Amazon Black Friday and Cyber Monday are fast approaching. According to previously released dates, Amazon Black Friday falls on November 25, and Amazon Cyber Monday is scheduled on November 28, 2022.
For Amazon sellers, Amazon Black Friday and Cyber Monday are important events as it presents sellers with an opportunity to increase sales and move overstocked or seasonal items.
Amazon sellers spend sufficient time planning their Amazon Cyber Monday and Black Friday sales, including inventory submissions to Amazon FBA warehouses.
Amazon Black Friday vs Amazon Cyber Monday Sale
If you are new to Amazon, you might become confused with all the Amazon sale events happening throughout the year. Besides the Amazon Prime Day event, sellers also prepare for the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.
Both Amazon Black Friday and Cyber Monday offer deals and discounts to shoppers. The main difference between the two Amazon sale events are the categories highlighted and the bargains offered.
Whether on Amazon or other platforms, the Black Friday sale is more focused on offering discounts and deals on top-selling brands of TVs, smart devices, and other electronics. On the other hand, Cyber Monday deals are more focused on home appliances and apparel.
Regardless of the different offers presented to consumers during Amazon Black Friday and Cyber Monday, both shopping sale events allow online sellers to sell more products and move inventory items.
FBA Inventory Submission for Amazon Black Friday and Cyber Monday Events
To maximize profitability and ensure that enough products are included in your inventory, Amazon encourages sellers to submit their inventory items before the aforementioned Amazon sale events.
According to Amazon, the cut-off inventory date for FBA sellers is November 2, 2022. The cut-off date is a must-follow date for FBA sellers to avoid delays in order fulfillment. It is best to send your inventory items before the cut-off date so that you will not get caught up with logistics and warehousing problems.
When an Amazon warehouse is overwhelmed with incoming deliveries, late shipments might be diverted to other warehouses, leading to sellers’ later delivery appointments.
Tips for Preparing Your Shipments to Amazon Warehouses
Apart from following the scheduled FBA inventory cut-off dates for the upcoming Amazon Black Friday and Amazon Cyber Monday, you should also follow these tips to mitigate or avoid Amazon inventory management-related issues.
Plan Your Shipment Ahead of Time
When shipping items to an Amazon warehouse, you should not only consider the schedule for sending your items from your location to the Amazon warehouse. You should also include in your planning the supplier’s lead time and carrier lead time.
Remember that it is not only the eCommerce industry that will be busy during the holiday season. The manufacturing, logistics, and shipping industries are likewise busy during this time.
Check Recommended Replenishment Quantity
Amazon suggests checking your recommended replenishment quantity, especially during this holiday season. You might still have capacity available in different storage types even if restock limits are applied.
Follow Amazon Prep Guides
In order to avoid delay or incur additional expenses, it is best to prepare your product appropriately. It means that apart from physically checking product quality, you should also check whether its packaging meets the Amazon standard.
Amazon has set guides for sellers to follow when packaging and preparing the products they will send to Amazon warehouses. Here are the FBA inventory prep specifications you should follow.
Table Source: Amazon Seller Central
FBA sellers must follow the prep and packaging guidelines Amazon sets. Amazon has the right to “refuse, return, or repackage any product delivered to a fulfillment center with inadequate or non-compliant packaging at your expense.”
Double-Check Your Shipment
To avoid wasting your time and resources, ensure that nothing goes amiss when sending your inventory items to Amazon fulfillment centers. Always double-check your shipments before sending them over.
Recheck your packaging, labels, fulfillment codes, and addresses. Ensure that the product quality and quantity are correct to avoid or decrease Amazon returns.
Select the best freight forwarder to manage all your shipping needs, especially if you will be sending multiple items in various dimensions or sizes.
Don’t Miss the Deadline, Ship Your Inventory Today
Do not miss the cut-off date set by Amazon for shipping inventory items. With Amazon Black Friday and Amazon Cyber Monday drawing near, you should have already started preparing your inventory products and overall business operations.
Apart from optimizing your inventory management, you can also improve other aspects of your business, including your pricing strategy. To win more Amazon Buy Box and entice more Amazon shoppers with competitive pricing, you can use an Amazon repricer along with other Amazon seller tools.