Amazon FBA Alternatives: Are They Worth Considering?

Amazon has undoubtedly helped tons of businesses collect, pack, and ship their products to buyers worldwide. Fulfilment by Amazon has allowed businesses to complete their customer’s orders fast and with no hustle. They only need to pick up the order from you and then ship it to your customer. With more than 2.45 billion visits every month, you can expect to have a huge amount of sales on the platform.

With such a huge amount of sales, there’re bound to be technical issues in the fulfilment process. This is why your business may have to opt for an alternative e-commerce order fulfilment process flow. Despite Amazon being great it has it also has its limitations. There are many pros and cons but the best solution will be based on what benefits your business the most.

Pros of Amazon FBA

Scalability

With Amazon FBA, you spend less to fulfil your order and you can extend your business to over 100 countries.

Amazon Prime

Being in this program means you automatically qualify for free shipping and your product listing is displayed with the Prime logo for your customers to know.

Returns

Amazon will handle all returns for you and send the customer a replacement.

Storage

With FBA you don’t need to have a warehouse because Fulfilment by Amazon has tons of them all over the country.

Customer Support

You can use Amazon’s customer service to process your order and take your customer through the sales process.

Cons of Amazon FBA

Cost

Using FBA costs money and there are various fees to pay including shipment and storage costs.

Co-mingling

Due to the many users, many customers have ended up not receiving the product they requested for.

Loss of Branding

Using this service means that you have you can’t advertise. Your products will be packed and delivered on Amazon-branded materials.

Product Prep Requirements

Amazon has a long list of requirements for sellers to follow through before shipping their products.

Amazon FBA Alternatives

Seller Fulfilled Prime

This is the Prime program that lets you deliver goods directly to your customers within two days. It allows you to list your program as prime eligible and you must ensure to commit to fulfilling an order within 2days. Seller fulfilled prime allows your products to be more visible and discoverable to customers.

Your products can also get featured helping you to compete better with other sellers in the marketplace. At the moment, however, Amazon is not accepting new registrations and therefore you’ll have to be on a waitlist. Being able to directly influence how your products reach customers offers a greater advantage.

Amazon FBM

Fulfilment by Merchant (FBM) is an Amazon program that allows sellers to list their products but independently handle their customers and the shipping. Merchant Fulfilled Network (MFN) is the terminology used by Amazon for FBM. With this program, you can have your own shipping rates as well as customize shipping templates for different clients.

Your process of order fulfilment will help you have a better competitive edge. This program is especially good if you’re selling heavy items. It also works if you have low volume sales, you have your own warehouse or if the product is temperature sensitive.

3PL Services

Third-party logistics is the outsourcing of logistics processes like warehousing, fulfilment, and management to third-party businesses. It is a great way of allowing e-commerce businesses to accomplish more. 3PL companies ship your orders with the help of your inventory. The inventory helps the shipping company to know what’s in the package and how many units there are.

This allows them to stay organized and fulfil your orders efficiently. Some 3PL companies expect you to manually fill in the details of the order including the customer’s details. However, others use technology that’s integrated with your e-commerce platform for easier fulfilment.

Which Amazon FBA Alternative Is Right for Me?

Many businesses were affected when Amazon changed its policies. Others ground to a halt. To pick the right FBA alternative, you must look for a service that has the right qualities. Such include the right e-commerce order fulfilment process flow. What its requirements and capabilities are to understand if it fits your needs. Does it have the right expertise to handle your merchandise? Does it have guarantees? If possible try out a few of them to know the right one for you.

Ease Your Order Fulfilment Process

Despite Amazon being the most used fulfilment service, it can’t work for all types of sellers. The costs could be higher or the handling may not be right. Whatever the requirements you have, choose the right FBA alternative to facilitate your order fulfilment.