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Integration with Amazon “Seller” or “Vendor account” – what you need to know

Founded in 1994 in the United States, Amazon.com is the world’s largest online retailer of books, apparel, electronics, music and many other products. Today, it has become one of the world’s leading e-commerce platforms. Amazon keeps pace with technology, using it to minimize the human error factor and improve efficiency. Amazon was an early adopter of process automation and electronic data interchange for its e-commerce platform.

Read more: Free Guide – Introduction to EDI Communication

Amazon Vendor Central or Amazon Seller Central?

We’ve heard these terms so often:“Amazon Vendor Central” and“Amazon Seller Central”. So, what are these terms? what do they mean? Let’s explore both, one at a time. Any company wishing to sell its products or services on the Amazon platform will be configured on this platform either in the “Amazon Vendor Central” portal or in the “Amazon Seller Central” portal. What’s the difference?

Amazon Vendor Central

Firstly, Vendor Central is a web portal used primarily by manufacturers and distributors. Access to Vendor Central is by invitation only.

A company that sells its products/services directly to Amazon, which in turn sells them to the end consumer, will be configured on Amazon’s Vendor Central portal. In a similar case, Amazon is the buyer of the company’s products. Amazon will sell the products under its own brand name to the end consumer. Usually, when a package is shipped from Amazon to the end consumer, packages are marked as follows: “Ships from and sold by Amazon.”

Companies using Amazon Vendor Central are considered 1P (or first seller).

Amazon Seller Central

Once again, Seller Central is a Web portal used primarily by the seller (or store owner on Amazon). Amazon offers its e-commerce platform for businesses that want to run their own stores on its platform and give them the opportunity of the Amazon marketplace. This service is offered against a fixed monthly fee for use, and other fees for transactions.

In this case, the manufacturer or distributor will sell its own products directly to consumers on the Amazon marketplace using the Seller Central account.

As a seller on the market, a subscriber will be able to manage the execution and logistics of his seller account according to (2) different options:

  • Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM): The seller can manage shipping, customer service and returns for each individual order. A ” Fulfillment by Merchant” order will be shipped from the merchant’s warehouse. The seller may also use the drop-shipping method subject to compliance with the Amazon Drop Shipping Policy.
  • Fulfilled by Amazon program. (FBA): Sellers will be able to allow Amazon to manage the fulfillment of their orders, via inventory sent to Amazon warehouses. Obviously, the seller has to list its products on Amazon as part of the FBA program, and Amazon will have additional charges for the use of its fulfillment resources.

Amazon data integration

Integration with Amazon, is the process of implementing one or more feeds to extract relevant data from the company’s system and send it to its Amazon account/store (i.e. product and pricing information, inventory data …). At the same time, extract order, customer and payment information from the Amazon account/store and send it to a company’s internal software system.

Automating data integration with Amazon

As described above, integration with Amazon is very important and crucial to a successful e-commerce business. The integration process doesn’t happen just once. It’s a continuous process of keeping the “synchronization” as close to “real time” as possible.

To be able to maintain a permanent, seamless integration between a company’s Amazon account and its internal software system, companies have no choice but to adopt “automated integration”.

Benefits of integration with Amazon

Here are the 5 main advantages of integrating with Amazon, which will also be detailed in another article in the future:

  1. Ability to deliver your products quickly to your customers in a highly competitive market
  2. Avoid chargebacks, credits and penalties related to poor or non-existent inventory and stock status on your Amazon account
  3. Avoid unnecessary non-productive human errors when manually handling orders received from your Amazon account
  4. Gain visibility and credibility for your Amazon account and products.
  5. Comply with Amazon’s terms and conditions for product delivery.

Amazon options for efficient integration?

Amazon offers (2) integration methods depending on the type of account configured for your company:

  1. EDI (X12) integration (in North America) for Vendor Central account customers
  2. Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS) for Seller Central account customers

Messages to exchange with Amazon

Whether you use EDI X12 or Amazon MWS to exchange messages, the following documents are mandatory for successful integration:

Amazon works with various suppliers and types of EDI software:

EDI X12 documents

  1. EDI 846 – Inventory status
  2. EDI 810 – Invoice
  3. EDI 850 – Purchase order message (Customer triggered)
  4. EDI 855 – Order acknowledgement
  5. EDI 856 – ASN (advance shipping notice)
  6. EDI 860 – Order change notification

Amazon MWS messages

  • Products
  • Controls
  • Acknowledgement of order
  • Order payment

Why integration with Amazon is crucial

Integration with Amazon is crucial for several reasons:

  1. Huge customer base: Amazon is the world’s largest e-commerce platform, with millions of active customers. By integrating your company or product with Amazon’s platform, you can access this vast customer base and considerably increase your visibility and sales chances.
  2. Logistics infrastructure: Amazon has a well-established logistics infrastructure and network of warehouses around the world. By integrating your business with Amazon, you can benefit from this infrastructure for storing, packing and shipping your products. This saves you time and resources by outsourcing these activities to Amazon.
  3. Consumer confidence: Amazon is known for its high-quality customer service and solid purchase guarantees. By being integrated with Amazon, you benefit from the reputation and trust associated with the Amazon brand, which can reassure consumers and encourage them to buy your products.Namtek-Consulting
  4. Marketing and promotional tools: Amazon offers various marketing and promotional tools for sellers integrated into its platform. You can take advantage of targeted advertising, personalized recommendations, loyalty programs, and other marketing strategies to reach a wider audience and increase your sales.
  5. Process simplification: Integrating your business with Amazon enables you to simplify certain business processes. For example, you can use Amazon’s features to manage orders, stock tracking, payments, and returns. This allows you to concentrate your efforts on other aspects of your business, such as product development or range expansion.

Amazon integration for your business

Don’t miss out on the huge opportunity for your company to sell on Amazon. We provide integration and automation for Amazon Seller Central users as well as EDI integration for Vendor Central users. Contact us today for more information, to request a quote, or schedule a demonstration.

 

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How To Select An Integration Method That Works Best For Your eCommerce Platform

This article was taken from our blog, published on our EDI2XML platform back in 2014.

eCommerce-IntegrationDo you have your own eCommerce Store, perhaps built with Shopify, or sell your goods online through Amazon, Cabela’s, eBay, etc.? If so, we are quite certain you’ve already been in discussion about how to best exchange data between you and your Trading Partner(s) or between your eCommerce platform and your internal software management system (i.e. your ERP system, CRM (Salesforce)…). In some cases, you may not have much of a choice, as some Trading Partners send their communication requirements prior to beginning a business relationship. For example, partners like Cabela’s or Amazon often push suppliers to be EDI compliant. At that point, it’s time to get in contact with an EDI provider to learn more about this process for your specific business needs.

When it comes to integration between your eCommerce platform and your management system, this process will allow your two systems to interact seamlessly, without any need for human intervention. How it works is that you allow data from the eCommerce system to automatically be sent to your management system, as for example any new online orders, also allow your eCommerce system to receive data from your management system, for example, inventory statuses. This ensures your consumers are well aware of inventory on hand and their orders can be processed right away.

So, if you are unsure of what steps you should take, then I highly suggest you read through the following blog and then contact us to schedule a consultation with one of our experts. Every case is different and it’s best to go over your specific requirements and current capabilities with an integrations expert before making a decision. Of course, we highly recommend eCommerce integration as it improves efficiency, minimizes manual data entry and errors, increases order processing and allows for scalability.

What are some of the different integration methods?

  1. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

As experts of EDI, we’ve written quite a few articles on this topic. This protocol has been around for many years and is used to exchange data between business partners. The data being exchanged in “EDI format” is pre-defined in both format and structure. Trading partners can have their own file specifications. Files can be transmitted using several different types of secured communication protocols such as a VAN, AS2, FTP/sFTP, etc. This method is very popular in the manufacturing, retail, automotive, healthcare and pharmaceutical industries.

  1. XML

XML, or Extensible Markup Language, is a very common format, used to transfer well-structured data between business partners. It was designed to be self-descriptive allowing users to define their own XML tags to describe the data.

  1. Web Services

Web Services is a method of communication between 2 electronic devices over a network. It uses the Internet as a communication and transport protocol and the XML language to format the data transmitted back and forth.

So, which method is best for your eCommerce integration project? Well, that of course depends on your specific business needs. It’s important for companies to analyze their technical capabilities and ensure it aligns well with their business requirements;

  • Does your internal IT team have any experience and expertise with any of the above integration methods? If so, which method are they more familiar with? If you don’t have an internal IT department, contact your IT provider and explain your business needs. They’ll suggest the best method for your specific case.
  • List the technical advantages of using one method over the others.
  • What are the costs for both of these options, for your specific case?
  • What is the timeframe to get setup for these options, for your specific case?
  • Are you already EDI-compliant due to requests from other Trading Partners? If so, EDI may be your best best.

If you’ve chosen EDI to be your integration method, then here is a list of questions to answer before speaking with an EDI consultant, so they’ll know exactly how best to help you;

  • What system(s) do you currently use to manage your business operations? (if any)
    • Do you use one fully integrated management system or multiple systems for various business functions? For example, Quickbooks for your Accounting, Hubspot for your CRM/Sales, etc.
    • If you use multiple systems, are these systems integrated with one another? If not, are you manually inputting data in one system, then doing the same task in another system and so forth?
  • What is your current workflow (at a business level)? If you can draw it that would be best!
  • How many warehouses do you have? (if any)
  • How many SKUs do you have, that will be used for EDI purposes?
  • Are you currently shipping your goods to DCs (Distribution Centers) or doing Drop-Ship? (or both, depending on the retailer)
  • Are you capable of extracting an accurate inventory status from your current inventory management system?
    • If so, can this be automated to produce this status multiple times a day, if needed?
  • Can you do pick/pack with your current inventory management system?

Jot down the answers to these questions, then contact us. We’ll be happy to help you with your eCommerce integration needs.

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How to become EDI-compatible with major retailers such as Sears, HBC, Costco, Wal-Mart and Target

If you’re looking to do business with major retailers like Sears, Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, HBC, Amazon, etc., then you’ll definitely needEDI. Today, most major retailers require their trading partners to exchange all documents, such as purchase orders , invoices and ASNs, electronically[EDI]. This can be a major concern at first, but once you find the right EDI supplier (at the right price), everything will become very quick and easy. (To find out what is involved in the configuration of EDI accounts by EDI suppliers, read this article.)

Be EDI-compliant

So, to become EDI compliant, you first need to determine how you want to progress in this area. Do you currently have an IT department with EDI experience? In this case, all you need to do is purchase an EDI translation tool to convert all incoming EDI documents into a suitable format for easy integration into your management system. If not, and you’re not prepared to hire an in-house IT team with EDI experience, you’ll need to consider partnering with an EDIprovider who can manage EVERYTHING for you. “All” includes all EDI mapping servicesWe offer a full range of EDI services, including trading partner configuration, standard maintenance, XML / CSV / TXT translation, integration with your ERP application, sending and receiving of EDI documents from your trading partners, and the deposit and collection of all XML / CSV / TXT files to and from your EDI mailbox.

Then determine which documents your business partners will ask you for, and which they will send you. Will it only be an incoming PO and an outgoing invoice? Do they need an ASN? At this stage, it’s also very important to define the format you’ll need the incoming documents to convert to. Is it XML? CSV? TXT?

Other important questions to ask your business partners at the outset include:

  • What communication protocols do they need (if any)? AS2? VAN?
  • What EDI standard do they use? ANSI ASC X12? EDIFACT? (In North America, the standard generally used is X12)
  • What are the specifications of their documents? (Most probably they send a document with all their specifications).
  • Any other rules and/or guidelines they have for starting to exchange documents electronically with them?

Once you know the basics of your EDI requirements, it’s time to speak with an EDI consultant (or talk to your EDI supplier) to establish the exact EDI flow for your business. At Namtek Consulting Services, our EDI experts are here to assess your EDI business needs and ensure that our services are right for you. If you need direct EDI integration into your Salesforce, JDE, IBM AS400 or eCommerce systems, they can handle it! If you’re simply looking for us to translate incoming and outgoing documents and hand them over to your team for further processing, this can also be arranged. Whether it’s your business partner Sears, Wal-Mart, Costco, HBC, Amazon, Meijer, Canadian Tire, Home Depot, Loblaws or Target, you’ll be well prepared to do business with them on time and on budget. See the list of our current business partners, but note that we can add any partner at any time!

To see prices for our EDI2XML translation service, click here.

Contact us for a free EDI consultation today!

 

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How to become EDI compliant with large retailers like Sears, HBC, Costco, Wal-Mart and Target

If you are looking into getting into business with large retailers like Sears, Wal-Mart, Target, Costco, HBC, Amazon, etc., then you will most certainly require EDI. Nowadays, most large retailers demand that their Trading Partners exchange all documents, like Purchase Orders, Invoices, ASNs, electronically [EDI]. This may seem like such a hassle at first but once you find the right EDI Provider (at the right price), it’ll all become quite easy and quick. (To know what’s involved in the setup of EDI accounts by EDI Providers, read this article.) Read more

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