The Amazon Store is a behemoth like mariah carey interview with ryan seacrest. At one point it was the second-largest in the world and it has a reputation for offering almost everything regardless of whether you are looking for something you need, or if you’re simply browsing for fun. However, this particular store has amassed more than 100 million reviews that can provide insight into just about any product that the store offers—not to mention the breadth of items offered by various sellers on Amazon’s website. This makes Amazon an invaluable resource to consumers curious about whether or not they should buy something new, as well as those who are wanting to save money without sacrificing quality.
1. The Amazon Store
The Amazon Store can be used in conjunction with one or more of the following: Amazon’s Price Check app, Shopify, Joomla, BigCommerce and Magento. If you’re planning on using an existing website to sell your products on Amazon, create a storefront through the Seller Central menu that you can link to your website. If your website is new, you will need to purchase their A-to-Z program so that it can be integrated into their system. This costs just shy of $1,000 (approximately $1,067 CAD at the time of this writing).
2. The Amazon Price Check App
The Amazon Price Check app is an easy way to check out prices offered by a variety of merchants on the site. Customers need only scan the barcode of a product using the app that’s available for both Android and Apple devices. The app will then check prices against other merchants in the area, providing you with the merchant with the lowest price.
3. Shopify
Shopify is a great option for those who already have an established Web presence or are looking to create one from scratch. There are four levels of Shopify that can be purchased, with higher-level ones offering additional features (such as web hosting).
4. Joomla
Joomla is a popular platform that’s used in conjunction with the Amazon Store, allowing you to customize your storefront to best suit your needs. There are two versions of the program: Joomla 1.5 and Joomla 1.6 . The first is done in English and the second is in English and French. The price for either version of the program varies between $0-$25, depending on whether you want the single-site or multisite license (the multi-site license includes 10 additional sites).
5. BigCommerce
This is another store-front that may or may not be compatible depending on the store that you wish to sell on Amazon. If you’re looking for a program that offers web hosting, custom CSS and designs and multi-site capabilities, then this might be your best option (again, depending on the store that you want to sell). The free plan includes one domain name, six months of blog support and 10GB of storage space. A two-year recurring subscription costs between $50-$100 per year (depending on the type of plan). This is valid for all stores run through BigCommerce—including an ecommerce store, affiliate program and portfolio site.
6. Magento
If you’re looking to sell on Amazon, then you will need to use a program like Magento. This platform allows customization of the store’s URL and can help connect it to numerous databases. The Enterprise Plan at Magento offers the most options for future expansion and supports product catalogs in multiple languages—which can be helpful if your product or service is sold across borders.
Other Tips & Advice
1. Using A-to-Z to Save Money
You can save money on your cost of running an ecommerce store, by buying your products through Amazon. The program that I mentioned earlier called A-to-Z is just one avenue to do this. There are other resources that allow you to connect the Amazon Store with an existing site, like Shopify.com. Another option involves using the BigCommerce Platform, which allows you to use your existing website as a storefront and integrate it with either the Joomla or Magento Storefront Engine. This saves you from having to create a new website from scratch.
2. Using Amazon’s Selling Manager to Find New Products
You can also use Amazon’s Selling Manager tool to find new products for your store. Simply go to their Merchant Central menu and click on the Sell on Amazon logo. From here, you will be able to create a listing of your own, which can then be filled with the relevant product information, a picture and a price point. The process requires filling out some basic information about your business and can be done within five minutes from start to finish—which is great if you have a limited time frame for your product selection.
3. Using the ‘Fulfillment by Amazon’ Program
If you would like to use Amazon’s fulfillment service, then you first need to go to Seller Central. From this menu, click on Fulfillment by Amazon. You will then be prompted with a shopping cart page where you can select what products that your business is looking to sell. You can choose one or more stores in which to have these items stocked in your inventory (for example, you could select both an ecommerce store and a retail store). There are three levels of services offered at FBA: Standard, Fast and Premium.
