Selling on Amazon made easy: Automated Amazon Seller Tools
Many Amazon sellers are on a tight schedule. New goods have to be purchased, the warehouse has to be filled, customers want to receive their products. In addition, the product page must be maintained and the competition analysed. With so many tasks, you are often left wondering where your head’s at. Smart software solutions can help in that regard. Therefore, an important term on Amazon clearly is “automation services”.
But what does this mean? Hiring a little robot to do the job? Admittedly, we may not have reached that point (yet). Nevertheless, there are some ways to automate processes in your own Amazon store. But we’ll go more into details later. First of all, we want to clarify what automation actually means for Amazon sellers.
What Is (Amazon) Automation for Your Business?
Automation is the independent operation of machines. It reduces or eliminates human communication or control when everything is running normally. Automation was first used by the Ford Motor Company in the late 1940s and was then known as mechanisation.
So it’s about machines or software that run on their own – without any sort of human intervention. Automation is therefore an enormous help because it reduces tiresome and time-consuming tasks. In the context of Amazon, the automation of merchandise management processes primarily accelerates fulfilment in the logistics centres – and in this way contributes to increasing customer satisfaction. But marketplace sellers can also hand in some of their daily tasks and sell more automatically on Amazon.
What Aspects Can You Automate on Amazon?
We have listed some of the most important aspects below, which you can again select individually to find out which tools might be of interest.
On a side note, if you spend a fair amount of time on seller forums or similar platforms, you will often see the following question pop up: “Is Amazon automation illegal?”. Naturally, it is not illegal (otherwise we wouldn’t have spent hours writing this blog article for you). What lies behind this question is much rather that there are companies out there trying to scam sellers by offering automations that do not live up to seller expectations or are completely unsuitable in the seller’s particular case. All the more reason to inform yourself of your specific needs before you go and shop for Amazon automation tools!
Find New Products
If you decide to expand your business and add new products to your range, you have a lot of work to do first. You have to find a product and analyse it in terms of many factors: Is there enough demand? How is the competition positioned? Is the product profitable? This is exactly where smart tools come in. All of these analyses are run automatically and you are only shown the most suitable products. We looked at a couple of tools for Amazon automation. Our reviews led us to following solutions:
The tool “Product Discovery” from Viral Launch is perfect for more Amazon automation in your business. It finds products with high potential. The tool analyses thousands of products and shows only the best ones. It also shows you forecasted sales so that you can make a knowledge-based decision.
In this video you will find all information about the tool once again:
Inventory Management
How many items of your product do you currently have in stock? If you have to start counting, you should definitely consider whether this is the best way to manage your inventory. You should know at all times what your current stock level is and be able to anticipate how much replenishment is needed in the near future. After all, an empty warehouse is bad. Really bad.
That’s where a smart tool called “RELEX Solutions” comes in. In addition to customer-oriented forecasts, it supports you in the planning, ordering and storage of goods. You no longer have to extrapolate everything yourself and record it on lists, but receive all information bundled in one system. If things get tight, the tool even helps you to switch from one low-cost supplier with a long delivery time to another with a shorter delivery time. This is especially important because suppliers who are out of stock do not win the Buy Box on Amazon. Automation pays off twice here.
Create a Listing at Amazon
Believe it or not, but there are actually tools that can write your product texts automatically. So you are not looking for a human freelancer, but a software-based one. Awantego even promises “Unique Content”. How does that work? Thanks to artificial intelligence, the tool can understand the semantics of language and even the context. For example, the tool knows that a winter in which it is minus 20 degrees for several days is a “Siberian winter”. In this way, you will receive your product text within minutes.
But be careful. Even though more automation can make for a successful business on Amazon, it is not always an advantage to be particularly fast. Product texts and A+ content are extremely important for the conversion rate. It is therefore essential that you check automatically created texts again and adapt them according to your customer types.
Placing and Optimizing Amazon Advertising Through Automation
PPC automation software is fairly well known on Amazon. How often do you have to adjust your bids and keywords so that they are always up-to-date and therefore profitable? How long do you need to set and adjust the budget for your advertising campaigns? Quite long. Same here.
This is where bidx can help. This Amazon PPC automation tool continuously analyses the performance of your advertisements. By independently adjusting bids and keywords it also optimizes the profitability of your campaigns. In addition to campaign optimization, the smart tool evaluates your performance. It displays the results clearly in the dashboard.
Order Processing
The storage and commissioning of products entail a few problems. For sellers who sell several products in large quantities, the garage with three shelves quickly becomes too small and above all too confusing. After all, the individual articles not only want to have a place to store them but also want to be found quickly when they are ordered. Since this process always follows the same pattern, it is also suitable for automation on Amazon.
Normally, the fulfilment of an Amazon order without automation works something like this: If goods are purchased from you, you can create a so-called picklist. There you record which goods you have to pick from the warehouse, where you can find them and then arrange them, preferably immediately according to the names of the locations. Then you go with your list to the shelves and work through it by finding the products by their place names, taking them off the shelves and putting them in a transport box. This process is called picking.
With the filled transport box you go to your packing table. This is where the goods are sorted according to the orders and – you guessed it – get packed. To do this, you should create a packing list in which you record which items belong in which package and to whom they should be sent. In addition, the invoice, shipping label and tracking number are created and attached. You then hand the package over to your shipping service provider.
Pick and Pack Lists Generated Automatically
With few orders a day, this process may be manual, but as soon as you have to send several parcels a day, it quickly becomes confusing and the picked goods get mixed up. This is where it helps to automate your own Amazon logistics. For example, you can have your pick and pack lists generated automatically instead of going through and combining all orders by hand. In addition, barcodes on the goods help you to sort the items by parcel.
With smart Amazon automation tools like ChannelAdvisor, it is not only your lists that are created automatically. At your packing table, all you need to do is scan the barcode on the goods and you’ll have all the information you need. This includes the customer’s address and the other contents of the package. As soon as you have packed the parcel, you can use the tool to have the invoice and the shipping label printed and attached to the parcel. An army of individual lists is thus combined and you only get the information you really need for the order – thanks to Amazon automation!
Create Invoices Automatically
So the goods are picked and packed – ready for shipping. What is still missing is the invoice. And who doesn’t love writing invoices, right? I’ll rephrase: who wouldn’t like to save this annoying step of ordering via Amazon by clever automation?
This is where QuickBooks comes into play. The tool allows the invoicing process to be automated, saving time and ensuring accuracy. Do you have regular customers? Schedule the automatic creation and sending of invoices! You can even send invoices individually or in batches.
Monitor and Optimize Performance
Anyone running a company must be concerned with its performance. But who likes to calculate the turnover or forecasts of the sales potential of their products on a daily basis? Data analytics tools such as SELLERLOGIC Business Analytics are just what you need. The tool uses complex data to visualize your performance for any product, Amazon account and/or marketplace in a clear and easy-to-understand way. Using the SELLERLOGIC tool, you can quickly identify unprofitable products as well as costs that should be optimized, and initiate appropriate strategic adjustments.
In addition to performance tracking tools, there are also some that further improve your performance. One of these is definitely the repricer.
Just think how much effort you would have to invest in pricing at Amazon without corresponding automation: you should monitor your competitors around the clock and react immediately to any actions. Is your competitor lowering the price? You have to lower yours immediately as well, otherwise, you will lose the Buy Box and potential buyers. If this happens while you are working anyway, that’s one thing. But what if it happens while you’re already sitting on the couch at the end of the day? Or if your competitor is thinking about changing his price not once but several times a day?
There are two possibilities:
So you invest in a tool for Amazon price automation. The nice side effect when you invest in a dynamic repricer like SELLERLOGIC’s is this: the price stays dynamic. Our solution’s primary goal is trying to place you in the Buy Box. But once this is done, he will raise the price again, as far as possible – this way, we are able to always get the best possible price for you.
Handling Returns
Anyone active in e-commerce knows that returns are unavoidable, especially on Amazon, whether you are using automation or not. Sometimes the product simply doesn’t fit, sometimes the buyer doesn’t like the product that much after all, the list goes on. Nevertheless, in most cases, something can still be optimised.
To make the process as easy and pleasant as possible for the customer, you should focus on automation. Tools such as Easyship or Shipbob offer you an integrated solution for this. For example, you can offer your customers a return portal where the buyer can arrange the return on their own and, among other things, choose a shipping service provider. They then receive the shipping label simply by PDF or e-mail. On your side, you will also receive an overview of the current return and shipping status. In this way, you not only make the process easier for the customer, but also for yourself!
Accounting
One of the most unpopular tasks of a business owner is probably accounting. Income, expenses, taxes … I’m already getting bored writing these words. How about simply handing over these unpopular tasks? But is it worthwhile to hire a separate employee for it?
The solution: Tools! Due to your smart way of working, you can cover many processes in a flash and you get the results immediately. Fetcher is a good example. The tool calculates your business metrics like profit, but also fees. A real work relief for sellers on Amazon – thanks to automation!
Amazon FBA: Automation Made Easy
How about automating several tasks in one step? Order processing, customer service, returns management – FBA can do all this for you. Amazon has perfected these processes and offers them as a service to every amazon seller. FBA Automation means that you hand over the entire fulfilment process, from storage to returns. Especially Amazon sellers of Wholesale need FBA automation.
Every product has its place in the gigantic logistics centres. When an item is ordered, the appropriate shelf moves to the packer and is packed by him into the correct carton. The entire picking process is therefore carried out automatically by robots.
Smart tools also have an influence on what happens when the goods are packed: They tell the packers which carton box to use for the product to be packed. The optimal carton box is selected on the basis of size and weight and displayed to the employee.
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Amazon’s Service Is Perfectly Focused on the Customer
Anyone who has a request is immediately given professional and friendly advice. After all, the customer comes first at Amazon and all processes are geared towards creating a perfect customer experience.
Just as user-friendly is the returns management of the e-commerce giant. Simply print out a return label and everything is done for the customer. Amazon takes over from here.
But once again: Nobody’s perfect.
You probably already know that errors also take place in Amazon’s logistics centres. FBA mistakes can sometimes occur. They can happen, but under no circumstances should they go undetected. In SellerCentral you will also find the FBA reports. You can either go through them manually and have them checked for errors or you can use a smart Amazon tool for automation.
Lost & Found analyses your FBA reports for you and searches for errors. As soon as it has found any, it automatically prepares a letter to Amazon for you, which contains all relevant case details. With copy and paste you transfer everything to SellerCentral and your refund is applied for.
Conclusion
If you want to save yourself time and effort, you will certainly find one or another tool for you. There are many different ways to make the tasks of everyday business life easier with automated tools. This starts with picking automated price adjustments on Amazon and ends with the tedious task of finding the many small FBA errors. If you want to find out more about how a repricer can make your life easier, click here.
But as usual, every user should ask themselves what they’re looking to achieve and whether the tool can meet these requirements. With a little critical questioning, this should not be a problem and you can make your life as a seller on Amazon easier through automation.
Image credits in order of appearance: © artinspiring – stock.adobe.com / © Андрей Яланский – stock.adobe.com
