There are many advantages to selling your products in an online marketplace, especially when it is an e-commerce giant such as Amazon. Considered among the most valuable brands in the world, Amazon offers businesses an enormous opportunity to grow and promote their brand.
The company has pledged $1 billion to digitise 10 million SMBs, handle e-commerce exports worth $10 billion and create 1 million incremental jobs by 2025 in India.
Whether you are an established venture with an online presence or are planning to launch your e-commerce business, Amazon.in can be helpful for your company in more ways than one.
This article offers a detailed guide on how to sell on Amazon India along with the key reasons through which businesses can benefit from the platform.
Why sell on Amazon?
An e-commerce business has multiple objectives to achieve in order to successfully sell its products. Marketing, customer service and easy availability are an important part of those goals and a marketplace like Amazon significantly contributes to these aspects. Here’s a look at why a business should sell on the platform.
1. Extensive reach: Selling on Amazon helps you target an audience not just across the country but even overseas. Irrespective of the location you are based, your brand reaches tens of thousands of potential customers.
With over 100 million registered users, 4,000 products are sold per minute on the platform and Amazon offers over 168 million products to its Indian Customers.
2. Better sale opportunities: Higher reach evidently translates into better sales. But more importantly, Amazon’s annual deals and festive offers draw a massive crowd to the platform boosting the traffic and sales for your business.
The most recent Great Indian Festival by Amazon saw more than 46 per cent increase in new MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) who created a business account with Amazon Business.
3. Easier way to start selling online: The process of being a seller on Amazon is straightforward and can be initiated almost instantly. Moreover, the company offers options for storing, packaging and delivering your goods, taking away the hassles of managing an inventory.
Did you know that you can earn money through Amazon apart from selling on the platform? Here’s how.
4. Business assistance: Amazon offers multiple choices to its sellers to ease their business processes. The company takes care of the customer support and also manages returns and exchanges. It also facilitates shipping and storage of products if you opt for Easy Ship or Fulfilment by Amazon.
Their feature-rich dashboard also helps you track daily sales, check inventory and analyse the customer response towards the product, in addition to other features.
What can you sell on Amazon India?
Potentially everything. From some of the biggest brands in the country to homegrown labels, Amazon’s distinction is its range of products.
Amazon allows you to list products under their multiple categories, some of which include:
- Digital devices and electronics
- Apparel
- Sports equipment and accessories
- Car and motorbike parts and accessories
- Pet supplies
- Household and personal care
- Home improvement
- Toys and baby products
- Books
- Music, movies and video games
- Beauty and health
Additionally, the Amazon Pantry section offers daily essentials and household items ensuring faster delivery and without an additional cost when the value exceeds Rs 599.
Amazon has also introduced Amazon Fresh in select cities through which customers can expect home deliveries within 2 hours. This section offers vegetables, dairy and fruits along with grocery and everyday essentials.
| How to sell on Amazon without GST? You can sell on Amazon without GST if your products are in the exempted category list. Not all items require GST to be sold on Amazon.in – some of the exclusions are books, certain handicrafts, some edible goods, etc. |
How to become a seller on Amazon India?
Here’s a look at the step-by-step process to start selling on Amazon India.
To start selling on Amazon India, the following documents are mandatory:
- Active Mobile Number
- GST Number (unless you are selling in a GST-exempt category)
- Pan Details
- Active Bank Account
- Email ID
To successfully register you will have to complete a set of steps on the seller central account page. The process is as follows:
- Sign in with your email if your phone number is linked to a customer account.
- Alternatively, create a new account on Amazon.in
- Add the company name
- Verify your mobile number
- Mention your store name, product and your business address
- Enter the tax details
- Enter the product/barcode number to check if it exists on the Amazon.in catalogue
- If the product isn’t listed choose ‘I’m adding a product not sold on Amazon’ for a new listing
- Start listing your products with price details, quality, condition and shipping option
- On the selling dashboard add the remaining details, and upload your digital signature
- Click on Launch your Business
How much does it cost to sell on Amazon?
Amazon India charges a fee depending on the different selling and shipping options you choose. The total charge is an addition of referral fee, closing fee, shipping fee and other fee.
- Referral fee: A percentage-based fee charged by Amazon on the total sales
- Closing fee: A fee that varies according to the product price and charged in addition to the referral fee
- Shipping fee: The amount paid for shipping products through FBA and Easy Ship
- Other fee: Fees incurred to pick up and store products
| Fee Type | Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) | Easy Ship (ES) | Self-Ship |
| Referral Fee | Starts from 2% | Starts from 2% | Starts from 2% |
| Closing Fee | Dependent on product price range | Dependent on product price range | Dependent on product price range |
| Shipping Fee | Starts at Rs. 28 per item | Starts at Rs. 38 per item | Cost decided by your preferred carrier |
| Other Fee | Fees for picking, packing and storing goods | NA | NA |
If you choose to ship through Fulfilment by Amazon, the products are sent to an Amazon Fulfilment Centre where they are packed and delivered by Amazon based on the orders received. Their team also manages the returns and other customer queries.
Amazon Easy Ship is yet another option that offers an end-to-end delivery service. Here the product is picked and delivered by an Amazon Logistics Delivery associate. Easy Ship does not involve packing or storing the products, however, the customer service and returns are managed by Amazon.
You can also choose to self-ship if you have the resources and facility for storing and packaging products. In this case, Amazon charges only the referral and closing fees.
What is Seller Central?
Seller Central is a dashboard to manage everything related to your business in one place. It offers a range of features to help you seamlessly sell your products. Some of the things you can control from the platform include:
- Track inventory and update listings using the Inventory tab
- Keep a tab on the daily sales of all your products
- Download custom reports
- Monitor your performance using the sales dashboard and reports
- Use the Case Log to open helps tickets and contact selling partner support
Seller Central can also be downloaded on the phone for easy access to your business details.
How to list products on Amazon India?
Products can be listed on Amazon by adding them through the Seller Central dashboard along with the required details and specifications.
It is essential to update the product information including the category, brand name, features and specifications, images, and price so that the buyers are well-informed before purchasing it.
Some of the key details include:
- A coloured image of the product
- Clearly visible features
- Height & width of 1000 pixels or more
- Images within 10,000 pixels on the longest side
- Uploaded in JPEG (.jpg) or TIFF (.tif)
The product specifications can be edited and changed through the dashboard when necessary.
How does Amazon manage payments?
Once a sale is successfully completed, Amazon generates the payment through Automated Clearing House (ACH) or electronic transfer. It reaches you within 5-7 business days and the reports can be tracked through the Seller Central account.
You can access the payment reports and summary on Seller Central.
Conclusion
Every e-commerce business should explore Amazon India and gain from the opportunities the platform offers. In today’s highly competitive digital marketplace, reach is a very crucial factor and companies such as Amazon make it easy for businesses irrespective of their size or scale.
It is also crucial for an online business to be able to reach directly to their customers through a website or an app. An e-commerce website helps buyers connect with your brand better and access all your products and details at one place.
Additionally, with a robust and reliable payment solution such as Paytm Payment Gateway, seamless transactions are a breeze and your customers can make a purchase through their preferred mode of payment. With its industry-best success rates and easy-to-use interface, Paytm Payment Gateway is trusted by businesses of all scales and sizes across the country.
