One of our customers recently asked us to help them with the process of listing their products in Amazon. They needed the process to be automated as they had close to 15000 products to be listed.

The key concepts that we need to understand for listing products in Amazon are

1. Product Key Identifier
2. Product Title
3. Product Manufacturer
4. Product Category
5. Key Words
6. Product Image
7. Product Price
8. On Hand Quantity

I’ll explain one by one for the benefit of new sellers who are listing their products.

Product Key Identifier

This could be the UPC (Universal Product Code) or Amazon ASIN (Amazon System Identification Number). Amazon validates the UPC code to ensure it is a valid UPC code. If the UPC code already exists in its database, it also checks the Product title or the description matches to an existing product.

Product Title

This is the brief description of the product One liner. It says, what the product is. If the item already exist in amazon database, it has to match to the existing item if the UPC code or ASIN number already exist.

Product Manufacturer

This is the manufacturer of the product also it can be the brand name.

Product Category

Depending upon if you are using Amazon storefront or Amazon market place as your place of listing items, the validations and restrictions on categories could vary. If you have developed your own storefront using Amazon store design, the validations on categories are not much as. But if you are getting the products listed in the Amazon market place, the category name should match to the existing categories. Amazon has standard categories and subcategories that a product should go into. Based on the categories, there are restrictions that additional information may be needed

Key Words

These are the search terms buyers may use to find your product. Amazon provides many key words/terms that can be added to your product listing. These are also called as tags.

Product Image

This is the image that buyers will see in the Amazon market place or in your store front. If it is Amazon market place listing and if the item already exist, Amazon may already have the images and it is not necessary for you to upload images. But if the item is getting listed in your own storefront, you need to provide a good quality image to Amazon. You can either upload the image file from your local PC or provide an URL where the image can be found. Amazon can import the image from that URL.

Product Price

This is the selling price of the item. Generally this will exclude shipping charges and you need to price your product competitively so that it gets high ranking when buyers sort by price. As the same product is sold by many sellers in Amazon, it is necessary to list the products at a price that will sell easily.

On Hand Quantity

This is the current inventory you have to fulfill customer orders. You may have multiple warehouses to stock the inventory but Amazon need to know your starting point. After that it will keep updating the stock as you sell and ship. If you are selling your inventory in multiple channels ( brick and mortar stores, other online platforms) it is necessary that you keep your inventory count as current as possible. Amazon does not like sellers who frequently get into out of stock and Back order situations.

Only when price and quantity are updated, Amazon will move the item from Inactive status to Active status. Now your products will be visible in the Amazon Market place or your store front.

To list your products in Amazon marketplace contact TPSynergy.