Tag: Amazon Vendor Central vs Amazon Seller Central

Amazon Vendor Central vs Amazon Seller Central : Which is Right for You?

Posted on by adminoo

What’s the difference between Amazon Seller Central and Amazon Vendor Central? You often hear Amazon merchants talking about both, but despite how their names sound, they are not the same. Amazon Seller Central and Amazon Vendor Central are two very different methods for selling online and cater to different types of retailers.

Below, we explain the Amazon Vendor Central vs Amazon Seller Central feud. We’ll discuss the differences between them and, more to the point, which one is better for you and your selling style. 

Read More:- Amazon Vendor Central Vs Seller Central

What is Amazon Seller Central? 

Essentially, Amazon Seller Central is an online hub for anyone who sells products directly on Amazon. It acts as a CMS for managing all your Amazon business: product pages, orders, shipment statuses, sales statistics, inventory, advertising, business reports, reviews, and much more. It’s basically your behind-the-scenes headquarters for selling on Amazon. 

You can access Amazon Seller Central as soon as you sign up as a merchant for both Individual and Professional selling plans. There’s also an Amazon Seller Central app available for managing your sales from your phone on the go—useful for time-sensitive tasks like responding to customer inquiries. 

Amazon Seller Central also has its own forum, where sellers can chat with each other online, sharing advice, asking questions, or simply commiserating. This is a valuable resource for any seller, as the community is a valuable knowledge base for new sales strategies and troubleshooting technical issues. 

Read More:- Amazon Dropshipping: Product Research

What is Amazon Vendor Central? 

Amazon Vendor Central is actually very different from Amazon Seller Central. While Amazon Seller Central is for everyone who sells on Amazon directly, Amazon Vendor Central is for people who sell on Amazon indirectly, like suppliers and manufacturers. 

This is the hub for “first-party sellers,” who don’t sell anything on Amazon themselves but rather sell products to Amazon, and Amazon in turn, sells those products under their own brand. You can recognize these sellers by the on-site label “ships from and sell by Amazon.com.” 

Amazon Seller Central may be open to anyone who enlists as an Amazon merchant, but Amazon Vendor Central is invite-only. Unfortunately, the only way to get an invite is to prove the merit of your products; Amazon typically contacts successful Amazon sellers or off-site eCommerce retailers and sometimes exhibitors at trade shows. 

Amazon Vendor Central vs Amazon Seller Central

The Amazon Vendor Central vs. Amazon Seller Central debate boils down to a couple of factors:

  • Are you successful enough to get an invite to Amazon Vendor Central?
  • How much do you want to be involved in the sales process? 

Often the determining factor for merchants when deciding which method to use is the fact that Amazon Vendor Central is invitation-only. New and unestablished merchants are stuck with Amazon Seller Central by default because they haven’t been invited to join Amazon Vendor Central. 

If you have been invited to join Amazon Vendor Central, then the determining factor is how much you want to be involved in the sales process. If you join Amazon Vendor Central, you have less control over the price of your items and the logistical options. 

However, joining Amazon Vendor Central has some special perks that Amazon Seller Central does not. Vendors get access to more features on Amazon Marketing Services (AMS), so if you’re very hands-on when it comes to SEO keywords and search advertisements, you may enjoy the extra opportunities from Amazon Vendor Central. 

Amazon Vendors also get to use A+ content, which allows for better branding and more visibility. A+ content lets you use enhanced product descriptions on your pages and better visuals to attract browsing shoppers. There’s also the added benefit of consumer trust: Vendor products display the message “sold by Amazon,” which eases the concerns of shoppers skeptical of buying online. 

Using Amazon Vendor Central also simplifies the sales process, making it a better choice for merchants who want less to do. Vendors deal only with purchase orders, billing, and chargebacks, whereas Sellers must also handle inventory, taxation, and customer support on top of their main duties. 

Read More:- A Guide To The Best Solution Providers for Amazon Sellers

How to Improve your Amazon Sales

No matter whether you prefer Amazon Seller Central or Amazon Vendor Central, your performance selling on Amazon is vital. A strong sales record can help you attract an invitation to Amazon Vendor Central, but even if you’d rather stick with Amazon Seller Central, you still want to maximize your sales and standing for your own profit. 

While we already gave our expert advice on how to improve Amazon click through rates, Amazon PPC campaigns, and inventory management, the most fundamental way to increase both sales and your seller rating is through better visuals like Amazon product photography. 

Amazon and ecommerce in general https://feastgood.com/xanax-online-where-to-buy/ are dependent on visuals — after all, online shoppers can’t touch or move products themselves, so they rely on high-quality visuals to determine traits like texture, size, or flexibility. The better your product visuals, the more confident shoppers feel clicking “Buy.” 

Most Amazon sellers don’t have prior photography experience, so they outsource their needs to Amazon product photography services like ours. Although we at AMZ One Step deal in a variety of Amazon services, our most popular is by far our Amazon product photography. 

With us, you get to leverage our stable of expert photographers and high-end studios on three continents. You receive professional-quality product photos that catch shoppers’ eyes, all without having to invest time and money into your own photo shoots. 

If you’re interested in improving your Amazon performance, schedule a free consultation now and we’ll answer any questions you might have.

Amazon Vendor Central Vs Seller Central

Posted on by adminoo

The fundamental difference between Vendor Central and Seller Central is who will be selling your products. With Vendor Central, Amazon’s retail team buys and resells your products to their customers. With Seller Central, you are selling directly to Amazon’s customers. There are significant differences between the two, so it’s important to fully understand the potential opportunities and drawbacks with each. Before getting into the nitty-gritty, let’s define Amazon Vendor Central and Amazon Seller Central and give an overview of what each offers.

Vendor Central

Vendor Central is an “Invite Only” service offered by Amazon. Once you are part of the Vendor Central system, your products become “Ships from and sold by Amazon.com”. Instead of selling to shoppers as a merchant, you’re selling to Amazon as a distributor. The program grants you access to A+ content, but you have less control over the price at which your product is being offered. You’re selling inventory to Amazon in bulk, instead of purchasing in bulk and waiting for the shoppers to buy.

Acting as a Vendor Central account helps shoppers to be more comfortable with purchasing the product. A product coming directly from Amazon is more trustworthy than coming from “Company ABC”. You’re also given the opportunity to be a part of Amazon’s Vine Program, offering products at a discount to shoppers. There is a bit more of an advantage in marketing tactics operating off of a Vendor Central account.
Here are the major aspects of Vendor Central:

  • Invite only
  • Standard payment terms
  • Less control over prices
  • The potential for larger volume
  • Amazon Vine Program, Subscribe & Save, and other marketing programs

Seller Central

Just about anyone can gain a Seller Central account. There are differences between a professional and a non-professional account. For the purpose of the comparison, we’re strictly going to focus on professional Seller Central accounts. Offering the product through Seller Central offers more control over the products themselves. Seller Central accounts also provide extra information by way of inventory and product management. Payouts based on sales are incurred on a normal basis.

Seller Central offers the opportunity to create promotional codes for customers so that you’re able to run independent marketing promotions. You can also communicate with shoppers one on one, should the need arise. You have more control over PPC campaigns and free extensive analytics within your account.

Here are the major aspects of Seller Central:

  • Anyone can sell
  • Quick payment
  • More control over inventory and prices
  • The potential for higher margins
  • Control over listings & inventory shipments

The Short List

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the differences between having a Vendor Central and a Seller Central account:

Seller Central

  • Open to anyone
  • Sell directly to Amazon’s customers
  • Flexible logistical options
  • Quick payment terms
  • Brand controls retail pricing
  • Limited advertising options
  • Complex sales process
  • Enhanced Brand Content

Vendor Central

  • Invite only
  • Sell to Amazon
  • Fixed logistical options
  • Traditional payment terms
  • Amazon controls retail pricing
  • Multiple advertising options
  • Traditional sales process
  • A+ content

Pros of Amazon Vendor Central

Amazon Vendor Center brings the sellers into its own world.

  1. Consumer Trust

People trust Amazon’s Reputation & Prime Logo more than anything. To be sure, it isn’t an hypothesis. Working with Amazon Vendor Central means that you’ll  no longer be a third party seller but rather a genuine Amazon Supplier.

On the top of everything, vendor central presents an extremely simple business model as all you have to worry about is shipping your product to the Amazon, while leave the rest for Amazon.

      2. Enhanced A+ Content

In the vendor central, you’re eligible to add HTML Content, photos with callouts, comparison charts, bullet points, and videos.

it should be noted that the A+ content is a paid service. It gives you the ability to have more control over your page without going through the customer service.

       3. Subscribe & Save

Consumers have household staples sent directly to your home at a discount.

       5. Amazon Vine

For marketing and promotions, Vendors are offered great programs like Amazon Vine in which the Amazon sends your product to the top reviewers before it even hit the shelves. Not only these reviews are great to achieve the buyers confidence and get more conversions, but also they are a great ranking signal for the A9 Amazon Ranking Algorithm.

There are number of alternatives for getting reviews on Amazon like FeedbackWhiz

       6. Amazon Marketing Services

With seller central, you have the ability to create rich content Ads. (Paid service)

       7. Vendor Premium Services

Amazon can merge listings if there are duplicates, variation listing set up, write content for you.

Cons of Amazon Vendor Central

No doubt, vendor central is pretty much ideal for sellers. However, following the strict guidelines of Amazon especially in areas of orders where you have little to no control is what makes it worth criticizing.

  1. Limited analytics and reporting

With little to no control on the purchase orders, sellers are left guessing about their sales.

     2. Amazon approves All Changes

If you want to change 1 spelling mistake, it will be a long process.

     3. Amazon requests inventory

No control on how much inventory will go into Amazon. Requests come from Amazon on Monday and you have a few days to ship no matter how large the order.

     4. Turn Around Time

Purchase orders, shipping window, agreements, etc.

    6. Amazon sets prices and promotions

If a product is not selling well, they can discount the item and the cost gets passed to you as the seller

    7. Non-Compliance Fees

Fees for late shipments, improper shipments, etc.

    8. Fees assessed immediately

     9. Slow Payment

Sellers have to submit invoices to Amazon to get paid.

Amazon Seller Central Pros

     1. Available to anyone

You just need a bank account and address to qualify for the seller central.

     2. More Control Over your listing 

Amazon Seller central provides a great extend of flexibility and authority to you over your products. Not only you can control the marketing part of your products, but also you can have full access over your pricing.

     3. Rich analytics

Perhaps, the biggest advantage of the seller central is the access to enormous amount of insights and data about the performance of your products. As a seller, they are great for making important business decisions.

     4. The seller creates shipments

You decide how much product you want to send in

    5. Fast Payments (Bi-weekly)

    6. Seller Community

forums, Facebook, Reddit, podcasts, webinars, etc.

    7. Retail Profit Margins

Set your prices

   8. Brand Registry 

If you’re not registered, any seller can contribute and possibly change your listing to come up with the best listing

Amazon Seller Central Cons

The downsides of the Seller Central are very much high. As Amazon holds great reputation in the industry which it has earned through years of struggle, sellers finds it difficult to gain sufficient trust of customers which result in low sales. Believe it or not; this is the biggest disadvantage of the Amazon seller central.

  1. Limited listing details

Compared to the vendor central, listing details are very much limited.

      2. No access to vendor programs

Unlike vendor central, you don’t have the leverage of the review game. All you have to do is to provide the best product to the customer while expecting a decent review in return.

      3. Only simple PPC Ads

PPC Ads are obsolete in the seller central.

Why Your Decision Matters

“It may be hard to fathom, but over 50% of all online shoppers now use Amazon as the first website they visit when making buying decisions. If brands haven’t created a strategy to reach these shoppers, they’re missing out on a major piece of the e-commerce market. In many ways, Amazon is more important than Google,” notes Economy founder Wes Grudzien.