Originally published on May 4, 2017, updated June 24, 2020
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A lot of time and effort goes into each inbound FBA shipment that you prepare.
Shipping plans, item labels and box content reports are just a few things you must constantly juggle. If done manually, each shipment could consume hours of work by you or your staff. Unfortunately, you can't afford to make mistakes either, as Amazon doesn't exactly like it when you send incorrect shipments. If you want to ensure your FBA inventory is accurately stocked by Amazon, you need a more automated workflow.
In this article, we'll show how RestockPro brings clarity to your FBA supply chain, thereby reducing the likelihood that your FBA inventory will be misplaced (or sent back to you at your expense).
When it comes to shipment accuracy, Amazon doesn't mess around. In fact, as the company points out here, "Failure to comply with FBA product preparation requirements...may result in the refusal of inventory at the Amazon fulfillment center, disposal or return of inventory, blocking of future shipments to the fulfillment center, or charging for preparation or for noncompliance at the fulfillment center."
That sounds pretty scary.
To help sellers avoid incorrect shipments, Amazon offers this 33-page guide (single spaced). Much like the aforementioned warning, the 33-page PDF poses a similar (rather daunting) disclaimer: "Failure to comply with any requirements listed in this document may result in the immediate refusal of inventory at the Amazon fulfillment center..." Note how the word "any" appears in this warning. In short, Amazon expects sellers to know these policies inside and out - and, live up to them.
Most sellers rely on Amazon's shipment creation tool within the Seller Central dashboard to build their shipping plans. But, this approach isn't guaranteed to be failure-proof (or easy). (In fact, Amazon offers another 16-page instructional guide just for using its shipping tool.)
Even with all the helpful tutorials, sellers still find themselves dealing with incorrect shipments. Rapidly clicking between vendor catalogs, prior purchase orders, freight tracking numbers, restocking spreadsheets, profitability analyses and your Seller Central account is a recipe for disaster. And, unfortunately, this problem doesn't improve as order volume increases. More orders necessitate faster inventory turns and, therefore, more shipments to Amazon. It's a vicious cycle.
As an alternative approach, the consolidation of your supplier, shipping and restocking information into RestockPro can drastically improve the accuracy of your inbound FBA shipments. How is this possible? For starters, since RestockPro houses all of your open purchase orders and local inventory data, you can rest easy knowing that each FBA shipment is utilizing inventory that you actually own. With a few clicks, you can build a shipment that is both accurate and Amazon-compliant.
Shipping directly from a supplier? No problem. RestockPro allows you to send your shipment based on your unique business model: direct ship, cross dock or local.
Finishing and submitting your shipment to Amazon is also easy. RestockPro communicates to your Amazon Seller central account via the MWS API, allowing you to submit the shipment to Amazon without ever leaving RestockPro.
Does your shipment have special preparation requirements? RestockPro shows you which shipments require special attention, allowing you to quickly specify who will handle the prep work (i.e. you or Amazon). Stickers, box contents and shipping labels are also simplified by RestockPro. Just follow the intuitive wizard, and you'll never forget again!
Despite all of your best efforts to prepare a flawless shipment, Amazon can still occasionally make a mistake. A tool like RestockPro helps ensure that everything you ship to an FBA warehouse actually gets received and inventoried by Amazon.
RestockPro's shipment tracking dashboard displays all inbound shipments to Amazon. Once your shipment has arrived at the desired FBA location, you can then compare what should have arrived versus what Amazon says it has received.
On the off chance that you need to file a discrepancy report with Amazon, RestockPro is also handy for capturing your notes related to each shipment or shipment item in question. No more sticky notes or overlooked calendar reminders. Everything you need is right there in RestockPro!
If you're tired of feeling stressed and frustrated with your current FBA supply chain, it's time you give RestockPro a try. Get the insight you need to run your business, reduce shipping errors and grow your bottom line.
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