How to Sell on Amazon Using Shopify
The new Shopify integration with Amazon makes it easier than ever to list your products on the world’s largest marketplace and get next-level brand visibility.
While your online store showcases your brand and offers the most control over customer experience, expanding the ways you sell with Shopify allows you to do even more. For the right businesses, selling on Amazon can increase sales by reaching new shoppers who are not already familiar with your company.
Benefits of Selling on Amazon With Shopify
If you're interested in expanding your business to Amazon, there are a many benefits to selling using Shopify's sales channel:
Create new Amazon listings in Clothing and Accessories directly from Shopify
For products that exist on Amazon, create offers directly from Shopify in any category
Sync product details, variants and images to your Amazon Seller Central account
Link Shopify products with your existing Amazon listings for any category
Set unique price and reserve inventory just for Amazon listings
Easily reconcile revenue from Amazon sales using Shopify reports
Sync inventory tracked by Shopify with Amazon listing
Fulfill Amazon orders directly from Shopify
How to Sell on Amazon Using Shopify
Today I'm going to take you through the step-by-step process for selling on Amazon with Shopify. There are nine steps we're going to cover:
Step 1: Make Sure Your Store Meets the Requirements
Step 2: Create Your Amazon Professional Seller Account
Step 3: Apply for Category Approval
Step 4: Add the Amazon Sales Channel to Your Shopify Store
Step 5: Purchase UPCs for Your Products
Step 6: Create Amazon Listings for Your Products
Step 7: Claim Existing Amazon Listings in Your Shopify Store
Step 8: Set Your Inventory Tracking Policy
Step 9: Start Selling!
Let's get started.
Step 1: Make Sure Your Store Meets the Requirements
You’ll need to make sure a few things are place before you can start selling on Amazon through your Shopify store.
You need an active Shopify account on any plan.
You must be selling products that fit into the Clothing and Accessories category.
Your store needs to list prices in USD.
You must not be shipping your products using Fulfillment by Amazon
Note: While you can currently only create Amazon listings in Shopify for the Clothing and Accessories category, existing Amazon listings in other categories may also be added to Shopify.
In other words, you can still create Amazon listings for other categories directly on Amazon and then link them to your Shopify store to take advantage of all the other integration benefits (including inventory sync).
Step 2: Create Your Amazon Professional Seller Account
Before you can start selling on Amazon, you need to create a Professional Seller account on Amazon Seller Central, with selling on Amazon.com enabled.
Adding the Amazon sales channel is free, but Amazon will charge you $39.99 per month for your Amazon Professional Seller account, plus a referral fee based on your product's category.
Start by visiting Amazon Services and clicking Start Selling.
After creating your account, you will be taken through five steps to finish setting up your account. You will need the following information available:
Business name
Business address
Phone number
Credit card information (for Amazon to charge you the monthly fee)
Bank account information (for Amazon to deposit your sales proceeds)
Taxpayer Identification Number (US taxpayers only)
Step 3: Apply for Category Approval
Once you've created your Professional Seller Account, check to see if the categories your products fit into require approval from Amazon. Approval is required to list products in the Clothing and Accessories category. If approval is required for your category, now is a good time to apply.
Step 4: Add the Amazon Sales Channel to Your Shopify Store
Once you have created your Amazon Professional Sellers account, it's time to add the Amazon Sales Channel to your Shopify store.
Follow the prompts to allow information to be shared between your Shopify and Amazon Seller Central accounts. When you're done, you'll be redirected back to your Shopify admin.
Step 5: Purchase UPCs for Your Products
Most categories require sellers to use a product identifier to create new product pages and offer listings on the Amazon.com website. The most common identifier used by sellers is a UPC.
If you don't provide a UPC, EAN, or ISBN, you will generally receive an error message. When this occurs, you will need to add the product's identifier in order to create a new product detail page in the Amazon.com catalog or complete your inventory offering.
If you are reselling products, they may already have UPCs that you can use. If you need to buy a UPC for one of your products, GS1 is the official supplier, however, there may also be UPCs available from resellers at a lower cost.
Step 6: Create Amazon Listings for Your Products
If you're not currently selling on Amazon and you have products in the Clothing and Accessories category, you can create your product listings right in your Shopify admin.
From you Shopify admin, click Amazon to navigate to the Amazon sales channel you've already installed.
Screenshot of Amazon sales channel location
Next, click Create Listing.
Screenshot of create listing button
Find the product from your Shopify catalog that you want to list on Amazon and click Select product at the bottom.
Screenshot of selecting productNext, choose one of two options based on if your product is made by your brand or made by another brand (meaning you're reselling).
Screenshot of selecting who made the product
If your product is made by your brand, fill in the details to create your listing.
If your product is made by another brand, click Search to see if the same product is already listed on Amazon. This will display a list of the most similar products in the Amazon catalog.
After running the search, if you see a product on Amazon that matches your product, click Select. You will now be able to create an Offer to sell the same product.
If your product doesn't match any of the search results, you can proceed with creating a new listing, even if you're reselling someone else's product.
Whichever option you proceed with, you'll need to fill in the product details and click Publish when you're finished.
Step 7: Claim Existing Amazon Listings in Your Shopify Store
If you're already selling in any category on Amazon, you can claim existing Amazon listings in your Shopify store. As well, if you want to start selling products on Amazon in categories other than Clothing and Accessories, you create listings on Amazon and add them to your Shopify store when you're finished.
Existing Amazon listings associated with your Professional Sellers Account will be visible from your Amazon Listings page in Shopify.
Start by selecting Link products.
When you see the Amazon listing you want to link, click Browse products and search for the product you want to link. After you've chosen the appropriate product to link to your Amazon listing, be sure to add any variants as well.
Step 8: Set Your Inventory Tracking Policy
For each Amazon listing in Shopify, you have the option to use your store's inventory settings, or manually manage your Amazon inventory.
If you choose to manually manage your Amazon inventory, you can set aside a specific quantity of inventory that will only be available for Amazon buyers. The quantity will automatically decrease as purchases are made on Amazon but you will have to manually replenish your inventory when you want to add more.
If you choose to use your Shopify store's inventory settings, there are three possible scenarios for each product.
Shopify tracks inventory
Shopify doesn't track inventory
Allow customers to purchase your product when it's out of stock
Let's dig into what each option means for your Amazon listings.
Shopify Tracks Inventory
If you have Shopify tracks this product's inventory selected for a product, Shopify will automatically update the Amazon listing to match the total inventory in your Shopify admin.
Shopify Doesn't Track Inventory
If a product's inventory policy is set to Don't track inventory, then Shopify will make sure that your product can always be purchased on Amazon. The inventory number will be set to 100 in your Amazon Seller Central, but won't appear in your Shopify admin. Amazon doesn't support products with an unlimited quantity, so 100 acts as a placeholder. That quantity might decrease as you sell products, but will update to 100 every 10 minutes.
Allow Your Customers to Purchase Your Product When It's Out of Stock
If you've decided to make a product available to purchase even when the quantity runs out, then Shopify will make sure that your product can always be purchased on Amazon. The inventory number will be set to 100 in your Amazon Seller Central, but won't appear in your Shopify admin. Amazon doesn't support products with an unlimited quantity, so 100 acts as a placeholder. That quantity might decrease as you sell products, but will update to 100 every 10 minutes.
Note: Positive customer reviews are an important part of success on Amazon. Unreliable shipping times may lead to negative reviews, so selling out of stock product on Amazon is not recommended.
Step 9: Start Selling!
Your orders on Amazon will automatically sync up with your Shopify admin on the Orders page. All new orders placed through Amazon appear in your orders list and are marked as Amazon. Shopify syncs all of your orders, including orders with products that haven't been listed through Shopify.
Your customers will continue to receive order notifications from Amazon only, and you will receive notifications from both Amazon and Shopify. You must fulfill your order through Shopify, otherwise the order will not be updated in Shopify.