University - Shipping Items
Amazon Direct Fulfillment
Stay on top of the latest e-commerce and marketplace trends.
Amazon Direct Fulfillment, also known as Dropship, is a service offered by Amazon in which sellers can ship goods directly to their customers. Amazon transfers individual customer orders to the supplier, or the seller, to fulfill directly.
Amazon’s Direct Fulfillment program is beneficial for sellers to utilize as either a stand-alone fulfillment solution or as backup shipping to a primary fulfillment option, such as Fulfillment by Amazon.
To be eligible to become a Direct Fulfillment vendor on Amazon, a seller must have the ability to ship all purchased goods to customers and have a U.S. warehouse.
The Benefits of Using Direct Fulfillment on Amazon
Sellers can take advantage of the benefits Direct Fulfillment offers. These include:
– Leverage Entire Catalog: A seller can leverage their entire catalog to shoppers, which can increase sales by not being limited to third-party warehouse stockouts.
– Control Over Inventory: A seller has the ability to control the amount of SKUs and units available to customers on Amazon’s platform.
– Shows Item Availability Instantly: Amazon pulls inventory from electronic data interchange (EDI) in real time to show shoppers that a seller’s item is available for purchase.
– “Ships and Sold by Amazon” Feature: Items are displayed as “Ships and Sold” by Amazon, thereby establishing credibility.
– Access to Amazon’s Customer Service: Amazon handles customer service and returns on behalf of the seller.
– Amazon Pays for Shipping: Amazon pays for all of the shipping fees.
– Effortless Onboarding: The onboarding process is quick and easy. A seller can start fulfilling orders right away.
When to Choose Direct Fulfillment
Fulfillment plays an important role in offering more of a seller’s items to shoppers. Leveraging the maximum amount of items in a seller’s inventory can result in an increase in sales, since additional items are available for purchase. Nevertheless, the ideal fulfillment option will vary depending on a seller’s goals and business scale.
Sellers with a large business scale can benefit from Direct Fulfillment the most. Large businesses have the resources and staff necessary to fulfill customer orders independently, without relying on Amazon’s warehouse and shipping services. Sellers who would like to minimize their fulfillment expenses can do so by shipping to customers and not paying ongoing fees associated with Fulfillment by Amazon.
Sellers who use Fulfillment by Amazon often encounter difficulties with inventory receiving times. The receiving process, which previously took five days, can take up to 30 days to complete. The elongated process can significantly limit inventory availability. By fulfilling customer orders directly, sellers can utilize their entire inventory and therefore increase sales.
Small businesses may find Fulfillment by Amazon to be a better option or can use Amazon’s service as their primary fulfillment method with Direct Fulfillment as a backup. Sellers who use Fulfillment by Amazon will have standardized shipping without the heavy lifting. Amazon handles the storage, packing, and shipping for all purchased goods on their behalf. Smaller businesses can also use Direct Fulfillment as a backup option to move more of their inventory, as long as they own a U.S. warehouse.
How to Enroll
Enrollment process if you are a vendor on Amazon:
1. File a support case in your Vendor Portal and request access to Dropship Central and Direct Fulfillment.
Enrollment process if you are not a vendor on Amazon:
1. Request that the Direct Fulfillment box is selected during the Vendor Central setup from your onboarding contact.
2. You will receive an invitation to enroll for Dropship Central during the Vendor Central setup.
3. You will need to provide a shipping label preference (Amazon’s shipping label or your own shipping label), your warehouse information, hours of operation, and a carrier pick up time.
4. Within 48 hours, you will receive instructions on how to upload your inventory feed information on Dropship Central.