Amazon has added Pakistan to its sellers’ list and that has allowed businesses to reach out to global markets. This presents a great opportunity for our youth, SMEs and women entrepreneurs and can thereby serve as a game-changer for SMEs in Pakistan.
Below are some general guidelines to register as a Seller on Amazon in Pakistan.
STEP 1: How to register
With two selling plans (they’re called Individual and Professional, but you can think of them as standard and premium), Amazon offers you the flexibility to sell one item or sell thousands.
Before you begin registration, decide which plan is a better fit for your business.
- The Individual plan costs $0.99 per sale, while sellers using the Professional plan pay $39.99 per month, no matter how many items they sell.
- If you sell more than 40 items a month, the Professional option makes a lot of sense. Whichever plan you select, don’t worry about making the wrong choice—you can change plans at any time.
STEP 2: What you’ll need to get started
In order to complete your registration, make sure you have access to:
● Bank account number and bank routing number
● Chargeable credit card
● Government issued national ID
● Tax information
● Phone number
STEP 3: How much does it cost to sell on Amazon?
There are a few different types of selling fees you might pay, depending on your selling plan and the types of products you sell. (Selling on Amazon fee schedule – Amazon Seller Central)
STEP 4: Get to know Seller Central
What is Seller Central?
Once you register as an Amazon seller, you’ll have access to your Seller Central account. Think of Seller Central as your go-to resource for selling on Amazon. It’s a portal to your Amazon business and a one-stop shop for managing your selling account, adding product information, making inventory updates, managing payments, and finding helpful content to help you navigate your Amazon business. It’s also where you list all your products.
Below are a just few of the things you can do from Seller Central.
● Keep track of your inventory and update your listings from the Inventory tab
● Download custom business reports and bookmark templates you use often
● Use customer metrics tools to monitor your seller performance
● Contact Selling Partner Support and open help tickets using the Case Log
● Keep track of your daily sales for all the products you sell on Amazon
Go mobile
● Use the Amazon Seller App to track sales, fulfill orders, find products to sell, respond to customer questions, capture and edit professional-quality product photos, and create listings from your phone.
STEP 5: How to list products
Listing your first product
To sell a product on Amazon, you must first create a product listing. Either match an existing listing (if somebody else is already selling the same product on Amazon), or create a new listing (if you are the first or only seller).
The specific way sellers upload and list their products varies depending on their selling plan. To put it simply: Sellers using a Professional seller account have the option of listing their products in large batches using bulk uploading or inventory management with third-party systems, while
Individual sellers list products one at a time.
What you need to start listing products
In most cases, products must have a Global Trade Item Number (GTIN), such as a UPC, an ISBN, or an EAN. Amazon uses these product IDs to identify the exact item you’re selling. If you match a listing, you won’t need to provide a product ID since it already exists. If you’re adding a product that’s new to Amazon, you may need to purchase a UPC code or request an exemption.
In addition to a product ID, here’s some of the important information that goes into each
Product listing:
● SKU
● Product title
● Product description and bullet points
● Product images
● Search terms and relevant keywords
STEP 6: How to deliver products
Selecting the right fulfillment option Amazon sellers have two options for getting shoppers their stuff: You can do it yourself, maintaining your own inventory and shipping products to customers (merchant-fulfillment), or have Amazon take responsibility for packaging, labeling, and shipping products through Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). Each method has its own set of benefits—you just have to decide which one is right for your business. Learn about ecommerce fulfillment strategy.
How Fulfillment by Amazon works
- Ship your inventory to Amazon. It will be scanned and made available for sale.
- With each order, Amazon packages and ships the product directly to the customer.
- Amazon collects payment from the customer and pays you available funds every two weeks.
- Amazon’s customer service team handles questions, returns, and refunds.
STEP 7: You’ve made your first sale. What’s next?
Managing your Amazon business
Your first sale is a big milestone—but it’s just the beginning of your growth opportunities selling on Amazon. Once your store is up and running, there are a few important things to keep in mind.
Performance metrics (and why they matter)
Amazon sellers operate at a high standard so we can provide a seamless, delightful shopping experience. We call it being customer-obsessed, and as an Amazon seller it means keeping an eye on these key metrics:
- Order defect rate (a measure of a seller’s customer service standards): < 1%
- Pre-fulfillment cancel rate (initiated by the seller before shipment) : < 2.5%
- Late shipment rate (orders that ship after the expected date) : < 4%
You can keep tabs on your performance and make sure you’re meeting your targets in Seller
Central.
Customer reviews
Customer product reviews are an integral part of the shopping experience on Amazon, and they benefit both customers and sellers. Make sure you’re familiar with the right way and wrong way to get more product reviews and avoid policy violations.
*The content has been sourced from Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP)
