How do I start my business in the European Amazon market?

Before you start the European Amazon market, there are a few things to consider. Or Fulfilment by Merchant (FBM: Replenishment by Merchant). Or Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA: Fulfilled by Amazon) / Shipment by Amazon. What is Amazon FBA?
So you want to take advantage of Amazon’s storage and shipping network and pay a fee for it? Or do you prefer to do everything yourself?
As the name suggests, FBA. Running the business means that Amazon takes care of the storage and delivery issues. There are other advantages as well, but we’ll talk about this later. There are several types of FBAs, each of which is specifically for companies at certain stages and is particularly well suited for certain times.
European shipping network (EFN), Multi-Country Inventory (MCI: multi-country inventory), Central Europe Program (CE: central Europe program) and Pan-European shipping network (Pan-EU) are available. In this article, we will discuss the European shipping network in detail. Fulfillment by Amazon.

Amazon EFN: a brief overview

The European shipping network (EFN) allows Amazon merchants with a European Amazon account to store their stock at Amazon’s local shipping merchant center and fulfill orders from other European markets from the same local warehouse stocks. What is Amazon FBA?
Amazon EFN simplifies inventory management by managing all warehouse stocks in a local warehouse (an Amazon-owned warehouse), providing maximum control and flexibility.
FBA inventory can be offered for sale in all European markets of Amazon through a single sales account. Orders from these markets can be fulfilled from FBA stock through Amazon’s fast and reliable European fulfillment network.
Amazon EFN simplifies inventory management by managing all warehouse stocks in a local warehouse (an Amazon-owned warehouse), providing maximum control and flexibility.
FBA inventory can be offered for sale in all of Amazon’s European markets through a single selling account. Orders from these markets can be fulfilled from FBA stock through Amazon’s fast and reliable European fulfillment network. Fulfillment by Amazon.

What is Amazon EFN?

With the European shipping network, you can store your products in various fulfillment centers within a country and fulfill your local and cross-border orders from there.
This means that although you only store in one country, you can sell in all markets.

When would EFN be right for me?

Amazon EFN is a great service and can be an invaluable opportunity for businesses that want to leverage Amazon’s shipping network and don’t (yet) have to store their products in multiple countries.

How do I enroll in the Amazon EFN program?

There is no separate registration process for activating the Amazon EFN application.
Using FBA in a market gives you the opportunity to automatically take advantage of the European Fulfilment Network in all other Amazon markets through your own European Amazon account, if your listings are loaded with the same stock code (SKU) in each market and have FBA status in each market.

Will my orders qualify for Amazon Prime status with EFN?

Yes, all FBA stocks in all markets earn Amazon Prime status. This is not only a plus that some competitors do not have, it also increases your visibility on Amazon.

What are the advantages of the EFN service?

While this service gives you the opportunity to offer your products to all European markets, you also only need a value added tax identification number and even get Prime status. –Perfect for businesses.

Amazon’s European shipping network: a glimpse

Here is a brief summary of the advantages of EFN:

Advantages

List on ALL Amazon markets with just one account
Only the German VAT number is sufficient
Simpler inventory management
Of course, the advantages must be weighed, but the European shipping network is definitely worth considering, especially for beginners.

**Additional shipping fee up to a maximum of 0.50 Euro Cent for orders from Germany Warehouses to other countries

**Figures from Amazon Seller Central Europe (2020)

EFN fees: What should be considered?

What are Amazon EFN fees? In fact, there is no fixed fee, as these fees depend on the storage location, the type of product, the size and weight of each product.
If you want to create a spreadsheet in Excel or save some time, we recommend using Amazon’s replenishment fee calculator / EHN calculator.
As we mentioned earlier, MCI, CE and Amazon Pan-EU are available alongside EFN. Now here we will give a brief description of these FBA types that Amazon merchants can choose from. What is Amazon FBA?

Summary

Amazon’s European shipping network (EFN) is a huge opportunity for companies to enter the market and take advantage of Amazon’s warehousing and sales network.
Since you are listed in all markets, EFN can recognize a brand throughout Europe.

It might be the first step to get started, and of course, larger FBA types can be selected later. What is Amazon FBA?