Amazon have announced the investment of $15 million globally in tools and services in an effort to support their merchants to succeed on the marketplaces. These investments were injected into programs such as Amazon Handmade, Amazon Launchpad, Amazon Business, Amazon Advertising or Fulfillment by Amazon.
Amazon merchants currently account for 58% of global sales on the marketplace, contributing significantly to Amazon’s success. It is estimated that these companies have created 1.6 million jobs worldwide, up from 900,000 in 2017. The number of SMEs that exceeded one million dollars in sales on Amazon stores globally grew by 20% last year. In Spain alone, the 8,000 companies that sell through Amazon created more than 10,000 direct jobs.
“Small and medium-sized businesses are the soul of the Spanish economy, from Amazon we are fully committed to helping and promoting them. As part of our dedication to supporting independent retailers, we have thousands of employees worldwide who work developing specific tools and services to grow their sales in Amazon stores and expand their business. Ultimately, our success depends on your success. ”
– Ryan Frank, head of Amazon Marketplace, Spain.
The tools and services that Amazon offer – from inventory tracking to price management, marketing and brand promotion tools through sales reports and webinars – help to reduce entry barriers for small and medium businesses in ecommerce. Through Seller Central, the operations centre for sellers, small and medium businesses have access to information about their sales and inventory, as well as resources to help them manage it and grow their business on Amazon. Here are some of the tools and services Amazon invested in to support sellers’ growth path:
Logistics
Inventory performance index to guide sellers on the units managed by Amazon logistics that they must supply to increase the frequency with which their products are offered with one-day delivery and to obtain discounted monthly storage rates.
Third-party applications and tools
The third-party app store for Amazon Marketplace vendors has expanded to Europe, India, Japan and Australia. Thus, business partners can identify trusted applications developed by third parties that complement Amazon’s free tools. There are more than 200 applications available worldwide to manage prices, advertising and inventories.
The price automation tool
It is a free service that helps business partners save time and increase sales by automating their prices so that they can offer their products at competitive prices.
Trademark Registration
Project Zero and Transparency have recently been launched in Europe taking advantage of Amazon’s combined strength and brands to eliminate counterfeits. Sellers registered in the Trademark Registry may request an invitation to join Project Zero. In Transparency, a unique code is applied to each unit of product that is manufactured, which allows detecting and preventing the sale of counterfeit products.
Seller University
An improved and redesigned website where marketers can easily find educational content in video format and when they need it. In addition, Amazon launched “Growth Navigator” to offer employees a personalised guide throughout their life cycle on additional programs and sales features with which they can experiment to accelerate their growth.
“Our business has continued to grow at Amazon year after year, representing about 60% of our total sales. Thanks to Amazon, our visibility had grown in a way we would never have imagined when we started. The use of Amazon logistics (FBA), the presence at events such as Black Friday or Prime Day and advertising campaigns through sponsored products have been of great importance to achieve good positioning. In 2019 we expect to triple our sales compared to 2017 when we started selling on Amazon. ”
“Since we started selling on Amazon Marketplace in 2018, thanks to its enormous reach and through tools such as Sponsored Products or the Prime label, we have introduced our catalog in the market for sale to individuals, something new for us” comments the manager of Dagostinohome, a homeware store, Carlos Martínez, to which he adds “in our second year we have grown 60% thanks to programs such as Amazon Business, receiving orders from hospitality professionals in quantities greater than 50 units.”
– Andrea González, general director, Jamonprivé, based in Barcelona.
One Response
@Chris
I thought “$15,000” was a little paltry !!
I think there is a typo in the title.
B-)