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Why You Should Migrate Amazon MWS to Amazon Selling API (SP-API)

Amazon sellers have noticed more than anyone else that data integration provides a high level of sales automation and helps to quickly grow an e-commerce business.

Thus, for the automation data flow and best management inventory and sales operations, Amazon Sellers use a technology called “API” (Application Programming Interface).

An API is a software that establishes a connection between computer programs and allows them to interact with each other. API connects different systems and automatically coordinates data flow and process.

In this article, we will look at the new Amazon Selling Partner API (SP-API) as well as Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS). We’ll take a look at why Amazon sellers should switch from Amazon MWS to SP-API and the best way to do it.

What is Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS)?

The Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS) is an API service built for Amazon sellers of all sizes. MWS APIs has served Amazon merchants for over 10 years by offering programmatic access to important Amazon features.

By integrating their Amazon store data using Amazon MWS, merchants can significantly reduce order processing time and improve sales efficiency.

It helps programmatically exchange the following information:

  • product lists updates;
  • inventory updates;
  • order data;
  • payment information;
  • fulfilment;
  • reports and much more.

 

What is Selling Partner API (SP-API)

The Selling Partner API (SP-API) is an enhanced version of Amazon MWS. It includes all the features that existed in Amazon MWS, however, all future developments will be SP-API-only.

Thus, SP-API is Amazon’s next-generation REST-based API created on Amazon Marketplace Web Service (MWS) APIs.

REST-based Selling Partner API Key Features

As mentioned above, the SP-API is an improved version of the Amazon MWS and it has many improvements. Below are some of the new SP-API features:

  • modernized REST-based APIs that accept an input and output in JSON format
  • New service endpoints that are now supported in all regions.
  • A sandbox feature for testing with dummy data, using different sandbox endpoints. Thus, it is now possible to test applications by making calls to the sandbox environment.
  • The ability to create an SDK that will help you with LWA token exchange and authentication.
  • Dynamic usage plan that automatically adjusts bid limits for each selling partner based on various metrics.
  • SP-API has a brand new feature: API for Amazon Vendors – which is accessed through the same API control plane using the same authorization mechanisms.
  • RDTs (Restricted Data Tokens) support for a secure way to access a customer’s PII (Personally Identifiable Information)
  • Based on a variety of factors, a dynamic usage plan automatically adjusts rate limits for each selling partner.
  • Support for SP- API is now available in all regions.

Amazon MWS replaced by new Amazon Selling API (SP-API)

Amazon SP-API

According to Amazon, in the future, all new API functionality will be built into the Amazon Selling API, and MWS updates will only be performed to support some business-critical changes.

Thereby, the question that worries many Amazon sellers who are now using MWS: What will happen to the Amazon MWS?

The legacy MWS APIs is going away, so it will be deprecated.

On April 6, 2021, the first stage of Amazon MWS deprecation has already begun for the following section:

  • Orders
  • Reports
  • MFN (Merchant Fulfillment Network)

This applies to all public apps authorized by selling partners in the Marketplace appStore. To prevent interruptions, you must migrate before July 31, 2022.

NOTE: All API calls from public applications using the sections listed above of Amazon MWS will not be successful after July 31, 2022.

The specified sections will continue to be available to private applications after July 31, 2022. They are not required to migrate at this time.

By September 30, 2022, all public applications authorized by Selling Partners that use the MWS Product API must migrate to the SP-API.

By December 31, 2022, all public applications authorized by Selling Partners that use all other sections of the MWS API must be fully migrated to SP-API. This comprises applications using the following MWS API sections:

  • Feeds API
  • Finances API
  • Fulfillment Inbound Shipment API
  • Fulfillment Inventory API
  • Fulfillment Outbound Shipment API
  • Recommendations API
  • Sellers API
  • Subscriptions API
  • Push Notifications Schemas
  •  

NOTE: As long as your application is used only by your business and is not authorized by other Amazon Selling Partners, you are not obliged to migrate to SP-API this year.

So, even though it is currently not a requirement to migrate from Amazon MWS to SP-API, however, Amazon highly recommends planning the migration process as soon as possible.

So either way, at some point you will need to migrate to Amazon Selling API in order to continue using the service. Therefore, it is better to do it now, while you still have enough time, than to migrate at the last moment.

Conclusion: How to migrate Amazon MWS to new Amazon Selling Partner API (SP-API)

Companies running their Amazon Seller account, on different marketplaces, can take advantage of the EDI2XML integration service.

For many years, our company has been successfully helping businesses of all sizes to solve various integration issues on Amazon. Our e-commerce integration experts can handle anything from migration Amazon MWS to SP-API to complex data integration projects with internal accounting, or business systems such as ERP or CRM.

If you need help with Amazon integration, please contact us for your first free consultation. Our integration specialists will be happy to assist you.

 

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Why Amazon is a Must for Your eCommerce Business

When Amazon opened its online bookstore in 1995, no one expected the website to become the largest retail e-commerce company in the world.

Today Amazon employs 1.46 million full and part-time workers and accounts for 41 % of the U.S. retail e-commerce market.

However, like all other retailers, Amazon is faced with many recent challenges such as the increase of freight and shipping costs, global supply chain disruption, labor shortage, rising payroll costs, and so on. Analysts predict that these along with many other challenges for retailers may increase in the coming holiday period.

Nevertheless, Amazon is committed to minimizing the impact of the above negative factors on its customers and selling partners. As Amazon noted in its latest earnings report, third-quarter order fulfillment expenses increased 25.8% compared to last year. However, by prioritizing its customers and partners, Amazon is even ready to incur short-term losses.

Why Do Companies Choose Amazon Marketplace?

Given Amazon’s excellent reputation among consumers and selling partners, as well as Amazon’s service and customer-centric approach, more and more companies are choosing to sell their products on Amazon.

Amazon is constantly improving its sales processes, for example, they recently launched the Local Seller program, to allow Amazon third-party sellers to offer BOPIS (Buy Online, Pickup in Store) service and local delivery.

Online store sales continue to grow, albeit at a slower pace compared to 2020 when many physical stores were closed due to the pandemic.

Amazon’s Q3 Net Sales by Segment
Amazon sales by segment

Amazon vs Your Own E-commerce Store: Should You Make a Choice?

Experience over time has shown that to be competitive, businesses must offer their customers, the ability to shop online. Many entrepreneurs choose to start selling their goods on online marketplaces such as eBay, Walmart.com, Target.com, Wayfair, AliExpress, and so on, but the leading position, of course, belongs to Amazon.

You may ask: “Does a company need to create a store on Amazon if the company already has an active online store?” Our answer: without Undoubtably! Companies should expand their sales channels and an opportunity to sell on Amazon should not be missed. Amazon is one of the first places consumers go when searching and comparing products.

According to a Feedvisor survey, 89 % of users prefer to buy products from Amazon over other e-commerce sites.

Many business owners believe that having a presence on Amazon is critical to the growth of their business. However, this should not be the only marketplace or place of sale. In fact, over 80% of Amazon sellers use other marketplaces and e-commerce platforms for their own online stores.

Why Selling on Amazon Is Profitable

Amazon is one of the largest online platforms and the dominant one in North America. It opens up opportunities for sellers of almost any product.

Here is a quick overview of the main benefits of Amazon Marketplace:
  • Amazon is the first place where potential buyers come to search and compare products.
  • Amazon continues to grow steadily and gain an increasing share of the e-commerce market.
  • Amazon is gaining more and more popularity among end consumers due to its outstanding service.
  • Prime members are active shoppers with higher rate of purchase than the average online consumer.
  • Amazon is constantly developing new programs to offer sellers the opportunity to improve shipping.

Amazon Marketplace Integration

In recent years, especially under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, many manufacturers, distributors, and retailers have become even more motivated in offering and selling their products on different marketplaces, mainly Amazon. Amazon is chosen by both large companies that have their own e-Commerce websites, and small companies just starting their own business.

As an e-Commerce integration service provider, we helped many large and growing businesses optimize their e-commerce management and centralize operations by integrating their Amazon Seller Central with CRM, ERP, inventory management, EDI, and other back-end systems.

Moreover, we integrate Amazon with various e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, BigCommerce or Magento, and others.

The most popular Amazon integration are:

– Amazon / Shopify integration

– Amazon / Magento integration

– Amazon / eBay integration

– Amazon / QuickBooks integration

– Amazon / EDI integration

We are aware that companies are actively working to optimize their e-commerce backend processes, automate their sales and fulfillment channels, in order to provide an efficient and streamlined business cycle withing their company.

Our e-commerce integration experts have extensive expertise in e-commerce integration projects for companies of all sizes and from different industries.

Amazon Data Automation

We help Amazon sellers integrate and automate data from their Amazon Seller Central stores into their own ERP / CRM systems.

We can automate and synchronize data such as Orders, Inventory, Product updates, Fulfillment from any ERP / CRM systems to Amazon in a bi-directional way.

Find out more about our integration services here: EDI2XML integration for Amazon Seller Partners

Choose a Reliable and Experienced Partner for Your Amazon Integration

Our company has been in the integration space for over 21 years now, with proven experience in e-commerce integration. We have successfully completed a large number of integration projects using proven methodologies and state-of-the-art technology coupled with our deep technical expertise, to exceed the expectations of our clients.

We automate e-commerce and carry out integration projects of any complexity for clients from all over the world.

Contact us for your first free consultation with our Amazon integration expert.
Get a free Amazon Integration Consultation

You may also be interested in reading about:

EDI2XML integration for Amazon Seller Partners

Amazon Business: How to increase B2B sales on Amazon?

What is Dropshipping on Amazon?

All you need to know about Amazon Seller Central Integration

When talking about online shopping, most consumers think right away “Amazon”. Polls have shown that most Americans, when they decide to buy a product, first they look for it on Amazon.

According to Business of Apps, in 2020, Amazon has become the most popular mobile shopping app in most countries, with 169 million downloads. Can you imagine, all these users are your potential buyers!

Therefore, many companies, from startups to big brands, strive to make sales of their products on Amazon.

Amazon Marketplace Integration

A well-organized sale on Amazon marketplace attracts new customers, increases revenue, grows awareness of your products and brands, and ensures customer loyalty. However, what does a well-organized sale mean?

Basically, it is to manage Amazon orders and automated inventory synchronization efficiently and quickly with Amazon marketplace.

Integration of your Amazon Seller Central account with your business system (ERP or CRM) allows you to automatically synchronize Amazon orders, as well as your  inventory in real time. The order management process becomes simple, does not require manual input, and eliminates the most common problem – costly mistakes and inaccuracies in orders due to manual input.

Amazon Seller Central integration – everything you need to know

To help you understand such a complex topic like an integration of Amazon Seller Central account, we have developed an Amazon integration whitepaper. It concisely and clearly presents very important information about data automation and integration of Amazon Seller account.

Our Amazon whitepaper covers a variety of topics, ranging from the most basic ones such as:
  • What is Amazon marketplace?
  • What is Amazon seller account?
  • What is Amazon vendor central?
  • Who needs amazon integration?

It also reveals important questions such as:
  • What is the most important amazon integration?
  • Amazon seller account inventory and fulfillment
  • Integration with amazon seller account: amazon options for data integration
  • MWS (marketplace web service) VS SP-API  (seller partner API)

We will analyze one of the most important questions that companies think about when deciding to integrate Amazon Seller Account: “Should we integrate to Amazon on our own or outsourcing the service?” Such a simple question has so many answers. In our white paper, we’ll tell you about this so that it’s clear and there is no doubt about what to choose. Moreover, you will find a lot of other useful information in this whitepaper.

Download your free Amazon Integration whitepaper

It doesn’t matter what industry you work in, whether you are already a registered seller on Amazon, or just planning to start selling on Amazon. The information in this document will be very helpful to you.

Download your free copy to learn how to make your Amazon sales as profitable as possible and easy to manage.

You may also be interested in reading about:

Amazon Seller Data Automation and Integration: Tips and Tricks

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information.

Today, I would like to address a few of the most important aspects of Amazon Seller integration and automation, and why companies selling on Amazon Marketplace have no choice other than adopting the path of “Automation and integration” to their internal software business systems (ERP / CRM), to stay competitive and profitable on Amazon.

Before I start addressing my points, let me start with some definitions for terms that are often used in this article, even though, I already detailed those definitions in previous articles.

What is Amazon Marketplace?

Amazon Marketplace is a Web-based platform owned by Amazon, where buyers and sellers can engage into commercial transactions.
Amazon Integration

Amazon offers access to Sellers and buyers globally, which is why there are different “Amazon Marketplaces”; Clients from different parts of the world can buy directly from that platform. Each marketplace refers to a region or country.

As an example, in North America, there are 3 Amazon Marketplaces:

1. Amazon.com: primarily to service the US market.

2. Amazon.ca: To service the Canadian market.

3. Amazon.mx: To service the Mexican market.

The same thing in Europe where you can find an Amazon Marketplace for the UK, another one for Germany, and so on…

Amazon Seller Account

Amazon allows any entity (being a person or an enterprise), to sell their products and services in Amazon one on multiple Amazon Marketplaces; in return for the service, Amazon bills a monthly subscription fee, in addition to some other fees paid per transaction, obviously depending on the subscription plan.

An entity or person who owns an Account on Amazon Marketplace to sell its products or services, is considered an “Amazon Seller”, or owns an “Amazon Seller Account”.

Amazon Vendor Central

In contrast to Amazon Seller Accounts, Amazon Vendor Central is the total opposite of the “Seller Account”. In this case, Amazon themselves buy from the Company, and they sell the products in Amazon Marketplaces.

Managing Amazon Seller Account

Managing a store for Amazon Seller Account – is the responsibility of the “Account owner” on Amazon (or the subscriber). It is the responsibility of the account owner, to feed the Amazon Store with the products catalog, pricing, specs, images… and all aspects of the store management.

Amazon Seller Account Inventory and Fulfillment

In terms of Inventory and fulfillment, there are few options offered by Amazon for shipping and fulfillment. I will expand on this topic in a separate article. But for now, let’s keep it simple; an Amazon Seller account owner has the option to manage the inventory and fulfillment of his Seller account, or pay amazon for such a service, under the FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) program.

Useful Reading: What Is Amazon Integration & How Does It Work?

Integration with Amazon Seller Account

Amazon offers several ways to read and write data into a Seller Partner account. while all the offers are publicly documented, they require a certain level of expertise to implement, quickly and efficiently.

Amazon Options for Data Integration

In addition to the Amazon portal to manually manage the store, Amazon offers two options for an Amazon Seller Account owner, to build integrations and automation:

1. MWS (Marketplace Web Service): which is the first legacy integration door with the Amazon seller store.

2. SP-API (Seller Partner API): which is a new REST API service launched in September 2020 to replace the MWS.

Amazon MWS vs SP-API

In this paragraph, I will address some technical differences between both services.

Although MWS and SP-API of Amazon are both web services that enable programmatic access to seller data, there are major differences; following are some of those differences, extracted from Amazon website:
  • SP-API treats data as REST-compliant resources that can be accessed and modified via standard HTTP methods. At the opposite, Amazon MWS exposes data using operations that are very proprietary to Amazon MWS.
  • SP-API authorization leverages LWA and OAuth 2.0. This model eliminates the need for the manual exchange of auth tokens, as required by MWS.
  • The authorization process of Developers is much different between both; With Amazon MWS, sellers authorize developers. With SP-API, sellers authorize applications. This makes it safer for the Seller to Authorize an application of a developer, that was revised and approved by Amazon.
  • SP-API provides finer grain data access control than Amazon MWS. Developers can request access to only the data they need, and sellers can grant permissions at the API section, operation, or data resource level.
  • SP-API uses AWS Signature Version 4 for authentication. Amazon MWS uses Signature Version 2

To learn more about Amazon SP-API read our blog: Why You Should Migrate Amazon MWS to Amazon Selling API (SP-API)

Data Automation and Integration: Why Integration and Automation Are a Must

When operating eCommerce transactions on Amazon, and selling on multiple Marketplaces, companies find themselves in a situation where they cannot avoid such automation and integration with their own ERP or CRM, and this is for multiple reasons; I will list a few of the important ones:

1. Amazon is by far one of the biggest eCommerce platforms in the world, with the most items sold; Selling on Amazon, will certainly increase the sales of any company with the right product. This creates the first urgent reason automate and integrate the sales on Amazon Seller Account, into the Company’s ERP/CRM system. Companies would like to keep their books up to date, with less human interaction, and near real-time.

2. Companies who are successfully selling on more than one Amazon marketplace, see the need for automation faster. It is not an option for any company to manage multiple systems for orders and fulfillment.
e-commerce Integration


3. To compete in this tight eCommerce marketplace, faster fulfillment and shipping is expected from consumers. The fastest they get the goods the better it for the seller. To meet those fulfillment expectations, automation and integration should be in place.

4. The new reality created by COVID-19 disturbance of the economy worldwide, forced companies to adjust to the new reality if they want to stay the course, and remain competitive. Hiring more employees to produce the same result that can be achieved efficiently and quickly by machines is not an option today. Investing on automation and integration is the only way companies can achieve quick results and a quick measurable ROI.

“Do It Yourself” vs Outsourcing the Service?

Someone might say, well, cannot we do it ourselves? it is not that difficult, we have enough IT resources in-house, that can certainly handle such projects and get off the ground quickly.

My answer to this point is, of course, any company with sufficient time, resources and expertise can go into the project, and certainly deliver. However, there are some aspects of this approach should be highlighted and taken into consideration:

1. When doing it yourself, without enough internal resources, such projects can fall of the crack quickly.

2. At the technical level, although it seems straight forward to build such integration and automation projects, it requires lots of expertise and lots of learning. MWS is scheduled to be phased out by Amazon, we do not know when, and SP-API is taking over, but it is new, lots of security elements added and things can take time to learn and build.

3. Since a company is going to build it itself, it will be one and only one time to do the implementation; it does not pay off for this company, especially when it takes lots of time and effort.

4. Maintaining and managing the automation of Amazon Seller account data, at long term takes a lot of time and resources to keep it up and running; it certainly takes out of the staff’s internal efforts and would stretch them thin.

Useful Reading: EDI2XML integration for Amazon Seller Partners

The above points are the most important points and challenges I have noted from previous Amazon integration projects, where customers were frustrated and lost lots of time prior to decide to outsource their Amazon integration to our team at EDI2XML. Some of them they lost a valuable resources and money prior to seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Trust Our Experts For a Fully Managed Amazon Integration

To find out more about our Amazon integration expertise, and evaluate how we can help you, you can reach us by phone: (450) 681-3009 or use the form below to speak to our integration specialist!

The Following is a List of Additional Helpful Information:

What is Dropshipping on Amazon?

Amazon Business: How to increase B2B sales on Amazon?

Integration with Amazon Web Services (MWS): Things you should know

Integration with Amazon Seller or Vendor account: Things you should know

Free Amazon Integration Whitepaper

What Is Amazon Integration & How Does It Work?

What is Amazon?

Amazon is the largest and most successful online marketplace in the world, because they deliver the best customer service and create the best customer experience.

There are two options for a company to sell its products online on Amazon marketplace:
  • Amazon Vendor Central
  • Amazon Seller Central

What is Amazon Vendor Central?

When you register your company as a vendor, and once your company is approved, Amazon becomes a regular distributor of your company’s products. Amazon buys and stores your company’s merchandise, handles pricing, and arranges shipping, returns, and full customer service. Basically, you become a supplier for Amazon, while Amazon buys your company’s products and pays you.

Learn more here about Amazon Vendor Central or Amazon Seller Central

What is Amazon Seller Central?

It means you or your company, can register as an independent seller on Amazon marketplace. You pay a monthly fixed fee, and a percent of your sales on Amazon, in return of the use of the platform. There are two types of accounts: either “Individual” or “Professional” Seller account. The account owner is responsible for the setup, ongoing maintenance, and integration of their Amazon Seller account.

Seller Central account is the most popular choice for companies of different sizes, but at the same time, it causes the most challenges to store owners, especially when it comes to integration of the seller account with other business systems.

Things to know: According Amazon Seller Central guide, you may only have one Seller Central account for each region you sell in unless you have a legitimate business need to open a second account and all of your accounts are in good standing.

Who Needs Amazon Integration?

Integration with Amazon is necessary for companies that aim to automate e-commerce and logistics systems, improve the quality of their customer service, reduce various costs associated with logistics, order processing, data synchronization, manual input of information into various systems, etc.

Basically, the candidates for integration are medium and large retailers who already have or planning to create an Amazon Seller account, and using business systems such as:
  • SAP (including SAP S/4HANA, SAP Business One, SAP CRM, SAP ERP, SAP PLM  SAP SCM, and SAP SRM)
  • Microsoft Dynamics 365
  • Salesforce
  • JD Edwards
  • Oracle ERP
  • Sage
  • SugarCRM
  • ServiceMax
  • Important legacy applications, as well as other ERP / CRM or accounting systems

What is the Most Important Amazon Integration?

To successfully grow an online business on Amazon, a merchant needs to process orders correctly and quickly, which is why Amazon ERP Integration is the most important and frequently requested integration. Amazon ERP integration allows you to get rid of manual order entry or huge loading of daily orders from Amazon Seller accounts to ERP or other accounting systems.

Thanks to our integration platform Magic xpi, you no longer need to manually enter data from your Amazon e-commerce account into the internal accounting system. With Magic xpi, all important information is automatically synchronized:

– New orders

– Inventory (between Amazon & ERP or other channels)

– Delivery updates

– Customer information

– The stock availability

– Real-time tracking

– Prices and much more.

Thus, Magic xpi can support all e-commerce integration requests quickly and reliably.

Benefits of Amazon ERP Integration

Integrating Amazon with an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system can bring numerous benefits to businesses.

Automation of online selling processes

Integration of ERP with an online store on Amazon allows you to synchronize order information, customer data, and automatically update information on warehouse stocks. Thus, the automatic exchange of data between ERP and Amazon seller account makes the business process much faster and more efficient. This allows you to streamline business processes and increase revenue.

Accurate e-commerce data

A great advantage of integrating an online store with ERP is the accuracy of the transmitted data. Whereas when manually entering data into the business system, there can be errors leading to delays or disruptions in the delivery of goods, which negatively affects customer satisfaction.

Faster order processing

The Amazon ERP Integration eliminates manual data entry and reduces errors. With correct and accurate data, the Amazon Seller account owner can dramatically improve the accuracy of the business, which will make e-commerce processes faster and smoother.

Thus, Amazon ERP integration can streamline business processes, optimize inventory management, and improve order fulfillment. By integrating Amazon with an ERP system, businesses can automate data entry and reduce manual errors. This helps in maintaining accurate and up-to-date data across multiple systems, resulting in improved business decision-making. Additionally, businesses can leverage the data insights gained from the integration to optimize their inventory management and ensure timely order fulfillment, resulting in higher customer satisfaction. Overall, Amazon ERP integration can help businesses improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance customer experience.

What is EDI2XML Amazon Integration Service?

Beating the extremely high competition in the e-commerce segment is only possible for companies that follow the latest technological trends.

EDI2XML Amazon integration is a fully managed service offered on top of a state-of-the art technology (Magic xpi), where companies can leverage a full automation of their eCommerce process, to optimize their internal business processes and accelerate online business growth. It is a fully managed cloud integration solution with no-on premise software required.

Leverage innovative solutions to seamlessly share order and customer information and improve customer service.

EDI2XML integration to Amazon is a centralized platform as a service, that maps all critical information across different business systems, and provides a complete view of your leads and customers.

Amazon Seller Central Integration with EDI2XML

No matter what Amazon marketplace you sell on, we can help improve your e-commerce business and complete the Amazon integration project efficiently and quickly with any of these Amazon marketplaces:

– Amazon European Marketplaces. Amazon Europe Marketplaces account: Amazon.de, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.fr, Amazon.it, Amazon.es, and Amazon.nl

– Amazon North America Marketplaces. North America Unified Account: Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and Amazon.com.mx

– Amazon Asia-Pacific Marketplaces. (Japan, Australia, Singapore, India)

– Amazon Middle East and North Africa Marketplaces (Middle East Turkey)

Moreover, we provide unlimited support and availability 24/7/365.

Contact us for a free consultation with one of our integration experts.
Amazon Integration

Integration with Amazon Seller or Vendor account: Things you should know

This post was updated to reflect current trends and information

Founded in 1994 in the USA, Amazon.com is the largest online retailer of books, clothing, electronics, music and many other products. Currently, he became one of the leading and largest eCommerce platforms in the world. Amazon keeps pace with technology, by leveraging it to minimize human errors factor and improve efficiency. Amazon was one of the early adopters of process automation and electronic data interchange for his eCommerce platform.

Read: Free Guide – Introduction to EDI

Amazon Vendor Central or Amazon Seller Central?

We have been hearing so much these terms: “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 that wants to sell its products or services on Amazon’s platform, will be setup on that platform either in the “Amazon Vendor Central” or in “Amazon Seller Central” portal. What is the difference?

Amazon Vendor Central

First, the Vendor Central, is a web-based portal used mainly by manufacturers and distributors. Access to Vendor Central, is by invitation only.

A company selling its products/services directly to Amazon, who in turns sells it to the end consumer, will be setup in the Vendor Central portal of Amazon. In a similar case, Amazon is the buyer of the company’s products. Amazon will sell the products under his own brand name to the end consumer. Usually, when a package is shipped from Amazon to the end consumer, packages are marked as: “Ships from and sold by Amazon.”

Companies setup to use Amazon Vendor Central are considered 1P (or first party seller).

Amazon Seller Central

Again, the Seller Central, is a web-based portal used mainly by the Seller (or store owner on Amazon). Amazon offers his eCommerce platform for companies who want to manage their own stores on his platform and give them the opportunity the Amazon Marketplace. This service is offered against a monthly fee for the usage, and other fees at the transaction level.

In this case, the manufacturer or distribution will be selling his own products directly to consumers on the Amazon marketplace by using Seller Central account.

As a marketplace seller, a subscriber will be able to handle fulfillment and logistics for his “seller account” based on (2) different options:

  • “Fulfillment by Merchant (FBM)”: The seller can handle the shipping, customer service, and returns for each individual order himself. Fulfillment by Merchant orders, will be shipped out of the merchant’s warehouse. Seller can also use drop-shipping method, subject to compliance with the Amazon Drop Shipping Policy.
  • “Fulfilled by Amazon program. (FBA):The seller will have the option to allow Amazon to handle fulfillment of his orders, through inventory sent to Amazon warehouses. Obviously, seller has to enroll his products on Amazon under the FBA program, and Amazon will have additional fees towards using his fulfillment resources.

Amazon Data Integration

Integration with Amazon, is the process of implementing one or multiple flows to extract relevant data from a company’s own system and send to its Amazon account/store (i.e. product and pricing information, inventory data…). At the same time, extract the information related to sales orders, clients and payment information from Amazon’s account/store and send to a company’s internal software system.

Read: Integration with Amazon Web Services (MWS): Things you should know

Automating Data Integration with Amazon

As described above, the integration with Amazon is very important and crucial for a company successful online commerce. The integration process does not happen once. It is a continuous process of keeping the “synchronization” as close to “real-time” as much as possible.

To be able to keep a persistent ongoing integration between a company’s Amazon account and its internal Software system, companies have no choice other than embracing “automated integration”.

Benefits of integration with Amazon

Here are the top 5 benefits of integration with Amazon, which will be also detailed in another post in the future:

1. Ability to deliver your products quickly to your consumer in a very competitive marketplace

2. Avoid chargebacks, credits and penalties related to poor or no accurate inventory and stock status on your Amazon account

3. Avoid unnecessary none-productive human errors when manipulating manually orders received from your Amazon account

4. Win on visibility and credibility of your Amazon account and products.

5. Comply with Amazon terms of agreements in relation to product delivery.

Amazon Integration

Options on Amazon for efficient integration?

Depending on the type of account your company is setup, Amazon offers (2) methods of integration:

  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 using EDI X12 or Amazon MWS to exchange messages, he following documents are the mandatory ones for a successful integration:

Amazon works with various providers and types of EDI software:

EDI X12 documents

  1. EDI 846 – Inventory Status
  2. EDI810 – Invoice
  3. EDI 850 – Purchase Order message (Customer triggered)
  4. EDI 855 – Purchase Order Acknowledgment
  5. EDI 856 – ASN (Advance Ship Notice)
  6. EDI 860 – Order Change Notification

Amazon MWS messages

  1. Products
  2. Orders
  3. Order Acknowledgment
  4. Order Payment

Why integration with Amazon is crucial

As one of the largest online retailers in the world, Amazon is a powerhouse when it comes to e-commerce. Integrating your business with Amazon can provide you with unparalleled access to a massive customer base, improved visibility, and increased sales. By utilizing Amazon’s platform, you can tap into their extensive resources and take advantage of their advanced tools for product listings, inventory management, and shipping.

In addition, Amazon’s sophisticated algorithms can help you to target specific customer segments and increase your visibility within your niche market. With Amazon’s robust analytics and reporting tools, you can track your performance and identify areas where you can improve your sales strategy.

Moreover, integrating your business with Amazon can also enhance your brand credibility and customer trust. By aligning your brand with Amazon’s reputation for quality and reliability, you can build a strong customer base that is willing to invest in your products and services.

– The average number of monthly visits to Amazon, according to Similarweb is 2.6 billion.

– Amazon has over 2.5 million active sellers on its platform, with more than half of its sales coming from third-party sellers.

– Amazon’s global logistics network includes over 400 fulfillment centers and 75 sorting centers.

In 2022, Amazon achieved a net sales revenue of almost 514 billion U.S. dollars globally, with its headquarters located in the United States.

Amazon Integration for your business

Don’t miss the great opportunity for your business to trade on Amazon. We provide Integration and Automation for Amazon Seller Central Users as well EDI Integration for Vendor Central Users. Contact us today to get more information, request a quote or schedule a demo.

Amazon Integration