Understanding Amazon’s Pan-European FBA Program

Introduction

If you are European and are seeking to expand your business into the global market, then Amazon’s Pan-European Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) program may be of use to you. This program makes it easier than ever before to sell across the EU. But what are the key elements of the program you need to understand and how can you maximize its potential for your business? That is what we hope to answer in this article today. Specifically, we will look at some of the key prerequisites for enrollment, the best strategies to maximize your returns from it, and finally the program’s benefits by comparing it to Amazon’s European Fulfillment Network (EFN).

Key Prerequisites for Enrollment

Joining the Pan-European FBA program requires the following prerequisites to be met:

1. Enable placement in at least 2 of the following EU countries – Germany, France, Poland, Italy, or Spain.
2. Ensure you have a VAT number in each of the relevant countries.
3. All product listings must be active and identical across each marketplace you’ve chosen to list on.

Strategies to Maximize Returns from the Pan-European FBA Program

Once you are familiar with the rules, you should adopt a strategy to help you maximize your returns, before listing anything for sale. Doing this at the beginning of your FBA journey is always a lot better and easier than doing it later on. Below are some ways to optimize your experience from the get-go.

Optimize Your Listings: Localize and optimize your listings for each of the European marketplaces you have chosen to sell on. This could involve using language that resonates with the local audience, incorporating relevant keywords, and understanding local shopping behaviors and trends. 

Stay Competitive: As with selling anywhere, try and monitor your pricing and adjust it in line with your competition. The potential savings from the Pan-European FBA program could allow you to lower your prices, making your products more appealing to customers. 

Comprehensive Inventory Management: Keeping track of your inventory spread across different European locations can be challenging. However, utilizing a comprehensive inventory management system like the one in Juiced’s new app can make this task easier. We track your sales, orders, and more, across multiple marketplaces within one central hub. On top of that, we provide information on the best products to resell across a variety of niches such as collectibles, sneakers, electronics, tickets, and more. You can sign up for free today by clicking here. 

Exceptional Customer Service: As your customer base grows across Europe, ensure you have a strong support system in place to address any queries and issues promptly and efficiently. This may involve hiring staff who specialize in each language necessary, depending on the size of your Amazon FBA business.

Benefits of Pan European FBA

Now it is finally time to explore what makes Amazon’s Pan-European FBA program so good. We will look at its benefits by comparing it to EFN. Before the inception of the Pan-European FBA, Amazon’s European Fulfillment Network was the primary tool for sellers seeking to break into the European market. Under the EFN, sellers could store their inventory in the UK and ship it elsewhere in mainland Europe. As you can probably imagine though, the Pan-European FBA program has some perks over EFN, especially since Brexit. 

Fulfillment Cost: The most significant difference between the Pan-European FBA and EFN is in fulfillment cost. With EFN, Amazon charges a cross-border fee for each item shipped to a customer from a different marketplace than where your inventory is stored. In contrast, Pan-European FBA removes these cross-border fees, as Amazon distributes your inventory across various fulfillment centers based on anticipated demand. Thus, the Pan-European FBA leads to a considerable reduction in fulfillment costs, thereby increasing profit margins.

 Efficiency: Since the Pan-European FBA strategically places your inventory closer to potential customers, it ensures faster delivery times. This leads to a higher level of customer satisfaction, which could result in better seller ratings and reviews. In comparison, the EFN, while still providing relatively quick deliveries, may not be as fast due to possible cross-border shipping.

 Inventory Management: One notable perk of the EFN is that it allows for centralized inventory management since all your products are stored in one location. On the other hand, with Pan-European FBA, your inventory is spread out across multiple fulfillment centers. While this may seem daunting, it doesn’t have to be. With a comprehensive inventory management system, like the one offered by Juiced mentioned previously, you can almost negate this negative. 

Reach and Sales: Both programs give you access to all five of Amazon’s biggest European marketplaces. However, the pan-European FBA program now also gives sellers access to and from Poland, Sweden, Belgium, and the Netherlands. This means you have a larger consumer base when compared with EFN. Moreover, there is always the possibility Amazon adds more countries to the program, as it did with these four countries, which may expand your market and reach even further.