- Last updated: April 17, 2022
- stock increase
Any seller using Amazon's FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon) program must adhere to Amazon's quantity limits. Amazon is very strict with its fulfillment centers when it comes to size or number of units. Previously, you could only ship 200 units per shipment, but your rules, as usual, have since changed.
Ask any e-commerce seller what their biggest problem is, and the answer will be nine out of ten: Amazon's meticulous policies. Their terms and conditions change so often, which causes major logistical headaches, including storage limits, be it ASIN policies or ASIN shipping amounts.
And since Amazon is Amazon… it's important to get up to speed with your 24/7 inventory storage limits as this has a lot to do with the success of your business.
So let's find out:
- What is an Amazon FBA quantity limit and why limit it?
- How can you increase your replenishment limits?
- Amazon is not increasing my inventory levels. What do I have to do?
What is an Amazon FBA Quantity Limit? And why limit?
Have you ever wondered why it is"fulfillment" in Fulfillment by Amazonand not say:store” from Amazon? That's because Amazon doesn't want to become a long-term dust collection warehouse. Amazon's goal is to fulfill your order so that all of your items are sold within a limited amount of time, hence the storage limit.
Since Amazon gives you a storage limit, you have to stayjust below the thresholdfor your storage type. Sending more stock than your warehouse limit will result in the stock being rejected. It means aExcess stock storage fee$10/cu for overlimit and any monthly or long-term storage fees.
If you want additional storage, you need to have a good product sales history to show that all of your products sell and that you sell a lot of them.
If your items are around longer than expected and your direct sales rates are lower than the industry average, yourInventory Performance Index Scoreyou'll get hit, Amazon's algorithms will raise a red flag, and you'll likely get a reduction in your restock limit.
How to increase your Amazon stock limits?
Ah, the power of the IPI!
Your IPI score, also known as yourInventory Performance Index, is your queen! Do your best to improve it.
First things first: If you want to lower your refill limits, improve your IPI score. According to Amazon, if your IPI scores are high, you'll receive higher storage limits adjusted to your sales volume and available capacity.
IPI measures how efficient and productive you are in managing your Fulfillment by AmazoninventoryMainly making sure to:
1. Your sold and unsold items in storage have a balanced rate.
Your goal is to sell more products at any given time while maintaining a low inventory rate on Amazon FBA so that your STR (Straight Selling Rates) improves. Please do not let any items pass the welcome deadline.
2.Avoidlong-term storage fees.
If some items are still in Amazon storage and 6 months have passed, you will receive a courtesy email letting you know that storage fees are on the way. You will not be charged until 365 days have passed.
3.Fix listing issues:
If any ASIN listing in your FBA shipment accidentally becomes inactive or completely removed (this could also be done by a predatory competitor...), it means your listing is no longer viewable on Amazon. It's an easy fix: just re-list the ASIN to make your product available for purchase again.
4. Check product reviews
Constantly monitor seller feedback, product returns, and"voice of the customer"to better understand any issues or opportunities related to your product.
5. Stock onepopular articles
Make sure you're maxed outpopular articlesthey are constantly in your inventory, so you never run out. At the same time, never overload that specific ASIN.
6.Reduce excess inventory:
Amazon will classify an item as "overstock" or "overstock" if a seller's FBA inventory exceeds a 90-day supply. If you sell all of your inventory within 40 to 60 days, you'll be in a good position and avoid overstock fees.
7.Fix stranded stock.
Some inventory items may be lost. Amazon has nothing to do with it. Stranded inventory can occur due to shipping discrepancies, loss on the way, some unforeseen error that diverted the item, and many other causes. If this issue occurs, login to the seller's account and manage the inventory page. Stranded items need to be redirected to FBA, re-listed or simply removed.
8.Be aggressive when launching new products.
When you launch a new product, Amazon is intrigued and will give those new products extra exposure to see how the items do with customers, the "honeymoon" period if you will. Don't save money on PPC campaigns. Maximize them to increase sales, improve rankings, and most importantly, improve your sales through fees that will affect your IPI score.
9.Liquidate long-term stored items.
Since long-term items sit on your shelves too long, they basically stifle your revenue, take up space, and generally hamper the growth of your business. Just like dead leaves on a healthy plant, not only does it hurt, but you're actually paying for that space as well overtime. Amazon created aFBA Settlement Programfor sellers to recover the value of products returned by customers and excess inventory. This initiative by Amazon "is designed to help you recover the value of returned inventory, avoid storage fees, and avoid inventory disposal."
10Prioritize your most profitable and best-selling products
A while ago, Amazon removed all ASIN limits, only to implement a different approach: sellers can now reduce inventory on their least profitable products and increase their best-selling products.
To free up more space for your profitable items, you can file a takedown request with Amazon to get rid of your less profitable items or even remove them (for a fee). You can also combine FBA for your bestsellers and FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant) for slower items, whereyouare responsible for storing and shipping products purchased on Amazon.
Increase sales = increase storage limit
Amazon calculates your direct sales rate by the number of units you sell and ship over a 90-day period. They then divide it by the average number of units available in an FBA warehouse over those same 90 days.
If your calculations show that your direct selling rate is low, Amazon will offer you the next step to take by going to your "FBA direct selling" in your seller account and clicking on "improve direct selling". You can do this by:
- Create PPC Ads, which are designed to increase website traffic, generate leads, and increase brand awareness.
- Increase your external traffic: Choose the best keywords on your product pages and hidden search term fields, improve product discoverability and optimize your product pages, improving your ranking.
- While you focus on selling the most in-demand items on your listing,boost new productson Amazon with an aggressive launch strategy in addition to running coupons.
- lower your pricesto increase your product visibility, increase conversion rates and improve sales.
Amazon is not increasing my inventory levels. What do I have to do?
So, you've been working to increase inventory and improve the IPI and it still hasn't helped? do not give up. He will get there eventually. Persistence is the key. Meanwhile, you can combine your FBA with FBM.
While you wait for your IPI to improve and increase your storage limit on Amazon, you can rent your own warehouse or hire a 3PL (third-party distribution center) to store your inventory and fulfillFBMorders. As your IPI increases and Amazon sees the good work, Amazon will increase your limits and you will only be able to work with FBA.
In conclusion:
Since the pandemic, all companies, including Amazon, have had to change their policies, acclimatizing to a harsher reality, especially with wheels ofglobal supply chainsuddenly stuck in the mud.
Many ask if these storage limit policies will change; the answer is likely, but not in the foreseeable future.
Stay tuned to Amazon TOS for updates on this topic. Of course, that's why we're here, to keep you updated on any changes as soon as Amazon announces them.
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