and maximize sales, you can take advantage of external traffic sources. By driving external traffic to your store, you can increase visibility and brand awareness.

Social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, etc are great points to launch. You can create valuable social media content to create awareness and promote your Amazon products. You can take advantage of influencer marketing on social media to get more eyes on your Amazon products. 

You can post articles on your social media platforms or website to show your audience what your product is all about and encourage them to buy it. You can also run social media ads to drive traffic to your Amazon store or product listing. 

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In addition, you can invest in email marketing. With email marketing, you can interact with your customers, encourage them to drop product reviews after every sale, update them on the latest deals, and ultimately drive traffic to your store. 

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Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) vs. Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP)

With Amazon FBA, you can outsource the fulfillment process to Amazon while you handle other aspects of your business. Amazon takes care of everything from storing to packing, shipping, and customer service. 

On the other hand, Seller Fulfilled Prime allows you to list your products on Amazon Prime and fulfill them using your own fulfillment method or third-party fulfillment method. SFP allows you to access Amazon Prime while you are in control of the entire fulfillment process. 

Unlike FBA, you will need to apply and be approved by Amazon. Also, you will need to follow stringent rules including shipping 99% of your orders on time. 

If you are well-established and want some level of control over your business, you can go for the SFP method. On the other hand, if you are just starting out or growing your business, Amazon FBA may be the best option.

Final thoughts 

When starting out with Amazon FBA, consider starting with only a few items and working your way into more products as time goes on. 

If you utilize Amazon FBA correctly, you can get more out of your business, increase sales and grow revenue with Amazon. 

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