Starting this week, there is a new process for automatic removal of aged stranded inventory from Amazon fulfilment centres in Europe. If your inventory remains stranded, you will receive an email notification from Amazon.
What is stranded inventory?
Stranded inventory is where there is no active offer due to either missing, incomplete, or inactive, maybe suppressed for various reasons. If the product page can’t sell then your stock will be classed as stranded.
Actions to address stranded inventory
Relist
For products that have been listed previously but do not have an active offer, click on Add a Product in the Inventory drop-down menu to create an offer. If you see a message indicating that your product is already listed but needs to be edited, click the provided link to update your listing.
Create removal order
For products that you no longer want to sell, go to the Manage FBA Inventory page, select the product, and choose Create Removal Order from the drop-down menu on top.
Change to Fulfilled by Amazon
If you have an offer, but it is for a product that you fulfil yourself, none of your FBA inventory for that product will be available for sale. On your Manage Inventory page, select the product and click on Change to Fulfilled by Amazon in the Action drop-down menu to enable FBA to pick, pack and ship those products.
Create a new listing
If you have FBA inventory of a product that has never been listed, create a listing for your SKU by clicking on Add a Product in the Inventory drop-down menu.
What will happen to stranded inventory?
Inventory that remains stranded will be returned to you or disposed of 45 days after the email notification and you’ll be charged for the return or disposal.
Amazon tough love
Ultimately stranded inventory doesn’t do anyone any good – it’s not going to sell and it merely takes up space in Amazon’s warehouse and you might well end up being charge long term storage fees.
Stranded inventory will also impact your IPI score, and Amazon have raised acceptable standards for IPI scores from 350 to 400 and then 500 so far this year. Too low an IPI score and your ability to send stock into FBA will be restricted from September, just as we enter the busiest time of the year.
Ultimately however, Amazon just don’t want crap floating around their warehouse that will never sell. The coronavirus pandemic stretched their resources to the max and by destroying or returning dead stock they are freeing up space for those merchants who have inventory that will actually sell.
