Order fulfillment is the process of completing a customer’s order. It begins when a customer checks out an order on your website and ends when they receive their order. It includes storage, also known as warehousing, packing, shipping and processing returns. Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) provides Amazon Prime shipping for drop shippers, which is particularly beneficial if you want an end-to-end shipping solution for your business. The components of FBA requirements include packaging, preparation, labeling, 2-day fulfillment and EDI requirements.

Packaging Requirements

Amazon’s packaging requirements for products you send to their warehouses are generally designed to ensure staff safety and protect the package from damage during shipping. For example, if the product must ship on a pallet, it must be on a standard 40-inch by 48-inch palette, with a maximum height of 72 inches. The weight of the palette can’t exceed 1,500 pounds. The product must also be shrink-wrapped, although it can’t be held together by the shrink wrap.

Preparation Requirements

You must render any existing barcodes on the outside of the shipping boxes unscannable to prevent it from being accidently scanned during shipment. This requirement typically means that you must cover existing barcodes with a black felt-tip marker or opaque tape. Some products may have additional preparation requirements specific to that product category. Products that fall under multiple categories meet the preparation requirements for all applicable categories.

Labeling Requirements

Any pallet or box that you ship to an Amazon fulfillment center must have an FBA shipping label. Each label is unique, so you can’t reuse, modify or photocopy them. Don’t place labels across seams or other openings on the box because they’ll get torn when the customer opens it. Don’t place labels around the box’s corners or edges, as this position makes them difficult to scan. Pallets require a label on the top center of each side.

2-Day Fulfillment Requirements

Amazon sellers gain access to Amazon Prime members by making their products eligible for 2-day fulfillment. The key to reducing the cost of this shipping method is to store inventory in the fulfillment centers closest to your customers, allowing you to use ground shipping methods. Most people in the U.S. live in big cities, so using urban fulfillment centers is the best way to accomplish this goal. For example, you should use a fulfillment center in Chicago if you target customers in the Midwest region.

EDI Requirements

Electronic data interchange (EDI) is the exchange of business information between computers. It relies on a standard structure that allows Amazon sellers to process orders and print shipping labels in bulk. They must handle specific EDI transactions such as inventory availability, order confirmation, advance shipment notices and invoices. EDI requirements also include printing the packing slip in a specific format.

How NowFactory Can Help

NowFactory is very experienced with FBA and offers consultation on this subject. We can also help minimize your Amazon shipping fees by ensuring compliance with FBA requirements, which saves you the time and effort. Feel free to explore our website or contact us to learn more about how we can make using FBA to reach your customers an absolute breeze.