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Amazon is a leading global e-commerce platform, operating in five continents with dedicated Amazon websites for at least 20 countries and generating approximately $400 billion in annual revenue. It is certainly the market leader in the United States, with monthly visits at nearly three billion, according to an article in the Harvard Business Review.
These numbers mean one thing: If you have something to sell, consider selling them on Amazon. Your target audience is already there, searching for products like yours. Read on for a guide on how to start an Amazon store.
- Sign Up for a Seller Account
The first thing you must do is sign up for an Amazon seller account. You can use your old customer account, if you have that, or open a separate seller account with a different email address.
Registering for a seller account requires you to choose either an individual or a professional selling plan.
The Individual Plan
The individual plan makes a good starting point for beginners.
- Ideal for sellers with limited volume: The individual plan is tailored to sellers who expect to sell fewer than 40 items per month. It provides a simple entry point into the Amazon marketplace by charging no monthly subscription fee.
- Essential functionalities: The individual plan allows sellers to add new products to the Amazon catalog. Sellers on this plan may also take advantage of the Fulfillment by Amazon program to streamline shipping and handling.
- Minimal investment: The per-item-sold fee structure makes the individual plan a low-risk option for those still deciding on which products to sell or testing the Amazon marketplace.
The Professional Plan
The professional plan is for established or high-cap businesses. It is a powerful plan with the following characteristics:
- Designed for higher volume sales: The professional plan is suitable for sellers who anticipate selling more than 40 items per month. High-volume sellers pay less on a Professional plan that charges a subscription instead of a per-item-sold fee.
- Advanced integration and reporting: The professional plan subscribers get access to the API. Sellers can use this to integrate their Amazon store with last-mile delivery platforms for shipping automation, carrier management, customer engagement, and data analytics.
- Enhanced selling features: Aside from the essential selling features available on the Individual plan, Amazon Professional sellers can list products in multiple categories, create listings in bulk, and use feeds, spreadsheets and reports to manage their inventory. These capabilities are crucial for sellers with an extensive inventory or a diverse product range.
- Promotional and marketing advantages: The professional plan enables sellers to qualify for top placement on product detail pages, use on-site advertising tools, and run store promotions (including free shipping). Sellers on the professional plan have more tools they can use to attract customers on Amazon. Embed a link to your Amazon store on your digital business card to give your network easy and direct access to your products.
- Flexibility and control: On the professional plan, sellers can set their own shipping fees and designate store access to multiple users.
If you have decided on your type of seller plan, submit the documents Amazon requires for seller account set-up. The specific requirements can vary depending on region and country.
In Egypt, the requirements include:
- A valid email address (or an existing customer account)
- Mobile number
- National Egyptian ID
- A bank account for receiving sales proceeds
- A copy of your bank account statement, credit card statement, or utility bill – if applying as an individual
- A copy of your commercial registration document – if you’re applying as a business and you’re the business owner
- A power of attorney – if you’re applying for a business as its designated legal representative or Amazon account manager
- Enroll Your Brand in the Brand Registry
If you sell products under your own label or name, enroll your brand in the brand registry to protect and secure it.
Suppose you sell air fresheners for vehicles and home scenting solutions (e.g., scent diffusers, reed diffusers, and aerosol sprays) that you make in your own factory and sell under a single name, you’d do well to register that name as a brand. Even if you source clothing from a third party but add value by curating your selections and creating product lines – and you sell under your own fashion label – register that label as a brand in the brand registry.
- Create Your Storefront
Once your application for a seller account has been approved and your brand registered, start building your storefront. Log in to the Amazon Seller Central, click on Stores, Manage Stores, and Create Store.
Using the native Stores builder tool, choose your template from the readily available options: product grid, marquee and showcase.
- Product grid: The product grid layout is intuitive and provides a familiar user experience.
- Marquee: The marquee layout allows you to highlight a curated selection of products (e.g., your best sellers) on your storefront.
- Showcase: The showcase layout allows you to feature a broad selection of products.
The Stores builder has the following additional functionalities:
- Page manager: Click on page manager to add new pages to your store. Use this to create category pages, a featured products page, a bestsellers page, etc.
- Tile manager: While you can use readily available templates to manage page layouts, you can also customize your pages using the tile manager. It lets you add text, images and videos to a page to provide content-rich and engaging user experiences.
Once you’ve finished developing your storefront, submit it for publishing. It will go live upon approval by Amazon.
Get Ready to Sell
Once you have an active seller account and a storefront, you’re ready to sell.
List your products, promote your store and individual items in various places online, and start generating revenue from your Amazon store.
