With 14 country-specific marketplaces, 175+ fulfillment centers around the globe, and active shoppers in over 180 countries, Amazon Marketplace has become a globally recognized name. Its international footprint alone is enough to entice any online business to consider expanding internationally. But the marketplace giant boasts much more than just reach. There are also a ton of cross-border Amazon tools that can help sellers successfully reach new markets.
In this article, we’re going to take a look at what cross-border Amazon tools are out there to help you expand internationally. From localizing your listings to managing logistics and global accounts - here’s what you need to know.
Set up Amazon Global Selling accounts
So you’ve decided which products you want to sell and in which markets. Great! Now it’s time to set up your selling accounts. You’ll need to create a new selling account for each marketplace. However, depending on where you currently sell and where you want to expand, there are several tools that can help.
Amazon Europe Marketplace account
Let’s say you already sell products on Amazon.de and want to expand to the UK and France. Instead of creating individual selling accounts in these countries, you can turn your existing account into a European Marketplace account. This way, you can list products on all 5 European marketplaces (Amazon.co.uk, .de, .fr, .it, and .es) from a single account.
Amazon North America Unified account
A similar tool also exists for sellers in North America. By enabling the North America Unified account, sellers can list products and manage listings in Canada, the US, and Mexico, from a single Seller Central account.
Single sign-on
These above regional unified accounts are useful for continental sellers, but what if you’re planning to expand even further. For example, let’s say you’re a seller based in the US, but you also want to sell in Japan and France. In this case, you can use the Single sign-on feature. This tool lets you link all your existing country-specific seller accounts - allowing you to manage all your marketplace listings and inventory in one account.
Create and manage cross-border Amazon listings
Now that you know how to set up your global accounts, it’s time to build your cross-border Amazon product listings. Here, there are many factors to consider. Aside from varying marketplace rules and regulations, you must also consider country-specific tax laws, product restrictions, language, and more. Moreover, a product listing that performs well in the US may not necessarily see the same success in the UK. With this in mind, Amazon offers a variety of tools that can help you prepare high-performing international listings.
Marketplace-specific SKUs
Amazon makes it possible for sellers to offer unique product selections for each of their active marketplaces. This means the products you list in Japan can differ from the ones you offer in France - even if you’re managing both marketplaces under a single account. You can do this by selecting "Unique offer" when manually creating a listing within your Seller account.
Build International Listings (BIL)
Now let’s say you sell products in the US, but are looking to expand to Canada and the UK. Instead of recreating all of your existing product listings in each new marketplace account, you can use the Build International Listings tool. This tool lets you easily sync your product listings across marketplaces. First, you’ll need to define your “source” marketplace. In the above example, this would be the US. Then, once you add a new target marketplace (e.g. Canada and the UK), you can automatically sync a selection of your existing product listings - making them instantly visible across all three marketplaces.
Anytime a listing is updated, added, or deleted from your source marketplace, all target marketplaces will be updated automatically. On top of that, the tool can automatically adjust pricing for each marketplace based on exchange rates and currency.
Expand Offers Internationally (EOI)
Similar to the Build International Listings tool, the Expand Offers Internationally tool lets you recreate existing product offers and list them across your target marketplaces. Once you select the listings you want to create, the tool will automatically create a complete, ready-to-upload Inventory Loader feed file. This can then be used to add listings to your target marketplace accounts.
The main difference between BIL and EOI is the synchronization aspect. BIL provides you with a complete oversight over your cross-account product listings. EOI, on the other hand, is used solely to create new product listings.
FBA Export
To make your product eligible for international sales, you can sign up for FBA Export. This way, rather than listing your products on other marketplaces, you’re making it available to an international audience.
Although this isn’t necessarily a way to create international listings, it’s a great tool worth mentioning here. While Amazon maintains only 14 international marketplaces, its customer base spans some 180 countries. This is because shoppers can purchase from any Amazon marketplace, even if it's not in their home country. For example, if I wanted to buy headphones from Amazon.com right now, I could - even though I’m sitting here in Germany. Here’s how an Amazon.com product listing would look to a shopper based in Germany.
Manage cross-border Amazon Fulfillment & logistics
Managing international order fulfillment is a crucial factor in your success at a global seller. Luckily, logistics and fulfillment are an Amazon specialty. There are Amazon tools available to help make managing and fulfilling international orders as simple as possible. Let’s take a look.
European Fulfillment Network (EFN)
The European Fulfillment Network is a straightforward solution for sellers to manage cross-border Amazon orders. As a seller, you simply need to ship inventory to a fulfillment center in your home country. Once an order is placed outside your country but within Europe, Amazon will ship the item on your behalf. Note: Cross-border fees do apply.
Pan-European FBA
Pan-European FBA works a bit differently. Here, you’ll ship inventory to an Amazon fulfillment center. From there, Amazon will distribute your inventory to a variety of its fulfillment Centers across Europe based on predicted demand.
Not only does this allow for faster shipping times to your international customers, but it also makes your product eligible for Amazon Prime.
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The above tools can be used to help manage your international Amazon marketplace accounts, listings, and orders. Of course, there is no one tool that will work for every business. But Amazon’s wide-variety of cross-border tools is well-worth considering, especially if you’re looking to test out new markets around the globe.
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