Simplify custom contact center insights with Amazon Connect analytics data lake

Analytics are vital to the success of a contact center. Having insights into each touchpoint of the customer experience allows you to accurately measure performance and adapt to shifting business demands. While you can find common metrics in the Amazon Connect console, sometimes you need to have more details and custom requirements for reporting based on the unique needs of your business. 

Starting today, the Amazon Connect analytics data lake is generally available. As announced last year as preview, this new capability helps you to eliminate the need to build and maintain complex data pipelines. Amazon Connect data lake is zero-ETL capable, so no extract, transform, or load (ETL) is needed.

Here’s a quick look at the Amazon Connect analytics data lake:

Improving your customer experience with Amazon Connect
Amazon Connect analytics data lake helps you to unify disparate data sources, including customer contact records and agent activity, into a single location. By having your data in a centralized location, you now have access to analyze contact center performance and gain insights while reducing the costs associated with implementing complex data pipelines.

With Amazon Connect analytics data lake, you can access and analyze contact center data, such as contact trace records and Amazon Connect Contact Lens data. This provides you the flexibility to prepare and analyze data with Amazon Athena and use the business intelligence (BI) tools of your choice, such as, Amazon QuickSight and Tableau. 

Get started with the Amazon Connect analytics data lake
To get started with the Amazon Connect analytics data lake, you’ll first need to have an Amazon Connect instance setup. You can follow the steps in the Create an Amazon Connect instance page to create a new Amazon Connect instance. Because I’ve already created my Amazon Connect instance, I will go straight to showing you how you can get started with Amazon Connect analytics data lake.

First, I navigate to the Amazon Connect console and select my instance.

Then, on the next page, I can set up my analytics data lake by navigating to Analytics tools and selecting Add data share.

This brings up a pop-up dialog, and I first need to define the target AWS account ID. With this option, I can set up a centralized account to receive all data from Amazon Connect instances running in multiple accounts. Then, under Data types, I can select the types I need to share with the target AWS account. To learn more about the data types that you can share in the Amazon Connect analytics data lake, please visit Associate tables for Analytics data lake.

Once it’s done, I can see the list of all the target AWS account IDs with which I have shared all the data types.

Besides using the AWS Management Console, I can also use the AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI) to associate my tables with the analytics data lake. The following is a sample command:

$> aws connect batch-associate-analytics-data-set --cli-input-json file:///input_batch_association.json

Where input_batch_association.json is a JSON file that contains association details. Here’s a sample:

{
        "InstanceId": YOUR_INSTANCE_ID,
        "DataSetIds": [
                "<DATA_SET_ID>"
                ],
        "TargetAccountId": YOUR_ACCOUNT_ID
} 

Next, I need to approve (or reject) the request in the AWS Resource Access Manager (RAM) console in the target account. RAM is a service to help you securely share resources across AWS accounts. I navigate to AWS RAM and select Resource shares in the Shared with me section.

Then, I select the resource and select Accept resource share. 

At this stage, I can access shared resources from Amazon Connect. Now, I can start creating linked tables from shared tables in AWS Lake Formation. In the Lake Formation console, I navigate to the Tables page and select Create table.

I need to create a Resource link to a shared table. Then, I fill in the details and select the available Database and the Shared table’s region.

Then, when I select Shared table, it will list all the available shared tables that I can access.

Once I select the shared table, it will automatically populate Shared table’s database and Shared table’s owner ID. Once I’m happy with the configuration, I select Create.

To run some queries for the data, I go to the Amazon Athena console.The following is an example of a query that I ran:

With this configuration, I have access to certain Amazon Connect data types. I can even visualize the data by integrating with Amazon QuickSight. The following screenshot show some visuals in the Amazon QuickSight dashboard with data from Amazon Connect.

Customer voice
During the preview period, we heard lots of feedback from our customers about Amazon Connect analytics data lake. Here’s what our customer say:

Joulica is an analytics platform supporting insights for software like Amazon Connect and Salesforce. Tony McCormack, founder and CEO of Joulica, said, “Our core business is providing real-time and historical contact center analytics to Amazon Connect customers of all sizes. In the past, we frequently had to set up complex data pipelines, and so we are excited about using Amazon Connect analytics data lake to simplify the process of delivering actionable intelligence to our shared customers.”

Things you need to know

• Pricing — Amazon Connect analytics data lake is available for you to use up to 2 years of data without any additional charges in Amazon Connect. You only need to pay for any services you use to interact with the data.
• Availability — Amazon Connect analytics data lake is generally available in the following AWS Regions: US East (N. Virginia), US West (Oregon), Africa (Cape Town), Asia Pacific (Mumbai, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo), Canada (Central), and Europe (Frankfurt, London)
• Learn more — For more information, please visit Analytics data lake documentation page.

Happy building,
— Donnie

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Policy updates: Amazon API Services Developer Agreement, Data Protection Policy, and Acceptable Use Policy

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AWS analytics services streamline user access to data, permissions setting, and auditing

I am pleased to announce a new use case based on trusted identity propagation, a recently introduced capability of AWS IAM Identity Center.

Tableau, a commonly used business intelligence (BI) application, can now propagate end-user identity down to Amazon Redshift. This has a triple benefit. It simplifies the sign-in experience for end users. It allows data owners to define access based on real end-user identity. It allows auditors to verify data access by users.

Trusted identity propagation allows applications that consume data (such as Tableau, Amazon QuickSight, Amazon Redshift Query Editor, Amazon EMR Studio, and others) to propagate the user’s identity and group memberships to the services that store and manage access to the data, such as Amazon Redshift, Amazon Athena, Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon EMR, and others. Trusted identity propagation is a capability of IAM Identity Center that improves the sign-in experience across multiple analytics applications, simplifies data access management, and simplifies audit. End users benefit from single sign-on and do not have to specify the IAM roles they want to assume to connect to the system.

Before diving into more details, let’s agree on terminology.

I use the term “identity providers” to refer to the systems that hold user identities and group memberships. These are the systems that prompt the user for credentials and perform the authentication. For example, Azure Directory, Okta, Ping Identity, and more. Check the full list of identity providers we support.

I use the term “user-facing applications” to designate the applications that consume data, such as Tableau, Microsoft PowerBI, QuickSight, Amazon Redshift Query Editor, and others.

And finally, when I write “downstream services”, I refer to the analytics engines and storage services that process, store, or manage access to your data: Amazon Redshift, Athena, S3, EMR, and others.

To understand the benefit of trusted identity propagation, let’s briefly talk about how data access was granted until today. When a user-facing application accesses data from a downstream service, either the upstream service uses generic credentials (such as “tableau_user“) or assumes an IAM role to authenticate against the downstream service. This is the source of two challenges.

First, it makes it difficult for the downstream service administrator to define access policies that are fine-tuned for the actual user making the request. As seen from the downstream service, all requests originate from that common user or IAM role. If Jeff and Jane are both mapped to the BusinessAnalytics IAM role, then it is not possible to give them different levels of access, for example, readonly and read-write. Furthermore, if Jeff is also in the Finance group, he needs to choose a role in which to operate; he cannot access data from both groups in the same session.

Secondly, the task of associating a data-access event to an end user involves some undifferentiated heavy lifting. If the request originates from an IAM role called BusinessAnalytics, then additional work is required to figure out which user was behind that action.

Well, this particular example might look very simple, but in real life, organizations have hundreds of users and thousands of groups to match to hundreds of datasets. There was an opportunity for us to Invent and Simplify.

Once configured, the new trusted identity propagation provides a technical mechanism for user-facing applications to access data on behalf of the actual user behind the keyboard. Knowing the actual user identity offers three main advantages.

First, it allows downstream service administrators to create and manage access policies based on actual user identities, the groups they belong to, or a combination of the two. Downstream service administrators can now assign access in terms of users, groups, and datasets. This is the way most of our customers naturally think about access to data—intermediate mappings to IAM roles are no longer necessary to achieve these patterns.

Second, auditors now have access to the original user identity in system logs and can verify that policies are implemented correctly and follow all requirements of the company or industry-level policies.

Third, users of BI applications can benefit from single sign-on between applications. Your end-users no longer need to understand your company’s AWS accounts and IAM roles. Instead, they can sign in to EMR Studio (for example) using their corporate single sign-on that they’re used to for so many other things they do at work.

How does trusted identity propagation work?
Trusted identity propagation relies on standard mechanisms from our industry: OAuth2 and JWT. OAuth2 is an open standard for access delegation that allows users to grant third-party user-facing applications access to data on other services (downstream services) without exposing their credentials. JWT (JSON Web Token) is a compact, URL-safe means of representing identities and claims to be transferred between two parties. JWTs are signed, which means their integrity and authenticity can be verified.

How to configure trusted identity propagation
Configuring trusted identity propagation requires setup in IAM Identity Center, at the user-facing application, and at the downstream service because each of these needs to be told to work with end-user identities. Although the particulars will be different for each application, they will all follow this pattern:

1. Configure an identity source in AWS IAM Identity Center. AWS recommends enabling automated provisioning if your identity provider supports it, as most do. Automated provisioning works through the SCIM synchronization standard to synchronize your directory users and groups into IAM Identity Center. You probably have configured this already if you currently use IAM Identity Center to federate your workforce into the AWS Management Console. This is a one-time configuration, and you don’t have to repeat this step for each user-facing application.
2. Configure your user-facing application to authenticate its users with your identity provider. For example, configure Tableau to use Okta.
3. Configure the connection between the user-facing application and the downstream service. For example, configure Tableau to access Amazon Redshift. In some cases, it requires using the ODBC or JDBC driver for Redshift.

Then comes the configuration specific to trusted identity propagation. For example, imagine your organization has developed a user-facing web application that authenticates the users with your identity provider, and that you want to access data in AWS on behalf of the current authenticated user. For this use case, you would create a trusted token issuer in IAM Identity Center. This powerful new construct gives you a way to map your application’s authenticated users to the users in your IAM Identity Center directory so that it can make use of trusted identity propagation. My colleague Becky wrote a blog post to show you how to develop such an application. This additional configuration is required only when using third-party applications, such as Tableau, or a customer-developed application, that authenticate outside of AWS. When using user-facing applications managed by AWS, such as Amazon QuickSight, no further setup is required.

Finally, downstream service administrators must configure the access policies based on the user identity and group memberships. The exact configuration varies from one downstream service to the other. If the application reads or writes data in Amazon S3, the data owner may use S3 Access Grants in the Amazon S3 console to grant access for users and groups to prefixes in Amazon S3. If the application makes queries to an Amazon Redshift data warehouse, the data owner must configure IAM Identity Center trusted connection in the Amazon Redshift console and match the audience claim (aud) from the identity provider.

Now that you have a high-level overview of the configuration, let’s dive into the most important part: the user experience.

The end-user experience
Although the precise experience of the end user will obviously be different for different applications, in all cases, it will be simpler and more familiar to workforce users than before. The user interaction will begin with a redirect-based authentication single sign-on flow that takes the user to their identity provider, where they can sign in with credentials, multi-factor authentication, and so on.

Let’s look at the details of how an end user might interact with Okta and Tableau when trusted identity propagation has been configured.

Here is an illustration of the flow and the main interactions between systems and services.

Here’s how it goes.

1. As a user, I attempt to sign in to Tableau.

2. Tableau initiates a browser-based flow and redirects to the Okta sign-in page where I can enter my sign-in credentials. On successful authentication, Okta issues an authentication token (ID and access token) to Tableau.

3. Tableau initiates a JDBC connection with Amazon Redshift and includes the access token in the connection request. The Amazon Redshift JDBC driver makes a call to Amazon Redshift. Because your Amazon Redshift administrator enabled IAM Identity Center, Amazon Redshift forwards the access token to IAM Identity Center.

4. IAM Identity Center verifies and validates the access token and exchange the access token for an Identity Center issued token.

5. Amazon Redshift will resolve the Identity Center token to determine the corresponding Identity Center user and authorize access to the resource. Upon successful authorization, I can connect from Tableau to Amazon Redshift.

Once authenticated, I can start to use Tableau as usual.

And when I connect to Amazon Redshift Query Editor, I can observe the sys_query_history table to check who was the user who made the query. It correctly reports awsidc:<email address>, the Okta email address I used when I connected from Tableau.

Pricing and availability
Trusted identity propagation is provided at no additional cost in the 26 AWS Regions where AWS IAM Identity Center is available today.

Here are more details about trusted identity propagation and downstream service configurations.

• Simplify workforce identity management using IAM Identity Center and trusted token issuers
• Integrate Okta with Amazon Redshift Query Editor V2 using AWS IAM Identity Center for seamless Single Sign-On
• Simplify access management with Amazon Redshift and AWS Lake Formation for users in an External Identity Provider
• Bring your workforce identity to Amazon EMR Studio and Athena
• How to develop a user-facing data application with IAM Identity Center and S3 Access Grants (in two parts)

Happy reading!

With trusted identity propagation, you can now configure analytics systems to propagate the actual user identity, group membership, and attributes to AWS services such as Amazon Redshift, Amazon Athena, or Amazon S3. It simplifies the management of access policies on these services. It also allows auditors to verify your organization’s compliance posture to know the real identity of users accessing data.

Get started now and configure your Tableau integration with Amazon Redshift.

-- seb

PS: Writing a blog post at AWS is always a team effort, even when you see only one name under the post title. In this case, I want to thank Eva Mineva, Laura Reith, and Roberto Migli for their much-appreciated help in understanding the many subtleties and technical details of trusted identity propagation.

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Amazon EC2 high memory U7i Instances for large in-memory databases

Announced in preview form at re:Invent 2023, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) U7i instances with up to 32 TiB of DDR5 memory and 896 vCPUs are now available. Powered by custom fourth generation Intel Xeon Scalable Processors (Sapphire Rapids), these high memory instances are designed to support large, in-memory databases including SAP HANA, Oracle, and SQL Server. Here are the specs:

Instance Name	vCPUs	Memory (DDR5)	EBS Bandwidth	Network Bandwidth
u7i-12tb.224xlarge	896	12,288 GiB	60 Gbps	100 Gbps
u7in-16tb.224xlarge	896	16,384 GiB	100 Gbps	200 Gbps
u7in-24tb.224xlarge	896	24,576 GiB	100 Gbps	200 Gbps
u7in-32tb.224xlarge	896	32,768 GiB	100 Gbps	200 Gbps

The new instances deliver the best compute price performance for large in-memory workloads, and offer the highest memory and compute power of any SAP-certified virtual instance from a leading cloud provider.

Thanks to AWS Nitro System, all of the memory on the instance is available for use. For example, here’s the 32 TiB instance:

In comparison to the previous generation of EC2 High Memory instances, the U7i instances offer more than 135% of the compute performance, up to 115% more memory performance, and 2.5x the EBS bandwidth. This increased bandwidth allows you to transfer 30 TiB of data from EBS into memory in an hour or less, making data loads and cache refreshes faster than ever before. The instances also support ENA Express with 25 Gbps of bandwidth per flow, and provide an 85% improvement in P99.9 latency between instances.

Each U7i instance supports attachment of up to 128 General Purpose (gp2 and gp3) or Provisioned IOPS (io1 and io2 Block Express) EBS volumes. Each io2 Block Express volume can be as big as 64 TiB and can deliver up to 256K IOPS at up to 32 Gbps, making them a great match for U7i instances.

The instances are SAP certified to run Business Suite on HANA, Business Suite S/4HANA, Business Warehouse on HANA (BW), and SAP BW/4HANA in production environments. To learn more, consult the Certified and Supported SAP HANA Hardware and the SAP HANA to AWS Migration Guide. Also, be sure to take a look at the AWS Launch Wizard for SAP.

Things to Know
Here are a couple of things that you should know about these new instances:

Regions – U7i instances are available in the US East (N. Virginia), US West (Oregon), and Asia Pacific (Seoul, Sydney) AWS Regions.

Operating Systems – Supported operating systems include Amazon Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, Ubuntu, and Windows Server.

Larger Instances – We are also working on offering even larger instance later this year with increased compute to meet our customer needs.

— Jeff;

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AWS Weekly Roundup – LlamaIndex support for Amazon Neptune, force AWS CloudFormation stack deletion, and more (May 27, 2024)

Last week, Dr. Matt Wood, VP for AI Products at Amazon Web Services (AWS), delivered the keynote at the AWS Summit Los Angeles. Matt and guest speakers shared the latest advancements in generative artificial intelligence (generative AI), developer tooling, and foundational infrastructure, showcasing how they come together to change what’s possible for builders. You can watch the full keynote on YouTube.

Announcements during the LA Summit included two new Amazon Q courses as part of Amazon’s AI Ready initiative to provide free AI skills training to 2 million people globally by 2025. The courses are part of the Amazon Q learning plan. But that’s not all that happened last week.

Last week’s launches
Here are some launches that got my attention:

LlamaIndex support for Amazon Neptune — You can now build Graph Retrieval Augmented Generation (GraphRAG) applications by combining knowledge graphs stored in Amazon Neptune and LlamaIndex, a popular open source framework for building applications with large language models (LLMs) such as those available in Amazon Bedrock. To learn more, check the LlamaIndex documentation for Amazon Neptune Graph Store.

AWS CloudFormation launches a new parameter called DeletionMode for the DeleteStack API — You can use the AWS CloudFormation DeleteStack API to delete your stacks and stack resources. However, certain stack resources can prevent the DeleteStack API from successfully completing, for example, when you attempt to delete non-empty Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) buckets. The DeleteStack API can enter into the DELETE_FAILED state in such scenarios. With this launch, you can now pass FORCE_DELETE_STACK value to the new DeletionMode parameter and delete such stacks. To learn more, check the DeleteStack API documentation.

Mistral Small now available in Amazon Bedrock — The Mistral Small foundation model (FM) from Mistral AI is now generally available in Amazon Bedrock. This a fast-follow to our recent announcements of Mistral 7B and Mixtral 8x7B in March, and Mistral Large in April. Mistral Small, developed by Mistral AI, is a highly efficient large language model (LLM) optimized for high-volume, low-latency language-based tasks. To learn more, check Esra’s post.

New Amazon CloudFront edge location in Cairo, Egypt — The new AWS edge location brings the full suite of benefits provided by Amazon CloudFront, a secure, highly distributed, and scalable content delivery network (CDN) that delivers static and dynamic content, APIs, and live and on-demand video with low latency and high performance. Customers in Egypt can expect up to 30 percent improvement in latency, on average, for data delivered through the new edge location. To learn more about AWS edge locations, visit CloudFront edge locations.

Amazon OpenSearch Service zero-ETL integration with Amazon S3 — This Amazon OpenSearch Service integration offers a new efficient way to query operational logs in Amazon S3 data lakes, eliminating the need to switch between tools to analyze data. You can get started by installing out-of-the-box dashboards for AWS log types such as Amazon VPC Flow Logs, AWS WAF Logs, and Elastic Load Balancing (ELB). To learn more, check out the Amazon OpenSearch Service Integrations page and the Amazon OpenSearch Service Developer Guide.

For a full list of AWS announcements, be sure to keep an eye on the What's New at AWS page.

Other AWS news
Here are some additional news items and a Twitch show that you might find interesting:

Build On Generative AI — Now streaming every Thursday, 2:00 PM US PT on twitch.tv/aws, my colleagues Tiffany and Mike discuss different aspects of generative AI and invite guest speakers to demo their work. Check out show notes and the full list of episodes on community.aws.

Amazon Bedrock Studio bootstrapper script — We’ve heard your feedback! To everyone who struggled setting up the required AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) roles and permissions to get started with Amazon Bedrock Studio: You can now use the Bedrock Studio bootstrapper script to automate the creation of the permissions boundary, service role, and provisioning role.

Upcoming AWS events
Check your calendars and sign up for these AWS events:

AWS Summits — It’s AWS Summit season! Join free online and in-person events that bring the cloud computing community together to connect, collaborate, and learn about AWS. Register in your nearest city: Dubai (May 29), Bangkok (May 30), Stockholm (June 4), Madrid (June 5), and Washington, DC (June 26–27).

AWS re:Inforce — Join us for AWS re:Inforce (June 10–12) in Philadelphia, PA. AWS re:Inforce is a learning conference focused on AWS security solutions, cloud security, compliance, and identity. Connect with the AWS teams that build the security tools and meet AWS customers to learn about their security journeys.

AWS Community Days — Join community-led conferences that feature technical discussions, workshops, and hands-on labs led by expert AWS users and industry leaders from around the world: Midwest | Columbus (June 13), Sri Lanka (June 27), Cameroon (July 13), New Zealand (August 15), Nigeria (August 24), and New York (August 28).

You can browse all upcoming in-person and virtual events.

That’s all for this week. Check back next Monday for another Weekly Roundup!

— Antje

This post is part of our Weekly Roundup series. Check back each week for a quick roundup of interesting news and announcements from AWS!

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Power of Amazon Advantage: A Comprehensive Guide for Publishers, Authors, and Content Creators

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Power of Amazon Advantage: A Comprehensive Guide for Publishers, Authors, and Content Creators

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Power of Amazon Advantage: A Comprehensive Guide for Publishers, Authors, and Content Creators

Maximizing Your Reach and Sales Potential with Amazon Advantage

Amazon Advantage is a program designed to help publishers, authors, musicians, filmmakers, studios, and other media content creators expand their reach and boost sales by listing their products directly on Amazon.

By enrolling in Amazon Advantage, you gain access to a suite of tools and features that enable you to manage your operations, marketing, and reporting while tapping into Amazon’s vast customer base and leveraging the power of Amazon Prime.

Is Amazon Advantage more like Vendor Central or Seller Central?

Amazon Advantage is closer to Vendor Central than Seller Central.

Amazon Advantage vs. Vendor Central vs. Seller Central

Amazon Advantage:

• Direct Sales to Amazon: In Amazon Advantage, you sell your products directly to Amazon. Amazon then handles the sales, deliveries, customer service, returns, and refunds, similar to Vendor Central's operations.
• Control Over Listings: While you have some control over product listings and can use promotional tools, Amazon sets the retail price and manages much of the sales process.
• Suitable for: Publishers, authors, musicians, filmmakers, studios, and other media content creators who want to sell physical media products (like books, CDs, DVDs) directly to Amazon.

Vendor Central:

• Wholesale Relationship: In Vendor Central, you operate as a supplier or wholesaler to Amazon. You sell products in bulk to Amazon, and Amazon sells them to customers.
• Amazon’s Responsibility: Amazon handles the pricing, customer service, and logistics.
• Invitation-Only: Vendor Central is typically by invitation only and often involves larger brands and manufacturers.

Seller Central:

• Marketplace Sales: In Seller Central, you sell your products directly to customers on the Amazon marketplace. You are responsible for pricing, customer service, and sometimes fulfillment unless you use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA).
• Greater Control: Sellers have more control over their listings, pricing, and customer interactions.
• Suitable for: Individual sellers, small businesses, and larger enterprises who want more control over their sales process.

Key Differences

Sales Model:

• Amazon Advantage and Vendor Central: Operate on a wholesale model where you sell to Amazon.
• Seller Central: Operates on a marketplace model where you sell directly to customers.

Control:

• Amazon Advantage and Vendor Central: Amazon controls pricing and customer interactions more.
• Seller Central: Sellers have more control over pricing and customer interactions.

Fulfillment:

• Amazon Advantage and Vendor Central: Amazon manages fulfillment.
• Seller Central: Sellers can manage fulfillment themselves or use FBA.

We mentioned that Amazon Advantage aligns more closely with Vendor Central in selling directly to Amazon, which then sells to the end customers, handling much of the sales and fulfillment process. This contrasts with Seller Central, where sellers have a direct relationship with customers and more control over their listings and pricing.

Key Benefits of Amazon Advantage

1. Direct Relationship with Amazon: Amazon Advantage allows you to sell your products directly to Amazon, which then handles the sales, deliveries, customer service, returns, and refunds. This streamlined process saves you time and resources while leveraging Amazon’s trusted brand. Your relationship with Amazon means they also handle the shipping cost, reducing your operational burden.
2. Enhanced Visibility: Products listed through Amazon Advantage benefit from Amazon’s “Ships from Amazon.com” and “Sold by Amazon.com” messaging on the product detail page, instilling confidence in potential buyers. This visibility is crucial for increasing sales and reaching new customers, including those who frequent Amazon’s foods market.
3. Marketing and Promotional Tools: Amazon Advantage members can utilize features like Lightning Deals, Amazon Advertising, A+ enhanced detail pages, and Vine to drive traffic and increase sales. These tools, available through Vendor Central, improve your product listings and boost visibility. Exclusive deals and prime access are great ways to attract more potential buyers.
4. Pre-order Functionality: As long as the release date is confirmed, you can list upcoming titles for pre-order before shipping your inventory to Amazon. This feature helps generate buzz and secure sales before launching your product.
5. Amazon Prime Eligibility: Stocking your products in Amazon’s fulfillment centers makes them eligible for Prime shipping, a significant draw for many customers and Amazon Prime members. This benefit enhances customer satisfaction and loyalty.
6. Comprehensive Reporting and Insights: Amazon Advantage provides access to valuable data and insights that help you make informed decisions and maximize your sales potential. This includes detailed reports on inventory levels, customer behavior, and sales performance. You can also track your savings and efficiency improvements.

Enrolling in Amazon Advantage

To join the U.S. Amazon Advantage program, you must meet specific requirements, such as having North American distribution rights for your titles, a U.S. address for returns, a valid email address and internet access, and scannable barcodes on every item.

The application process is straightforward, and once approved, you’ll gain access to the Amazon Advantage account on Seller Central, where you can manage your listings, confirm orders, and add new titles.

Costs and Terms

As of August 2023, the U.S. Amazon Advantage program has a non-refundable annual fee of $99. Payments are calculated based on the List Price you set for your products minus Amazon’s purchase discount.

The standard purchase discount for books is 55%, meaning you retain 45% of the List Price. Amazon determines the retail price customers pay and automatically pays you at the end of the month following the month in which your product is sold.

Amazon Advantage vs. Other Amazon Selling Options

While Amazon offers various selling options, such as Kindle Direct Publishing and the Amazon Seller program, Amazon Advantage is particularly well-suited for publishers, authors, and content creators who have physical inventory to ship and want to benefit from Amazon’s fulfillment services and promotional features.

Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) is another popular option for sellers, but it may offer a different level of customization and control than Amazon Advantage.

Additional Features

• Amazon Brand Registry: Protect your brand and access powerful tools to enhance product listings.
• Amazon Music and Amazon Prime Day: Leverage special events and platforms to promote your content.
• Gift Cards and Savings: Utilize Amazon’s promotional offers to attract more customers.
• Prime Access and Exclusive Deals: Offer exclusive products and benefits to Prime members, enhancing customer loyalty.
• Rights Reserved and User Agreement: Ensure you comply with Amazon’s terms and protect your intellectual property.
• Storage Fees: To manage your budget effectively, understand the costs of storing your products in Amazon’s fulfillment centers.\
• Amazon Employee Support: Benefit from the support and expertise of Amazon employees who help ensure your success on the platform.
• Shipping Cost Management: Optimize your shipping costs by leveraging Amazon’s logistics network.
• Amazon Team and Newsletter: Stay informed with updates from the Amazon team and newsletters tailored to your needs.
• Engaging Amazon Customers: Build relationships with Amazon customers through exceptional service and high-quality products.
• Reaching Potential Customers: Use Amazon’s platform to reach new potential customers and expand your market.

Considerations

While Amazon Advantage offers numerous benefits, there are some potential drawbacks to consider:

1. Annual Fee: Amazon Advantage charges a non-refundable annual fee of $99 for U.S. members, which may be a significant expense for smaller publishers or content creators.
2. Limited Control Over Pricing: Amazon determines the retail price customers pay for your products. This means you have less control over pricing strategies and may not be able to run promotions or discounts independently.
3. Inventory Management: Although Amazon handles the storage and fulfillment of your products, you are responsible for maintaining adequate inventory levels. Failure to keep up with demand or experience stockouts can negatively impact your sales and customer satisfaction.
4. Returns and Refunds: Amazon manages customer returns and refunds on your behalf, which can simplify the process. However, you may have less visibility into the reasons for returns, making it harder to identify and address potential issues with your products.
5. Limited Direct Customer Interaction: Since Amazon handles the sales process and customer service, you may have fewer opportunities to build direct relationships with your customers or gather valuable feedback.
6. Product Restrictions: Amazon Advantage currently accepts a limited range of physical products, such as books, music, and videos. If you offer digital content or other types of products, you may need to explore alternative selling options.
7. Competitive Marketplace: While Amazon’s vast customer base is a significant advantage, it also means you’ll be competing with numerous other publishers and content creators for visibility and sales. Standing out in a crowded marketplace can be challenging.
8. Dependence on Amazon: By relying heavily on Amazon Advantage for sales and distribution, you may become dependent on the platform. Any changes to Amazon’s policies, algorithms, or fees could significantly impact your business.
9. Payment Terms: Amazon pays vendors at the end of the month following the month in which the product was sold. This means there may be a delay in receiving payment for your sales, which can impact cash flow.
10. Limited Customization: While Amazon Advantage allows you to provide product information and some marketing content, the overall selling experience is standardized. You may have less ability to customize your brand’s presentation than selling through your website or other channels.

Before enrolling in Amazon Advantage, consider potential drawbacks. While some drawbacks are similar to other Amazon selling and retail programs, weigh these considerations against the benefits to determine if they align with your business goals and resources.

Summary

Amazon Advantage is a comprehensive and robust program that empowers publishers, authors, and content creators to reach a wider audience, increase sales, and streamline their operations.

By leveraging Amazon’s robust platform, Amazon Prime, and features such as Amazon Brand Registry, Amazon Advantage members can focus on creating exceptional content while leaving the complexities of fulfillment and customer service to Amazon.

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Ultimate Guide: Maximize Brand Protection, Growth, and Profit with Amazon Brand Registry

Amazon Brand Registry

Unlock Your Brand’s Full Potential Utilizing Amazon Brand Tools, Data And Insights

With the rise of counterfeit goods and intellectual property infringements, brands must proactively protect their assets. Despite the perception that Amazon does little to protect brands, it is deeply committed to protecting brands on its platform.

It’s a significant task for Amazon, and they are continually improving their efforts. However, brands need to partner with Amazon to counter the rise of counterfeit goods and intellectual property infringements. This means brands must proactively protect their assets in partnership with Amazon. This is where Amazon Brand Services comes into play.

We will broadly cover Amazon's efforts to protect brand owners and deep-dive into the Amazon Brand Registry, its benefits, eligibility requirements, and how to leverage its features to safeguard your brand as a retailer on Amazon Seller Central or Vendor Central.

Amazon’s Brand Protection Efforts: A Comprehensive Overview

Amazon is committed to ensuring customers receive authentic products and a secure selling environment from businesses within the broader Amazon platform ecosystem. This applies to Amazon Seller Central and Amazon Vendor Central, which are global marketplaces.

Amazon has made substantial investments and innovative strategies to combat counterfeit products and fraud, reflecting this dedication to brand protection for Amazon marketplaces.

Amazon’s brand protection strategy focuses on four key areas:

• Proactive Efforts to Protect the Store: Utilizing advanced machine learning and robust seller verification processes.
• Tools for Brands: Offering powerful tools for rights owners to protect intellectual property.
• Accountability for Bad Actors: Dismantling counterfeit organizations and holding bad actors accountable.
• Customer Protection and Education: Educating consumers about the dangers of counterfeit products.

Robust Proactive Controls

Amazon’s proactive measures to protect its stores involve advanced technologies and continuous monitoring. These efforts have significantly decreased bad actor attempts to create new selling accounts, from 6 million in 2020 to 700,000 in 2023.

Key strategies include:

• Seller Verification: Utilizing document forgery detection, image and video verification, and machine learning to confirm the authenticity of government-issued identity documents.
• Continuous Monitoring: Scanning billions of product detail pages daily to detect and prevent the listing of counterfeit products.
• AI and Machine Learning: Leveraging large language models and computer vision to identify and remove infringing listings.

Powerful Tools to Protect Brands

Amazon provides several tools and programs to help brands protect their intellectual property:

• Brand Registry: A free service, the brand registry supports offering automated protections, the Report a Violation tool, and an Impact Dashboard to track infringing listings. Amazon also offers related Amazon brand registry benefits like brand dashboards and Amazon brand analytics.
• Project Zero: Combines Amazon’s technology with brands’ knowledge to directly remove counterfeit listings and prevent counterfeits from reaching customers.
• Amazon Transparency Program: A product serialization service that uses unique codes to verify product authenticity.
• Intellectual Property Accelerator: Helps small businesses obtain intellectual property rights efficiently.
• Amazon Patent Evaluation Express (APEX): Resolves patent infringement disputes quickly, typically within 30 days.

Holding Bad Actors Accountable

Amazon’s Counterfeit Crimes Unit (CCU) works globally to identify, seize, and dispose of counterfeit products, preventing them from harming customers. Since its launch in 2020, the CCU has pursued over 21,000 bad actors through litigation and criminal referrals.

Key efforts include:

• Collaborations with Law Enforcement: Working with agencies worldwide to conduct raids and prosecutions, leading to numerous criminal convictions.
• Public-Private Partnerships: Sharing information with customs and law enforcement to stop counterfeits at the border and dismantle counterfeit networks.

Protecting and educating Amazon customers

Amazon recognizes the importance of consumer education in combating counterfeits. Initiatives include:

• Unreal Campaign Challenge: Partnering with the International Trademark Association to educate young consumers about the risks of counterfeit goods.
• Global Awareness Campaigns: Collaborating with organizations worldwide to raise awareness through podcasts, social media campaigns, and educational workshops.

Amazon’s commitment to brand protection involves continuous innovation and collaboration with brands, law enforcement, and industry experts. Their approach ensures that customers receive authentic products and that the marketplace remains safe and trustworthy for buyers and sellers.

Amazon Brand Protection Benchmarks and Results

It is not a perfect system, but it reflects an ongoing commitment to solving serious challenges for brand owners, large and small.

The following are key benchmarks of their efforts to date:

• Investment and Workforce: Invested over $1.2 billion in brand protection in 2023. Employed over 15,000 people dedicated to protecting customers, brands, and stores from counterfeiting, fraud, and other abuses.
• Proactive Controls: Stopped over 700,000 bad actor attempts to create new selling accounts in 2023, down from 6 million in 2020. Blocked more than 99% of suspected infringing listings before brands had to report them.
• Infringement Notices: More than a 30% decrease in total valid notices of infringement submitted by brands since 2020.
• Counterfeit Product Seizures: Identified, seized, and appropriately disposed of over 7 million counterfeit products worldwide in 2023.
• Brand Registry: Over 25,000 brands empowered through Project Zero. Over 1.6 billion product units are enrolled in Transparency, which ensures authenticity through code scan verification.
• Intellectual Property Accelerator: Helped over 15,000 brands obtain trademark protection, supporting businesses from 38 countries and 13 languages.
• Patent Dispute Resolution: Amazon Patent Evaluation Express (APEX) cases are decided in an average of 30 days, significantly faster than the traditional U.S. patent lawsuit process.
• Counterfeit Crimes Unit: Pursued more than 21,000 bad actors through litigation and criminal referrals since 2020.
• Customer Protection: Launched campaigns and partnerships to educate consumers on the dangers of counterfeit goods, including the Unreal Campaign Challenge, reaching 177,000 global DECA members.

You can read Amazon’s 2023 Brand Protection Report for more detailed updates and insights.

What is Amazon Brand Registry?

The primary goal of the Brand Registry is to create a trusted shopping experience for customers while empowering brands to protect their rights.

Amazon Brand Registry is a global service designed to help brands protect their intellectual property on Amazon.

By enrolling in the Brand Registry, brands gain access to powerful tools that enable them to manage their brand representation, report intellectual property infringements, and proactively prevent counterfeit listings.

What is the point of the Amazon Brand Registry? The Benefits!

We encourage all brands selling on Amazon to enroll in the Brand Registry and fully use its features to safeguard their intellectual property. With the right tools and proactive measures, you can focus on growing your brand and confidently reaching more customers on Amazon.

Enrolling in the Amazon Brand Registry unlocks a wide range of benefits for brands like;

• Proactive brand protection: Brand Registry provides automated protections that use machine learning to detect and prevent potential infringements before they impact your brand and customers.
• Improved brand control: With Brand Registry, you have greater control over your brand’s product listings, ensuring accurate and consistent representation of your products.
• Powerful search and reporting tools: The “Report a Violation” tool allows you to easily search for and report suspected intellectual property infringements across Amazon’s catalog.

Brand-Building Tools in Amazon’s Brand Registry

Enrolling in Amazon’s Brand Registry offers robust brand protection and unlocks a suite of powerful brand-building tools. These tools help brand owners manage, grow, and enhance their presence on Amazon.

Here are the vital brand-building tools available to brand owners:

1. Amazon brand store: Provide a customizable Amazon storefront that allows brands to create a unique and immersive shopping experience for customers across the Amazon marketplace. You can customize the layout, images, and content to reflect your brand’s identity in your Amazon store. Create multi-page storefronts within your store to showcase different product categories or seasonal promotions. You can also create an enhanced shopping experience to offer a curated shopping journey with rich multimedia content, videos, and interactive elements.
2. Amazon Advertising Sponsored Brands: Customizable Sponsored Brand campaigns appear prominent on Amazon’s search results pages. You get increased brand visibility with ads featuring your logo, a custom headline, and multiple products. You can target Sponsored Brand ads to reach relevant audiences with keyword-targeted ads that drive traffic to your Brand Store or a specific product page. You can access new performance metrics and detailed analytics data to track ad performance and optimize campaigns for better results.
3. Amazon Attribution: You can measure the impact of your off-Amazon marketing efforts on sales and conversions. Gain insights into which channels and tactics drive the best results.
4. Amazon Posts: Share your brand story, product news, and lifestyle content with shoppers through curated feeds.
5. Brand Analytics: A powerful tool that provides valuable insights into customer behavior and market trends. Get access to customer Search Terms to analyze what customers are searching for and identify high-performing keywords. Access a Market Basket Analysis to understand which products are frequently purchased together to inform cross-selling and bundling strategies. Also, get access to Demographic data to gain insights into the demographic profile of your customers, including age, gender, and location. Also, see Amazon Brand Insights.
6. Amazon A+ Content: Allows brands to enhance their product detail pages with rich multimedia content. Get enhanced descriptions with high-quality images, comparison charts, and narrative text to highlight product features and benefits. Execute robust brand storytelling by sharing your brand’s story and values to create a deeper connection with customers. Drive results with improved conversion rates by providing customers with detailed and engaging content that can help drive purchase decisions.
7. Amazon Live: It enables brands to engage with customers through live streaming. Brands can connect with customers, answer questions, and demonstrate products. They can also partner with influencers to reach a wider audience and boost brand visibility. Products can be linked directly within the live stream for a seamless shopping experience.
8. Amazon Vine Program: This program allows brands to receive reviews from trusted reviewers. Get early product reviews from top reviewers to build credibility and trust. High-quality reviews can help improve product ranking and visibility on Amazon.
9. Enhanced Brand Content (EBC): Enables brands to add rich content to their product descriptions. Get features like visual storytelling for images, infographics, and enhanced text to tell your product’s story. You also get SEO benefits like improved product discoverability with keyword-rich content.
10. Brand Follow Feature: The Brand Follow feature allows shoppers to engage with brands by following them on Amazon, leading to higher customer retention and increased sales. Shoppers can follow their favorite brands and receive updates on new releases, deals, and trending products. Shoppers who follow a brand spend 2.3 times more and purchase 1.8 times more frequently than non-followers. Followed brands’ products and content receive elevated placements, making it easier for loyal customers to find them.

Case Studies: Real-World Success with Amazon’s Brand Protection Tools

Amazon’s brand protection tools have helped numerous registered brands safeguard their intellectual property and build strong customer relationships. Here are some success stories:

New Republic

• Overview: New Republic sells refined men’s footwear and accessories, incorporating unexpected twists on memorable classics at affordable prices.
• Success: By leveraging Amazon’s brand protection tools, New Republic has effectively protected its brand name and products from counterfeiters, ensuring customers receive only authentic items.

Freshly Picked

• Overview: Freshly Picked offers high-end shoes and accessories for babies, children, and moms, designed to make life more fun, colorful, and easier.
• Success: Utilizing Amazon’s IP Accelerator and Brand Registry, Freshly Picked has secured its intellectual property, allowing the brand to focus on growth and customer satisfaction.

Hope & Henry

• Overview: Hope & Henry produces beautiful, high-quality, affordable clothing using organic cotton, sharing profits with the men and women who sew their products.
• Success: With Amazon’s Project Zero and Transparency programs, Hope & Henry has maintained the integrity of its supply chain and ensured that customers receive genuine products.

Eligibility Requirements for Amazon Brand Registry

To be eligible for Amazon Brand Registry, your brand must meet the following criteria:

1. Registered Trademark: You must have an active registered trademark for your brand. The trademark can be a wordmark, design mark, or image-based mark.
2. Trademark Registration Number: You must provide the trademark registration number issued by your country’s trademark office.
3. Brand Logo: A clear image of your brand’s logo is required during the enrollment process.
4. Government ID: You may need to provide a valid government-issued ID for verification purposes.

How to Enroll in Amazon Brand Registry

Enrolling in Amazon Brand Registry is a straightforward process that involves the following steps:

1. Sign in to your Amazon account: Use your existing Seller Central or Vendor Central account to sign in. You’ll need to create an account if you don’t have one.
2. Provide your brand information: Enter your name, trademark registration number, and other relevant details.
3. Verify your identity: Amazon may require you to verify your identity using a government-issued ID or other verification methods.
4. Complete the enrollment process: Review and submit your application. Once approved, you’ll access the full Brand Registry tools and features suite.

Amazon Brand Registry currently accepts trademarks issued by government trademark offices in the following countries and regions:

• United States
• Brazil
• Canada
• Mexico
• Australia
• India
• Japan
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Turkey
• Singapore
• Spain
• Saudi Arabia
• United Kingdom
• Egypt
• Sweden
• Poland
• Benelux
• European Union (EUIPO)
• United Arab Emirates

If your trademark is registered with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), please submit the corresponding trademark number assigned by the national trademark office, as it may differ from that assigned by WIPO.

For trademarks registered by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), please select EUIPO as your trademark registrar in your application.

Please note that Brand Registry is not affiliated with any of these offices, so do not contact them for information about Brand Registry.

Strategic Account Services: Personalized Support for Brand Owners

Amazon’s Strategic Account Services (SAS) provides brand owners with dedicated support to help scale their business, reach new customers, and increase sales. Here are the key benefits:

• Personalized Insights and Recommendations: SAS offers tailored strategies for critical areas such as fulfillment, account health, conversion growth, merchandising, and global expansion.
• Operational Support: Assistance with listing creation, catalog optimization, and A+ content recommendations.
• Programs, Deals, and Early Access: Access the latest seller offerings, beta programs, and deal opportunities with tailored guidance on the best options.
• Issue Assistance: A dedicated team of specialists to help manage and resolve issues efficiently, minimizing business interruptions.

Amazon Brand Analytics Report Data Automation

Openbridge allows Amazon Sellers, Vendors, Advertisers, Agencies, and others to streamline the data management process by automating Amazon Brand Analytics API.

Automation eliminates manual download wrangling, ensuring up-to-date and accurate brand data straight from Amazon APIs. With data stored in a unified data warehouse like Amazon Redshift, Amazon Redshift Spectrum, Google BigQuery, Snowflake, Azure Data Lake, and Amazon Athena, you can combine different Amazon brand, retail, and ads data into one 360 view, which makes it easier to gain a more holistic brand performance across the business.

Your team can then leverage best-in-class analytics and business tools like Google Data Studio, Tableau, Microsoft Power BI, Looker, or Amazon Quicksight to create a brand dashboard that combines data across Amazon FBA, Amazon Advertising, Vendor Central, and many more.

>> Sign up for a 30-day free trial of our Brand Analytics Amazon Insights Report automation.<<

Frequently Asked Questions

Amazon Brand Registry Cost?

Enrolling in the Brand Registry on Amazon is free. However, you may need to factor in the costs of obtaining a registered trademark if you don’t already have one.

The Amazon Brand Registry cost of trademark registration varies depending on your country and the type of trademark you’re applying for.

Amazon Brand Registry Without Trademark?

While having a registered trademark is a key requirement for enrolling in Brand Registry Amazon, there are still steps you can take to protect your brand even without a trademark:

• As a brand owner, use Amazon’s intellectual property reporting tools to report any suspected infringements, such as a product listing, and call out the Amazon standard identification number (ASIN).
• Leverage Amazon’s transparency program to authenticate your products using unique serialized codes.
• Consider applying for a trademark to become eligible for the Brand Registry.

If I meet Amazon brand registry requirements, how long does the Amazon Brand Registry process take?

The time it takes to get approved for Brand Registry Amazon varies, but it typically ranges from 2 to 10 days. The approval process involves verifying your trademark information and meeting all eligibility requirements. Once approved, you can access the full Brand Registry tools and features suite.

Can You Sell on Amazon Without Brand Registry?

Yes, you can sell on Amazon without the Brand Registry. Many sellers do not have a Brand Registry, particularly those just starting or selling unbranded products. However, enrolling in the Brand Registry provides additional tools and protections that can help you safeguard your brand and create a better customer experience.

Can You Sell Private Label on Amazon?

Yes, you can sell private-label products on Amazon. The private label refers to products manufactured by a third party but sold under the retailer’s name. Many Amazon sellers use private labels to build their brand presence. Enrolling in the Brand Registry can provide additional benefits and protections for your private label brand.

External Resources:

• Amazon Brand Protection Report 2023
• Amazon Brand Registry Overview
• Transparency Program
• Project Zero
• Intellectual Property Accelerator

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Unlock the Secrets to Skyrocket Vendor Central Profits: Eliminate Devastating Financial Scorecard Defects Now!

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Unlock the Secrets to Skyrocket Vendor Central Profits: Eliminate Devastating Financial Scorecard Defects Now!

Unlock the Secrets to Skyrocket Vendor Central Profits: Eliminate Devastating Financial Scorecard Defects Now!

Tips, how-to’s, and best practices to optimize the health of your Vendor Central financials

Managing financial transactions within Amazon Vendor Central can be challenging, especially when dealing with late or short payments.

This guide provides a detailed overview of the Financial Scorecard, the common issues it highlights, and the corrective actions vendors can take to ensure smooth and timely payments.

Overview of the Financial Scorecard

The Financial Scorecard offers an in-depth analysis of transactions between vendors and Amazon over a specific period. It helps vendors understand the reasons behind late or short payments related to invoicing, catalog discrepancies, and supply chain issues.

By using the Scorecard, vendors can identify potential gaps in their processes and receive guidance on addressing these issues to improve their business operations.

Common Issues and Corrective Actions

1. Missing Invoices

Issue Description:

• Instances where Amazon has received shipments but cannot locate the corresponding invoice.

Corrective Actions:

• Ensure an invoice is submitted when shipping products to facilitate timely payments.
• Avoid submitting invoices via paper or PDF, as these require manual processing and take longer to appear in the system.
• Ensure invoices comply with tax and compliance rules to prevent rejection.
• Do not submit duplicate invoices if one has already been sent.

2. Potential Shortages

Issue Description:

• Invoice line items are still being matched against Amazon’s receipt records.

Corrective Actions:

• If products have not been shipped, send them promptly or submit a credit memo to release the invoice for payment.
• If the shipment has already been sent, wait for the ongoing matching activities to be completed.
• If items cannot be matched to receipts, they will be moved to remaining shortages.

3. Remaining Shortages

Issue Description:

• Shortages during the payment dispute process after invoice matching and reconciliation.

Corrective Actions:

• Resolve or cancel remaining shortages promptly.
• Send shipments for the shortage quantity within the delivery window to receive payments.
• Submit a credit memo for the shortage quantity if the shipment was not sent.
• Contact Amazon to cancel the Shortage Claim Reversal (SCR) invoice. An SCR invoice lists all remaining unpaid items on an invoice.

Detailed Defects Overview

The Defect Overview provides further insights into specific issues and their resolutions:

Product Not Listed on PO

Issue Description:

• The product on the invoice is not on the purchase order (PO).

Corrective Actions:

• Short-term Solution: Send a credit memo and a new invoice with the correct items.
• Long-term Solution: Ensure invoiced products match the ordered ones and contact Amazon for catalog mapping verification if necessary.

Invoiced Quantity Greater Than Ordered Quantity

Issue Description:

• The invoiced quantity exceeds the quantity on the PO.

Corrective Actions:

• Short-term Solution: Submit a credit memo for the excess quantity.
• Long-term Solution: Ensure the invoice reflects the exact quantity ordered.

Unrecognized Product

Issue Description:

• The product ID on the invoice is not recognized in Amazon’s catalog.

Corrective Actions:

• Short-term Solution: Correct ID issues in the catalog and resubmit the invoice.
• Long-term Solution: Ensure the invoiced and shipped product ID matches the product ordered.

Multiple ASINs for a Single Product

Issue Description:

• The product ID on the invoice refers to multiple ASINs.

Corrective Actions:

• Short-term Solution: Verify and correct the product ID.
• Long-term Solution: Update product details regularly through Items > Edit Products.

Incorrect Unit vs Pack Quantity

Issue Description:

• The product quantity and cost specified on the invoice do not match the PO.

Corrective Actions:

• Short-term Solution: Verify consistency between the PO and the invoice.
• Long-term Solution: Regularly update product details to ensure accuracy.

Late Shipping

Issue Description:

• The shipment arrived at least 14 days after the product was invoiced or the invoice was due for payment.

Corrective Actions:

• Short-term Solution: Ensure timely delivery by coordinating with your carrier.
• Long-term Solution: Issue the invoice on the same day as dispatch and deliver within the PO delivery window.

Invoiced for Cancelled Items

Issue Description:

• Supplying products for purchase order items that were canceled before invoice submission.

Corrective Actions:

• Short-term Solution: Check internal data to verify the items sent and send a credit memo for incorrect items.
• Long-term Solution: Ensure timely delivery and avoid invoicing canceled items.

Incorrect Product Received

Issue Description:

• The received products differ from the invoiced products.

Corrective Actions:

• Short-term Solution: Send a credit memo for the wrong items and a new invoice with the correct items.
• Long-term Solution: Ensure the warehouse team ships products listed on the invoice and PO.

Deleted Appointment

Issue Description:

• The truck delivering the shipment failed to arrive or was rejected at the fulfillment center.

Corrective Actions:

• Short-term Solution: Ensure the carrier arrives at the correct delivery slot.
• Long-term Solution: Create valid appointments for truck deliveries and respect delivery dates.

Purchase Price Variance

Issue Description:

• The invoiced product cost does not match the agreed contractual cost.

Corrective Actions:

• Short-term Solution: Ensure no variance between the PO price and invoice price.
• Long-term Solution: Update product costs as soon as changes occur.

Liquidated Products

Issue Description:

• Delivered products not listed in Amazon’s catalog could not be received.

Corrective Actions:

• Short-term Solution: Send a credit memo for the wrong items.
• Long-term Solution: Ensure the warehouse team ships the products listed on the invoice and PO.

Overages Not Invoiced

Issue Description:

• Items shipped but not ordered or invoiced.

Corrective Actions:

• Short-term Solution: Verify the shipped quantity and submit an invoice for the correct quantity.
• Long-term Solution: Ensure the warehouse team ships the quantity of units confirmed in the PO.

Invoice Cannot Be Processed

Issue Description:

• Invoices containing defects preventing processing.

Corrective Actions:

• Short-term Solution: Check rejected invoices and correct the issues.
• Long-term Solution: Follow the correct guidelines to create and submit invoices.

Submitting a Credit Note (Memo)

When managing your financial transactions with Amazon Vendor Central, you may occasionally need to submit a credit note (memo) if an invoice is placed on hold due to a quantity shortage or price discrepancy. Submitting a credit note helps resolve these issues promptly and ensures your payment process continues smoothly.

Steps to Submit a Credit Note:

Navigate to Payments > Invoices:

• This section allows you to manage and review all your invoices.

Review/Dispute Shortages:

• In the Available Actions section, click on “Review/Dispute shortages”.
• This will allow you to select the specific invoice that requires a credit note.

Select an Action on the Invoice:

• Select the invoice in question and click on “Actions.”

View Invoice Details and Submit Credit Memo:

• In the Available Actions window, click on “View Invoice details”.
• Then, click on “Submit credit memo.”
• Note: You can create a credit note for the total amount or a partial credit note by clicking “Submit ASIN level details.”

Enter Required Details and Submit:

• Fill in the necessary details for the credit note.
• Once all details are entered correctly, click “Submit”.

Alternative Method via Financial Dashboard:

• You can also submit a credit note from the Financial Dashboard:
• Click on “In progress” under “Your payables.”
• Select the invoice that needs a credit memo.
• Choose “Submit credit memo” from the Available Actions drop-down menu.

Following these steps, you can efficiently manage discrepancies and ensure your invoices are processed without delays. Submitting credit notes promptly helps maintain a healthy cash flow and keeps your transactions with Amazon running smoothly.

Understanding Provisions for Receivables

Provisions for receivables are essential to managing your financial transactions with Amazon, mainly when dealing with returns, marketing expenses, and rebates. These provisions act as temporary credit memos, ensuring your account remains balanced even when forecasted costs exceed forecasted payments.

What are Provisions for Receivables?

Provisions for receivables are temporary credit memos that Amazon can place on your account. They are used when the forecasted costs associated with returns, marketing, and rebates due to Amazon exceed the forecasted payments owed to you. The primary purpose of these provisions is to prevent these costs from creating a debit balance on your account.

How Provisions Work:

• Deduction from Payments: Provisions are deducted from the payments due to you.
• Subsequent Adjustment: These provisions are subject to subsequent adjustments based on the actual costs of returns, marketing, and rebates, as well as the actual payments due to you.

Provision Placement:

• When a provision is placed on your account, it will be dated and displayed in the format YYMMDD_PROVISION_FOR_RECEIVABLES.
• For example, a date of 161017 on your remittance means that the provision was placed on October 17, 2023.

Reversing Provisions for Receivables

Temporary Nature:

• The provision for receivables will reverse when invoices for returns, marketing, and rebates are settled or when a decision is made not to return the inventory.
• When a provision is reversed, it will display as YYMMDD_PROVISION_FOR_RECEIVABLESR.

Daily Recalculation:

• Provisions are recalculated, adopted, or reversed daily.
• No invoice copies are associated with these provisions since they are not “real” deductions.

Understanding and managing provisions for receivables helps ensure that your account remains balanced and that you can accurately forecast your financial position with Amazon.

By keeping track of these temporary credit memos and their adjustments, you can maintain a clearer picture of your overall financial health and prevent any unexpected debit balances on your account.

Improving Your Financial Transactions

Vendors can significantly improve their financial transactions with Amazon by regularly reviewing the Financial Scorecard and addressing the issues it highlights.

Here are some general tips for maintaining smooth operations:

• Consistency: Always ensure that invoiced quantities and costs match those on the PO.
• Accuracy: Double-check all details before submitting invoices to avoid rejections and delays.
• Communication: Maintain open communication with Amazon to resolve any discrepancies promptly.

For further training and support, vendors can access additional resources through Vendor Central > Support > Training topics.

By understanding and utilizing the Financial Scorecard, vendors can minimize payment issues, streamline their invoicing processes, and enhance their overall business performance with Amazon.

Unlock Effortless Financial Insights With Our Code-Free Vendor Central Integration

Are you struggling with complex, messy financial data management for Vendor Central? Say goodbye to the hassle.

The Amazon Selling Partner API (SP-API) allows for direct, automated access to Amazon forecasting data, making it easier for businesses to integrate it into their systems. Openbridge allows Amazon Vendors to save time manually downloading reports, increasing data velocity and reducing errors in messy merging and tracking downloaded reports.

Openbridge automation extends beyond financial data to a broad collection of Amazon and non-Amazon data sources;

• Brand Analytics
• Retail Analytics
• Retail Procurement
• Direct Fulfillment
• Real-time Traffic, Sales, and Inventory
• Amazon Advertising

Openbridge offers a seamless, automated solution that unifies your data into a private, trusted data warehouse or data lake like Amazon Redshift, Databricks, Google BigQuery, and more — all without a single line of code. With your data unified, you can use your favorite analytic tools like Power BI, Looker, Tableau, and others for internal teams or external partners.

Automate And Unify Your Vendor Central Data — Free For 30 Days

Start your journey towards data-driven growth and profit with Openbridge. Our code-free, fully automated Selling Partner API integration simplifies your Amazon Vendor Central operations.

Ready to harness the power of your Vendor data?

→ Sign Up Now for Your Free 30-day Trial For Amazon Vendor Central Data Automation.

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