Think of an eBay-esque online retail store featuring third-party sellers - word at Pronto Woven HQ tells us that Amazon Marketplace will go live from 2pm today (Thursday 22 November).

You read that correctly - Amazon Marketplace is launching later today… well, kind of. Let us explain: as published by Life Hacker, Amazon sent an email to its third party retailers describing the launch as “an internal testing phase” that will be made available to “a small number of customers.” All going well, we can expect Amazon Marketplace to be fully operational for the popular annual pre-Christmas bargain bonanza commonly known as “Black Friday” taking place tomorrow, Friday 24 November and “Cyber Monday,” which follows on Monday 27 November.

Having anticipated Amazon’s arrival in Australia for some time now, our team at Pronto Woven, are excited to finally reveal our new Amazon integration add-on. Before we look at the ins and outs, it’s important that you have a solid grasp on what Amazon Marketplace is and why it’s a real game changer in the online retail space in Australia.

So what’s all the fuss about?

As mentioned, much like eBay, Amazon Marketplace allows third-party retailers to list their products on Amazon’s site and to set their own prices. Retailers are responsible for shipping and delivery. According to Amazon, “more than half of Amazon’s products are solved over Marketplace. ”

This really is a big deal, so…

We’ve built an add-on that allows Pronto Avenue customers to:

  • Export product data from Pronto Xi into Amazon and manage your Amazon orders seamlessly into Pronto Xi
  • Reach customers in other countries, showcasing your brand on a global scale via Amazon
  • Expand your reach in the Australian marketplace, increasing your sales and further enhancing your customer service levels

In a nutshell

Avenue will allow your business to seamlessly integrate into Amazon Marketplace. The add-on also allows you to automatically add your customers’ Amazon orders directly into Pronto Xi.

Providing you have the data required by Amazon (category, item type, product details, images and prices), the add-on will create a listing for you in Amazon’s Marketplace. This information allows Amazon to classify your product and impacts how easily customers can find your product. Once your listings are up and running in Amazon Marketplace, all updates for images, pricing and availability will sync and align with your Avenue data.

Once items are paid for via Amazon, these orders will automatically load into Pronto Xi, taking full advantage of Avenue’s sale automation for GL entries. From here, the system will print a picking slip for each order automatically (no human involvement is needed - hooray!). When an order makes it back from Pronto Xi and the status is at or above your pre-defined ‘shipped’ setting, the system sends a fulfilment call to Amazon.

This is the kind of thing that threatens to blow up our geek-o-meters because for so many of our clients, this is the true game changer (how many times are we allowed to use that word within one blog?).

The benefits of having Amazon integration

The short and sweet version:

#1. Generate more sales by tapping into a high traffic channel

Amazon’s online presence is out of this world! The site draws nearly 184 million visitors each month - that’s a lot of eyeballs that can translate into higher sales volumes. According to Amazon, sellers report an average 50% increase in sales when they join Amazon Marketplace

#2. You’re likely to acquire new customers

It’s unlikely anyone will visit Amazon searching for your specific store but they might just stumble upon your products. And that’s a customer who may never have otherwise found your business, or may have purchased from a competitor, that you’ve now got a chance to win repeat business from. This is especially true if you’re selling products in a category that encourages frequent or repeat purchases, such as hobby supplies or fishing gear.

#3. Many people prefer shopping via Amazon

Amazon brings strength in numbers. This is as true for online marketplaces as it is for real world examples such as farmer’s markets and food trailer parks. The sheer variety and all-in-one aspect of Amazon draws in people who prefer that kind of shopping experience.

Before you seal the deal with Amazon Marketplace…

Check out the fees for selling on Amazon and factor that into your margins when you consider selling products via their marketplace.

Of course, selling via Amazon doesn’t mean you can’t sell your products via your own website as well. Many successful merchants do this and reap the benefits of both worlds. Amazon provides you with the added ability to tap into a large volume of traffic to maximise your sales and overall business profits.

To lock-in the Amazon integration for your Avenue solution, contact us today.