Executive Summary
| What’s an Amazon FNSKU? How to Create an FNSKU for FBA Sellers | |
|---|---|
| 1. | What is an Amazon FNSKU?: Fulfillment Network Stock Keeping Unit (FNSKU) is a unique term used on barcodes to identify products of FBA sellers. Sellers get a unique FNSKU for every product they sell, even if other sellers have the same ASIN. |
| 2. | Difference Between FNSKU and ASIN: Many sellers can use the same ASIN if they sell the same product. In contrast, each seller gets a different FNSKU for the product they send to the fulfillment center. |
| 3. | How Can I Create an FNSKU?: Log in to Seller Central and navigate to the settings drop-down option. In the drop-down menu, select fulfillment by Amazon. Keep scrolling until you see FBA Product Barcode Preference, and click edit. After that, select the Amazon barcode and click update. Select Manage FBA Inventory and upload the product for which you want the FSKU. Upload the product listing, and go back to Manage FBA Inventory to see your FNSKU. |
| 4. | How to Print FNSKUs?: Log in to Seller Central and choose the Manage Inventory option. After that, select the product for which you want to print the FNSKU labels. Click on Print Item Labels, and adjust the label size and settings per your preference. The next step is to print the labels.
Lastly, stick the labels onto the packaging of every product that goes into the Amazon warehouse. If you do not place the FNSKU label, your product will never make it to the buyer. |
| 5. | Is FNSKU Better than a UPC?: Hundreds of sellers use the same product from the same manufacturer. So, they all have the same UPC, but Amazon assigns unique FNSKUs to every seller. It means FNSKU is better than a UPC. |
| 6. | Why Do I Need FNSKUs?: FBA sellers need FNSKUs to fight against counterfeiting, and it also helps in managing inventory. |
Amazon sellers are often overwhelmed by confusing terminologies and abbreviations. It is hard enough to create an Amazon product listing without having to understand these terms. ASIN, UPC, FNSKU, what do they all mean? Why do you need to learn about all of these terms? Most sellers assume these are the same product identification terms and do not serve any unique purpose. However, the truth cannot be further than this assumption. Amazon FNSKU is entirely different from ASIN and UPC. It is a unique identifier that connects Amazon FBA sellers to their products. Our guide will teach you everything about FNSKUs.
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What is Amazon FNSKU?
Fulfillment Network Stock Keeping Unit (FNSKU) is a unique barcode that identifies the products of FBA sellers. It is slightly similar to ASIN and UPCs, but every seller has a different Amazon FNSKU for every product. The fulfillment process becomes much easier if a product has an FNSKU. After a buyer places an order, Amazon can easily find the right product through this unique barcode. More importantly, Amazon FBA sellers can track their products in transit. FNSKUs provide complete transparency to sellers and make it easier to manage the inventory.
In many cases, Amazon demands that FBA sellers put FNSKU barcodes on their products. ASINs with multiple sellers cause a severe problem for the warehouse staff as these products have the same universal product codes for amazon. Therefore, a unique identification code or number is necessary for finding the specific product.
Difference Between ASIN & FNSKU
Here is the explanation for everything from ASIN to UPC.
ASIN, FNSKU, and UPC can get a little confusing for most people. What is the reason for different codes and labels? Do they all mean the same thing? No, Amazon ASIN is a product identifier, and every product on Amazon has an ASIN. The problem with ASINs is that multiple sellers can associate themselves with the same product. As a result, Amazon can not differentiate between sellers of the same product.
FNSKUs are unique and remove any confusion at the warehouse. Every seller gets a different FNSKU for each product. As a result, even products with the same ASINs have different FNSKUs. It allows Amazon to connect every product to a specific seller. Therefore, buyers do not receive products from the wrong sellers. It makes a significant difference in customer perceptions. Imagine that you order a product from a specific seller but receive a faulty one from another Amazon seller. You would blame the seller you chose. So, FNSKU helps Amazon sellers to distinguish their products with a unique marking.
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How Can I Create An FNSKU?
Creating an FNSKU only takes a few minutes. Let us guide you through the process of creating an FNSKU. Please be advised that it will only work if you are an FBA seller.
- Log in to Amazon Seller Central and navigate to the settings drop-down option.
- In the drop-down menu, select fulfillment by Amazon.
- Keep scrolling until you see FBA Product Barcode Preference, and click edit (see the image below for reference)
- Select Amazon barcode and click update.
- Open the inventory drop-down menu, and select Manage FBA Inventory.
- Upload the product for which you want to create the FNSKU.
- After you create the listing, go back to Manage FBA Inventory and viola! Your product would be there with its newly created FNSKU.
Follow these steps to create FNSKUs for your products.
How to Print FNSKUs?
Okay, you created the FNSKU now, but you also need to put it in your products. Follow these steps to print your FNSKU labels.
- Log in to Amazon Seller Central and choose the Manage Inventory option.
- Select the product for which you want to print the FNSKU labels.
- Click on Print Item Labels.
- Adjust the label size and other settings as per your preference. After that, print the labels.
- Stick the labels onto the packaging of every product that goes into the Amazon warehouse. If you do not place the FNSKU label, your product will never make it to the buyer.
Creating an FNSKU is good, but it will not do anything for you if you do not post these codes on your products. It gets slightly complex from here because most FBA sellers never get to see their products. Third-party manufacturers send the product to the Amazon warehouse. Talk to your supplier or manufacturer and explain that you want to place these labels on the packaging. FNSKU registration and printing are worthless if your manufacturer does not stick these labels on your product. So, talk to them and explain that you want these labels to be your product packaging.
Most FBA sellers send the label design to manufacturers and ask them to stick the FNSKU label onto the packaging. You can also do it yourself if your products do not come from a foreign third-party supplier. So, a few simple steps can give you an advantage on Amazon. There are plenty of ways of sticking the labels on the packaging, but you need to choose the one that fits you the best.
Is FNSKU Better than a UPC?
Amazon UPC is just a generic code that does not help to identify seller-specific products. Dozens or hundreds of sellers may use the same manufacturer for their products. As a result, all of the products will have the same UPC as they are the same. It creates needless confusion and makes things difficult for the warehouse staff. More importantly, it increases the chances of delivering the wrong products to customers. Therefore, Amazon UPC can only identify a product, but it cannot pinpoint the seller of the product.
We strongly advise FBA sellers to switch to FNSKUs. These unique codes will help you to manage inventory much better than UPC codes for Amazon. Buyers will never receive the wrong product when they buy from you. It will help you to increase customer satisfaction while decreasing the chances of misdeliveries. If you have not made the switch to FNSKUs, you should look into it.
Read More: Amazon Dropshipping: Product Research
Why Do I Need FNSKUs?
Items without FNSKUs are commingled with products of the same ASIN. As a result, the fulfillment center cannot differentiate between your products and other products that have the same ASIN and UPC.
Let us run a hypothetical scenario where the Amazon fulfillment center cannot find your product:
Your product arrives at the Amazon fulfillment center without an FNSKU. As a result, they are mingled with products with the same UPC and ASIN. A buyer comes to your Amazon product listing and places an order. The fulfillment cannot find your particular product as it has no unique marking. So, they pick a product with the same UPC as your product. The buyer receives the product, and it is not in good condition. They will leave a bad review on your listing even though they received a product from a different seller. FNSKUs will help you to avoid this entire scenario.
FNSKU is also your weapon against counterfeiting. Fraudulent sellers cannot mingle their products in between your products. You will also have better control over your inventory. Overall, FNSKUs have too many benefits, and you should not ignore these benefits as an FBA seller. Take full advantage of the Amazon barcode. FNSKUs might be slightly frustrating to print and label packaging, but the pros outweigh the cons.
Conclusion
We hope that you will consider using FNSKU labels from now on. FBA sellers must give their products a unique identity, so others cannot counterfeit products. More importantly, fraudulent sellers will think twice about copying your product. Hopefully, you have learned the difference between all of the product identifiers. FNSKU is like a product + seller identifier, which makes it different from Amazon ASIN and UPC. Therefore, you should start using Amazon FNSKU to separate your products from others in the fulfillment process.
