When you sell on Amazon, you can choose between two fulfilment options - Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM), or Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA). It is important to know the differences, and which fulfilment method suits your business.

FBM (Fulfilment by Merchant)

As the name suggests, with FBM, when an order is made on Amazon, you, as the merchant, are responsible for fulfilling that order and shipping it to the customer. With Codisto, orders for products listed as FBM will be sent to your e-commerce platform (based on your Order Transfer Settings) to be fulfilled alongside your e-commerce platform store orders. Inventory counts will be updated in your e-commerce platform and on your Amazon listings, and shipping status and tracking data will automatically be sent to Amazon.

FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon)

FBA works a little differently. If you elect to use the FBA option, you must send inventory to Amazon to be stored in their fulfilment centers so that when an order is made, Amazon can ship it to the customer on your behalf.

The FBA service has many advantages. FBA products can rank more prominently in search results, are automatically eligible for Amazon Prime fulfilment, and Amazon takes care of all shipping related customer service on your behalf, but FBA does come with additional costs for both storing your products and fulfilling them.

While FBA might not be the ideal or preferred solution for every retailer, it does allow sellers of all sizes to leverage Amazon’s service promise of fast delivery and world class customer service through their global fulfilment network. Retailers also benefit from having more time to spend on other areas of their business, without the hassle of managing fulfilment and logistics.

*NOTE* There are additional fees associated with using FBA.

 

PROS	CONS
Eligible products earn Prime badge	Additional costs associated with services
Amazon’s shipping and logistics	Amazon controls customer returns, refunds
Amazon’s 24/7 customer service	Likely to see an increase in returns
2-day shipping on Prime eligible orders	Long-term storage fees for slow-moving products
Multi-channel fulfillment also available (non-Amazon orders)	Strict guidelines when preparing products for FBA
No minimum on the number of products stored	Tracking inventory can be difficult without an integration
Improved chance of winning Buy Box over non-FBA sellers

FBA orders and Codisto

Within the Codisto app, navigate to the “Orders” page. Select whether the product will be fulfilled by you (Merchant) or if Amazon is warehousing and fulfilling the product - Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA).

1. FBA means listings use FBA shipping rules. (From a quantity standpoint, website quantities/Codisto settings are ignored and listings use stock held in Amazon fulfillment centers).
2. Merchant fulfilled (FBM) uses shipping rules set in Amazon Seller Central (From a quantity standpoint, listings use website quantities/Codisto settings). You will need to create your shipping template(s) directly in Amazon.

For more information on Amazon FBA:

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
Americas	Europe		Asia Pacific	Middle East
USA	UK	Spain	Japan	UAE
Canada	Germany	Netherlands	Australia	Saudi Arabia
Mexico	France	Italy	Singapore
Brazil			India