How To Scale Your Amazon FBA Business With A Prep Service
MyFBAPrep co-founder Taylor Smits knows a thing or two about scaling an Amazon business — after all, he and fellow co-founders Bart and Tom help customers do just that on a daily basis.
From tools to partners to Amazon’s inner workings of Amazon, Taylor’s seen it all over the course of his career. Prior to founding MyFBAPrep, Taylor cultivated his eCommerce experience for almost 10 years. After, he broke into dropshipping in the pet industry, then private label, and finally wholesale before launching MyFBAPrep with his co-founders.
During that time, Taylor learned how easy it is to become hyper-focused on certain elements of your business. But, to scale your eCommerce business, it’s critical you take a step back and look at the big picture. This means identifying ways to streamline and optimize your operations to enable you to accomplish more.
Outsourcing your logistics is an incredibly effective way to do this.
Taylor sat down with our friends at Sales Funnel HQ to talk about scaling your Amazon business, explaining how partners like MyFBAPrep can help eCommerce professionals build momentum, expand faster, and blast their business goals out of the water. The video below was recorded in 2020, but the insights are still relevant today. No time to watch? Read on for the inside scoop!
Take stock of your business
As an eCommerce business owner, you’re probably always on the lookout for ways to grow and scale your business. A key strategy for achieving this is to take stock of your operations and find ways to outsource certain tasks or processes. Outsourcing can help you streamline your business to increase efficiency and, ultimately, drive growth.
Outsourcing tasks:
- Frees up time and resources to refocus on core competencies and strategic priorities. You’re able to work on growing your business instead of being bogged down by administrative or low-value tasks.
- Reduces costs by leveraging the expertise and resources of external vendors and service providers.
- Gives you access to specialized skills and technologies you may not have in-house. For example, you could outsource your marketing or IT functions to experts in those areas, rather than try to build those capabilities internally. Meanwhile, outsourcing your Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) prep ensures your Amazon orders are properly packaged and stored at Amazon prep centers and warehouses across the country — one less thing for you to think about.
This can result in faster, more effective solutions and give you a competitive advantage in your industry.
- Helps you manage risk and uncertainty by spreading your business across different providers or geographies. Diversifying your vendor base reduces the impact of any individual partner’s failures or disruptions. As a result, you maintain business continuity and are able to meet the needs of your customers without interruption.
Taking stock of your business and finding ways to outsource can be key stepping stones for scaling your business. The advantages outsourcing provides enable you to position your business for long-term success and growth.
Partner with Amazon prep services
Enjoy more time and resources to focus on critical aspects of your business operations with an Amazon prep service. Instead of spending hours packaging and labeling products, sellers can use that time to research new suppliers, develop better products, or work on their marketing strategies.
Third-party prep centers offer several other advantages that can help eCommerce businesses stand out on the Amazon platform: For one, they ensure products comply with Amazon’s strict standards, which can be difficult and time-consuming to navigate on your own. Additionally, because they handle a large volume of products, these centers often have access to more competitive shipping rates, which can save businesses money in the long run.
How an Amazon prep service benefits your business
An Amazon prep service can be beneficial for businesses experiencing high sales volume or struggling with their fulfillment process. This is especially true for both FBA and FBM (Fulfilled by Merchant) sellers (the former use Amazon’s fulfillment service while the latter handle fulfillment on their own).
Notably, the most successful eCommerce businesses often use a combination of the two services. A popular recommendation is to dedicate 75% of your inventory to FBA and 25% to FBM; this provides a backup option during episodes of longer shipping times or reduced inventory limits with FBA, while also helping to diversify and reduce risk.
With FBA, sellers can take advantage of the Prime badge, which is only available for products fulfilled by Amazon. Displaying the Prime badge on your products can increase conversion rates among customers. FBM doesn’t offer the Prime badge, so these items may prove less attractive to potential buyers.
When choosing an Amazon prep service, it’s essential to consider a few factors to ensure you find the right partner for your business:
- Search the service’s locations. Selecting a facility near your suppliers or customers can reduce shipping times and costs.
- Look for a prep service with experience handling products similar to yours. For example, if you sell fragile items, you’ll want to make sure your partner has a successful track record of packaging and shipping fragile objects properly.
- Research the level of customer service provided. You want a partner who’s responsive and communicates well, especially if issues arise with your products.
Wrapping up — Take your Amazon business to new heights with an Amazon prep service
Outsourcing can be a powerful strategy for eCommerce businesses looking to streamline operations, reduce costs, and drive growth. FBA prep especially would benefit from outsourcing, as it saves time, reduces risk, and ensures you comply with Amazon’s strict standards.
MyFBAPrep offers a range of services to help you navigate the complexities of FBA product prep, including labeling, packaging, and storage. By partnering with MyFBAPrep, you can focus on what matters most: growing your business and reaching more customers on the Amazon marketplace. So, take the first step towards scaling your business by partnering with MyFBAPrep for all your FBA needs.