Doing business on Amazon can be overwhelming unless you know the complete process. Amazon is one of the largest eCommerce platforms out there. Many people start their businesses on Amazon but have to give up because they lack complete information about how it works. If you are one of them, wait no further, this article will help in locating Amazon warehouses around you.
Fulfillment is the most crucial part of an eCommerce business. Amazon FBA(fulfillment by Amazon) facilitates small and medium businesses in this crucial part. Most of the small businesses on Amazon are doing dropshipping. They don’t have the means to fulfill their orders by themselves. Hiring a logistics company for order fulfillment is an expensive affair.
This is where FBA jumps in as your savior. Everything from; shipment to last-mile, delivery, and returns are handled by Amazon. You only have to focus on your marketing and the rest will be handled by Amazon.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: What is Amazon FBA?
FBA stands for fulfillment by Amazon. As discussed before, it is a service offered by Amazon, for eCommerce businesses; for order fulfillment. But before going into further detail, let us first understand what order fulfillment is.
In layman’s terms, order fulfillment is an eCommerce process that starts once you receive the order and ends with the order delivery. The steps in between, including packaging and shipment, are also a part of the process. Handling returns is the last part of the fulfillment process.
1) What is Amazon FBA all about?
FBA is a service by Amazon for its sellers to facilitate them in the fulfillment process. Using this, Amazon sellers can outsource their order fulfillment to Amazon. As a seller, you need to send your inventory to the Amazon warehouse. Amazon will do the rest!
Amazon will pick, pack, ship, and deliver your order through its worldwide customer services network. It also handles customer support and returns for these orders.
All of this process is automated to create a smooth demand-supply chain. To meet the demand, you should manage your inventory and restock when needed. For all these services, Amazon charges affordable fees.
However, FBA services are not limited to Amazon sellers only. You can use their fulfillment services as an individual seller as well. But Amazon will charge you an extra 0.99$ for each sale that you make, and you can only sell 40 units per month using FBA.
2) How Does Amazon FBA Work?
Understanding the FBA process is very simple. You can break it down into two parts.
- Product Hunting: Search for a profitable product to sell on Amazon
- Product Selection: Select the product which you want to sell on Amazon.
- Sourcing: Select from where you are going to source your product. For this, websites like Alibaba and Ali Express are a good option
- Send your product to Amazon: Now all you need to do is send the product to Amazon for FBA.
Once you have opted for FBA services, you hand over the responsibility of shipping, storing, delivery, and even customer services to them. This is how FBA works:
- Inventory: It starts with you sending your inventory to the Amazon warehouse.
- Amazon fulfillment warehouses: Next, Amazon goes ahead and stores your products in its fulfillment warehouse. There are a number of Amazon warehouses in the world dedicated to FBA services.
- Customer places an order: Once this is all done and your inventory reaches the warehouse, you are in business. When someone places an order, things get into action.
- Order Packing and Delivery: When an order is placed, Amazon packs the order in the fulfillment warehouse and dispatches it for delivery.
- Customer Service: Seldom does it happen that you never get complaints about the products. At times, even if there is no complaint, customer service is mostly required. Amazon itself provides this service to the users.
- Returns and refunds: Amazon also provides services when it comes to returns and refunds. It is not the headache of the seller.
this is how FBA handles every possible facet of your eCommerce business from keeping your inventory to ensuring timely delivery. that is why people prefer Amazon for their order fulfillment.
3) Why Is It Important For You as a Seller?
For a seller, it all comes down to how much profit you earn. For an eCommerce business, this is the most challenging part. But with FBA behind your back, it becomes easier. If you choose a profitable product and use Amazon to your benefit, you can easily make good profits.
That is how FBA benefits you as a seller:
- Time is money, and FBA helps you save lots of it. Since all the heavy lifting is done by Amazon; from packaging to shipping, delivery, returns, and customer support. You get time to make business decisions and scalability.
- Amazon is a huge name in the eCommerce world. It has a large network of warehouses and logistics that you can avail of by paying a small amount.
- Shipping requires lots of paperwork and permissions. With FBA, you don’t have to worry about any paperwork.
- The name Amazon brings prestige and trust from the customers.
Chapter 2: What Do We Need to Know About Amazon Warehouse Near Me?
A question sellers often ask is, “ How am I going to find an Amazon warehouse near me?”. To answer this question and make you understand Amazon warehouses better, we have dedicated this complete chapter. Read through to get your answers.
1) What are Amazon Warehouses?
Before moving on, let us first get one thing out of our way. Amazon warehouse and Amazon fulfillment center are two different things. While the Amazon fulfillment center handles new products, packaging, shipment, etc., the Amazon warehouse handles returns. Once a package is returned, it goes through a few processes and is categorized as:
- Like new
- Very good
- Good
- Acceptable
Based on these categories, the returns are further handled. the products categorized as ‘Like new’ are put for sale again. A used or open box item purchased from Amazon can be returned within 30 days of receipt. Click here for detail about how Amazon return works.
2) Why Do You Need to Know About the Amazon Warehouses Near Me?
Understandably, it is important to know where your inventory is stored. But, you won’t be able to choose the warehouse for your products. Amazon has a complete process of deciding where to place your inventory. Why knowing is important then? Well, if Amazon puts your inventory in a warehouse near you, it will cost you less. Especially if you are shipping within the city or if most of your customers are near the warehouse where your products are.
3) What Does It Mean if there are so many Amazon Warehouses near Me?
Are you wondering why there are so many warehouses in one state or near you? As they say; the more the merrier. There are a large number of warehouses throughout the world and in the same city or state to facilitate as many sellers and buyers as they can. Amazon places customer comfort and eases before anything else. It helps Amazon to provide faster services and support to its customers.
4) What Are the Advantages of Amazon Warehouses?
Amazon FBA warehouses have several advantages:
- You don’t need to worry about storage, overseeing, and organizing the products in the warehouse.
- The highly established system of Amazon which includes robotics, inventory management, and computer systems are top of the line. This means your products are safe and secure and in good hands.
- Organized packaging and delivery options. The sheer size of the Amazon warehouses is so huge and with thousands of products sold daily, they have the best packaging system. Not only is it quick and efficient it is also high-class.
Chapter 3: Different Methods to Find an Amazon Warehouse Near Me
Most of the people we have come across are worried and think “can I find an Amazon warehouse near me?” There are a few simple and effective means to find them near you which are as follows:
1) Conduct Google Research
Without a doubt, you can find everything you want online. So, the first thing you should do is go and search on Google. There is ample information available. But, be sure to re-check and confirm it.
2) Go to amazon.com
Amazon provides a list of FBA warehouses they have around the world. You can further search on the website in the seller central account and look for an Amazon warehouse near you.
3) Ask Different Amazon Sellers Around You
Do you know someone who is already selling on Amazon? Is he/she opting for Amazon FBA? It can’t get better than this. Someone with experience will guide you better to find an Amazon warehouse near you.
4) Study the Blog Further
Our blog has detailed information about all the Amazon warehouses near you. So, if you are looking for an ‘Amazon warehouse near me’ anywhere in the world, this blog is going to help you find one for sure.
5) Contact Amazon Help Team
Are you still worried about finding an Amazon warehouse?
You can always contact the Amazon help team. Amazon has one of the best customer services in the world. Therefore, you can always go ahead and have a chat with a customer service team member to clear your queries.