Imagine your hottest product just went viral on social media and orders start pouring in. It should be your best day ever, except your inventory is scattered across multiple warehouses, your shipping costs are skyrocketing, and you’re spending hours juggling spreadsheets instead of growing your business.
Sound familiar? For today’s ecommerce sellers, these supply chain challenges are all too real.
At Amazon, we understand modern ecommerce through our deep experience in supply chain efficiency. Today’s retail environment demands sophisticated solutions that can adapt quickly to change.
How Supply Chain by Amazon transforms supply chain management
Supply Chain by Amazon offers a comprehensive suite of individual services, including transportation, warehousing, and fulfillment. You can select the services that fit your needs or choose Amazon-managed supply chain solutions.
When Amazon manages your supply chain, we coordinate transportation, storage, distribution, and fulfillment of your products for an end-to-end solution from manufacturer to customers. This unified approach operates through three key phases:
1. Strategic transportation management
Select from multiple transportation options for domestic and international shipping. Amazon manages shipping details to reduce complexity while you maintain flexibility to choose options that work best for your business. One system manages the entire process, from pickup scheduling to customs and receiving.
Available transportation options:
2. Efficient storage and distribution
Amazon Warehousing and Distribution (AWD) provides low-cost bulk storage and distributes your inventory to both Amazon and non-Amazon sales channels. AWD works with automated replenishment to maintain your Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) levels. The pay-as-you-go model offers discounted rates without seasonal surcharges.
AWD uses sales data to keep your inventory at the right levels across all your sales channels. This can help you:
- Pay less for storage
- Save up to 80% during peak seasons
- Avoid fees for low inventory
- Keep products in stock automatically based on sales
We use AGL to get product in directly from overseas. We use AWD to store products. We use the Partner Carrier program to LTL and UPS. There’s really no easier option to get your inventory into Amazon.”
3. Delivery operations
FBA manages your deliveries through the Amazon fulfillment network. This network of fulfillment centers picks, packs, and ships orders across multiple sales channels. With FBA, you can offer Prime shipping speeds while Amazon handles customer service and returns. This integration can help you scale your business efficiently while maintaining fast delivery.
How sellers benefit from Supply Chain by Amazon
Supply Chain by Amazon can help you manage your entire supply chain. You can use Amazon’s logistics network while focusing on other parts of your business. Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) lets you send orders to customers through different sales channels. This can help you understand sales patterns and plan ahead.
Sellers have seen quick improvements in their business. Brandon Fuhrmann, CEO of Cooler Kitchen, explains: “This also saves us quite a bit of time, just in terms of manpower. We probably save 3 to 5 hours a week just from using AWD versus having to process these weekly shipments from a 3PL.”
With Supply Chain by Amazon, you can:
- Expand to new sales channels
- Keep the right amount of inventory in stock
- Lower your storage and shipping costs
- Make better use of your money
- Spend more time growing your business
Using AWD, just in inbounding fees, we’ve already saved over $30,000 to $40,000. Off-peak seasons we’re saving close to $10,000 a month.”
How Supply Chain by Amazon continues to improve
Sales channels are changing how retail and online selling work together. Successful sellers will need to connect their sales channels while keeping their operations running smoothly. This requires supply chain solutions that can grow and adapt with your business.
We use artificial intelligence (AI) to help you understand sales patterns and plan ahead. Enhanced multi-channel fulfillment lets you sell through different channels while keeping operations simple.
How to get started with Supply Chain by Amazon
Sellers like Crazy Dog T-shirts use these solutions to grow their business. CEO Bill Kingston explains: “It really allows us to get more products [out] and become really successful on Amazon, and ultimately just build our offering.”
Streamline your business with Supply Chain by Amazon
Supply chain management can help sellers compete effectively. Whether you’re new to selling or want to improve your existing operations, Supply Chain by Amazon can help streamline your business.
Learn more about Supply Chain by Amazon
*A Professional selling plan is $39.99 a month + selling fees. Learn more
