There is no doubt that Amazon is now an integral part of our social fabric, acting as the most prominent eCommerce market globally. It brings together buyers, sellers, marketers, and curators from every corner of the world. Talking of the USA alone, nearly 1/3 of the population now has a Prime account providing ready access to a very receptive, high-velocity sales consumer platform.

What is Amazon FBA?

Fulfillment by Amazon, or FBA, is Amazon’s fulfillment service for sellers. FBA has been instrumental in aiding the tremendous growth of the marketplace as it has taken over a lot of seller-related fulfillment activities like storing, packaging, and Shipping in a single service umbrella. As a result, Seller’s bandwidth is freed, and Amazon takes up many complexities of the online fulfillment model. FBA asks Sellers to ship their products to a fulfillment center, where they are stored, prepared, picked, packaged, and sent when a buyer makes a purchase.

Winning the Buy Box is at the top list of every Seller on Amazon, and FBA with prime Shipping can help deliver long-term growth. Amazon robotics, scanning machines, and I.T. systems successfully track and deliver millions of items in a day. Amazon operates in a massive scale of handling warehousing, storage, distribution, and returns. For sellers, Amazon has made the equation simple- ship the Products to Amazon and let FBA take care of the last mile!
When a customer places an order online, Amazon staff at the F.C.s physically prepare and ship the product(s).

POP QUIZ: Why are Amazon warehouses called Fulfilment centers? ->
Amazon Fulfilment Centers– as the name suggests, are customer-focused and are charged with fulfilling customer orders. Simply put, they are not the typical warehouses that store products. They also serve as Distribution Centers, where Amazon associates pick, pack, and ship orders quickly and efficiently, and the products get delivered in a day or two most of the time.

The Key Benefits of Using FBA Services Fulfillment by Amazon

• Leverage Amazon’s brand name and Goodwill and Expertise to reach a large customer base. FBA helps to grow the Brand both organically and inorganically.
• Benefit from Amazon’s Customer Relation Management which will help to handle queries, returns, refunds etc. 24×7.
• Sellers get Faster, Discounted Shipping Fees as they ride Amazon’s relation with shipping companies.
• FBA Sellers can store their inventory in Amazon Fulfilment Centers and still cater to customers who purchase on channels other than Amazon. A classic WIN-WIN!
• Reach a growing customer base who are Prime eligible. Amazon has 148.6 million Prime Members in the U.S. alone, and FBA gives access to this highly receptive base, higher Sales and profitability.
• Hassle-free setup as Amazon FBA frees up time for the Seller to focus on its sales, marketing, and Scaling up.
• Win with Mega Shopping Events like Prime Day to grow Brand, sky-high Sales, and Profits. Even amidst the global pandemic, In 2020, Amazon Prime Day sales amounted to an estimated 10.4 billion U.S. dollars.

How many Amazon Fulfillment Centers are there in the U.S. and worldwide?

Amazon currently runs many active and seasonal fulfillment centers worldwide, exceeding 150 million square feet of space. A vast network of FCs allows Amazon to operate on a broad connectivity spectrum, deliver goods to customers in the shortest possible time!
The vision and execution of the FBA program helped Amazon to shape itself as a real eCommerce giant.

RESOURCES:

1. You can also download this PDF which lists down all the Amazon FCs by Country/State.

2. Fulfillment by Amazon Revenue Calculator
You can use this Seller Central tool to calculate fees, fulfillment costs,s, and real-time cost comparisons.