E-commerce is becoming a lucrative business option in the trained eyes. From the last many decades, the eCommerce platform has become a powerhouse in the industry. If you have been intrigued by the potential revenue and flexibility, setting up the online business would be your lucrative option.
When it comes to making money and earning great revenue, e-commerce businesses have become a powerhouse in the marketplace for the last few decades. In fact, it has been estimated that approximately more than half of the American population have started opting for the idea of shopping online. Moreover, it has been seen that e-commerce websites generate approximately 20% of the company’s revenue in the marketplace.
If you are also thinking about embarking into the e-commerce world, you might have thought about starting an Amazon business. As per the survey conducted in 2000 customers, it has been stated that more than 80 percent of them prefer to do shopping from Amazon as compared to the eCommerce websites. So, from this survey, you can imagine how much reach and reputation of the Amazon products/services are in the marketplace. This article may help you if you are thinking about starting an Amazon business in the U.S.
Launching an Amazon business in the U.S. is just like setting up any kind of commercial endeavor. There are some considerations and to-do lists that you need to follow to set up the business. I would also recommend all the readers get legal and accounting advice from the professionals so that they can navigate your business in the right direction. Before going deep into the article to get the steps to start and maintain the Amazon business in the U.S., let’s read about the Amazon business world.
Amazon Business World
What does an Amazon seller mean? How can one business start selling their products on Amazon? Well, the people who source their goods and services on Amazon at a specific profit are explicitly known as the Amazon seller. Generally, there are two types of sellers in the Amazon business world. Let’s read about them-
Amazon FBA Sellers
There are some types of sellers in the Amazon marketplace, where they source and secure their products in their own stores. But to store, sell, ship, and to handle the payments, they prefer to use Amazon warehouses. Amazon handles all the queries related to customer services and returns. So, these types of sellers are known as the “Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA)” sellers.
Sold by Amazon Sellers
The sellers who stock, ship, secure, and source the goods along with the customer service management and returns. So, these sellers look for the perfect platform where they can sell their products without any hurdles. That’s why, they prefer to choose Amazon for selling their products listing, taking the payments, and getting exposure in the marketplace. These are also known as “Sold by Amazon” sellers.
Generally, the concept of “Fulfilled by Amazon is more expensive for the sellers than the “Sold by Amazon”. In the case of Amazon FBA Sellers, Amazon is fully responsible for returning, shipping, returning, and storing all the products. However, when the sellers choose the concept of “Sold by Amazon” sellers, they will be liable for their customer service, storage, and logistics, which in the end, becomes more costly. Thus, around 80% of Amazon sellers use the “Fulfilled By Amazon” service for their products.
Essential Amazon Business Keys and the background data
Are you thinking of starting an Amazon business in the U.S.? It is advisable to look at the background data and statistics of operating the U.S. Amazon business. In this way, you can have an idea about the direction where you want to move on. Let’s dive deep into the astonishing statistics about the Amazon business. As per the recent survey held on the Amazon U.S. business, it is concluded that Amazon has become the leading e-retailer in the United States with almost 178 billion U.S. dollars in net sales of the year 2017.
That was all the website statistics, but if we talk about mobile commerce, the Amazon app is reported to be the second-most preferred purchase channel of Amazon buyers in the United States. Almost half of the U.S. citizens purchase through Amazon.com. So, it would be your best perspective to embark on the business world of Amazon.
What about the Amazon Business Market?
To be honest, the Amazon business market is a competitive, complicated, and challenging marketplace. In order to achieve the desired results on the online market such as Amazon, businesses need to look for the right buyers and sellers at the right price is essential. While looking at the Amazon platform’s growth rate, it is mandatory to examine every niche and products to sustain its position on the market. Before starting the Amazon business, every business owner needs to know about the customers’ requirements and how to increase their products’ demand on the platform.
Is Amazon Business Entrepreneurship the best option for you?
Before embarking into the world of Amazon business to become the master administrator, you have to understand all the regulations and policies. As a fact, setting up an Amazon business is quite challenging. While launching the business on Amazon platform, there are several hurdles that e-commerce startups need to overcome: managing distribution, marketing, and acquiring sales.
When it comes to gain profits, the margins should be thin like pen-lid against developing, purchasing inventories to operate the successful business against a very competitive landscape.
It would be advisable to create excellent business skills, become experts in your main field, and give fierce competition to your business rivals. It really involves the best skills and extraordinary abilities to find out the right suppliers, customers, and products.
Excellent demand forecasting business steps and abilities need to be adopted to work out the cash flow. Moreover, it is important to pay full attention to the skill sets in order to understand the upcoming trends in the marketplace. This could help you ensure that you have plenty of inventory and inventory to offer the clients on the platform.
How to set up and maintain the Amazon business in the US?
Once you make up your mind to start the Amazon business in the US, there are some steps that you need to follow to set up and maintain its operations effectively. Below shared are some-
Choose a Business Structure
The first and foremost step that you need to incorporate to start the Amazon business in the US is selecting the right business structure. The business structure will surely be going to affect your personal assets, whenever your Amazon business faces any legal or financial difficulties.
So, you can choose from Sole-proprietorship, which requires low-cost and low-maintenance, from the Limited Liability Company, C Corporation, or S Corporation to keep a company’s assets and obligations separate from those of its owners. It is the business structure that will also affect the tax perspective and the ongoing compliance formalities that you need to fill.
Permits & Licenses
While starting the business in the US legally, you need to obtain some permits and licenses. It may be required to apply for the sale tax permits in those states where your customers live. So before setting up the business, take expert advice.
Determine Your Pricing
It is a critical thing for the Amazon sellers to know that the buyers usually compare the cost of the products with the traditional stores to get the best deal. That’s why it is said that you need to keep your prices keen so that buyers will opt for your products rather than offline stores. Moreover, you can also earn good profit and revenue from sales. There are some factors that you should consider before determining the prices of the products-
- Startup costs (such as legal fees, business registration costs, etc.)
- Product costs
- Marketing and advertising expenses
- Amazon Seller subscription fees
- Amazon referral fees
- Fulfillment costs
- Ongoing office expenses
- Sales projections
Equipment
To set up the Amazon business in the US, you need to first decide whether you need any equipment or not. There is no requirement of the specialized equipment unless your business requires to ship the products.
Software
Business ventures will find several software applications, designed to help the Amazon sellers. Depending upon the need of your business, you can opt for any software to manage and market your business.
Employees
Never ever forget to keep a business plan ready for the future growth of your Amazon business. This platform is quite competitive and profit-making. Since it keeps on changing its way of operating, you should always have experienced and experienced professional advisors and employees, when the business starts rising.
Business Maintenance
To start any business entity in any place, you should always follow all the rules and regulations of the place. Be aware of the reporting of the annual reports timely with the state once a year. Apply for the renewal of the licenses, state, federal, regional, and city business, following the specific country’s rules and regulations. This could help to create a business checklist so that your business can grow in the best possible way.
Conclusion
By now, you would get better about setting up the Amazon business in the US and maintaining it properly. Setting up the Amazon business in the E-commerce world is a fairly complex concept. Therefore, it is important to consider all the essential key points for making a business plan. Make up your mind and get ready with the business plan to embark into the Amazon business world, to gain more profits. Good luck!