Seller Fulfilled Prime requirements UK 2022/Amazon SFP
Seller Fulfilled Prime UK is Amazon’s Prime programme where sellers can deliver items directly to local Prime customers from their own warehouse. When you display the Prime badge on your products, you are letting buyers know that your brand is fully committed to fulfilling orders through Prime-approved carriers only, and at no additional cost to the respective Prime customers.
And, thanks to Amazon, you have access to the appropriate transportation solutions to set a high standard in terms of satisfying your Prime customers.
What is Amazon Seller Fulfilled Prime, UK?
If you’ve been selling on Amazon for a while, then chances are you’re already aware of the importance of selling on Amazon Prime in particular.
When we talk about Seller Fulfilled Prime or simply SPF, it’s fairly straightforward: Seller Fulfilled Prime UK allows you to list your products as ‘Prime’, where you remain in control of the shipping. So, instead of using FBA, you will be shipping all orders straight to your customers – along with the Prime badge proudly displayed on all your orders. As you might imagine, there are certain benefits that come with it, such as a noticeably higher chance of winning the Buy Box (optional linking with previous article) and improved search visibility.
All of this sounds too easy, doesn’t it? Is there a catch? Well, sort of.
The privilege of selling under the ‘Prime’ badge means that you need to comply with some very high performance standards as well as delivery and return policy standards set by Amazon. None of this should come as a surprise, however – Amazon simply wants to preserve its Prime reputation and this means you need to not only pass the Seller Fulfilled Prime trial period but also comply with SFP shipping requirements.
Seller Fulfilled Prime trial period – What is that?
Not so fast! Before Amazon can let you stick the ‘Prime’ badge on your listings, you must complete onboarding with an SFP-approved carrier and ship at least one Prime order with 99% on-time shipping.
This is a necessary step as it assures Amazon that you may be able to meet their ultra-strict Seller Fulfilled Prime requirements in the UK. Jump over this hurdle and you get enrolled automatically, where your listings will be beaming with the ‘Prime’ badge.
As for the length of the Seller Fulfilled Prime trial period, it depends on how quickly and efficiently you are able to meet these performance requirements.
Right, so this brings us to Seller Fulfilled Prime requirements in the UK:
What are Seller Fulfilled Prime requirements in the UK?
Let’s be clear about one thing: Seller Fulfilled Prime UK is not open to everyone selling on Amazon and the eCommerce giant does this with good reason – they want to preserve their Prime reputation by offering the privilege to only a select few sellers who are truly eligible. Therefore, only the most dedicated sellers qualify and when they do, they must comply with two main criteria:
- Passing the Seller Fulfilled Prime trial period
- Qualifying for Premium Shipping
Let’s talk about the SFP shipping requirements for enrolling:
- Secure a 99% timely shipment rate
- Have a 99% valid tracking rate
- Extend the Premium Shipping privilege to customers
- Maintain a 0.5% or lower collection rate
- Utilise Buy Shipping for at least 98.5% of your orders
- Abide stringently with all of Amazon’s Return Policies
- Utilise an Amazon-approved carrier only for item delivery
- Allow Amazon to deal with customer inquiries
And, here’s how the entire sign-up process looks like:
1. Premium Shipping
As a seller, you should be able to demonstrate that you can offer Premium Shipping services not just today or tomorrow, but consistently. However, you cannot do this prior to the Seller Fulfilled Prime trial period. So, in order to go ‘live’, you must qualify for Premium Shipping.
2. SFP Enrollment
You can enrol into the SFP programme from Seller Central, followed by assigning items to the “Prime trial” shipping template. Only the products which are allocated to this template will be included, as Amazon measures their performance against the requirements of the trial.
3. Trial Period
The SPF (Seller Fulfilled Prime) trial period lasts anywhere between 5 and 90 days, and requires at least 200 orders. Therefore, you need to maintain a high overall performance percentage during this time.
4. Maintain SFP status
Once you pass your Seller Fulfilled Prime trial period, you need to align yourself with the rest of the criteria and continue providing a speedy and reliable service to your customers.
Benefits of Seller Fulfilled Prime UK
No FBA shipping/handling fees to worry about
Even after choosing one of Amazon’s approved carriers, you’ll still be saving on shipping and handling fee, which is otherwise payable when using Amazon’s standard FBA service.
No storage costs
Along with the savings in shipping, you also won’t have to worry about paying for inventory storage or any long-term storage fee, for that matter, for slow-selling products.
Easily reach millions
Did you know that Prime users are some of Amazon’s most loyal users? This means that they’re also the most active and this, in turn, means that you’ll immediately have access to these ‘hungry’ buyers!
Less competition
Prime subscribers usually filter their Amazon searches to start browsing Prime results only. So, you would have eliminated a fair amount of competition, and that too without lifting a finger.
More chances of snagging the Buy Box
Every Amazon seller wants to own the Buy Box! One of the reasons is that it provides a significant boost to your product visibility, thus, leading to greater sales.
The advantages of meeting Seller Fulfilled Prime requirements in the UK are numerous and the above are just some of them. As long as you can meet the stringent criteria, you can get your ‘Seller Fulfilled Prime UK’ badge in almost no time. Almost.
Final thoughts
Chris and his team would love to make matters easy for you – taking you through a straightforward process for getting you your SFP badge. Get in touch to learn more.
