Is Amazon SAS(Strategic account services) /360 worth it?
Have you ever wondered if Amazon SAS (Strategic Account Services) or Amazon 360 are worth your time and money?
In this article, we’re going to explore Amazon’s SAS consultancy vs. the hands-on management and consulting an agency provides. Let’s dive right into it, shall we?
What is Amazon Strategic Account Services (SAS)?
What any seller wants to ultimately do is to unlock growth on Amazon. However, is Amazon SAS/360 the way to do it? After all, Amazon is asking you to commit to a $5,000 deal (£4950 in UK), so maybe it’d be wise to consider alternative options which may not only be more cost-effective but also lead to a more fruitful outcome.
Amazon’s SAS provides you with a designated account manager who acts as your trusted advisor, helping you scale your business, increase sales, and reach out to new customers. When you sign up, you can expect to:
- Have your own trusted Amazon advisor or what Amazon calls “dedicated account manager”
- Get business guidance
- Get assistance with holiday and sales period prep
- Get help with identifying new opportunities
- Get assistance with promotions and merchandising
- Get operational support and ongoing support
How much does Amazon 360 cost?
Quite often, the first question that pops into the minds of sellers considering Amazon SAS/360 is: “How much is the Amazon SAS fee?” Well, fair enough!
The maximum monthly fee you can expect to pay in any given month is $5,000 or £4950 in the UK, that is.
Additionally, the base fee is £1,440 in the UK ($1600 in the US) along with 0.3% of your total sales from the previous month, not including tax. The exact amount cannot be determined as it will fluctuate depending on how much your monthly sales revenue is.
What is SAS for Amazon and is it for you?
While we have briefly answered the first question, let’s divert our attention for now to the second one. SAS is ideal for brand owners and resellers who are actively selling products on Amazon and have a Professional Selling Account.
As Amazon puts it themselves, ‘eligible businesses’ must have a good standing on the marketplace, so they are indirectly saying “beginners and amateurs do not qualify, sorry”.
What is Amazon 360 – The Pros and Cons
Now that we have a better understanding of what SAS/360 is, let’s explore some of the pros and cons:
Pros of Amazon SAS
Personalised insights – You can get tailored recommendations around account health, fulfillment, merchandising, global expansion, and conversion growth.
Programmes & deals – Stay in the known on the newest seller offerings, such as deal opportunities and beta programmes, along with guidance on options that best suit your business.
Operational support – Get tactical assistance for time-consuming tasks like catalogue optimisation, listing creation, and A+ content recommendations, helping you scale.
Issue assistance – Manage issues efficiently to avoid business interruption, along with support from a specialist team which offers insights and guidance whenever needed.
Cons of SAS
Stiff eligibility criteria – SAS/360 is restricted only to sellers who are already well-established on Amazon and registered with a Professional Selling Account.
Multiple seller accounts – Each one of your seller accounts has to be enrolled individually. Furthermore, you’re restricted to working with a single account manager across all your accounts, we have been told previously that these account managers can work on as many as 90 seller accounts
Brand owner requirements – SAS/360 is designed for brand owners and resellers only so it’s not suitable for sellers outside this sphere or scope.
New seller consideration – SAS works well only for established sellers which means aspiring sellers must first establish themselves on the marketplace.
Equal enforcement of policies – Being enrolled in SAS automatically does not get you any preferential treatment in terms of policy enforcement, as polices are uniformly applied to all sellers irrespective of their standing.
Should I work with an agency vs. SAS?
Good question!
Considering the sheer cost of getting into SAS, many sellers are hesitant to sign up.
An alternative is going with an Amazon marketing agency like eCommerce Intelligence. It’s a robust and viable alternative because, for the same price, you get:
- An 8-member team which includes a Graphic Designer, Advertising Specialist, Amazon Marketing Specialist, Project Manager, Brand Manager, and Brand Director – all of whom will collectively manage your account for you.
- Not just plain advice but expert insights on how to make your business more successful on Amazon.
- A dedicated team to do everything on your behalf, from SEO, PPC and Design to Catalogue Merchandising and Catalogue Troubleshooting tasks.
The eCommerce Intelligence advantage
Inclusive support for all sellers – We welcome sellers across all levels, be they beginners, intermediate, or experts, and from any location across the US or UK.
Personalised expertise – We provide tailored insights on everything from fulfilment and account health, to expansion, conversion growth, and more.
Proactive management with issues – Our team vigilantly handles and manages all issues related to your account.
Diverse set of services – Each service is tailored to your exact needs, including dedicated 1-1 coaching sessions, listing reinstatement, PPC, CTR main image upgrades, and more.
Details and regular reporting – Weekly and monthly reports as well as stats on sales and ads performance ensure you’re on top of your game.
Policy compliance expertise – A dedicated team which ensures that your listings are always aligned with Amazon’s policies.
Goal-focused approach – Our team completes all assigned tasks while being fully aligned with your goals, offering their in-depth insights for optimal results.
Multi-brand expertise – We are fully capable of handling and managing multiple brands (T&C may apply).
Fully transparent communication – We always maintain open lines of communication which include regular meetings to provide you with a holistic and ‘live’ view of your business status.
Deal hunting that suits you – Our team actively seeks the latest deals and promotions to improve as well as enhance your business.
Optimal manpower to drive actionable solutions – Offering well beyond advice, we offer hand-on assistance with listings creation and optimisation, brand registry, A+ content design & optimisation, and more.
Founder’s extensive experience – The team leverages the extensive 10+ years’ experience of the founder, Chris Turton, to add value to each Amazon marketing service and product.
Each one of our products and services is firmly grounded in years of Amazon marketing & advertising expertise! The above should make it a lot easier to navigate the sometimes confusing choice of Amazon agency vs. Amazon SAS.
Below, you’ll find more information to help you make the right decision.
What are some of the SAS programme’s restrictions?
Eligibility for new sellers
SAS is designed purely for brand owners and resellers – it’s not meant for those who have yet to start selling on Amazon’s US or UK stores.
No preferential treatment policy-wise
SAS-enrolled sellers shouldn’t expect to be treated any differently in terms of Amazon’s policies. All policies are consistently applied to each seller, whether they are a part of SAS or not.
Only one seller account per enrollment
Every seller account needs to be enrolled individually in SAS. Moreover, depending on the availability of Amazon’s “dedicated account manager”, working with a single account manager across all your accounts may or may not work out according to your expectations.
However, Amazon claims that it is willing to work closely with each seller to come up with the best management approach.
Account manager communication
Engagement and communication with your account manager is mostly through phone and email. If you require regular reviews of your business plans and goals, for example, you must schedule monthly check-in calls ahead of time.
Programme suitability for new sellers (or lack thereof)
Amazon recommends SAS for sellers who have had a professional selling account for over 12 months. It does allow new sellers to sign up, although they will not be able to reap anywhere near the value that more experienced sellers do.
Allocation of account manager
Amazon has put a cap on the number of sellers each Account Manager can manage, in order to ensure there is focused optimisation of accounts and personalised assistance in achieving their business goals, however we don’t know the current cap, we know some account managers used to work with over 90 different accounts.
Programme fee and customisation
If you still have questions like “How much is the Amazon SAS fee?” or “How much do Amazon Strategic Account Services cost?” hovering over your head, then the cost is customised individually for each seller.
SAS is currently being offered as a bundled package within Amazon’s services, so that means that sellers will not be paying less just because they want to access fewer services.
Merchandising assistance
While your account manager can advise on the variety of Amazon deal types available, additional fees for this service still applies, although they will be coming up with a deals strategy according to your unique business goals.
Is SAS right for me? Risk Factors and Challenges to consider
Operational factors
Internal capability – SAS tends to work best when combined with your internal team’s effort and strategic planning. So it’s up to you to ensure that your team has the appropriate resources and expertise at their disposal to implement all the recommendations and insights coming in from SAS.
No ‘magic pill’ effect – SAS is merely a tool so there’s no guaranteed path to success. How much your sales increase or your business grows depends on your own commitment to implement all the suggested strategies and then adapt them effectively to your market and product.
Potential for ROI to fluctuate – Your ROI can fluctuate based on your market competition, produce niche, and overall business. So, be ready for the programme to not meet your general expectations. It can very much be hit or miss.
Financial factors
High cost – The amount of SAS fees you pay depends on how big your business is at the moment, although you can typically expect to start the programme at a few thousand pounds each month.
This may be a lot of money upfront, particularly if you’re a small business. So, before getting into SAS, think about whether the benefits are worth it versus the cost.
Long-term commitment – SAS requires you to commit for a minimum of 3 months. This can prove to be risky if you’re unsure about how well Amazon’s SAS/360 might work out for your business.
Limited availability – As mentioned earlier, SAS isn’t accessible to all sellers, with Amazon having limited spots and minimum performance requirements. So, if you’re unable to secure a spot or don’t meet the qualification criteria, you may end up wasting a fair amount of time and money simply researching and preparing for SAS.
Relationship-based factors
Too much reliance on SAS – On the one hand, SAS can provide useful guidance. On the other, sellers tend to depend completely on their recommendations without conducting any critical thinking or independent analysis, which can have a highly adverse impact on their own market understanding and long-term growth goals.
Effectiveness of account managers may vary – Online reviews indicate that support quality of the account managers can vary. While one seller may get a highly dedicated and efficient account manager, another might get a less effective or responsive one, which will certainly affect that sellers’ experience negatively.
Additional considerations and challenges
Data sharing & privacy – SAS must access your Amazon seller data in order to work. It’s your responsibility to know and understand how your data is going to be used or how it is protected before you agree to the programme’s terms.
Implementation complexity – Applying for any of SAS’s recommendations can be an intricate process, which may require you to change up your operations, product listings, marketing strategies, etc. Be prepared to invest additional time and resources into this change process.
Ready to sign up for SAS? Consider these before you do
Cost analysis
Understand how the pricing in SAS works; take into account the base fee, total sales percentage, monthly cap, etc. Ensure that these costs are aligned with your budget and justify the upfront investment.
Monthly sales revenue
Think about the price of the programme while keeping in view your monthly sales revenue. Considering how much it costs to access SAS, it’s fair to say that it is designed for businesses making multiple six-seven figures each year.
Assess whether the potential advantages are in line with your sales volume.
Business experience
How experienced are you as an Amazon seller? Even though SAS is open to different kinds of sellers, it caters well only to those who already have a well-established presence on the platform.
Eligibility criteria
Make sure you meet the eligibility criteria; i.e. having a professional selling account and that you are in good standing with Amazon (UK or US). Also, carefully think about whether your business model favours the framework set out by Amazon.
Business goals
Are your business goals clearly defined? SAS certainly provides useful services like holiday preparation, product listing optimisation, and seller-exclusive support. However, will you be utilising these as they may or may not align with your specific business objectives?
Amazon’s involvement
How comfortable are you with Amazon managing your account and having access to aspects of your account that otherwise only you have? Amazon SAS’s account manager will be given access to a lot of things in your account so ensure that this deep level of collaboration is something that’s in-line with your own personal preferences.
Programme limitations
As explained earlier, understand some of SAS’s limitations, ensuring that those limitations do not conflict with your own operational preferences.
ROI
It’s important to run an estimate on the potential return on investment. Determine how SAS’s services may contribute to your overall business growth and sales growth.
Long-term strategy
Does SAS align with your long-term Amazon business strategy? Try to understand the scalability and adaptability of the services offered and how well they can accommodate your future growth.
Alternative solutions
It’s always a sound idea to consider alternative Amazon account management solutions. Run comparisons across benefits, features, and costs for Amazon SAS vs. Amazon account management agency – to ensure that SAS fits your business needs (or not).
Closing thoughts: Is Amazon SAS/360 worth it?
Sure, it can be if:
- You’re a relatively large and well-established seller with substantial annual revenue as SAS fees are tailored according to your business size. Smaller businesses find it hard to justify the large upfront cost.
- You want to enhance sales through targeted promotions, increased market awareness, and optimised listings as SAS offers exclusive opportunities and valuable resources.
- You already have the internal resources in place to implement SAS’s recommendations swiftly because the solutions are not a ‘one size fits all’, requiring a lot of legwork on your part.
SAS may not be worth it if:
- Your budget is limited, you run a small business, and the high fees far outweigh the potential benefits.
- You prefer a hands-off approach where you don’t want to be tied down with a long-term contract (minimum 3-month contractual obligation can be daunting for most sellers).
- You already have a fairly good understanding of the Amazon marketplace and have effective strategies in place (for now), making additional guidance somewhat of a luxury.
All in all, SAS may be a valuable tool for larger, more well-established sellers but even then it is definitely not a guaranteed path to success.
There’s many risks and challenges involved which sellers often do not take the time to understand, hastily enrolling in SAS and living to regret it later.
Ultimately, it’s your decision. If you want to know more about how an Amazon agency can potentially offer better value for money, get in touch now: +44 1743 816191.