Amazon FBM Automation

[kim...@kiyonna.com]

Hi,

I'm new to this User Group and looking forward to learning to use Order Manager better.  I have some questions on how to make the process of processing orders that are Amazon Seller Fulfilled a lot smoother.  We usually do FBA but we just started selling quite a bit of seller fulfilled orders last week.  Our process isn't smooth and I'd love some knowledge on what we can do to improve the process.

Importing:  We currently download an order report from Amazon and then upload this as a text file into OM.
Approving:  Since the orders are already paid, is there a way to approve these in a batch?  This is the step that really is taking quite a while as we have over 500 orders on some days.
Printing: We are using a 3rd party called ShipJunction for rate shopping and sorting of packing lists / invoices once they are processed.  However, for Amazon, the product we are shipping just goes USPS First Class Mail so we'd like to bypass using ShipJunction as it's an extra.65 per order fee. Also, we usually use the crack and peel labels that are formatting to print the order invoice.  Because we don't include an order invoice in Amazon packages, I feel like we're throwing away another .25 per sheet when we print the label this way.  Is there a way to batch print these labels straight to a label printer directly through our Endicia account and also include any type of packing information on the label for our packers so they don't need to match up a separate packing list?

Tracking: We upload tracking at the end of the day to Amazon via an excel spreadsheet.  Is there an automatic connection to seller central for this?

Any advice on the above would be really helpful.  I know there is definitely a better way here.

Thanks!

Kim

[Peter Foreman-Murray]

Hi Kim. Stone Edge has an Amazon connection that would take care of all that importing and exporting for you. Price should be either $50, $100, or $150 per month based on whether you want to bring in just standard FBM orders, seller fulfilled prime, and / or FBA orders. Don't quote me on the pricing, but that's my understanding. We're about to switch a store over to that system from the older, no longer supported integration.

Approval rules can take care of your approval issue. Settings > order functions > approval rules. You can set up a rule that says that if the order is from the Amazon cart, automatically approve it.

You can also use approval rules to switch all Amazon orders to first class mail.

I can't speak for batch printing, but you can print first class directly in stone edge via the Dazzle integration. I've only used it to ship orders one at a time.

There's a system where you can pack and ship directly in stoneedge, so you could theoretically have an employee pack and ship from a stone edge workstation and then print the label. No need for a packing slip. Not sure if that helps with your workflow or not.

Cheers,

Peter

[Mr Zinbar]

Good Morning Kim

I will let the guys at Stone chime in BUT there is a better way and it will save you both time and money.

Contact them about setting up the new Amazon import routine. Your orders will flow into SEOM with the click of a button.

.

As for shipping, use the new system built into order manager to print the USPS labels.  The tracking will be pushed back automatically.

You might need to update your SEOM version. 

I hope this helps,

Earl

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[kim...@kiyonna.com]

Hi,

Thank you so much.  I was able to follow the approval rules below and got the first class option to work.  However, when I set up a rule to approve if the order payment type=Amazon, it is still pending approval.  I'd like to just automatically log payment for anything coming in from Amazon.  How do I automate the step of automatically logging payment?

Thanks!

Kim

[John Frazar]

Hey Kim! 

Earl and Peter basically summed it up.  

First you should use the proper Amazon integration for Stone Edge.  It will bring in FBA, FBM and Seller Fulfilled Prime orders.  It handles payments and inventory correctly according to the order source in Amazon (i.e., FBA orders come in as already shipping, do not deduct inventory, but do show up for account exports, sales reports, etc.).  The integrations are $50 each, or $125 for the suite with all three if you need all three.  Sure beats messing around with downloading and importing text files.

As for shipping - it seems like SEOM v7.7 has everything you need without any 3rd party software dependencies.  It does time in transit based rate shopping across ALL carriers that you use (i.e., find the least expensive method that will get the order to the customer in 2 days, or 5 days, etc).  You can do batch shipping, but you'll probably find it more economical to ship one-by-one as you pack to take advantage of the rate shopping.  Personally, I've observed countless shipping operations of small mom-and-pop retailers shipping 20 orders a day up to retailers shipping 20,000 orders a day and I can ALWAYS build a case against batch printing shipping labels.  I'll save that discussion for another day. 

As for shipping labels - invest in a thermal printer, like the Zebra ZP-450.  You can lease them from UPS or FedEx for a few bucks a month and usually they will provide you with free labels.  If you don't have the volume with them, or would rather own on, you can find them refurbished on eBay for around $100. Thermal label rolls are WAY more economical than the 8.5x11" half sheet labels.

That said, SEOM 7.7, can take advantage of the 8.5x11" labels by printing your label on one half, and a packing slip on the other half.  It's still not economical though. 

I hope this helps!  Please reach out to sa...@stoneedge.com to get setup with the Amazon integration and v7.7.

John Frazar

[John Frazar]

Hey Kim! 

Earl and Peter basically summed it up.  

First you should use the proper Amazon integration for Stone Edge.  It will bring in FBA, FBM and Seller Fulfilled Prime orders.  It handles payments and inventory correctly according to the order source in Amazon (i.e., FBA orders come in as already shipping, do not deduct inventory, but do show up for account exports, sales reports, etc.).  The integrations are $50 each, or $125 for the suite with all three if you need all three.  Sure beats messing around with downloading and importing text files.

As for shipping - it seems like SEOM v7.7 has everything you need without any 3rd party software dependencies.  It does time in transit based rate shopping across ALL carriers that you use (i.e., find the least expensive method that will get the order to the customer in 2 days, or 5 days, etc).  You can do batch shipping, but you'll probably find it more economical to ship one-by-one as you pack to take advantage of the rate shopping.  Personally, I've observed countless shipping operations of small mom-and-pop retailers shipping 20 orders a day up to retailers shipping 20,000 orders a day and I can ALWAYS build a case against batch printing shipping labels.  I'll save that discussion for another day. 

As for shipping labels - invest in a thermal printer, like the Zebra ZP-450.  You can lease them from UPS or FedEx for a few bucks a month and usually they will provide you with free labels.  If you don't have the volume with them, or would rather own on, you can find them refurbished on eBay for around $100. Thermal label rolls are WAY more economical than the 8.5x11" half sheet labels.

That said, SEOM 7.7, can take advantage of the 8.5x11" labels by printing your label on one half, and a packing slip on the other half.  It's still not economical though. 

I hope this helps!  Please reach out to sa...@stoneedge.com to get setup with the Amazon integration and v7.7.

John Frazar

On Sunday, May 17, 2020 at 4:13:45 PM UTC-4, kim...@kiyonna.com wrote:

[Roxanne Brown]

Just an accounting note on the FBA orders.  The sale and money received come in fine; and in the correct accounting period.  One important thing to understand is that the inventory was decremented, and COGS increased, when the product was SENT to FBA ... NOT when sold.  This can make your P&L look really out of whack if your sales are not consistent.

John Frazar - we should revisit this.  We discussed a change that would allow SEOM to post the COGS/Inventory at the same time as the sale; which would be ideal.  This