General SOP: Definitions and Overview of Amazon Platforms (Part 1)

Amazon Marketplace

• The Amazon Marketplace refers to the platform within the Amazon website where third-party sellers can list and sell their products directly to consumers.

Amazon Marketplace Web Service

• The Amazon Marketplace Web Service is a tool that provides automation options for sellers to integrate their data with Amazon's platform. This service enables programmatic data exchange for listings, orders, payments, reports, and more, allowing sellers to increase efficiency, reduce labor requirements, and improve response time to customers. To use Amazon MWS, a seller must have an Amazon MWS-eligible professional selling account. With Amazon MWS, private developers can create applications for their own Amazon seller account, while public developers can build applications for other sellers to use. The Marketplace Appstore is available for developers to publish their applications for Amazon sellers to discover. It is important to note that if a seller wishes to use an application from the Marketplace Appstore, they are not required to register as a developer.

Marketplace Appstore

• The Marketplace Appstore serves as a centralized platform where small and medium-sized businesses selling on Amazon can easily find high-quality applications to help automate, manage, and expand their operations. It offers a range of functionalities across the selling cycle, from Amazon and third-party developers.
• The Marketplace Appstore is accessible from Seller Central, where users can leave ratings and reviews on an application's detail page, helping other sellers discover applications that are suitable for their needs. While you can promote the existence of Marketplace Appstore ratings and reviews through broadcast channels like blog posts or press releases, you are not allowed to target or solicit reviews from individual users via email or other means.

Amazon Fresh

• Amazon Fresh is an online grocery delivery and pickup service that offers a wide selection of fresh produce, meat, dairy, and other grocery items from local and national vendors. Customers can choose between same-day and next-day delivery or pickup options and have the convenience of shopping from the comfort of their own homes. With Amazon Fresh, customers can also enjoy additional benefits such as exclusive discounts and deals on popular grocery items.

Carrier Central

• Amazon has developed a web portal called Carrier Central that is exclusively available for Carriers, Sellers, and Vendors to manage carrier appointments for Amazon Fulfillment Centers. When a Vendor or Seller requests a Carrier through a Routing Request on Vendor Central for Fulfillment by Amazon, Amazon will allocate the carrier for Collect Vendors. The Carrier company will then schedule a delivery appointment with the relevant Amazon Fulfilment Center through Carrier Central. Prepaid Customers can schedule their own delivery appointments through Carrier Central or choose to have their Carrier Company do so through their own Carrier Central profile.

Advantage Central

• Amazon Advantage is a platform for authors, publishers, labels, and studios to sell and promote their books and other media products on Amazon. Similar to Vendor Central or Seller Central, Advantage Central is the platform used for managing distribution and order fulfillment to and through Amazon. In addition, marketing options are available for those using this web portal.

Author Central

• Author Central is an Amazon platform that allows authors to create their own pages and sell their books on Amazon. With Author Central, authors can manage their content, create profiles, and track their book sales on Amazon. They can also take advantage of Amazon's search algorithms to increase their visibility and reach more readers. This platform is available to any author with published books that have an ISBN and are approved by a publisher.

Amazon Marketing Services (AMS)

• The Amazon Advertising Console, formerly known as Amazon Marketing Services or AMS, is a platform for vendors and sellers to create and manage keyword- and target-driven advertising campaigns. Using a pay-per-click model, users can bid on keywords and search terms and create sponsored product or brand advertisements.

Seller Central

• Seller Central is an Amazon web portal designed primarily for third-party sellers or retailers. However, over time, any Amazon supplier can now sell through a Seller Central Account. This platform offers flexibility when it comes to product pricing control, allowing sellers to supply either directly to the consumer or through Amazon-Fulfilled programs. Sellers can create their product catalog on this platform, manage their purchase orders, and track their sales and product performance through a variety of reports provided.

Individual Seller

• The Individual Seller Account Type is a type of Seller Central Account that is designed for sellers who have a low volume of sales.

Professional Seller

• The Professional Seller Account Type is a specialized Seller Central Account that is designed to cater to high-volume sellers.

Business Seller

• The Business Seller Account Type is a specialized Seller Central Account designed for sellers engaged in B2B (Business to Business) transactions, offering features and requirements specific to this type of selling.

Amazon Seller App (iOS, Android)

• The Amazon Seller App is a mobile application that enables sellers to manage their inventory, sales, and orders on their Seller Central account through their mobile devices.

PN Seller App (iOS, Android)

• The PN Seller App is a mobile application available on Apple and Android devices that assists sellers in packaging their products for shipping to customers. To use the app, a Seller Central account is required.

AF Seller App (iOS)

• The AF Seller App is a mobile tool that offers AmazonFresh sellers features to manage their orders. To use this app, you need to have a Seller Central Account and be actively selling on AmazonFresh.

Sold by Amazon

• The "Sold by Amazon" program is designed for select third-party products listed on Amazon's marketplace, where Amazon has full control over the pricing of those products. It is promoted as a "hands-off" selling experience by Amazon. Sellers who opt into this program allow Amazon to adjust their product prices as needed while ensuring that sellers receive a guaranteed payout called Minimum Gross Proceed (MGP), thus avoiding unexpected losses due to discounts. To participate in this program, sellers must meet certain eligibility criteria.

Vendor Central

• Vendor Central is a web portal or platform designed for manufacturers and distributors, initially as an invite-only platform. It is geared towards large bulk orders, mostly to Amazon Fulfillment Centers, but vendors can also opt for Direct Fulfillment to consumers, particularly for large, bulky, or difficult-to-store and ship products. On this platform, vendors create their product catalog, manage their purchase orders, and track their sales and product performance through various reports offered.

Brand Registry

• The Brand Registry program on Amazon is designed to help sellers and manufacturers protect their brand's integrity on the platform. To be eligible for Brand Registry, you must have a Vendor or Seller Central Account and valid copyright and trademark registrations for your brand. This helps prevent intellectual property rights violations and gives you greater control over product listings, including images, names, and descriptions.

Amazon Pay

• Amazon Pay is a versatile platform that serves both eCommerce sites and Amazon customers. It allows Amazon customers to make faster and easier purchases on other eCommerce websites using their Amazon account and payment details. For eCommerce sites, Amazon Pay eliminates the need to set up a separate payment service by allowing customers to pay using their Amazon account. Amazon Pay can be used to purchase products on tens of thousands of eCommerce sites worldwide, and users can even donate to charities through their Amazon Pay account. With Amazon Pay, users can seamlessly check out on other eCommerce sites without having to create a new account.

Demand Side Platform (Formerly Amazon Advertising Platform)

• The Amazon Demand Side Platform is Amazon's advertising platform that offers both managed and self-service options through accredited agencies. Advertisers can use it to target Amazon's audience on third-party sites and applications with various advertisement formats such as desktop and mobile web display ads, mobile banner ads, mobile interstitial ads, and video ads. DSP media buy is the only way to specifically target Amazon shoppers off of Amazon and also the only way to buy ad space on Amazon's own websites. While DSP campaigns can help build brand and product awareness, they may not be the most effective way to spend money for companies looking for direct sales impact. DSP is more suitable for companies already running display ads on other platforms and who understand the nature of brand advertising.

Kindle Direct Publishing

• Kindle Direct Publishing is a platform that allows authors to easily self-publish their books on Amazon in both ebook and print-on-demand formats. It's free to use, and authors can either create a new book from scratch or convert an existing book into a Kindle version. With Kindle Direct Publishing, authors can easily manage their content, cover design, and pricing, and can distribute their books worldwide through Amazon's online store. The process of publishing can take as little as five minutes, and authors can start earning royalties within 24-48 hours of their book's availability on the Kindle store.

Merch by Amazon

• Merch by Amazon is a service that offers on-demand t-shirt printing to sellers who want to create and sell their own t-shirt designs on Amazon.
• Sellers can use the service for free without any upfront costs and will receive payment for each shirt sold.
• To get started, sellers upload their designs, select colors, set a price, and Amazon handles the rest.
• The Merch dashboard allows sellers to upload designs, promote their t-shirts, and track sales performance.
• Initially, sellers are limited to 25 designs, but once they sell 25 shirts, they can upgrade to Tier 2, which allows them to have up to 100 designs.

Amazon Websites

• Amazon owns and manages a variety of websites.
• Amazon-branded websites include Amazon sites for various countries and regions, such as the US, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, Singapore, Turkey, Canada, China, Japan, the UK, Germany, Spain, France, India, Italy, and the Netherlands.
• Other branded websites owned by Amazon include 6pm.com for shoes, clothing, and accessories, AbeBooks.com for books, art, and collectibles, AudiobookStand.com for audiobooks, BookDepository.com for specialist books, ComiXology.com for comics, EastDane.com for men's clothing, shoes, and accessories, Fabric.com for home decor, apparel, and quilting fabrics, Shopbop.com for women's clothing, shoes, and accessories, Souq.com for the Middle East marketplace, Woot.com for daily deals, Zappos.com for shoes, and ZVAB.com for German books.

Amazon Retail Apps

• Amazon is the owner of several retail applications.
• Amazon-Branded apps include:
• Amazon (available on iOS, Android, and Apple TV)
• Amazon Go (available on iOS and Android)
• Amazon Prime Photos (available on iOS and Android)
• Amazon Music (available on iOS, Android, Mac, and PC)
• Amazon Prime Now (available on iOS and Android)
• Amazon Prime Video (available on iOS and Android)
• Amazon Video (available on iOS and Android)
• Amazon Kindle (available on iOS, Android, Mac, PC, and Windows Phone)
• Other branded apps include:
• Audible (available on iOS, Android, and Apple Watch)
• Shopbop (available on iOS and Android)
• Whole Foods Market (available on iOS and Android)
• Zappos (available on iOS and Android)

PillPack

• PillPack is a comprehensive pharmacy service tailored to fit your lifestyle. They work with your healthcare providers and insurance company to collect your prescriptions, arrange your initial delivery, and reorder your medication as needed. PillPack organizes your medication by the time of day and ships them to your doorstep every month, with around-the-clock pharmacy assistance available. Additionally, they offer automatic refills before your supply runs out and provide free delivery straight to your door.