amazon selling business plan

How To Sell On Amazon: 2024 Guide

Updated: Jul 26, 2024, 5:45pm

Popular with both sellers and customers alike, it’s no wonder Amazon is a multibillion-dollar company. The site gives sellers an easy way to get their products in front of a global audience. Getting started on the platform might seem intimidating, but it’s easier than you might think. In this guide, we’ll walk you through how to sell on Amazon in five simple steps. Here’s everything you need to know to get started.

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Two Different Ways To Sell on Amazon

There are two different ways to sell on Amazon, but they’re not exclusive. You can use both options simultaneously. You can ship your slower-moving bulky or heavy items yourself while relying on Amazon to ship your lighter, fast-moving products.

Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA)

FBA means you ship your products to Amazon’s warehouse, and when you sell a product, Amazon ships it for you. There’s a caveat to this—in addition to your monthly service fee, you must also pay monthly inventory storage fees.

With FBA, Amazon also takes care of all customer support. If you don’t have a place to store your inventory and you’re okay with giving the reins to Amazon, you might like using FBA. Products best suited for FBA are small and lightweight with rapid turnover.

Ship Products Yourself

Also known as fulfilled by merchant (FBM), this means you store and ship your own products. You also handle all customer service, so it’s important to have a system set up to address inquiries and any issues that arise with your products.

Sellers with products that are bulky or heavy and don’t sell fast tend to use FBM. This way, they’re not paying for storing a product in an Amazon warehouse. The logic is that the longer a product sits on an Amazon warehouse shelf, the more it costs, thanks to long-term storage fees.

Start Selling on Amazon in 5 Steps:

Here’s how to sell on Amazon in five simple steps:

1. Conduct Market Research

Before you begin selling on Amazon, you must check the restricted products list . Some categories, like jewelry or DVDs, require approval before listing, whereas some products are restricted completely. Restricted products are usually federally regulated.

To narrow down a potential product, consider looking at private labeling of a successful product. This means the manufacturer adds your company label to an existing product. Look at what products are popular and trending.

After deciding on a product or niche of products, look at the top listings for what you want to sell. Is there a lot of competition? If the competition all offer Prime shipping, use FBA and have lots of 4.5- and 5-star reviews, it may be challenging to compete.

You want a product that is in demand but has a lower barrier of entry. Once you find a product, you need to get a supplier. Negotiate and ask for samples—the last thing you want is a product that breaks easily or doesn’t look like the pictures.

After finding a supplier, you must calculate your cost per unit. Are your margins high enough to make your product viable? If not, you may need to consider a different product. Ideally, you have enough of a margin to offer discounts or coupons. You may need to do a viability test on several options before you settle on your first product.

2. Set Up Seller Account

To set up a seller account, you must have the following details on hand:

• Bank account number and routing number
• Credit card
• Government-issued national ID (such as a driver’s license)
• Tax information
• Phone number

After you’ve gathered those details, navigate to Seller Central and choose a selling plan. The Individual selling plan is best for those who sell less than 40 units per month. Think of it as a pay-as-you-go plan because it’s 99 cents per sale.

The Professional selling plan is best for sellers who sell more than 40 units per month and need access to advanced reports and APIs. To sell on Launchpad or Handmade , you must have a Professional account. Professional runs $39.99 per month, no matter the amount you sell.

3. Add Products

There are two ways to add products: use an existing listing of an identical product or create a new listing. If you’re the only seller for a particular product, you must use a new listing.

A listing includes the following details:

• Product identifier (GTIN, UPC, ISBN or EAN)
• Stock keeping unit (SKU)
• Price, product condition, available quantity and shipping choices
• Product name, brand, category, description and images
• Keywords and search terms

Your product descriptions need to be optimized for search engines (known as SEO). Researching keywords for your listings is a significant element of SEO. The idea is to add keywords to your listing that people search for, and adding irrelevant keywords can hinder your visibility. If writing isn’t your strong suit, consider hiring a copywriter to write optimized product descriptions for you. You can find copywriters on platforms like Fiverr and Upwork.

Similarly, images are as important as the product description. Photos should have a white background and have a minimum dimension of 500 x 500 pixels. For high-quality listings, increase the file size to 1000 x 1000 pixels. Many sellers use a lightbox to take product images; otherwise, some companies can take photos for you if you send them your product.

4. Attract Customers

With the enormous amount of Amazon listings, yours must stand out. The best practices to attract customers involve pricing, shipping and advertising.

• Set competitive pricing. Amazon has built-in seller tools that automatically reprice your listing to an optimized price based on parameters you set (this way, you’re still making a profit). It also has bulk pricing to attract Amazon Business customers.
• Ship fast. If you don’t use Amazon Prime shipping, the next best thing is to make sure you ship your products quickly when you use FBM.
• Advertise with sponsored listings. When you turn your listing into a sponsored listing, it appears on product pages and in search results. These ads operate on a cost-per-click basis (CPC). This means that every time someone clicks on your ad, you pay whether or not they make a purchase. This can be pennies, or it can cost several dollars per click.

5. Get Reviews

There are strict rules for what is and isn’t allowed when asking for reviews from your customers. If caught providing incentives for your customers to leave a review, your account can face a permanent ban, withholding of funds and even legal action.

What you can do is:

• Ask for a review, but don’t offer compensation, free product, refunds or discounts for doing so
• Sign up for Amazon’s Early Reviewer Program , which provides an incentive to reviewers for providing authentic reviews

Just because you see another Amazon seller doing it doesn’t mean it’s okay. It’s not worth getting caught and losing your seller account.

Bottom Line

While the steps to sell on Amazon are relatively simple, success takes selecting the right products and carefully optimizing your listings. Even after seeing success, keeping ahead requires constant maintenance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do i need a business license to sell on amazon.

Generally speaking, no, you do not need a business license to sell on Amazon. However, your state or jurisdiction may have special rules.

Does Amazon report income to the IRS?

Amazon is required by law to report your income to the IRS if you sell more than $20,000 in gross payment volume and have more than 200 transactions in a year. They will issue a 1099-K so you may file your taxes.

What is dropshipping?

When you sell products via the FBA method, you are doing so using dropshipping. Dropshipping occurs when you sell products that you do not physically have at your location. In the case of FBA, they are kept in one of Amazon’s warehouses. When you sell a product, you send the information to your supplier (FBA in this case) and they ship it out to the buyer for you. Any costs that you incur for shipping and handling are built into the dropshipping agreement you have with the supplier.

What products are in demand?

Doing this research on Google Trends and various social media websites will help you figure out what is best to sell.

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Katherine Haan is a small business owner with nearly two decades of experience helping other business owners increase their incomes.

Cassie is a deputy editor collaborating with teams around the world while living in the beautiful hills of Kentucky. Focusing on bringing growth to small businesses, she is passionate about economic development and has held positions on the boards of directors of two non-profit organizations seeking to revitalize her former railroad town. Prior to joining the team at Forbes Advisor, Cassie was a content operations manager and copywriting manager.

Amazon FBA Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Amazon FBA Business Plan

Over the past 20+ years, we have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans to start and grow their Amazon FBA businesses. On this page, we will first give you some background information with regards to the importance of business planning. We will then go through an Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) business plan template step-by-step so you can create your plan today.

Download our Ultimate Business Plan Template here >

What is an Amazon FBA Business Plan?

A business plan provides a snapshot of your Amazon FBA business as it stands today, and lays out your growth plan for the next five years. It explains your business goals and your strategy for reaching them. It also includes target market research to support your plans.

Why You Need a Business Plan for an Amazon FBA Business

If you’re looking to start an Amazon FBA business, or grow your established business, you need a business plan. A business plan will help you raise funding, if needed, and plan out the growth of your Amazon FBA business in order to improve your chances of success. Your business plan is a living document that should be updated annually as your company grows and changes.

Sources of Funding for Amazon FBA Businesses

With regards to funding, the main sources of funding for an Amazon FBA business are personal savings, credit cards, bank loans and angel investors. With regards to bank loans, banks will want to review your business plan and gain confidence that you will be able to repay your loan and interest. To acquire this confidence, the loan officer will not only want to confirm that your financials are reasonable, but they will also want to see a professional plan. Such a plan will give them the confidence that you can successfully and professionally operate a business.

Personal savings is the other most common form of funding for an Amazon FBA business. Venture capitalists will usually not fund an Amazon FBA business. This is because most venture capitalists are looking for millions of dollars in return when they make an investment, and an individual Amazon FBA could never achieve such results.  With that said, personal savings and bank loans are the most common funding paths for Amazon FBA businesses.

Finish Your Business Plan Today!

How to write a business plan for an amazon fba business.

If you want to start an Amazon FBA business or expand your current one, you need a business plan. In the following Amazon business plan template, we detail what should be included in each section of your own business plan.

Executive Summary

Your executive summary provides an introduction to your business plan, but it is normally the last section you write because it provides a summary of each key section of your plan.

The goal of your Executive Summary is to quickly engage the reader. Explain to them the type of Amazon FBA business you are operating and the status. For example, are you a startup, do you have an Amazon FBA business that you would like to grow, or are you operating multiple Amazon FBA businesses or storefronts?

Next, provide an overview of each of the subsequent sections of your plan. For example, give a brief overview of the Amazon FBA industry. Discuss the type of Amazon FBA business you are operating. Detail your direct competitors. Give an overview of your target market. Provide a snapshot of your marketing plan. Identify the key members of your team. And offer an overview of your financial plan.  

Company Analysis

In your company analysis, you will detail the type of business you are operating.

For example, you might operate one of the following types of Amazon FBA businesses:

• Reseller : this type of business finds products from other businesses to resell on Amazon.
• Private Label: this type of business buys existing products and rebrands them to sell on Amazon.
• Proprietary: this type of business is where a business creates a unique product to sell on Amazon.

In addition to explaining the type of Amazon FBA business you will operate, the Company Analysis section of your Amazon FBA business plan needs to provide background on the business.

Include answers to question such as:

• When and why did you start the business?
• What milestones have you achieved to date? Milestones could include the number of customers served, number of positive reviews, growth in product line, etc.
• Your legal structure. Are you incorporated as an S-Corp? An LLC? A sole proprietorship? Explain your legal structure here.

Industry Analysis

While this may seem unnecessary, it serves multiple purposes.

First, researching the industry educates you. It helps you understand the market in which you are operating.

Secondly, market research can improve your strategy, particularly if your research identifies market trends.

The third reason for market research is to prove to readers that you are an expert in your industry. By conducting the research and presenting it in your plan, you achieve just that.

The following questions should be answered in the industry analysis section:

• How big is the Amazon FBA industry (in dollars)?
• Is the market declining or increasing?
• Who are the key competitors in the market?
• Who are the key suppliers in the market?
• What trends are affecting the industry?
• What is the industry’s growth forecast over the next 5 – 10 years?
• What is the relevant market size? That is, how big is the potential market for your Amazon FBA business? You can extrapolate such a figure by assessing the size of the market in the entire country and then applying that figure to your local population.

Customer Analysis

The customer analysis section must detail the customers you serve and/or expect to serve.

The following are examples of customer segments: Millennials, Generation X, and Baby Boomers.

As you can imagine, the customer segments you choose will have a great impact on the type of Amazon FBA business you operate. Clearly, Baby Boomers would respond to different marketing promotions than Millennials, for example.

Try to break out your target market in terms of their demographic and psychographic profiles. With regards to demographics, the customer segments may include a discussion of the ages, genders, locations and income levels of the customers you seek to serve. Such demographic information is easy to find on government websites.

Psychographic profiles explain the wants and needs of your target customers. The more you can understand and define these needs, the better you will do in attracting and retaining your customers.

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Competitive Analysis

Your competitive analysis should identify the indirect and direct competitors your business faces and then focus on the latter.

Direct competitors are other Amazon sellers.

Indirect competitors are other options that customers have to purchase from that aren’t direct competitors. This includes traditional brick and mortar stores, branded websites, or people who make their own product at home. You need to mention such competition as well.

• What types of customers do they serve?
• What types of products do they sell?
• What is their pricing (premium, low, etc.)?
• What are they good at?
• What are their weaknesses?

With regards to the last two questions, think about your answers from the customers’ perspective. And don’t be afraid to ask your competitors’ customers what they like most and least about them.

The final part of your competitive analysis section is to document your areas of competitive advantage. For example:

• Will you provide a broader range or higher quality product line?
• Will you provide services that your competitors don’t offer?
• Will you provide better customer service?
• Will you offer better pricing?

Think about ways you will outperform your competition and document them in this section of your plan.  

Marketing Plan

Traditionally, a marketing plan includes the four P’s: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion. For an Amazon FBA business, your marketing plan should include the following:

Product : In the product section, you should reiterate the type of Amazon FBA company that you documented in your Company Analysis. Then, detail the specific products you will be offering. For example, in addition to your core product line, will you provide customization, or warranties, or any other services?

Price : Document the prices you will offer and how they compare to your competitors. Essentially in the product and price sub-sections of your marketing plan, you are presenting the products or services you offer and their prices.

Place : Place refers to the location of your Amazon FBA company. Document your location and mention how the location will impact your success. For example, if you are offering a proprietary product, is your production facility located near an Amazon distribution facility, or near suppliers of the inputs needed to make the product, etc. Discuss how your location might be the ideal location to minimize order fulfillment time.

Promotions : The final part of your marketing plan is the promotions section. Here you will document how you will drive customers to your location(s). The following are some promotional methods you might consider:

• Digital Advertising
• Partnering with applicable websites
• Social media marketing
• Amazon PPC ads

Operations Plan

While the earlier sections of your business plan explained your goals, your operations plan describes how you will meet them. Your operations plan should have two distinct sections as follows.

Everyday short-term processes include all of the tasks involved in running your business, including managing, tracking, and restocking inventory, and customer service.

Long-term goals are the milestones you hope to achieve. These could include the dates when you expect to sell your 1,000 th product, or when you hope to reach $X in revenue. It could also be when you expect to expand your business to a new product line.  

Management Team

To demonstrate your Amazon FBA business’ ability to succeed, a strong management team is essential. Highlight your key players’ backgrounds, emphasizing those skills and experiences that prove their ability to grow a company.

Ideally you and/or your team members have direct experience in supply chain management or managing Amazon FBA businesses. If so, highlight this experience and expertise. But also highlight any experience that you think will help your business succeed.

If your team is lacking, consider assembling an advisory board. An advisory board would include 2 to 8 individuals who would act like mentors to your business. They would help answer questions and provide strategic guidance. If needed, look for advisory board members with experience in managing ecommerce shops or successfully running small businesses.  

Financial Plan

Your financial model should include your 5-year financial statement broken out both monthly or quarterly for the first year and then annually. Your financial statements include your income statement, balance sheet and cash flow statements.

Income Statement

Balance Sheets

Balance sheets show your assets and liabilities. While balance sheets can include much information, try to simplify them to the key items you need to know about. For instance, if you spend $50,000 on building out your Amazon FBA business, this will not give you immediate profits. Rather it is an asset that will hopefully help you generate profits for years to come. Likewise, if a bank writes you a check for $50,000, you don’t need to pay it back immediately. Rather, that is a liability you will pay back over time.

Cash Flow Statement

• Production facility build-out including design fees, construction, etc.
• Cost of equipment and supplies
• Payroll or salaries paid to staff
• Business insurance
• Taxes and permits
• Legal expenses

Attach your full financial projections in the appendix of your plan along with any supporting documents that make your plan more compelling. For example, you might include your product line description or your branding portfolio.

Putting together a business plan for your Amazon FBA business is a worthwhile endeavor. If you follow the template above, by the time you are done, you will truly be an expert. You will really understand the Amazon FBA industry, your competition, and your customers. You will have developed a marketing plan and will really understand what it takes to launch and grow a successful Amazon FBA business.

Don’t you wish there was a faster, easier way to finish your Amazon FBA business plan?

OR, Let Us Develop Your Plan For You

Since 1999, Growthink has developed business plans for thousands of companies who have gone on to achieve tremendous success.  

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Blog » Uncategorized » Amazon FBA Business Plan – Complete Guide How to Build

Amazon FBA Business Plan – Complete Guide How to Build

Table of Contents

• 1 What Is an Amazon Business Plan?
• 2 Why Do You Need an Amazon Seller Business Plan?
• 3.1 Executive summary
• 3.2 Company analysis
• 3.3 Customer analysis
• 3.4 Competitive analysis
• 3.5 Marketing plan
• 3.6 Operational plan
• 3.7 Management and organization
• 3.8 Financial plan
• 3.9 Appendix
• 4 Amazon Seller Business Plan: Final Thoughts

Congratulations! You’ve nailed every aspect of your business plan, from product listings to supply arrangements, distributor partnerships, packaging, and Amazon system records.

But does that automatically make you a successful FBA seller? Unfortunately, the answer is no.

Given the low barriers to entry, almost anyone can start an FBA company. So, how do you stand out from the crowd? The key is having a well-thought-out plan to guide you toward success.

Crafting winning Amazon business plans from scratch can be overwhelming and time-consuming, but the rewards are worth it. The success of an FBA seller depends on their ability to create functional, measurable, and transparent plans that are flexible enough to adapt to changes in the market. Leveraging your competitive advantages is also critical.

To take your FBA company to the next level, be sure to check out our top tips for success in 2023, which include the secret recipe to succeed.

In this article, we’ll provide you with a comprehensive guide on how to create a business plan for Amazon that’s tailored specifically for selling on FBA.

What Is an Amazon Business Plan?

A business plan for Amazon is a detailed strategy that outlines how a seller intends to operate and succeed in the Amazon marketplace. It is a comprehensive document covering various aspects, including product sourcing, pricing, inventory management, marketing, and customer service.

A well-crafted Amazon plan should be transparent and measurable, providing clear goals and objectives that can be tracked and adjusted. It should also include an analysis of the competition and the target audience and a plan for leveraging the seller’s competitive advantages.

An Amazon business plan is crucial for success on the platform, especially considering the high level of competition and the rapidly changing market trends. With a solid plan, sellers can make informed decisions and take proactive steps to grow their company, increase sales, and ultimately achieve their goals on Amazon.

Why Do You Need an Amazon Seller Business Plan?

There are several reasons why an Amazon seller needs a business plan, including:

• Clearly defined goals and objectives : A plan helps the seller identify and set achievable goals and objectives for their company . It provides a roadmap for how to get there, outlining the steps needed to achieve success on the platform.
• Understanding the competition : An Amazon business plan includes a competitive analysis that helps sellers identify their strengths and weaknesses compared to other sellers in the same market. This information can differentiate the company from the competition and create a unique value proposition for customers.
• Targeting the right audience: With a business plan, the seller can define their target audience and create a marketing strategy that effectively reaches and engages that audience. This can help increase sales and build a loyal customer base.
• Inventory management : An Amazon business plan includes an inventory management strategy that helps sellers optimize their inventory levels, reducing the risk of stockouts or overstocking.
• Financial planning: A plan includes a financial forecast that helps the seller estimate the costs of doing business on Amazon and future revenue and profits. This information can be used to make informed decisions about pricing, product sourcing, and other aspects.

How to Write a Business Plan for Amazon FBA Business?

A solid plan is crucial for anyone looking to start an Amazon FBA business or grow their existing one. In this comprehensive Amazon FBA business plan template, we provide a detailed outline of the essential elements you should include in each plan section. By following this template and tailoring it to your specific company needs, you can increase your chances of success and achieve your goals.

Executive summary

The executive summary should provide a high-level overview of your business plan and be written last after completing all the other sections. It should be concise yet comprehensive, highlighting the most important points of your plan. 

Company analysis

Additionally, you may want to provide some background on the key individuals involved in the business, such as their experience, skills, and qualifications. It’s also essential to describe your unique selling proposition (USP), which sets you apart from your competitors.

In this section, you should also include details about your suppliers and your relationships with manufacturers or distributors. Discuss any partnerships or collaborations you have with other businesses and the impact they may have on your operations and growth.

Finally, outline any challenges or obstacles you may face as you operate and grow your Amazon FBA company . Then, discuss how you plan to overcome these challenges and mitigate any risks that may arise. This information will help potential investors or lenders understand your business better and make informed decisions.

Customer analysis

In the customer analysis section, you must identify your target market, which is the specific group of people or businesses on which you will focus your marketing efforts. To do this, you must create a detailed customer profile with demographic and psychographic information.

Demographic information includes:

• Geographic location

Psychographic information includes:

• Personality traits
• Lifestyle choices

Once you have defined your target market, you must identify their needs and how your products or services meet them.

Competitive analysis

To compete successfully in the market, conducting a comprehensive competitive analysis is important. This analysis should identify indirect and direct competitors, focusing on the latter. Direct competitors are other Amazon FBA sellers or other retail and eCommerce businesses with similar product lines. In contrast, indirect competitors include traditional brick-and-mortar stores, branded websites, or homemade products.

When conducting your competitive analysis, you should aim to gather key information about your competitors, such as:

• The types of customers they serve
• The types of products they sell
• Their pricing strategy
• Their strengths and weaknesses

Once you have gathered this information, you can use it to identify areas of competitive advantage for your business. For example, you may offer a broader range or higher quality product line, unique services, better customer service, or better pricing.

Documenting your areas of competitive advantage in this section of your plan will help you to develop a strong marketing strategy that sets your company apart from the competition. Understanding your competitors and highlighting your strengths can position your brand for success in the Amazon FBA marketplace.

Pro tip: Use SellerSonar to keep tabs on your competition. The tool allows you to monitor and check how the changes in the item’s Best Sellers Rank, historical prices, pricing, and reviews affect the sales. Track your competitors’ changes and get instant notifications to see the full picture. 

Marketing plan

In the marketing plan section, you will outline how to market your Amazon FBA business and the products you offer. This section is crucial to understanding how you will attract customers to your products on Amazon:

• Amazon PPC ads: Explain how you will use Amazon PPC (pay-per-click) ads to drive traffic to your product listings. Outline your budget, keywords, and bidding strategy.
• Off-Amazon advertising: Detail your off-Amazon advertising strategies, such as Google Ads or social media ads. Explain how to target potential customers and drive traffic to your Amazon listings.
• Social media promotion: Outline how you will use social media platforms to promote your products and drive traffic to your Amazon listings. Explain which platforms you plan to use and your content strategy.

Operational plan

In the operational plan, you will outline how you will effectively run your business and execute your strategies. To ensure that your plan is comprehensive and effective, it should include the following elements:

• Fulfillment and storage operations: Will you store and fulfill orders independently or use Amazon’s Fulfillment program? Your choice will depend on the size and scale of your business.
• Product sourcing: This section should cover where and how you will source your products. To sell private-label products, you must find reliable manufacturers and suppliers. To resell products, you must identify reliable retailers and brands.
• Software: Will your company require any software to grow? For example, SellerSonar and SageMailer provide features to help sellers run and grow their Amazon businesses more effectively.
• Logistics and prepping: If you must prepare and package your products before sending them to Amazon, consider using an Amazon prep center.
• Tracking and managing inventory: This section should cover how you will manage your stock and know when to replenish inventory. Use SellerSonar to get real-time alerts once your listings are out of stock. 
• Customer service: How will you handle customer inquiries and returns? You should have the plan to ensure that your customers receive timely and satisfactory responses.
• Accounting and legal: Do you have the right legal structure for your business? Do you have an accountant to help you manage your finances?

Management and organization

In the organizational section of your plan, you’ll provide an overview of your business’s structure and the roles and responsibilities of each team member. This section is where you can showcase the experience and skills of your team and highlight how they will contribute to the success of your brand.

Be sure to provide a detailed description of each team member, including their professional background and relevant skills. You should also describe their role and how they will contribute to the company’s growth. Additionally, include information on any key hires you plan to make and how these individuals will help take your brand to the next level.

Financial plan

In the financial plan section of your plan, you’ll provide an accurate picture of your business’s financial status. It includes specific figures for sales, profits and losses, projections, costs, and financial objectives.

If you’re seeking funding for your company , this section should be highly detailed to demonstrate your business’s performance. This will help potential investors evaluate the financial viability of your company and decide whether or not to invest.

Here are some essential components to include in this section:

• The repayment schedule for any current loans or credit lines, including outstanding balances and monthly payments.
• A profit and loss statement outlines your revenues and expenses over a specific period.
• A balance sheet that provides a snapshot of your business’s financial standing, including assets, liabilities, and equity.
• Cash flow statement that highlights your business’s inflows and outflows of cash over a specified period.
• A detailed list of expenses associated with running your company .
• Overview of revenue streams, including sales from products or services, advertising revenue, or any other sources of income.
• Break-even analysis that outlines the point at which your business will begin generating profits.

To make your business plan more persuasive, consider including your complete financial projections in the appendix of your plan. In addition, don’t forget to attach supporting documents that can make your proposal more compelling, such as your product line description or branding portfolio.

By providing potential investors or stakeholders with a comprehensive overview of your financial projections, you can give them a better understanding of the profitability of your brand. It can help them make informed decisions about investing in your venture.

Furthermore, supporting documents showcasing your product line or branding can add credibility to your plan and make it more appealing. It can help you distinguish yourself from competitors and demonstrate your unique selling proposition to potential investors or customers.

Amazon Seller Business Plan: Final Thoughts

While some businesses require meticulous planning, others thrive on taking action. For example, starting a coffee cart or applying a retail arbitrage FBA strategy may not require a complex plan but rather a willingness to take action and learn.

If you’re looking to create an FBA plan, our template and guidance can provide you with a clear understanding of what matters most. By focusing on the key elements that will drive success on Amazon, you can create a plan that is both realistic and effective.

Remember that the end goal should always be considered when creating a plan. Knowing where you want to go, you can determine the most important activities to focus on today to get you there.

Once you’re ready to launch your Amazon company , don’t forget to take advantage of third-party tools that can help you streamline and optimize your operations. For example, SageMailer is an Amazon email automation tool that can help you manage feedback, improve customer service, and generate more reviews. Using these tools, you can take your business to the next level and achieve your goals on Amazon.

Register for a free 30-day trial to save time and grow your Amazon company effectively!

Related posts:

• how to easily improve your seller feedback rating;
• how to prevent and remove negative reviews;
• why do you need an Amazon review generation tool;
• how SageMailer can enhance your feedback management.

Learn with Threecolts

Small group workshops to help you learn, optimize, and grow.

FBA Business Plan: Why It's a Must for Amazon Sellers

The minimal requirement for opening a Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) business is a double-edged sword. On one side, almost anyone can open an ecommerce store and profit from it. On the other, with $700 billion worth of products sold last year, the marketplace is saturated. To outshine your competition, you need a well-thought-out FBA business plan.

A Closer Look at Amazon Business Plan

An FBA business plan outlines a comprehensive strategy for successfully selling products on Amazon. It aims to show an organized plan for starting and expanding your business. Three key elements must be evident in your business plan:

• Business Overview
• Business Goals
• Financial Projections

Additionally, it covers various aspects of the business, including but not limited to:

• Market research
• Marketing approaches
• Target demographics
• Product sourcing
• Pricing strategies
• Inventory management
• Competition analysis
• Customer service

A business plan lowers risks and costs amid tough competition and evolving ecommerce trends on Amazon. It offers data-driven insights so you can make informed decisions, acting as a roadmap that guides your business to its intended destination.

Your FBA plan will be beneficial when you scale your business. It can help you secure funds when dealing with potential partners, investors, or financial institutions. It also plans out the growth of your FBA business and should be modified yearly as your business expands and changes.

3 Benefits of Having an FBA Business Plan

Detailed planning leads to streamlined and transparent operations. A well-developed business plan can act as your compass.  

1. It provides a clear roadmap to help your business grow.

Running a business is rarely linear. Every year, the economy changes, new rules emerge, technology advances and digital marketing evolves. Running a business without a detailed plan is like driving blindfolded in this unpredictable environment.

Your FBA business plan is your roadmap, as it:

• Defines your starting point: It clearly outlines your business's current status. It provides a practical view of which strategies are effective, what requires improvement, and what should be eliminated.
• Sets your destination: It gives your business a clear direction for where you want it to be in a year, five years, and so on. It helps you define your goals and targets, such as revenue or adding new products. 
• Plots the best route: It charts the ideal routes to achieving your goals and targets, outlines actions and strategies, and helps you determine the most effective route. 
• Provides detour options: It provides contingency plans if the best routes are blocked by challenges like market changes, new competitors, or sudden issues with fulfillment services. A well-developed business plan anticipates these challenges and has alternative routes to keep you on track.
• Tracks your progress: It gives you indicators to see how far you've come. These metrics help you monitor how well you follow your plan and see if it needs adjustments.

2. It helps your business scale.

A business plan is valuable to a business regardless of its size. However, it has added value for established FBA businesses seeking to scale. Expanding your business requires juggling many balls; without a detailed plan, you're bound to drop a ball or two. 

Your FBA business plan helps you:

• Identify opportunities to scale: Your plan audits and evaluates your current operations. This data lets you pinpoint scalable opportunities and optimize your FBA success . 
• Outline the needed resources: Expanding your business means expanding your resources. Your plan can help you determine the capital and inventory you need to scale and whether you need an additional workforce. 
• Unify your visions: Your business plan connects your existing strategies to new ones to achieve your long-term goals. This ensures consistency and cohesiveness across the board. 

3. It aids in raising and securing funding.

A comprehensive business plan means transparency, which is an essential factor for potential partners and investors. Your FBA business plan becomes a crucial tool they'll examine to see if investing in your business is worth the shot. Your potential financiers will need assurance that you have a clear understanding and roadmap of your business. Your documented plan is proof of your business's potential for growth and profitability.

3 Recommended Approaches in Writing an FBA Business Plan

It's important to remember that while Amazon FBA plays a significant role in your business, it's not your overall business. When writing your plan, don't just concentrate on the FBA aspect. 

1. Do comprehensive market research.

Nine out of ten Amazon sellers say their business is profitable. While it's good news, it also highlights the fierce competition among Amazon sellers. To set your business apart, you must understand your market thoroughly, including your industry, niche, products, audience, consumer behavior, and industry trends. A market-driven business is more appealing to investors than those driven by new technology or services. Your product's market value and profitability potential are more important than its technical features.

Market research can involve various methods and tools. For product research, you can use Threecolts or AMZScout to determine the profitability of your product. Threecolts has a range of services and solutions to help you with specific studies. For instance, if you sell books on Amazon, you can use ScoutIQ to check which books are always in demand. You can also use FW Alerts to monitor your brand reputation.

Make sure to conduct a competition analysis and analyze your rivals. Look into their strengths, weaknesses, marketing, and pricing strategies. This will help you differentiate your selling proposition and avoid frequently used tactics.

2. Keep your business plan clear and specific. 

This is applicable in two different ways. First, you need to be clear and concise in your wording. Use a professional tone fit for business, but avoid using jargon. High-frequency words can be misunderstood, and fluff content doesn’t add anything of value. Make sure to keep the structure uncluttered. 

Second, have clear goals and specific strategies. Set aside your gut feeling and focus on data-driven insights. Use quantifiable targets, and avoid generic tactics or simple summaries. Outline step-by-step action plans. Specificity reveals your in-depth knowledge of FBA services. Most of all, make sure your goals are SMART. 

3. Make regular updates.

Revisit your FBA business plan often to ensure you're on the right path. Conduct a quarterly review to track your progress and update the plan according to changes in market conditions. Neglecting to do this just defeats the purpose of your business plan.

Key Elements of an FBA Business Plan

There are many elements you can include in your business plan. The more your business grows, the more extensive your plan will be. Here are some key elements that should be included:

Executive Summary

An executive summary sums up the critical points of your business, providing a high-level overview. It should persuade the reader, particularly potential partners, to take a closer look.

Ideally, the summary should be one page. That means you highlight only the salient information of your business. Briefly introduce your company and its key members, describe your business model, identify your value proposition, and emphasize the elements that differentiate your FBA business from the competition. 

Despite being the first section of the business plan, it should be the last thing you write. 

Example Template:

(Company Name) is an Amazon FBA business from (location) delivering high-quality products within the (specify product niche) category.

• Problem: (Briefly identify a main customer pain point or an undeserved need within your target market).
• Solution: (Describe how your product/s directly solved the stated problem.)
• Market Opportunity: (Estimate the niche market size and provide growth potential opportunities.)
• Competitive Advantage: (Provide at least three main factors that make your FBA business stand out.)
• Financial Projection: (Provide projected sales, profit margins, and growth expectations for the first three years.)
• Funding Request (If Applicable): (State the amount of funding sought and how the capital will be used to scale the business.) 
• Team: (List founders and key personnel in your business).

Company Overview

This section is an in-depth look into your company. It should include the business name, history (for established businesses), and owners or founders. As an FBA seller, you should note your FBA business model, such as an arbitrage reseller or white-label . It's essential to add the company's mission and vision. Provide short-term and long-term goals.

Example Template

• Company Name: (Business name)
• Location: (Address)
• Founding Date: (Month/Year)
• Business Structure: (Specify the legal structure of your business.)
• Business Model: (Specify your FBA business model.)
• Product Niche: (Identify your target product category.)
• Sourcing Strategy: (Briefly note your sourcing methods.)

If you're adding a company history, highlight the key points:

(Owner's name) is an experienced entrepreneur in (industry) who identified a gap in the market for (state product line or category). With a keen understanding of consumer preferences, (Owner's name) founded (Company name) in (year).

Building on (Owner's name) expertise, (Company name) successfully developed distinctive product lines. Initially starting with (mention a few early products), the company quickly gained recognition within (location.) Currently thriving in (location/s), (Company name) has established a loyal customer base and plans to expand (nationally/globally).

Marketing Plan

This critical section comprehensively outlines your business's sales and marketing strategies. Start by listing your key marketing goals with a timeline, and be specific. 

Focus on the four Ps of marketing (product, pricing, placement, and promotions) when creating your marketing plan. Organize your strategies around your SMART goals like this:

Specify the type of marketing strategies you'll use to achieve your objectives, such as:

• Social Media Marketing 
• Paid Advertising
• Content Marketing 
• Video Marketing
• Influencer Marketing
• Affiliate Marketing

Along with the marketing tactics, list the budget per strategy. 

The same thing applies to your sales strategies. Write, in detail, how you will promote your products to increase sales. You can use the following tactics:

• Seasonal Discounts ( BFCY deals , Mother's Day deals , etc.)
• Brand Collaborations
• Package Deals

Part of the sales and marketing strategy is your tactics to acquire new and retain old customers. Make a list of strategies for customer retention as well. This may include:

• Loyalty Programs
• Incentives for Feedback Solicitations

Here's an example of how you can structure your marketing plan:

Competitive Analysis

A huge part of having a business plan is showing that your FBA business differs from your rivals. This section will compare your product, marketing strategies, and operations to those of your competition. A competitive analysis will help you identify your Unique Value Proposition or how your product differs from or is better than others. 

Different methods can present this analysis. A commonly used method is SWOT, which evaluates the S trengths, W eaknesses, O pportunities, and T hreats of your and your competitor's products. 

Don't analyze and list all your competitors. Stick with the ones you're most actively competing (or will likely compete) with. Assess and compare the following:

• Products: features, services, segmentation
• Pricing: model, tiers, options, discounts
• Audience: demographics, psychographics, pain points, habits, needs
• Marketing: website, email, social media, advertising, PR
• Differentiators: quality, sustainability, variety, convenience, social impact

At the end of this section, list your competitive advantage outside of what FBA services provide. For example, if you have built a solid social media presence on your own, highlight how you have a base they can reach out to and a community they can be a part of. 

Operation Plan

The operation plan section outlines how to turn your plans into actions using the data you've consolidated. It provides an in-depth description of the daily operations of your business and how each step contributes to achieving your goals. These operations may include, but aren’t limited to:

• Sourcing your products: List your manufacturer or supplier, the tool you use for product research, lead time, minimum order quantities, and quality control process.
• Managing your inventory: Detail the sale estimates and inventory refill methods. Use historical data for data-driven insights. 
• Fulfilling orders: Discuss how using FBA services benefits your business. Describe how you prepare your products in compliance with Amazon requirements. Include if you're using or plan to use a hybrid approach to ensure smooth operations during peak seasons. 
• Handling logistics: Outline how you ship your products to FBA warehouses to avoid shipping snafu. Note how you handle returned products.
• Providing customer support: Discuss how you provide customer assistance apart from using FBA services. List the channels and platforms where your potential customers can reach you.
• Utilizing software and tools: List the software and tools you use to run, scale, and optimize your FBA business, like the ones from Threecolts . 

Your operation plan sets the benchmark for your business. Short-term goals involve smoothly running the day-to-day operations of your FBA business. Long-term goals are milestones you want to achieve.

Financial Plan

This is one of the most critical parts of your business plan. In general, it's also the most extensive and requires regular checkups. If your FBA business plan is intended for potential partners and investors, this part should be as detailed as possible. Brief or broad, though, your financial plan must be rooted in reality. That means exact sales figures, profit and loss, and costs. For projections and goals, base the assumed numbers on facts. 

Include a financial model for the next three or five years. The financial statements must be broken down monthly, quarterly, and yearly. Included in this model are your:

Income statement (Profit and Loss)

Ideally, your Profit and Loss statement should show substantial growth, stable profit margins, and positive net profit.

Balance sheet (Assets, Liabilities, Equity)

This explains your business's capital structure, investment, and financing policies. To honestly assess the financial risks, your potential partners must see and compare the financial debt level on the balance sheet to the equity value. Any financial debt must be repaid, which increases the risk, while equity doesn't need to be refunded. 

Cash flow statement

This determines how much money you need to scale your business without draining your resources. Your cash flow statement must detail your operating, investing, and financing cash flow. 

Apart from these crucial elements, your financial plan section must discuss revenue streams and break-even analysis.

You can add a Management section and an Appendix apart from these key elements. The management section highlights the key members of the business as well as their roles, experience, and expertise. This section is best suited for an established FBA business. A solopreneur or a small business may not need this section. Instead, the names of the personnel can be added to the company overview. 

The Appendix section is not a requirement but a bonus section. It's where you can add more information about your product lines and trademarks. You can put an exhaustive list of your marketing materials and packaging designs. You can also put the company's contact information, including social media profiles.

Final Thoughts on Having an FBA Business Plan 

Benjamin Franklin said it right: "By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." Without a well-developed plan for your FBA business, you're putting your company at risk. Help set your business up for success by creating an FBA business plan to serve as your guide to navigating the treacherous ecommerce landscape. 

You can make this easier by using Amazon tools and resources to help ensure your plan is accurate and relevant, such as Threecolts —a multi-solution platform for your Amazon and ecommerce needs. It has unique solutions to help your FBA business grow and thrive against stiff competition. Contact us now to learn more. Browse through and read our other blog posts and data-driven insights with our very own proprietary data. Learn more about Mother's Day trends and best practices , Easter sales , price elasticity of demand , Amazon FBA fee changes , Amazon product title optimization , winter seasonal products , Amazon end-of-year sales , Valentine’s Day trends and best Amazon fulfillment centers by location, and throughput .

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6 Components of a Business Plan to Start Selling on Amazon

2021 is set to be a big year for Amazon. With persistent social distancing and lockdown restrictions, the high-street has suffered and ecommerce has boomed. Amazon’s profits have continually come in higher than expected , and brands are rightfully looking at the platform as a way to build online traffic and sales. 

For brands unfamiliar with ecommerce, Amazon offers ready-made access to an online platform — along with fulfilment and logistical services . For brands already well-versed in online sales, Amazon provides access to new customers and interesting advertising opportunities that no brand can afford to leave untouched in 2021.  

But getting started on Amazon isn’t always easy, even for a digital native retailer. To build a business plan for Amazon, you will need to develop Amazon-specific ways of understanding your competitors, customers, and products. Only then can you create a strategy that makes sense for your business.

This article is about explaining the basics of success on Amazon. This advice is tailored to larger businesses (brick-and-mortar, or other ecommerce brands) making their way onto Amazon. This advice will also be useful for independent resellers and dropship operations — although more specific advice can be found elsewhere. 

With that context out of the way, let’s look at the six key components you will need to build your business plan to sell on Amazon in 2021.

1. Amazon expertise and planning

Amazon is a unique platform, with unique reporting functions, listing requirements and taxonomy, ad types and more. The number one thing to think about when starting on Amazon is your in-house platform expertise. If you don’t have someone who already has a good grasp of Amazon’s specifics, you should hire one — or make it someone’s job to dig into those details (maybe that’s you, and maybe that’s why you’re reading this blog). 

Pro tip: Getting started slowly is advisable. Simply list one or two of your products on Amazon and see how it goes. If you upload your entire product portfolio, you could very easily create a logistical nightmare that is challenging to resolve, or double down on products for which there is little market opportunity.   

You need to ask yourself questions like: 

• How do I know what to sell in the first place? Look at search volumes and competitors selling similar products in order to judge the size and appetite of the market, as well as the level of competition you are likely to face.  
• How will I procure products? We are going to come back to logistics. However, you need a clear understanding of your supply chain. For resellers, that means understanding the quality and reliability of suppliers. For private labels, that means having the structures in place needed to match an uptick in demand caused by a move onto Amazon.  

2020 was a perfect case study in why taking supply chain management seriously is so crucial. Even now, in 2021, ports are filled up, air freight costs are skyrocketing, and people are running out of space to store inventory as Amazon has put limits on their warehouses. Basically, supply chain management and logistics can make or break your business. With this context in mind, there are three important unique characteristics of Amazon to think about from the start. 

Amazon Brand Analytics (ABA) and Brand Registry

Amazon’s main reporting tool is known as Amazon Brand Analytics (ABA) . It provides powerful insights into customer shopping behavior, demographics and advertising — and it’s a critical tool to understand and use. However, it’s only available to “ brand registered” Amazon Sellers and Vendors, and is one of many reasons that becoming brand registered with Amazon is important. The primary requirement for brand registry is holding an active trademark — however, you can see a full list of requirements here .

Suggested reading: For a detailed breakdown on how to make the most of ABA, check out our free ebook — Mastering Amazon Brand Analytics .  

The Buy Box and private labels vs resellers

If you’ve ever purchased something from Amazon, you’ve likely encountered the Buy Box , but probably didn’t even notice it — which is part of what makes it so important. 

The Buy Box is the column on the right-hand side of a listing page that invites you to add the item to your basket. However, what you may not have noticed is that underneath that column are listings by other Sellers offering the same product.  

If multiple Sellers are selling the same product, Amazon only lists that product once in the search results, and only directly takes customers to one product page. Generally, that’s the cheapest version of that product. However, factors like ratings, delivery time and sales velocity matter. 

More than 75% of non-media sales on Amazon come from the Buy Box. But it’s only important for resellers, or brands competing against their own re-sellers. If you’re a private label, selling unique products on Amazon, the Buy Box is not a real factor — you are always going to win it for your product listing. This is part of why private labels can take different Amazon pricing strategies than resellers. 

Product by product competition 

When selling online, your competition becomes far more product-focused than brand focused. This is because customers are looking at your products within the context of search results — placing that product directly next to the most relevant competition for that search term. This disintegrates far more predictable branded competition, and forces merchants to think on an ASIN level. 

Pro tip: ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) is effectively Amazon’s version of a SKU, and is a good example of an Amazon-specific term you should know before you start selling on Amazon.  

Fundamentally, Amazon is built on its search engine, and the goal of its search engine is to sell products. Amazon's search/product cataloging approach aims to ensure your products end up at the most appropriate location for Amazon consumers. You need to play by Amazon's rules and list your products in line with Amazon's guidelines.

2. A solid fulfilment and procurement strategy

Fulfilment and procurement are going to operate differently on Amazon than elsewhere — particularly compared to brick and mortar operations. You need to ensure ready access to products, and make sure you remove listings if you run out of stock.

Logistics is one reason that starting slow can be useful — put one or two of your products on Amazon to experiment with the outcomes. However, Amazon does seek to make this process as easy as possible, and knowing your options can simplify getting started.  

FBM vs FBA vs third-party fulfillment  

Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) is a ready-made fulfilment service. Inventory is sent to an Amazon warehouse, and Amazon manages the entire order fulfilment process for you. This takes the guesswork out of ecommerce logistics, and can be critical because quick fulfilment times are important to both customer satisfaction and winning the aforementioned Buy Box. 

With that said, FBA isn’t always the most cost-effective choice. Havier products (particularly dense products) do not do as well with FBA because Amazon charges by weight. This makes FBM (Fulfilment by Merchant) a more cost-effective solution in some (but certainly not all) circumstances. But, remember, it may be worthwhile taking a hit to margin to avoid building the logistical capabilities necessary for FBM. 

Lastly, there third-party fulfilment services like Bezos.ai and Adstral Fulfilment that can give you increased flexibility within a systems that provides support similar to FBA. This is a great strategy for diversifying your fulfillment capabilities, but each provider needs to be investigated specifically. 

Pro tip: Inventory management is particularly important for FBA Sellers. If you have too much inventory, Amazon will charge you more to store it; if you have too little inventory, you will drop down the organic rankings as if you’re out of stock. There are strict requirements on how much inventory you need, and how early it needs to arrive at the Amazon warehouse, especially during peak times — factors Amazon uses to calculate your IPI (Inventory Performance Management) score .  

Suggested reading: For information about every fulfilment option, check out our blog — FBA vs FBM: What the Right Choice for Your Business?   

3. Advertising approach: PPC and Display 

Amazon's advertising portfolio has increased dramatically. In fact, Amazon ad revenues are projected to hit $40bn by 2023. This shouldn’t be surprising. Amazon ads outperform Google Shopping ads — converting at more than three times the rate.

Amazon PPC ads provide a way for brands to target customers and competitors alike. In addition to Amazon DSP , which provides programmatic ads both on- and off-Amazon, there are three basic types of Amazon PPC ads: 

• Sponsored Product Ads : These target ASINs or search terms, and appear in search results as sponsored product listings. This is the most common type of PPC ad on Amazon. They are great for top-of-funnel and middle-of-funnel advertising. Check out our blog on Sponsored Product Ads to learn more. 
• Sponsored Brand Ads: Sponsored Brand ads appear at the top of search results pages, and either list multiple products or simply advertise your brand. Sponsored Brand ads are purpose-built for brand awareness and top-of-funnel advertising. Check out our blog on Sponsored Brand Ads to learn more. 
• Sponsored Display Ads: Sponsored Display ads operate like simplified programmatic advertising, retargeting audiences based on behavior. They are both an essential brand-building tool and retargeting option. Check out our blog on Sponsored Display Ads to learn more.  

You need a PPC strategy that covers all three types of ads, and aligns each ad type with business goals surrounding specific products. For example, you can: 

• Increase sales on Amazon with Performance Advertising .
• Build trust and emotional connections with consumers with Brand Advertising — video ads, Sponsored Display ads, audio ads.
• Build brand awareness as part of a full-funnel marketing strategy with Consideration advertising — Stores, Sponsored Brands, and Posts.

Any business plan will need a clear picture of how you will hit specific ad-related goals — e.g. ad sales, RoAS or ACoS . Nozzle can help by identifying potentially wasted ad spend and missed revenue opportunities. Just as importantly, we can help continually optimize your strategy based on AI-generated metrics such as Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) .

Pro tip: You shouldn’t over-invest in advertising to start with. Run a few tests and experiment before executing a full campaign launch.

Suggested reading: 5 Pillars of a Complete Amazon PPC Strategy.

4. An organic listing strategy

Search is the main way that potential customers will find your product pages. You need to make sure your product listing is relevant and continuously refined and updated. Ranking on Amazon will be an important success factor. The higher you rank, the more you sell. 

You need to factor in monitoring, analyzing and upgrading your product pages to improve their search visibility, click-through rate (CTR) and conversion rate (CR). This process includes keyword discovery, optimizing listing text and increasing the number of reviews.

Product listings and reviews

Central to your approach to Amazon SEO is to optimize your product listings, so they appear at the top of the Amazon search results. That starts with good product copy and quality images. You should also take care to encourage reviews and get a high star ranking. Adding A+ content to your product detail pages can also result in higher conversion rates.

Fulfilment and pricing

As we have already addressed, both fulfilment and pricing strategies have an impact on your ability to win the Buy Box. As a result, they both also impact your organic listing strategy. Fundamentally, you will rank higher if you have competitive delivery times and pricing. Take these choices seriously, and consider altering either strategy if you are failing to generate organic traffic. 

Suggested reading: Effective Amazon Pricing Strategies for Sellers .      

5. The right tools (analytics tools and others)

There are many tools available to Amazon Sellers, and it's easy to get carried away. Given that Amazon already offers a wide range of tools to Sellers, it's worth spending some time considering what you really need. Tool types include:

• Competitor benchmarking tools
• Listing automation tools
• Customer analytics tools
• Feedback and review tools
• Finance tools

Full disclosure: We are an Amazon analytics software provider. Our product, Nozzle, combines AI and Amazon data feeds to provide contextual information about your competition, customers and trends — helping you jump from data analysis, straight to data-driven action. 

The right analytics tool can deliver an important competitive advantage, helping you better understand your customers, products and competition. However, it is only one component to a complete strategy. Check out our blog on the essential types of Amazon Seller tools if you want to learn more.  

6. Integrating Amazon with wider ecommerce and traditional sales

As you start listing products on Amazon, you need to ensure that customer and product data is captured and integrated into your wider business strategy. You don’t want Amazon to become a silo. You also need to consider advertising and marketing factors regarding your wider online operations. For example:   

• Will you drive social and Google traffic to your Amazon listing? 
• Why would you do that if you have a direct-to-customer offering?

It’s important to remember that when selling on Amazon, you don't own the customer. The customer buys from Amazon, you never own customer marketing data — unless it’s provided to you by Amazon. So, you need to consider your off-Amazon channel strategy very carefully. 

Realistically, the more you can direct customers to your own website, the better. But it can come at the cost of sales. People like buying from Amazon because it’s really easy. Users are already logged into Amazon, they appreciate not having to re-enter card details, and find comfort in the familiarity of the platform — not to mention the delivery and security perks of the service. Remember, there are now more than 100 million Prime subscribers in the US alone.  

Fundamentally, Amazon is going to play an increasing role in online shopping. Every business should have a clear vision of the role Amazon plays in its future. There are pros and cons to working with Amazon. A lot depends on where your business is coming from. By planning ahead, tracking results, and considering your options, it’s possible to strike a balance between selling on Amazon and your own website — without losing control or data, and simply increasing sales. 

It's all about the data

Data underpins everything sold on Amazon. It is ultimately the only way that Sellers and Vendors can produce winning business plans. Partnering with data specialists is a great way to make the right choices when addressing this unique ecosystem and platform. 

Nozzle is helping brands align with the specifics of Amazon and leverage customer and advertising data to make targeted decisions. We can provide PPC self-service tools and managed solutions and analytics software able to provide customer analysis above and beyond your competition. 

Check out our eBook for the full story or get in touch and learn how analytics, AI and expert strategy can help grow your business in 2021.

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Amazon FBA Business Plan Template

So you’ve ticked off everything on your business plan checklist down to a T.

All products are ready to be listed, supply arrangements sorted, distributor partnerships signed, all packages properly labelled, and Amazon system records on point.

Great! So you’ve got an FBA business. Or do you?

If you’ve made it to this stage, the good news is that you’re off to an excellent start. The bad news? Listing products on Amazon is just the tip of the iceberg.

With such low barriers to entry, almost anyone can start an Amazon FBA business . To differentiate yourself from the competition, it’s important to have a plan of how you are going to get there.

Amazon FBA is the answer that can help you bring your business to the next level. By letting Amazon manage your logistics, it makes operations easier, and with such a large audience that shops on the platform, it is also a good place to find new customers at the same time.

The result? Products become more visible to millions of Amazon customers while providing world-class fast shipping and acclaimed customer service.

Crafting an FBA business plan from scratch can be taxing and overwhelming but it’s going to be worth it. The true success of an FBA seller lies within your ability to make functional plans that are transparent and measurable, be willing yet flexible, and open to leveraging your competitive advantage.

And, once you’re ready to go, don’t forget to check out our top tips here to take your biz to the next level: Amazon FBA business secret recipe for success in 2021 .

In this article, we take a closer look at how to create a business plan specifically for selling on Amazon FBA.

Table of Contents

The best advice and insights for selling on amazon this year.

There’s a lot to know when it comes to selling on Amazon. In this guide, you’ll find expert tips and advice to make sure you start strong and stand out from the crowd.

What to Include in Your Amazon FBA Business Plan

An Amazon FBA business plan template serves as the internal roadmap to implement when starting and growing your business.

It’s a vital part of establishing the groundwork required, streamlining your business positioning, analysing the step-by-step process in realising your goals, and ensuring that you have some type of viable commercial potential.

Here are the core parts of the comprehensive A2X Amazon FBA Business Plan Template:

Executive Summary

This is the most critical part of business planning. This is where you introduce your business. It is a smart tool that consolidates all key elements of your plan - an essential tool to structure your business plan. Ideally, this is recommended to be completed last to summarize each section of your plan.

Company Description

Anoverview of the company. You may include your mission and vision, company formation information, founders, location, and notable achievements, if applicable. It features three important sub-sections:

• Main objectives: This subsection answers your goals and purposes of starting this FBA business.
• Products or services: This is where you identify your products. This involves the development stages, product images, pricing, past test results, and anticipated future products.
• Value proposition: This defines your edge over the other competitors. Your value proposition is there to answer the questions, ‘What do you offer, what makes you different, and why do you do what you do?’. Essentially, this gives you a good gauge how clear your business trajectory is.

Marketing Plan/Analysis

An absolute must have, this serves as a vital guide for the merchant as to which marketing activities need to be done, how they will be executed and where the future goals tie into your Amazon FBA Business Plan.

This holds the key information that all your partners and potential investors are going to want to know. You may include the following, depending on your needs:

• SWOT analysis: Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. This analysis focuses on determining the best opportunities to pursue in order to achieve your growth goals. A SWOT analysis may look something like this .
• Financial projections: Based on your expected sales figures, how much do you envisage your business turning over?
• Target market research: Target market size, total addressable market (TAM), market research/trends, and what you do. Note: to learn more about trends for any particular niche, try the Google Trends tool, and Jungle Scout web app
• Customer segments/target customer profiles & personas: This is where you identify your mass and niche markets. Here, you identify the groups of people who are most likely to buy your products, and the qualitative factors that matter most to them.
• Customer relationships: Strategies to build a lasting relationship with your target market.
• Brand and product positioning: Where in the market does your brand sit? Are you offering a premium range of items? Does your brand convey cheap and cheerful? Is design a major selling factor?
• Elevator pitches and taglines: quick and creative ways to describe your brand.
• Marketing plans/channels to be used: Include details of whether you plan to reach customers via paid ad placement or organic search engine ranking, affiliate outreach, or a combination of all three
• Marketing ideas and strategies: planning this ahead of time will ensure that any money you spend on advertising you have considered first, and can track progress.
• Marketing budget: Based on your company’s finances, how much can you afford to spend on marketing?
• Estimates of ‘cost per action’ of any testing conducted: this can include cost per click, cost per conversion, sampling costs and more. Whilst it can be very easy to get bogged down in detail, it’s important to only focus on metrics that actually matter to your business.

Operational Plan

This part is intended to organize the moving parts of your business and allow for a practical understanding of the industry and your products.

If you are starting out on a shoestring budget, much of the operational plan will be irrelevant. However, we have included a detailed checklist of components to consider for businesses with access to larger amounts of capital and bigger plans. Here are the most important things to keep in mind:

• Facilities and space needed: Either within FBA warehouses, or if you are also handling warehousing, then this would include the space needed in your own house/distribution center/other facilities.
• Technology needs: There are a range of software and cloud-based technologies that can be useful for simplifying the operations of an Amazon seller business. For example, A2X simplifies Amazon accounting by automating the flow of financial data from Seller Central to QuickBooks Online or Xero .
• Equipment needs.
• Supply chain management: Stock requirement prediction tools such as Forecast.ly and inventory management applications like Cin7 can be very helpful.
• Logistics and distribution plans: Consider including details about your prep warehouses and freight forwarding partners.
• Order and fulfilment processes.
• Quality control checks.
• Legal and accounting needs.

Management & Organization

In a nutshell, this section of your Amazon FBA business plan discusses your management and industry experience of your team and provides a rundown on the assigned people for each task.

You may be keen to include some or all of the following, depending on your needs:

• Founders and executive team.
• Any owners and shareholders.
• Board of directors.
• Consultants and special advisors.
• Key team members and department heads.

Financial Plan

This is a critical part of your Amazon FBA business plan because this is where you show the exact figures and a run through of your current financial state, thorough startup cost, forecasts and goals.

This is geared towards providing secure funding of what you need and a product/business development budget. For those who loaned the startup funds, it is here that you want to include a repayment schedule, rundown of the exact use of funds, steps you plan to reach your goals, payment schedule in detail, petty cash funds, and contingency funds.

Here are some prompts for what to include:

• Revenue streams: Look at what you are charging and if you could be charging more. How are you receiving your payments and does it contribute enough to overall revenue?
• Cost structure: Pin down fixed and variable expenses to give you an opportunity to see what you can improve on.
• Current balance sheet: This is applicable for existing FBA businesses.
• Past two years’ financial list, if applicable.
• Projections for 12 months and annually through year 5.
• Break-even analysis.
• Cash flow projections.
• Income and expenses.
• Expense projection.

This includes the finer details that are referenced throughout the business plan.

You may want to include the following:

• Articles of incorporation and company status.
• Shareholders agreement and company constitution.
• Resumes of founders and key team members.
• Copies of insurance contracts.
• Trademarks and patent registrations.
• Employment and supply contracts.
• Appraisals.
• Deeper research data or links to references.

Consider Keeping it Brief

Ideally, your Amazon FBA business plan should be kept short, simple, and straightforward.

In the above section, we have included a detailed rundown on everything that you might decide to include in your business plan - however, these elements aren’t necessarily required.

During the early stages of a startup, it is important to lean towards action rather than meticulous planning. If you are a funded venture with significant amounts of capital, or are looking for lending/investment, you will probably be required to produce a detailed business plan.

On the flip side, if you own or manage an established business that is considering Amazon FBA as another way to reach customers, it may also be a good idea to formulate a detailed business plan.

Just remember: keep it appropriate for the scale of your business.

It is often advised that you should keep your business plan to a one-page document in the early stages of building your business. This will help to gain clarity through brevity. A good tool to help is Plan Cruncher .

Plan Cruncher is a web tool that creates a one-page (give or take), visual summary of the meaning behind your business plan. It is only composed of compact descriptions and visual icons to expand your thoughts into tweet-sized paragraphs composed of 280 characters in bullets.

While this is not geared towards replacing the conventional business plan templates, it can serve as an interesting deviation to establish your plan overview in a quicker, direct, and more functional manner.

It can be done and read fast enough that it wouldn’t get in the way. It’s a good way to plan the present and organize the future in an easier, more direct manner without the need to get drowned in a sea of words.

Sample Amazon FBA Business Plan

This example FBA business plan is for a hypothetical food product that uses quinoa to provide a healthier alternative to traditional cereal foods.

We are a new company that aims to diversify our products - hoping to successfully saturate the existing and new markets by pioneering a swerve from the usual cereal buzz.

• Fuel is the healthier alternative to the commercial cereals, as it is made with quinoa nibbles, assorted berries, mānuka honey, and dark chocolate.
• It comes in two forms: the 2-in-1 100 gram handy pack, nutrient-loaded quinoa nibbles and a family pack for ultimate value-for-money.

Value Proposition

• It allows maximum mobility for breakfast eaters who do not have time to sit down and have a proper meal for breakfast for the active, on-the-go people, and the 350 gram big box in contoured shape for home use.
• Our products are packaged in sugarcane-based products. We add value to our product as we aim to lower our carbon footprint through our environment friendly packaging process, as well as our corporate advocacy towards supporting Fair Trade .

SWOT Analysis (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats).

• Our products are made with premium and high quality quinoa, dark chocolate, and Manuka honey blended with organic and tasty dried berries.
• Quinoa: An impressive protein content, quinoa is the perfect gluten-free substitute for pasta, rice or couscous.
• Manuka honey: Sweet, organic and healthy. It’s packaged in a wide range of forms (Investment opportunities in/from the New Zealand honey industry).
• Dark chocolate: Dark chocolate is packed with various benefits to human body and is popular all around the world.
• Packaging: Our hip packaging adopts the modern technique to reuse and recycle 100% of the package. It is biodegradable and non-toxic for the planet.

Weaknesses:

• Quinoa, is expensive to grow as it is grown only in some parts of the world and is harvested manually.
• There are reports of the booming success of the quinoa plantation in Western Australia and Tasmania—a beneficial effort for our brand.
• Being expensive may prevent people from buying our product.

Opportunities:

• Fuel is targeted at a niche product where people would be likely to pay more money for the benefit of convenience, good taste, and natural energy that cannot be gained together from other substitutes.
• Breakfast foods is a saturated market, which we can tell just by looking at shelves in the supermarket. There are wheat, oats, and cornflake-based cereals, mixed with various nuts and dried fruits.
• Potential supply chain issues on high demand ingredients such as mānuka honey.

Target Market Research and Customer Segments

• Both male and female, aged 7-80 years old.
• With high nutrients, luxury ingredients, and a portable design, Fuel is targeted for office workers, outdoor & gym goers, school kids, and people on special diets.

Marketing Plans/Channels to be Used (paid/organic?)

• We work on communicating our product and its values to our potential customers.
• Social media and word-of-mouth may be used to establish authority outside of Amazon.
• Office workers and outdoor goers need networking in their daily life - so we will attend professional networking events in our locale, the San Francisco Bay Area.
• School kids are the consumers, but their parents are more likely to make purchase decisions. In consequence, forums at job, outdoor, and kids education related fields would be our advertising targets.

Marketing Ideas and Strategies:

• Free: Organic promotions on social networking sites and websites. We will utilise Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest, Tumblr, Wordpress, and Blogger amongst others.
• Paid promotions: With the massive impact of digital marketing, we can capitalize on Google Adwords, Google Analytics, Search Engine Optimization, Tag Manager, Search Console (formerly known as WebMaster Tools), and Visual Website Optimizer.

Cost Structure

• Production costs include logistics, allocation for rent, packaging, office staff salaries, etc.
• Operating costs of quinoa importation from our suppliers facilities in Western Australia and/or South America, acquisition of the other ingredients.
• Other relevant determinants of price include operations management expenses, packaging, distribution expenses, stages of product life cycle, research and development, and promotion tactics.
• Suggested retail price: Fuel box is $7.99USD/350g, and Fuel On-the-go Pack is $2.99USD/box (with 50g nibbles and 100ml milk).

It All Depends on Your Business…

Whilst some businesses are best suited to meticulous planning, for others (such as starting a coffee cart or applying a retail arbitrage FBA strategy), it is better to be action-based.

Hopefully, our FBA business plan template and guidance helps you to gain a clearer understanding of what matters in your business, and what doesn’t really matter.

On a final note, it’s important to begin with the end in mind. By understanding where you want to go, you can get a better idea of the most important activities to do today.

Check out our free guide on how to sell your Amazon FBA business to learn more .

Also on the blog

• The A2X Amazon Accounting Hub
• Tips for Getting Started with Amazon FBA Accounting
• Sales Tax Strategies for Amazon FBA Sellers
• Intelligent Automation for the Amazon Seller
• 6 Common Accounting Mistakes that FBA Sellers Make
• Why Most Amazon Seller Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It

Read similar posts

• 5 Growth Opportunities Every Amazon Seller Should Take Advantage Of
• The Amazon FBA Secret Recipe for Success in 2021
• Sales Tax: Understand Your Obligations and Make a Plan
• 8 Inventory Financing Options for Amazon Sellers
• How the US Trade Tariffs Will Affect Amazon FBA Sellers [Part Two]

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Are you ready to succeed with selling on Amazon FBA?

Download our free guide to selling on Amazon FBA in 2022 to learn about:

Amazon in 2022

An overview of the Amazon seller landscape and key changes.

Business models

The playbooks that different sellers use to succeed, so that you can select the right fit.

Selling fees

We break down what it costs to sell on Amazon and the fees at each step along the way.

Fulfillment options

Discover the ways that you can send products to your customer base.

Product research

How to find winning product opportunities to list on Amazon.

Creating your account

The steps to setting up your Amazon seller account.

Listing your products

How to get your products online and optimize them for success.

Attracting and retaining customers

Use these tips to find your audience and convert them on your offerings.

Automation and growth

Important automations and integrations to get your business ready for scaling up.

Where to learn more

Find more places that you can learn what's needed to enable your growth.

Don't bother with copy and paste.

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Amazon FBA Business Plan

Start your own amazon fba business plan

Value Proposition

ModHome simplifies home supply shopping with handpicked cleaning and cooking bundles that prioritize quality, sustainability, and affordability. You’ll never have to worry about finding the right products for your kitchen because we’ll do it for you. 

The Problem

Consumers looking for cleaning and cooking supplies often face the challenge of purchasing multiple items separately, leading to increased costs and wasted time spent on research.

The Solution

Our Amazon FBA business will focus on providing a variety of bundled cleaning and cooking supplies and equipment, targeting mid-range quality at a moderate price. By offering bundled items, we aim to save customers time, effort, and money, as well as provide a convenient, one-stop shopping experience.

Target Market

Our primary customers will be middle-class working professionals ages 25-45 likely with a growing family who cannot afford to spend time researching common tools and supplies. They value high quality items but don’t always have the budget to splurge on name brand products. This customer archetype can be broken down further into the following segments:

• Time-conscious shoppers: Busy individuals seeking a convenient, one-stop solution for purchasing curated cleaning and cooking supplies.
• Home cooks and baking enthusiasts: Customers looking for quality, affordable, and innovative cookware and baking tools to enhance their culinary experience.
• Budget-conscious buyers: Consumers seeking mid-range quality products at reasonable prices to maximize value.
• Environmentally-conscious consumers: Individuals prioritizing eco-friendly and sustainable products for their cleaning and cooking needs.

Competitors and Differentiation

Key competitors to consider include:

• Major physical retailers such as Walmart and Target
• Online marketplaces outside of Amazon such as eBay and Wayfair
• Specialty stores that serve an eclectic range of options
• Other Amazon FBA sellers

ModHome will set itself apart from these options through:

• A transparent and professional product vetting process
• Providing bundled options that minimize pricing
• Competitive shipping and return policies

Our team is made up of highly skilled and experienced researchers who take the time to thoroughly review and test each product before it’s ever offered. Combining such a personalized experience with the fulfillment and distribution capabilities of Amazon will help us hit a positive blend of product quality, speed, and affordability.

Funding Needs

We are seeking an initial investment of $40,000 to cover our initial inventory, Amazon FBA fees, marketing and advertising costs, product research tools, and web development for our external site. This should provide us with enough of a runway to get up and running with the goal of becoming profitable within 6-months.

Sales Channels

Our primary sales channel will be directly selling through Amazon. We will also sell through our own website and test in-person purchases through pop-up shops and potential brick-and-mortar retail partnerships. 

Marketing Activities

We will focus on promoting our products through Amazon’s onsite advertising platform as well as search and social media advertising. Additionally, we will aggressively pursue partnerships with potential influencers to showcase and use the products while promoting them to their followers. 

Financial Projections

These initial projections take into account a 6-month lead-up to profitability along with gradually increasing margins and increased inventory expenses.

• Year 1: $300,000
• Year 2: $345,000
• Year 3: $400,000
• Year 1: $260,000
• Year 2: $269,000
• Year 3: $305,000
• Year 1: $40,000
• Year 2: $76,000
• Year 3: $95,000
• Identify target market segments and their needs
• Research and select high-quality, sustainable, and unique products
• Register the business and obtain necessary licenses and permits
• Set up tax and legal compliance, such as sales tax collection and business insurance
• Create an Amazon seller account and enroll in the FBA program
• Set up payment and shipping options
• Establish relationships with suppliers and negotiate pricing
• Purchase initial inventory and ship to Amazon’s fulfillment centers
• Create product listings with high-quality images, engaging descriptions, and relevant keywords
• Optimize listings for Amazon search algorithms (SEO)
• Implement Amazon PPC, social media advertising, and email marketing
• Leverage influencer marketing or collaborations for brand exposure
• Reach a stable sales volume and maintain a high seller rating
• Monitor and respond to customer feedback and reviews
• Explore selling on other online marketplaces or setting up an e-commerce website
• Consider wholesale distribution, brick-and-mortar retail, or direct sales channels
• Reach the break-even point within the 6-month runway
• Maintain steady growth and profitability through effective inventory management, marketing, and customer service
• Introduce new, niche-specific bundles or customizable options
• Develop and launch private-label products

Key Team and Roles

To help achieve profitability the team for this business will be kept very small. Both roles will likely be held by the owner at first with outsourced assistance. 

• Oversees all aspects of the business
• Manages finances, legal compliance, and strategic planning
• Builds relationships with suppliers and negotiates pricing
• Monitors inventory levels and reorders as necessary
• Ensures customer satisfaction and addresses any issues

Marketing and Product Specialist

• Conducts market research and identifies target market segments
• Researches and selects high-quality, sustainable, and unique products for bundles
• Creates and optimizes product listings on Amazon
• Develops and implements marketing and advertising strategies
• Monitors and analyzes sales performance and adjusts strategies accordingly

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How to sell on Amazon as a business or single seller through a Professional or Individual account

• To sell anything on Amazon, you'll need to create an Amazon seller account and fill out an application. 
• Once you submit your seller application, you may need to wait a week or more for it to process.
• You can sell items that are already listed on Amazon, or brand new items that you've created.

Amazon may run their own website, but they're not the only ones allowed to sell products on it.

Amazon.com features tons of small, independent sellers. And when they first register to become an Amazon seller, they all decide between two account tiers : the Individual Plan and the Professional plan.

Here's everything else you should know about selling on Amazon — including how to set up an account. 

How to sign up for an Amazon Individual or Professional seller account

When you register for your seller account, you'll have to pick between two tiers.

Recommended for those selling under 40 units a month, and who don't foresee advertising their products or using any of Amazon's advanced selling tools, the Individual plan charges $0.99 per sale. This tier comes with the ability to add new products to Amazon's marketplace catalog and grants access to Fulfillment by Amazon — a program that provides free shipping to Amazon fulfillment centers, free storage, and free return processing, among other perks. 

The Professional plan offers all of this and significantly more platform perks for a monthly flat-rate fee of $39.99. This tier is perfect for the Amazon seller who plans to feature multiple account users, run selling and shipping promotions, sell products in restricted categories, qualify for higher placement on product pages, and would like to manage their inventory through feeds, spreadsheets, and reports. 

Both tiers have fees that are automatically taken out of your revenues, depending on what type of product you're selling .

Registered Amazon sellers have access to the Seller Center. This dashboard lets you keep track of your inventory, download custom business reports, bookmark product templates, and monitor your performance through customer metrics.

You can also contact Selling Partner Support or open help tickets when issues arise through the Case Log tool. Amazon sellers have access to this dashboard on both the desktop site and an Amazon seller mobile app. 

While filling out the seller account application is easy, having your account verified could take a week or more. And if, after signing up, you realize that the tier you chose isn't a good fit or you're making changes to your selling strategy, you'll have the ability to upgrade or downgrade your account at any point. 

How to set up an Amazon Seller account as an individual 

1. Visit Amazon's selling guide page and scroll to the "How to register" section. 

2. Select either "Sell as an Individual" or "Sell as a professional." 

3. Select the country you'll manage your virtual shop out of. 

4. A new drop-down will appear, prompting you to designate the type of seller you are. Select "Sell as an individual." Then click "Agree and continue." 

5. Select or enter the following details: 

• Citizenship country
• Birth country
• Proof of Identity (License or Passport ID)
• Business address
• Phone number

6. Amazon will send a one-time pin to the phone number you provided. Enter it in the pop-up window. 

7. On the next page, click "I Understand" to confirm that you have:  

• A valid credit card to pay your fees 
• A bank account number attached to your seller account's primary contact or business name
• Your online banking credentials or a bank statement to verify the account belongs to you

8. Enter the following information: 

• Financial institution's name
• Financial institution's country
• Account holder's name  
• Bank account number

9. Click the box at the bottom of the page to accept the terms and conditions before selecting "Verify Bank Account." 

10. Enter your credit card information and select a billing address if it isn't already selected when signing up for a Professional account. 

11. Input your store name, and tell Amazon whether you have UPC codes, diversity certifications, and whether you're the manufacturer or brand owner for all or some of your products. 

12. Confirm your personal account details and upload your ID documents and bank statement. 

13. Select "Submit." 

In five to eight business days, you'll receive a postcard with a confirmation code to verify your account. You'll then receive an email from Amazon once the verification process is complete. 

How to set up an Amazon Seller account as a business

1. Log in to your Amazon account or create one. 

2. Visit this page and click the Sign Up button. 

3. Select the country your virtual shop will be managed out of. 

4. A new dropdown will appear, prompting you to designate your business type. Select one of the following: 

• State-owned business
• Publicly-listed business
• Privately-owned business

5. Enter the name of your business in the field box that appears. Then click "Agree and continue." 

6. You'll be prompted to enter your charity or business registration number, as well as confirm your address, the primary account holder's name, and enter your phone number. 

7. A one-time pin will be sent to the phone number you provided. Enter it in the pop-up window. Click "Next."

8. Select or enter the following details and then click "Save." 

• Residential address
• Whether you're the beneficial owner or legal representative of the business

9. On the next page, click "I Understand" to confirm that you have:  

10. Enter the following information: 

11. Click the box at the bottom of the page to accept the terms and conditions before selecting "Verify Bank Account." 

12. If you're registering for a professional account, enter your credit card information and select a billing address if it isn't already selected.

13. Input your store name, and tell Amazon whether you have UPC codes, diversity certifications, and whether you're the manufacturer or brand owner for all or some of your products. 

14. Confirm your personal account details and upload your ID documents and bank statement. 

15. Select "Submit." 

Selling or reselling items on Amazon

Many small business owners create their products, some of which aren't already sold on Amazon. So if you're selling a new item, or even your own used or collectible item for the first time, you'll want to create a brand new listing. Product pages are shared with other users to add their own offers if they sell the same product. For more information on creating a listing, Amazon has a style guide and other guidelines .

Once you add a listing, customers can see and search for it within 15 minutes. If you have trouble finding your items, visit this page on locating them or the one on using search terms. If you're reselling something already available on Amazon, you'll want to match it to an existing product listing. Once that's done, you'll enter its price, condition, and a few other details.

How to list a new item to sell on Amazon

1. If you're not already logged in to your Amazon account, do so. 

2. Once on your "Seller Dashboard," click "Catalog" in the menu bar. Select "Add a Product " from the dropdown menu.

3. Choose "I'm adding a product not sold on Amazon."

4. Browse item categories before choosing "Select category" and picking a subcategory.

5. Enter your product's information in the "Vital Info" and "Offer" tabs.

6. Click "Save." 

How to sell an existing item on Amazon

This is for items that are already being sold on Amazon, whether by another third-party seller or Amazon itself.

1. Log in to your Amazon account.

2. Click "Catalog" in the menu bar and select "Add a Product " from the dropdown menu.

3. Search for the product type you want to sell under "Find your products in Amazon's catalog" by searching for its name or identifying information like an ISBN, EAN, or ASIN.

4. Once you've found your product, click "Show variations." You can also just select your product from the list.

5. Choose an item condition. 

6. Click "Sell this product."

7. Enter any additional product details in the data fields.

8. Click "Save." 

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How to sell books on amazon, how to sell on etsy, the online marketplace for handmade and vintage items, how to sell items on the craigslist website and start making extra cash, how to sell items on ebay by creating an item listing, and start your own marketplace, how to list and sell items on facebook marketplace, facebook's version of craigslist, watch: 24 details from amazon's 'the boys' you might have missed.

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How To Sell on Amazon in 6 Essential Steps

Thinking about selling on Amazon, but not sure where to start? Learn how to set up your Amazon Seller account and create product listings that sell in this beginner’s guide.

Selling on Amazon can be valuable to many business owners, whether you’re a small business launching its first product line or an established company seeking global expansion.

As the world’s largest online marketplace—with more than 200 million Prime members and hundreds of millions of active customer accounts—Amazon has extraordinary brand recognition , and its onboarding process for businesses is relatively easy. Still, you might have some questions before creating your Seller central account, which gives you access to a suite of tools and resources to manage your business.

This guide offers tips and strategies for building a successful business on Amazon.

How to sell on Amazon for beginners

• Conduct market research
• Choose a selling strategy
• Write a business plan
• Create an Amazon seller account
• Decide which fulfillment option to use
• List your first product

1. Conduct market research

Use market research and competitive analysis to help you decide what to sell on Amazon. You’re looking for products that are trending and have a good profit margin in a space with relatively weak competition. There are a few ways you can assess the current market landscape on Amazon and decide which products to prioritize:

Review Amazon bestsellers lists

Amazon’s bestsellers page is a great place to find product ideas based on what’s selling well right now on the site. Although it takes time for a product to attain Amazon bestsellers rank (it’s based on sales volume), you can still get a sense of what consumers are buying. Can you offer a version of a popular product that serves a specific niche or satisfies an unmet need?

Use keyword research tools

Jungle Scout is a popular keyword research tool that can narrow down your list of ideal products to sell. When you use a keyword research tool like this, you make decisions based on data. The search volume of a product helps you determine consumer interest.

Read Amazon reviews

When customers review products, they may unwittingly reveal gaps in the market. Take a look at Amazon product reviews to determine what customers like and dislike about specific brands and products. You may be able to find a consistent problem with competitors’ products that your product can solve.

Check for restrictions

After deciding which products you are going to sell, check Amazon’s list of product restrictions to make sure you are in compliance. Items like fine art, surveillance equipment, and recycled electronics are among the products not allowed. Certain products must go through a preapproval process before you can sell them. Read the overview of product categories before setting up your account.

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2. Choose a selling strategy

Depending on the product you’re selling and the amount of capital at your disposal, you’ll likely choose one or more of the following ways to sell on Amazon:

• Retail arbitrage. If you buy something below market value and sell it at a higher price while profiting off the difference, that’s retail arbitrage. Amazon sellers can search for products on sale or clearance at places like Target, Best Buy, and Big Lots, then sell them on Amazon for a higher price.
• White labeling. Generic products with your own brand name or logo added are known as white label products . You don’t need to have any manufacturing or product design experience to sell white label products—your focus is primarily on sourcing quality products and creating appealing branding. 
• Private labeling. Private-label products are produced by a third-party manufacturer based on retailers’ specifications. Retailers then market and sell those products under their own brand. You can find private label products through marketplaces like Alibaba and Thomasnet .
• Dropshipping. When dropshipping on Amazon , you never keep products in inventory. When someone purchases a product, the order goes to a third party. The third party then fulfills and ships the product to the customer.

3. Write a business plan

Draft a strategic business plan that details elements that are crucial to business success. Action items can include the following :

• Listing your products to sell
• Determining product pricing
• Defining your marketing plan
• Identifying your ecommerce business model
• Creating a plan for inventory management

4. Create an Amazon seller account

To create an Amazon seller account, you must first decide what type of seller plan you need: individual or professional. The main difference between the two depends on your projected volume of sales.

The individual plan is a pay-as-you-go plan that gives you access to basic listing and order management tools. Individual sellers pay a $0.99 seller’s fee every time they sell an item. If you sell fewer than 40 products per month, the individual plan may be for you. Once you sell more than 40 items per month, the individual plan becomes more expensive than the professional plan, so you may as well upgrade.

The professional seller plan is a $39.99 monthly subscription service that offers a suite of tools and benefits , including global selling programs , advanced business reports, and eligibility for Amazon’s Featured Offer position .

Once you’ve selected a plan, it’s time to set up your new Amazon seller account. Collect the following information and enter it on the Seller Central signup page :

• Business email address
• Bank account number and bank routing number
• Active credit card
• Government issued national ID
• Tax information
• Phone number

Once your Amazon seller account is approved, you’re ready to get your products listed and start selling.

Read more: Is selling on Amazon worth it for you?

5. Decide which fulfillment option to use

As a seller, you have two fulfillment options: fulfillment by merchant and fulfillment by Amazon:

Fulfillment by merchant (FBM)

With FBM, you fulfill orders directly to customers and manage shipping , returns, and customer service. This is a good option for made-to-order products or for products that require a longer lead time for processing.

Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)

With FBA, you send inventory to an Amazon warehouse, known as an Amazon Fulfillment Center (FC). These fulfillment centers ship products and manage returns from customers. You control inventory levels and pay storage fees for the product, in addition to a fulfillment fee for every unit sold to customers. Keep in mind, you still own the inventory until a customer receives it.

In this model, Amazon handles payment from the customer and, in turn, pays you. You get access to Amazon’s customer service team that handles questions, returns, and refunds.

6. List your first product

There are two ways you can list a product on Amazon: The first is for products already for sale on Amazon—these products have an existing Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) , and your listing will be combined with the product detail page for all other sellers offering this product. The second is for new products (private label products) that you’re listing on Amazon for the first time.

Let’s consider the initial example: Say you’re selling travel mugs you bought at wholesale prices, and there’s already a listing on Amazon for that exact product.

• The first thing you’ll need to do is copy the ASIN from the "product details" section of the existing listing.
• Next, navigate to Seller Central, click Catalog and select Add Products. This brings up a search bar where you can paste the ASIN. Doing so will bring up the product listing. Use the dropdown to describe the condition of your item (New, Used - Like New, Used - Very Good, etc.)
• Click “Sell this product,” set your price, select your fulfillment options (FBM or FBA), and follow the subsequent prompts. You have the option to enter a SKU for your item, after which you can click the “Save and finish” button. You can view your listing in the “Manage inventory” page of your Seller Central account.

Now let’s look at the process for listing a product that has never been sold on Amazon, like your own line of emu leather platform clogs. Here’s how it works:

• From the Seller Central dashboard, you’ll again click “Add a product” followed by “I’'m adding a product not sold on Amazon.”
• Choose your product category from the list, then enter all relevant information about your product (title, price, details, photos, fulfillment options).
• Once you’re done with this, simply click “Save and finish” and your product will be submitted for approval. Once it’s approved, Amazon will assign it an ASIN and list it for sale. You can access the listing via your “Manage inventory” page.

Once your product detail page is live, shoppers can discover your product by searching on Amazon. If your product has appeal and you use effective marketing strategies, soon enough the orders will start rolling in.

How to create successful product listings on Amazon

• Write a targeted product title
• Upload clear product images
• Write thorough product descriptions
• Include product variations

The product detail page of your product listing is where the sales happen on Amazon. The information you put on this page helps customers decide whether or not your product meets their needs. Candle brand Homesick has a stellar example of a product page . Let’s look at why.

1. Write a targeted product title

Your product title should capture shoppers’ attention and tell them they are in the right place, and a good one can improve your click-through rate in search and improve your SEO ranking within Amazon’s platform .

Product titles have a 200-character limit, but you’ll want to keep your title between 60 and 80 characters. Why? An Extensiv study of more than 3,000 high-ranking Amazon listing titles found 33% of them fell between 60 and 80 characters, and the Amazon Seller Central guidelines recommend keeping titles in this range.

Every word in your product title is searchable, so aim to include vital information. For example, Homesick uses its brand name (Homesick) , the product line (Scented Candle), the style (Hawaii), features (Scents of Pineapple, Coconut), and the container size.

2. Upload clear product images

Your main photo should clearly show what the product is. Additional photos can provide other angles of the product and, if relevant, lifestyle imagery.

You can also add video to give shoppers a more in-depth look at your products. Shoppers can scroll through your media to assess if the product is a good fit for their needs. Take care that your images are high quality so that shoppers can zoom in to see the finer details of your product.

3. Write thorough product descriptions

Product descriptions list the specifications and benefits of your product. Homesick uses bullet points for its descriptions, highlighting key information potential buyers look for in a candle, such as burn time, scent notes, and type of wax.

4. Include product variations

Variations let you easily display the same product in various sizes, colors, and styles. While each version of a product has its own unique ASIN and detail page, variations give customers the ability to quickly switch between options.

Cost of selling on Amazon

When you start selling on Amazon, there are some fees you should be aware of because they’re frequently charged and can impact your Amazon channel’s return on investment (ROI). The following fees aren’t the only fees, just the common ones:

• Referral fees. Amazon charges a commission for selling on the platform. It’s different for each category. The average referral fee is 15% but can range from 8% to 45%.
• Closing fees. This is a $1.80 fee taken from each unit sold for products in media categories (books, DVDs, music, software and computer/video games, video game consoles, and video game accessories).
• FBA fees. If you use Fulfillment by Amazon you’ll pay a fee that covers picking, packing, shipping, and customer service. The exact cost depends on your product’s category, size, and weight, but it starts out at just a few dollars.
• Additional Amazon fees. Amazon will also charge you storage fees for inventory in its fulfillment centers, with additional fees for aged inventory that has been in storage for more than 181 days. You may also have to pay fees for unsold inventory that Amazon returns to you, discards, or liquidates.

For an in-depth look at all possible fees, read the selling on Amazon fees guide .

Tips for selling your products on Amazon

Encourage product reviews, run sponsored product ads, take advantage of promotions, drive external traffic, get your pricing right.

Amazon gives ecommerce businesses a unique opportunity to sell products to a wider audience, helping improve brand awareness in the process. Here are key tips for getting there:

Reviews can be the deciding factor in a purchase, even if the product has a higher price than competitors’ offerings. One way to encourage reviews is to send a follow-up email after a customer purchases your product.

Amazon sellers can send customers automated follow-up emails that are related to a specific order. The guidelines are here but, in summary, you may not:

• Send emails with marketing or promotional messages.
• Include links to websites other than Amazon.
• Request or incentivize positive reviews.

You can, however, send emails that ask the customer to leave a review—so long as you don’t specifically request that the feedback be positive.

There are ample best practices for email marketing out there, but aim to send no more than two emails: one during the order confirmation or delivery phase and one post-purchase email after the customer receives the product.

Amazon has a robust ad platform that lets you market your products to Amazon customers. Amazon Sponsored Product Ads is a PPC (pay per click) model that lets you promote your Amazon products. Ad placements on desktop can be above, alongside, or below search results for related search terms, as well as on product detail pages.

A few things to keep in mind when running Amazon PPC ads:

• Start with automatic targeting. This allows Amazon to use its powerful search algorithms to automatically discover and suggest an exhaustive list of potential keywords for you. You can begin by selecting a flat default bid across all keywords, but your eventual goal is to get data on how various keywords perform and target the ones that are most effective.
• Evaluate your automatic targeting campaign. Assess your automatic targeting campaign once you have at least a few weeks’ worth of data to determine which keywords performed the best. You want to transition those over to a manual campaign, where you can focus on only the most relevant keywords. With a manual campaign, you have the ability to adjust bids by keyword.
• Continue to iterate your manual campaign for keywords and bids. Different bid amounts can yield various placements and results, so continue to test until you find a strategy that works well for you.
• Use insights to optimize product details pages. As you refine your PPC strategy, you’ll gain a better sense of which keywords are relevant to your product. You can add those keywords to your product detail pages to help you capture more organic traffic without having to pay for ads.

Leveraging promotions can help you generate sales and increase brand awareness . A popular type of promotion on the Amazon platform is Lightning Deals . These deals are flash sales featured on the Amazon Deals , one of the most frequently visited pages on Amazon.

Lightning Deals can help:

• Increase discoverability of your product, especially during big events such as Prime Day and holidays.
• Lead to more online reviews due to greater product reach and sales.
• Drive conversions after the promotion ends, as more units sold can improve rankings on search engine results pages .
• Trial new products and win new customers for future purchases.

Lightning Deals appear in the “See All Recommendations” section of the screen on Seller Central. Lightning Deals run across many different categories, including health and personal care, home and kitchen, consumer electronics, fashion, grocery, and much more.

Many brands reserve their external marketing channels to point to their ecommerce store . While there is value in using ads to direct traffic to your own site, those same tactics also work to promote your Amazon listings.

If you collaborate with bloggers and influencers , you can expand your reach through programs like Amazon Associates and Amazon Influencers —as well as external platforms for connecting with influencers, such as Shopify Collabs .

Build and manage a community of influencers who love your brand

Shopify Collabs can help you recruit and manage creators who can promote your products, endorse your brand, and ultimately increase your sales.

Additionally, you can create discount codes to share externally, such as on your social media channels , to encourage customers to buy on Amazon.

Finding the right pricing strategy for your products is especially important in Amazon’s marketplace, where you compete against other sellers. Here are some key considerations when aiming to hit the right pricing:

Amazon Marketplace Fair Pricing Policy

According to the Amazon Marketplace Fair Pricing Policy : You can’t set a price “ that harms customer trust .” Amazon offers some examples of pricing practices that raise red flags, including pricing a product significantly higher than recent prices offered on or off Amazon, selling bundles of multiple units for a higher price per unit than if sold individually, and adding excessive shipping fees. Avoid a potential account suspension by pricing your products fairly.

Automate pricing

Repricing tools like Amazon’s Automate Pricing on Seller Central help you to automatically make pricing decisions. With the free Automate Pricing tool, you can establish parameters for pricing products and specify how to automatically adjust product prices to a competitive level .

Complement your Shopify store by selling on Amazon

At first glance, Amazon can seem like a challenger to your ecommerce business: a global marketplace, a massive audience, a go-to destination for consumer search. However, when approached as a resource, Amazon can actually help entrepreneurs make money online. Under the right circumstances, selling on Amazon is worth it for Shopify store owners.

Your Shopify store is your home base, and Amazon’s global marketplace is your opportunity to reach massive new audiences. Strategic planning, experimentation, and some hustle will get you a long way to successfully selling on Amazon.

• The Ultimate Guide To Dropshipping (2024)
• The Beginner's Guide to Selling on eBay- List, Manage, and Sell Your Products Through Shopify
• AliExpress Dropshipping- How to Dropship From AliExpress
• The 13 Best Dropshipping Suppliers in 2024
• How to Start a Dropshipping Business- A Complete Playbook for 2024
• How To Source Products To Sell Online
• The 9 Best Dropshipping Websites for Your Online Store
• How to Start an Online Boutique- A Complete Playbook
• How to Write a Perfect Business Plan in 9 Steps
• How to Set Up & Open a Pop-Up Shop

Selling on Amazon FAQ

Is it free to sell something on amazon.

Amazon charges a referral fee for each item sold. The rate changes depending on the product category, ranging from 8% to 45%.

What is the startup cost to sell on Amazon?

Setting up an Amazon Seller account is free if you sign up for the Individual plan. You will only pay as you sell products. If you sign up for a Professional Seller account, you’ll pay $39.99 per month.

Can I sell on Amazon from my home?

Yes, like many ecommerce sellers, you can create a home-based, online business selling on Amazon.

What are some good products to sell on Amazon?

• Toys and games
• Electronics
• Video games
• Clothing and shoes

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Amazon FBA Business Plan Template

Written by Dave Lavinsky

Amazon FBA Business Plan

You’ve come to the right place to create your Amazon FBA business plan.

We have helped over 1,000 entrepreneurs and business owners create business plans and many have used them to start or grow their Amazon FBA businesses.

Amazon Business Plan Template

Below is a template to help you create each section of your Amazon seller business plan.

Executive Summary

Business overview.

Smith & Lopez is a personal care company headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company provides numerous personal care products for all ages and genders. Some of these products include lotions, perfumes, bath bombs, hair care products, and skincare products.

Smith & Lopez is a Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) company and will provide its products primarily on Amazon. The personal care products will be manufactured at a warehouse and sent directly to Amazon warehouses nationwide. When customers order our products online, Amazon will take care of all the packing, shipping, and customer service, ensuring a smoother and positive experience for the consumer.

Smith & Lopez is founded by Maria Smith and Hector Lopez. Both are committed to providing high-quality personal care items and utilizing the strength of Amazon’s business model. Maria has a background in marketing, and therefore will take care of the marketing aspects of the business. Hector has extensive experience in the personal care industry and is familiar with the FBA business model, so he will run most of the operations.

Product Offering

Smith & Lopez manufactures and sells a variety of personal care items that appeal to all demographics. Some of our product offerings include:

• Hair care products
• Skincare products

As an Amazon FBA company, Smith & Lopez will have Amazon handle all the packing, shipping, customer service, and returns aspects of the business.

Customer Focus

Smith & Lopez creates products that can appeal to all demographics. However, we expect females in the 18 – 40 age range will be our largest demographic. Traditionally, this demographic invests more in high-quality personal care items than any other, so we will primarily target them in our marketing efforts.

Though we are headquartered in San Francisco, we expect to reach the rest of the United States through the FBA business model. Through Fulfillment by Amazon, we will reach a much larger customer base than we would through a stand-alone e-commerce site. As an FBA seller, Smith & Lopez has access to millions of potential customers across 180 countries worldwide.

Management Team

Smith & Lopez is founded and run by Maria Smith and Hector Lopez. Both have been passionate about high-quality personal care items and used their passion to fuel their ideas for their own business.

Maria Smith will be a co-founder and the Vice President of the company. However, she has a background as a Marketing Specialist and a bachelor’s degree in Marketing. Therefore, she will handle all the marketing and advertising efforts until there is a need to hire a marketing team.

Hector will be a co-founder and the President of the company. He has an extensive history in the personal care industry and experience with the Amazon FBA program. He also has an MBA from UCLA. Therefore, he will handle all the operations side of the business.

Success Factors

Smith & Lopez will be able to achieve success by offering the following competitive advantages:

• Built-In Customer Service: With Amazon’s built-in customer service network, there’s someone available around the clock to offer support to customers, a perk that’s free being in the Amazon FBA business.
• Convenient shopping experience: Amazon’s website makes shopping quick, easy, and convenient for millions of consumers around the world. When consumers buy our products from Amazon, they will have a convenient experience that can’t be matched by other e-commerce sites.
• Fast shipping: Amazon’s two day shipping is legendary. Amazon Prime customers can take advantage of this perk when they buy our personal care items from Amazon.

Financial Highlights

Smith & Lopez is currently seeking $230,000 to launch its Amazon FBA business. The capital will be used for funding startup costs, staffing, marketing expenses, and working capital.

Specifically, these funds will be used as follows:

• Build-out and startup costs: $40,000
• Three months of overhead expenses (payroll, rent, utilities): $120,000
• Marketing costs: $40,000
• Working capital: $30,000

The following graph below outlines the pro forma financial projections for Smith & Lopez.

Company Overview

Who is smith & lopez, smith & lopez history.

Maria Smith and Hector Lopez have been passionate about high-quality personal care products for years. Over the past few years, they have designed and tested their unique personal care product ideas they were inspired to sell. After years of research and testing, Maria and Hector finally incorporated their company on April 3rd, 2022.

Since incorporation, the company has achieved the following milestones:

• Found an office location and signed a Letter of Intent to lease it
• Developed the logo and website for the company
• Finalized list of products the company will be able to provide
• Created an Amazon seller account
• Determined the office equipment and inventory requirements
• Found a manufacturer who will make the personal care products
• Began recruiting key employees

Smith & Lopez Products

Industry analysis.

The Fulfillment by Amazon business model is quickly becoming the most popular business model for small businesses in the United States. Globally, Amazon operates more than 175 fulfillment centers with over 150 million square feet of space. The company is also continuously hiring workers for these centers so that millions of products continue to ship out on time throughout the world. Therefore, Amazon has the structure and resources to help small businesses thrive so that these businesses don’t have to do everything on their own.

Furthermore, there are numerous perks to taking advantage of this program and many businesses have seen great success because of it. According to Amazon, nearly half of all American selling partners took advantage of FBA in 2020. These businesses reduced their shipping costs by an average of 30% and increased their sales by an average of 20-25%. In fact, small businesses who sell on Amazon are 2.5 times more likely to see revenue growth of 25% or more in a given year than businesses who don’t use Amazon. It’s clear that the FBA program is highly successful and will continue to be in the future. Therefore, this is a perfect time to take advantage of this rapidly growing industry and business model.

Customer Analysis

Demographic profile of target market.

Smith & Lopez will primarily serve U.S. consumers who shop for products on Amazon. Since females under the age of 40 are traditionally the target demographic for the personal care industry, we expect most of our sales to come from this demographic.

The precise demographics of individuals living in the U.S. are as follows:

Customer Segmentation

Smith & Lopez will primarily target the following customer profiles:

• Consumers under 40
• Customers who buy personal care items on Amazon

Competitive Analysis

Direct and indirect competitors.

Smith & Lopez will face competition from other companies with similar business profiles. A description of each competitor company is below.

Thea’s is a personal care brand that sells natural and organic skincare and other personal care items. They are particularly famous for their toners and moisturizers, which leave the skin looking youthful and glowing. Thea’s has been a major e-commerce personal care company for over a decade with millions of dollars of sales every year. However, Thea’s solely relies on their own e-commerce site and does not utilize FBA.

Miller & Miller

Miller & Miller has been a household personal care brand for generations, producing everything from skincare and moisturizers to toothbrushes and floss. Anything you need to stay healthy and looking good can be found in the MIller & Miller brand. Though Miller & Miller is a giant corporation that sells well through their e-commerce site and in stores, the company still utilizes Amazon and sells their best selling products on the site.

California Glow

California Glow is a new online personal care brand that sells lotions, makeups, and other personal care products. Like Smith & Lopez, they are a purely online brand and headquartered in San Francisco. They sell similar products and utilize FBA in addition to their e-commerce site. However, they sell far fewer products and are currently only a minor competitor.

Competitive Advantage

Marketing plan, brand & value proposition.

Smith & Lopez seeks to position itself as a respectable, upper-middle-market competitor in the personal care category of FBA sellers.

The Smith & Lopez brand will focus on the company’s unique value proposition:

• Offering unique and high-quality personal care products
• Offering a wide variety of products that appeal to all demographics
• Providing excellent customer service on a 24/7 basis through Amazon

Promotions Strategy

Smith & Lopez expects its target market to be online shoppers. The company’s promotions strategy to reach its targeted audience includes:

Amazon Advertising

Smith & Lopez will utilize the Amazon Advertising program provided by Amazon. This marketing program allows small businesses to advertise directly to Amazon consumers by purchasing sponsored ads. The program is highly effective. According to Amazon, the program reaches about 96% of consumers in the 25-54 age group every month. Since this is the majority of our target market, this will be an invaluable marketing and advertising tool.

Social Media Marketing

Social media is one of the most cost-effective and practical marketing methods for improving brand visibility. The company will use social media to develop engaging content that will increase audience awareness and loyalty. Engaging with prospective clients and business partners on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn will also help understand changing customer needs.

Word of Mouth Marketing/Amazon Reviews

Smith & Lopez will encourage customers to post reviews to give honest feedback about our products. Amazon reviews can be incredibly effective and help us gain numerous new customers with little effort on our part. The company will use reviews and recommendations to grow its customer base through the network of its existing customers.

Website/SEO Marketing

Smith & Lopez has a website that is well-organized and informative and lists all our available products. The website also lists the company’s contact information and has links to our Amazon store.  We will utilize SEO marketing tactics so that anytime someone types in the Google or Bing search engine “San Francisco personal care” or “California personal care products,” Smith & Lopez will be listed at the top of the search results.

Smith & Lopez’s pricing will be moderate, so customers will feel that they receive great product value. We will set our prices based on similar FBA sellers in the personal care category.

Operations Plan

The following will be the operations plan for Smith & Lopez.

Operation Functions:

• Hector Lopez will be a co-founder and the President of Smith & Lopez. His extensive background in the personal care industry (as well as his experience with Amazon FBA program) will help him run the general operations of the company.
• Maria Smith will be a co-founder and Vice President of the company. In addition to helping Hector run and maintain the general operations of the company, Maria will use her extensive marketing background to handle all the marketing efforts.
• John Smith will be the Procurement Manager and ensure that our products are always in stock at Amazon warehouses.
• Sheila Martinez will be the Accountant and handle all general accounting, tax payments, and monthly financial reporting.
• Kyle Martin will be the Administrative Assistant. He will assist Hector and Maria with all general administrative tasks.

Milestones:

Smith & Lopez expects to achieve the following milestones in the following six months:

06/202X          Finalize lease agreement

07/202X          Design and build out

08/202X          Hire and train initial staff

09/202X          Kickoff of promotional campaign

10/202X          Launch Smith & Lopez

12/202X          Reach break-even

Financial Plan

Key revenue & costs.

Smith & Lopez’s revenues will come from selling products on Amazon. The major costs for the company will be the cost of supplies and salaries of the staff. In the initial years, the company’s marketing spending will be high to establish itself in the market. Moreover, FBA membership and selling fees are also one of the notable cost drivers for Smith & Lopez.

Funding Requirements and Use of Funds

Key assumptions.

The following outlines the key assumptions required in order to achieve the revenue and cost numbers in the financials and in order to pay off the startup business loan.

• Average number of items sold per month: 500
• Average sales per month: $20,000
• Retail space lease per year: $100,000

Financial Projections

Income statement.

Balance Sheet

Cash Flow Statement

Amazon FBA Business Plan FAQs

What is an amazon fba business plan.

An Amazon FBA business plan is a plan to start and/or grow your Amazon FBA business. Among other things, it outlines your business concept, identifies your target customers, presents your marketing plan and details your financial projections.

You can easily complete your Amazon FBA business plan using our Amazon FBA Business Plan Template here .

What are the Main Types of Amazon FBA businesses?

There are a number of different kinds of Amazon FBA businesses , some examples include: Reseller, Private Label, and Proprietary.

How Do You Get Funding for Your Amazon FBA Business Plan?

Amazon FBA businesses are often funded through small business loans. Personal savings, credit card financing and angel investors are also popular forms of funding.

What are the Steps To Start an Amazon FBA Business?

Starting an Amazon FBA business can be an exciting endeavor. Having a clear roadmap of the steps to start a business will help you stay focused on your goals and get started faster.

1. Develop An Amazon FBA Business Plan - The first step in starting a business is to create a detailed business plan for Amazon FBA  that outlines all aspects of the venture. This should include potential market size and target customers, the services or products you will offer, pricing strategies and a detailed financial forecast.  

2. Choose Your Legal Structure - It's important to select an appropriate legal entity for your Amazon FBA business. This could be a limited liability company (LLC), corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship. Each type has its own benefits and drawbacks so it’s important to do research and choose wisely so that your Amazon FBA business is in compliance with local laws.

3. Register Your Amazon FBA Business - Once you have chosen a legal structure, the next step is to register your Amazon FBA business with the government or state where you’re operating from. This includes obtaining licenses and permits as required by federal, state, and local laws. 

4. Identify Financing Options - It’s likely that you’ll need some capital to start your Amazon FBA business, so take some time to identify what financing options are available such as bank loans, investor funding, grants, or crowdfunding platforms. 

5. Choose a Location - Whether you plan on operating out of a physical location or not, you should always have an idea of where you’ll be based should it become necessary in the future as well as what kind of space would be suitable for your operations. 

6. Hire Employees - There are several ways to find qualified employees including job boards like LinkedIn or Indeed as well as hiring agencies if needed – depending on what type of employees you need it might also be more effective to reach out directly through networking events. 

7. Acquire Necessary Amazon FBA Equipment & Supplies - In order to start your Amazon FBA business, you'll need to purchase all of the necessary equipment and supplies to run a successful operation. 

8. Market & Promote Your Business - Once you have all the necessary pieces in place, it’s time to start promoting and marketing your Amazon FBA business. This includes creating a website, utilizing social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, and having an effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy. You should also consider traditional marketing techniques such as radio or print advertising. 

Learn more about how to start a successful Amazon FBA business:

• How to Start an Amazon FBA Business

Amazon Business Models (Complete Guide): Which One is Right for You in 2024?

Brian Connolly

March 9, 2024

Table of Contents

1. what is “private label” on amazon, 2. retail arbitrage on amazon, 3. online arbitrage on amazon, 4. wholesaling on amazon, 5. dropshipping on amazon, 6. handmade products on amazon.

To date, 60% of Amazon’s retail sales come from third-party (3P) sellers (rather than from Amazon itself). 

A big part of this growth comes from the flexibility Amazon offers its sellers.

There are six popular Amazon business models sellers use to sell products on the platform (detailed below), and Jungle Scout’s survey of over 2,600 Amazon sellers reveals the breakdown of which business models most Amazon sellers use to sell on Amazon.

• Private Label: 54%*
• Wholesale: 26%
• Retail Arbitrage: 25%
• Online Arbitrage: 24%
• Dropshipping: 17%
• Handmade: 8%

*Note : some sellers use more than one business model, hence the overlap in percentages.

Let’s take a look at the differences of these six different Amazon business models, as well as what you can do to get started selling on Amazon using each one.

Private label is the process of a retailer rebranding/renaming a product that is already being manufactured on their own brand or label. Brands such as Walmart’s Great Value or Target’s Main Stays are both examples of private label products. 

Even Amazon has its own private label products with Amazon Essentials and AmazonBasics.

And according to Jungle Scout’s 2023 Amazon State of the Seller survey , this is the most popular Amazon business model, with 54% of sellers saying they used this method to sell on the platform.

How much does it cost to sell private label?

Compared to the other Amazon business models, private label is often the most expensive method. 

On average, 61% of private label sellers spend $2,500 or more to get started. 

How profitable is private label?

56% of private label sellers make $5,000 or more in monthly sales, and 35% of private label sellers realize a profit within the first six months of selling on Amazon.

How long does it take to get started with private label?

Despite not being as fast an Amazon business model of selling as the arbitrage or dropshipping methods described below, 48% of private label sellers have their businesses up and running in three months or less.

How much time do private label sellers spend on their business each week?

58% of private label sellers spend less than 20 hours per week on their business, with 15% of private label sellers spending less than four hours.

What categories do private label sellers sell in on Amazon?

The top 5 most popular categories for private label sellers to sell in are:

• Home & Kitchen: 40%
• Sports & Outdoors: 21%
• Health, Household, & Baby: 15%
• Beauty & Personal Care: 15%
• Kitchen & Dining: 14%

What challenges do private label sellers face on Amazon?

Like any business, selling private label on Amazon has its challenges. The biggest challenges private label sellers face are:

• Optimizing product listings : 65%
• Finding products to sell : 62%
• Managing inventory: 58%
• Managing their Amazon pay-per-click (PPC) bids: 55%
• Getting product reviews : 50%

However, there are plenty of free educational resources that can help sellers tackle these challenges.

How to sell private label on Amazon:

Private label requires a little more knowledge to sell on Amazon.  Here are the basics:

• Research Amazon’s product database for high-demand/ low-competition niches
• Contact a manufacturer to create the product
• Create a new listing for the product
• Launch and promote the product on Amazon

To make this process easier, most people use Amazon’s Fulfillment-by-Amazon (FBA) program , which makes it easier for the seller because Amazon handles all the product storage, shipping, returns, and customer service.

Learn more about how to sell on Amazon FBA .

Retail arbitrage is a method of finding low-cost or discount goods in brick-and-mortar retail stores in order to resell online. The profits that retail arbitrage sellers on Amazon earn is the difference between the price for which they can sell the product on Amazon minus Amazon’s fees and the original cost of the product.

How much does it cost to sell retail arbitrage?

49% of retail arbitrage sellers spend less than $1,000 to get started selling on Amazon, with one in three saying they spent less than $500. Of the six models described in this article, retail arbitrage is the least expensive way to start.

How profitable is retail arbitrage?

While retail arbitrage is the least expensive way to get started selling on Amazon, it is also among the least profitable. 62% of retail arbitrage sellers earn less than $5,000 per month on Amazon, and 25% earn less than $500.

Furthermore, 46% of retail arbitrage sellers told us it took them up to six months to realize a profit with their business model, and 48% told us that the profit margins on their products are less than 20%.

How long does it take to get started with retail arbitrage?

41% of retail arbitrage sellers told us that it takes six weeks or less to get started selling, making it one of the fastest Amazon business models when it comes to getting up and running.

How much time do retail arbitrage sellers spend on their business each week?

60% of retail arbitrage sellers spend up to 20 hours per week working on their business, and 25% spend less than four hours each week. That includes looking for products, building listings, and shipping goods .

What categories do retail arbitrage sellers sell on Amazon?

The top 5 most popular categories for retail arbitrage sellers to sell in are:

• Home & Kitchen: 47%
• Toys & Games : 41%
• Beauty & Personal Care: 33%
• Grocery & Gourmet Food : 27%

What challenges do retail arbitrage sellers face on Amazon?

In addition to finding products and managing inventory, retail arbitrage sellers cited the following challenges:

• Monitoring and managing expenses, revenue, and other financial metrics: 44%
• Finding a supplier: 38%
• Optimizing product listings: 31%

How to sell retail arbitrage on Amazon

Retail arbitrage is perhaps the easiest method to sell products on Amazon.

 All one has to do is first find products to sell in brick-and-mortar stores, and then list those products on Amazon.

Online arbitrage is a method of finding a low-cost or discount product on one website or online marketplace to resell on another marketplace.  

Like retail arbitrage, the profits online arbitrage sellers on Amazon earn is the difference between the price for which they can sell the product on Amazon minus Amazon’s fees and the original cost of the product.

How much does it cost to sell online arbitrage?

58% of online arbitrage sellers spent less than $2,500 to start selling products on Amazon, and 29% started with less than $500.

How profitable is online arbitrage?

55% of online arbitrage sellers earn less than $5,000 per month selling on Amazon. However, 16% earn at least $1,000 to $5,000. 

54% of online arbitrage sellers see profit margins of 16% or higher.

How long does it take to get started with online arbitrage?

Online arbitrage sellers are able to start selling rather quickly. 36% of online arbitrage sellers took less than six weeks to get started on Amazon. 68% were about to get their businesses up and running within 3 months or less.

How much time do online arbitrage sellers spend on their business each week?

56% of online arbitrage sellers spend less than 20 hours per week on their Amazon businesses.

What categories do online arbitrage sellers sell on Amazon?

The top 5 most popular categories for online arbitrage sellers to sell in are:

• Home & Kitchen: 55%
• Toys & Games: 50%
• Beauty & Personal Care: 38%
• Health, Household & Baby Care: 34%

What challenges do online arbitrage sellers face on Amazon?

• Finding a supplier: 40%
• Optimizing product listings: 34%

How to sell online arbitrage on Amazon

Like retail arbitrage, selling online arbitrage on Amazon is relatively simple. 

First, you must find a product on another website (such as eBay, Etsy, Walmart.com, etc.) and purchase the product. Then, you list the product on Amazon.

Wholesaling is the practice of purchasing low-cost or discounted goods in bulk in order to sell as individual units in a retail marketplace. 

Often, the wholesale products already have listings created on Amazon.

How much does it cost to sell wholesale on Amazon?

47% of wholesalers spent less than $2,500 to get started selling on Amazon.

How profitable is wholesaling on Amazon?

61% of wholesalers earn more than $5,000 per month selling on Amazon. 58% of wholesalers have profit margins less than 20%.

How long does it take to get started with wholesale on Amazon?

47% of wholesalers took six weeks or less to start selling on Amazon.

How much time do wholesalers spend on their business each week?

Nearly half of wholesalers (49%) spend over 20 hours on their businesses each week, and 18% spend over 40 hours each week.

What categories do wholesalers sell on Amazon?

The top 5 most popular categories for wholesalers to sell in are:

• Toys & Games: 32%
• Sports & Outdoors: 29%
• Beauty & Personal Care: 28%
• Health, Household & Baby Care : 27%

How to sell wholesale on Amazon

In many ways, wholesale functions like arbitrage. First, the wholesaler must find a supplier or source for products and purchase the goods. Once the goods are purchased, they list the individual products on Amazon.

Dropshipping is a business model where an Amazon seller does not keep their own product inventory, but instead, transfers their customers’ orders directly to the manufacturer or supplier.

How much does it cost to dropship on Amazon?

50% of dropshippers informed us that they spent less than $2,500 to start selling on Amazon, with 17% spending $500 or less.

How profitable is dropshipping on Amazon?

39% of dropshippers earn $5,000 or less dropshipping products on Amazon with 48% seeing profit margins between 11-25%. 

How long does it take to get started with dropshipping on Amazon?

On average, dropshippers take longer to get started on Amazon, with 56% telling us that it took longer than six weeks. Additionally, 10% stated it took over a year to get started. 

How much time do dropshippers spend on their business each week?

Dropshippers also spend more time working on their businesses than other Amazon sellers. 54% of dropshippers spend over 20 hours per week on their Amazon businesses. Nearly one in four dropshippers spent over 40 hours per week. 

What categories do dropshippers sell on Amazon?

The top 5 most popular categories for dropshippers to sell in are:

• Home & Kitchen: 50%
• Sports & Outdoors: 35%
• Kitchen & Dining: 32%
• Tools & Home Improvement: 32%
• Garden & Outdoor: 31%

What challenges do dropshippers face on Amazon?

• Optimizing product listings: 64%
• Monitoring and managing expenses, revenue, and other financial metrics: 54%
• Getting customer reviews: 50%

How to dropship on Amazon

Dropshipping requires a little more setup than some of the other Amazon business models (although, it’s not as extensive as private label). For more details on dropshipping, we have an entire article that covers this method . 

Here are the basics.

• Find a high-demand/low-competition product to sell on Amazon
• Create a listing for the product on Amazon
• Each time a sale is made, deliver the customer’s shipping information to the manufacturer/supplier so they can fulfill the order

Amazon’s handmade sellers are people who create their own products (“by hand”) to sell on the Amazon marketplace. Examples include jewelry, accessories, home decor, and more. 

How much does it cost to sell handmade on Amazon?

53% of Amazon handmade sellers spent less than $2,500 to start selling on Amazon. Out of all business models, handmade is among one of the least costly at startup.

How profitable is handmade on Amazon?

50% of Amazon Handmade sellers earn less than $5,000 per month selling goods on Amazon. And 30% earn less than $1,000 per month, making handmade among the least profitable methods of selling on Amazon behind retail and online arbitrage. 

However, handmade sellers have better margins on average, with 52% earning profit margins between 11-25%.

How long does it take to get started with handmade on Amazon?

took less than three months to get started, with more than 43% taking less than six weeks. 

However, it took 40% of handmade sellers three months to a year before their Amazon business was profitable.

How much time do handmade sellers spend on their business each week?

37% of handmade sellers spend more than 20 hours per week working on their Amazon businesses, and 20% spend more than 40 hours per week.

What challenges do handmade sellers face on Amazon?

• Finding products to sell: 61%
• Optimizing product listings: 61%
• Finding relevant and high-quality keywords for products: 49%

How to sell handmade on Amazon

Selling handmade on Amazon requires handmade sellers to create listings for the products that they are offering. Then, once a sale is made, they must create and/or fulfill the handmade product. 

Ecommerce Expert & Writer at Jungle Scout

Brian Connolly is an Amazon seller, ecommerce expert, and writer for Jungle Scout. He lives in the New Jersey Shore area with his wife and cat. When he isn’t writing advice online for aspiring and experienced Amazon sellers for Jungle Scout, he spends his free time boating, fishing, and selling boating-themed items on his Amazon business.

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Money blog: Couples reveal how they split finances when one earns more than other

Welcome to the Money, your place for personal finance and consumer news and tips. Read our weekend feature on relationship finances below and let us know how you and your partner divide money in the comments box. We'll be back with live updates on Monday.

Saturday 17 August 2024 08:20, UK

Essential reads

• Couples on how they split finances when one earns more than other
• What's gone wrong at Asda?
• The week in money
• Best of the Money blog - an archive of features

Tips and advice

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• Save up to half price on top attractions with this trick
• Fines for parents taking kids out of school increasing next month
• TV chef picks best cheap eats in London
• 'I cancelled swimming with plenty of notice - can they keep my money?'

Ask a question or make a comment

By Emily Mee , news reporter

Openly discussing how you split your finances with your partner feels pretty taboo - even among friends.

As a consequence, it can be difficult to know how to approach these conversations with our partner or what is largely considered fair - especially if there's a big imbalance salary-wise. 

Research by Hargreaves Lansdown suggests in an average household with a couple, three-quarters of the income is earned by one person. 

Even when there is a large disparity, some couples will want to pay the same amount on bills as they want to contribute equally. 

But for others, one partner can feel resentful if they are spending all of their money on bills while the other has much more to spend and is living a different lifestyle as a result. 

At what stage of the relationship can you talk about money?

"We've kind of formally agreed there is some point in a relationship you start talking about kids - there is no generally agreed time that we start talking about money," says Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown. 

Some couples may never get around to mentioning it, leading to "lopsided finances". 

Ms Coles says if you want to keep on top of finances with your partner, you could set a specific date in the year that you go through it all. 

"If it's in the diary and it's not emotional and it's not personal then you can properly go through it," she says.

"It's not a question of 'you need to pull more weight'.  It's purely just this is what we've agreed, this is the maths and this is how we need to do that."

While many people start talking about finances around Christmas, Ms Coles suggests this can be a "trying time" for couples so February might be a "less emotional time to sit down". 

How do you have the conversation if you feel the current arrangement is unfair?

Relationship counsellor at Relate , Peter Saddington, says that setting out the balance as "unfair" shouldn't be your starting point. 

You need to be honest about your position, he says, but your conversation should be negotiating as a couple what works for both of you. 

Before you have to jump into the conversation, think about: 

• Letting your partner know in advance rather than springing it on them;
• Making sure you and your partner haven't drunk alcohol before having the conversation, as this can make it easy for it to spiral;
• Having all the facts to hand, so you know exactly how much you are spending;
• Using 'I' statements rather than 'you'. For example, you could say to your partner: "I'm really worried about my finances and I would like to sit down and talk about how we manage it. Can we plan a time when we can sit down and do it?"

Mr Saddington says if your partner is not willing to help, you should look at the reasons or question if there are other things in the relationship that need sorting out. 

If you're having repeated arguments about money, he says you might have opposite communication styles causing you to "keep headbutting". 

Another reason could be there is a "big resentment" lurking in the background - and it may be that you need a third party such as a counsellor, therapist or mediator to help resolve it. 

Mr Saddington says there needs to be a "safe space" to have these conversations, and that a third party can help untangle resentments from what is happening now. 

He also suggests considering both of your attitudes to money, which he says can be formed by your early life and your family. 

"If you grew up in a family where there wasn't any money, or it wasn't talked about, or it was pushed that you save instead of spend, and the other person had the opposite, you can see where those conversations go horribly wrong. 

"Understanding what influences each of you when it comes to money is important to do before you have significant conversations about it."

What are the different ways you can split your finances?

There's no one-size-fits-all approach, but there are several ways you can do it - with Money blog readers getting in touch to let us know their approach...

1. Separate personal accounts - both pay the same amount into a joint account regardless of income

Paul Fuller, 40, earns approximately £40,000 a year while his wife earns about £70,000. 

They each have separate accounts, including savings accounts, but they pay the same amount (£900) each a month into a joint account to pay for their bills. 

Paul says this pays for the things they both benefit from or have a responsibility for, but when it comes to other spending his wife should be able to spend as she likes. 

"It's not for me to turn around to my wife and expect her to justify why she thinks it's appropriate to spend £150 in a hairdresser. She works her backside off and she has a very stressful job," he says. 

However, their arrangement is still flexible. Their mortgage is going up by £350 a month soon, so his wife has agreed to pay £200 of that. 

And if his wife wants a takeaway but he can't afford to pay for it, she'll say it's on her.

"Where a lot of people go wrong is being unable to have those conversations," says Paul.

2. Separate personal accounts - whoever earns the most puts more into a joint account

This is a more formal arrangement than the hybrid approach Paul and his wife use, and many Money blog readers seem to do this in one form or another judging by our inbox.

There's no right or wrong way to do the maths - you could both put in the same percentage of your individual salaries, or come up with a figure you think is fair, or ensure you're both left with the same amount of spending money after each payday.

3. Everything is shared

Gordon Hurd and his wife Brenda live by their spreadsheet. 

Brenda earns about £800 more a month as she is working full-time while Gordon is freelance. Previously Gordon had been the breadwinner - so it's a big turnaround.

They each have separate accounts with different banks, but they can both access the two accounts. 

How much is left in each account - and their incomings and outgoings - is all detailed in the spreadsheet, which is managed weekly. 

Whenever they need to buy something, they can see how much is left in each account and pay from either one. 

Gordon says this means "everyone knows how much is available" and "each person's money belongs to the other". 

"We have never in the last decade had a single disagreement about money and that is because of this strategy," he says.

Money blog reader Shredder79 got in touch to say he takes a similar approach. 

"I earn £50k and my wife earns just under £150k. We have one joint bank account that our wages go into and all our outgoings come out of. Some friends can't get their head around that but it's normal for us."

Another reader, Curtis, also puts his wages into a joint account with his wife. 

"After all, when you have a family (three kids) it shouldn't matter who earns more or less!" he says. 

Reader Alec goes further and says he questions "the authenticity of any long-term relationship or the certainly of a marriage if a couple does not completely share a bank account for all earnings and all outgoings". 

"As for earning significantly more than the other, so what? If you are one couple or long-term partnership you are one team and you simply communicate and share everything," he says. 

"Personally I couldn't imagine doing it any other way and I do instinctively wonder what issues or insecurities, whether it be in trust or something else, sit beneath the need to feel like you need to keep your finances separate from one another, especially if you are a married couple." 

A reader going by the name lljdc agrees, saying: "I earn half of what my husband does because I work part-time. Neither of us has a solo account. We have one joint account and everything goes into this and we just spend it however we like. All bills come out of this too. Sometimes I spend more, sometimes he spends more."

4. Separate accounts - but the higher earner pays their partner an 'allowance'

If one partner is earning much more than the other, or one partner isn't earning for whatever reason, they could keep separate accounts and have the higher earner pay their partner an allowance. 

This would see them transfer an agreed amount each week or month to their partner's account.

Let us know how you and your partner talk about and split finances in the comments box - we'll feature some of the best next week

By Jimmy Rice, Money blog editor

The centre-point of a significant week in the economy was inflation data, released first thing on Wednesday, that showed price rises accelerated in July to 2.2%.

Economists attributed part of the rise to energy prices - which have fallen this year, but at a much slower rate than they did last year. 

As our business correspondent Paul Kelso pointed out, it felt like the kind of mild fluctuation we can probably expect month to month now that sky high price hikes are behind us, though analysts do expect inflation to tick up further through the remainder of the year...

Underneath the bonnet, service inflation, taking in restaurants and hotels, dropped from 5.7% to 5.2%.

This is important because a large part of this is wages - and they've been a concern for the Bank of England as they plot a route for interest rates.

On Tuesday we learned average weekly earnings had also fallen - from 5.7% to 5.4% in the latest statistics.

High wages can be inflationary (1/ people have more to spend, 2/ employers might raise prices to cover staff costs), so any easing will only aid the case for a less restrictive monetary policy. Or, to put it in words most people use, the case for interest rate cuts.

Markets think there'll be two more cuts this year - nothing has changed there.

Away from the economy, official data also illustrated the pain being felt by renters across the UK.

The ONS said:

• Average UK private rents increased by 8.6% in the 12 months to July 2024, unchanged from in the 12 months to June 2024;
• Average rents increased to £1,319 (8.6%) in England, £748 (7.9%) in Wales, and £965 (8.2%) in Scotland;
• In Northern Ireland, average rents increased by 10% in the 12 months to May 2024;
• In England, rents inflation was highest in London (9.7%) and lowest in the North East (6.1%).

Yesterday, we found the UK economy grew 0.6% over three months to the end of June. 

That growth rate was the second highest among the G7 group of industrialised nations - only the United States performed better with 0.7%, though Japan and Germany have yet to released their latest data.

Interestingly, there was no growth at all in June, the Office for National Statistics said, as businesses delayed purchases until after the general election.

"In a range of industries across the economy, businesses stated that customers were delaying placing orders until the outcome of the election was known," the ONS said.

Finally, a shout for this analysis from business presenter Ian King examining what's gone wrong at Asda. It's been one of our most read articles this week and is well worth five minutes of your Friday commute or weekend...

We're signing out of regular updates now until Monday - but do check out our weekend read from 8am on Saturday. This week we're examining how couples who earn different amounts split their finances.

Each week we feature comments from Money blog readers on the story or stories that elicited most correspondence.

Our weekend probe into the myriad reasons for pub closures in the UK prompted hundreds of comments.

Landlords and campaigners, researchers and residents revealed to Sky News the "thousand cuts" killing Britain's boozers - and what it takes to survive the assault.

Here was your take on the subject...

I've been a publican for 19 years. This article is bang on! It's like you've overheard my conversations with my customers - COVID, cost of living, wages - the traditional British boozer going out of fashion. (My place: no food, no small children). Hey Jood

I own a small craft ale bar or micropub as some say. The current climate is sickening for the whole hospitality sector. This summer has been ridiculously quiet compared to previous ones. Micropubs were on the rise pre-COVID, but not now even we're struggling to survive… Lauren

I am an ex-landlord. It's ridiculous you can buy 10 cans for £10 or one pint for £5 now. It's not rocket science, it's a no-brainer: reverse the situation. Make supermarket beer more expensive than pub beer, then people will start to go out and mix again rather than getting drunk at home. Ivanlordpeers

Bought four pints of my regular drink at a supermarket for less than one pint in our local pub. It's becoming a luxury to go to a pub these days. Torquay David

Traditional pubs are being taken over by conglomerates who don't sell traditional beer, only very expensive lager, usually foreign, and other similar gassy drinks. How can they be called traditional pubs? Bronzestraw

The main reason for pubs closing is twofold! 1: The out-of-reach rents that the big groups charge landlords. 2: Landlords are told what stock they can hold and restrict where they can purchase it from. Strange, but most pubs belonged to the same groups! A pub-goer

Less pubs are managed now, pub companies are changing them to managed partnerships, putting the pressure onto inexperienced young ex-managers. Locals complain that their local pub has gone. but they don't use them enough. Can government regulate rents and beer prices for business owners? John Darkins

I was a brewery tenant in Scotland for many years and sequestrated because of the constant grabbing at my money by greedy brewers who wanted more and more. I made my pub very successful and was penalised by the brewery. James MacQuarrie 

The only reason pubs are closing is locals only use them on Boxing Day, New Year's Eve, and one Sunday a year. Plus breweries don't need pubs, they sell enough through supermarkets! Use them or lose them. Peter Smith

The closing of pubs is a terrible shame. I still go to my local and have great memories of getting drunk in many in my hometown. They are important places in society. As someone once said: "No good story ever started with a salad." Kev K

It's the taxman killing pubs. £1 of every £3 sold. Utter disgrace. Stef

I go with my girlfriend, Prue, every day to my local. It's a shame what's happening to prices. It used to be full of people and joy but now it's a ghost town in the pub since prices are too high now. I wish we could turn back time and find out what went wrong. Niall Benson

Minimum wage is around £11 and the tax threshold is £12,600 per year. How can you possibly afford a night in a pub out when a pint costs between £3 and £8 a pint on those wages? Allan7777blue

Unfortunately, the very people who have kept these establishments going over the years (the working man) have been priced out, and they're paying the price. Dandexter

The pubs are too expensive for people to go out regularly as we once did a decade or so ago. People's priorities are on survival, not recreation. Until the living wage increases beyond an inflation that wages haven't risen above in years, then we will see shops, pubs, etc. close JD

Who wants to spend hard-earned money going into a pub that's nearly always empty. It takes away one of the main attractions - socialising. Michael

Monzo has been named the best bank in the UK for customer satisfaction, according to a major survey. 

More than 17,000 personal current account customers rated their bank on the quality of its services and how likely they would be to recommend to friends or family. 

Digital banks made up the top three, with Monzo coming out on top, followed by Starling Bank and then Chase. 

Some 80% of Monzo customers said they would recommend the bank. 

The digital banking app said topping the tables "time and time again" was not something it would "ever take for granted". 

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) was bottom of the ranking for another year. 

The banks with the best services in branches were Nationwide, Lloyds Bank and Metro Bank. 

Gail's bakery chain has come under fire for repurposing unsold pastries into croissants and selling them for almost £4 the next day.

The retailer lists the "twice baked" chocolate almond croissants as part of its "Waste Not" range, which means it is made using leftover croissants that are then "topped with almond frangipane and flaked almonds".

The scheme has been hit with criticism online, with many pointing out the £3.90 price tag is 95p more than the original croissant.

One X user said: "The audacity of bragging about it being part of their 'Waste Not' range like we should be grateful to them and proud of ourselves for contributing to reducing food waste when they could just sell it for less money – not one pound more than yesterday.

"Unsure whether to be impressed or horrified that someone has come up with a concept to capitalise on yellow sticker goods to make more profit."

It should be added, however, that the practice was not invented by Gail's - and almond croissants were originally created by French boulangeries to reuse day-old croissants and stop them going stale.

When factoring in the extra ingredients (almond frangipane and flaked almonds) and baking time, the bakery chain would likely defend the increased price by pointing to the additional costs incurred.

It comes as locals in a trendy London neighbourhood signed a petition against a Gail's bakery setting up shop in their area.

After (unconfirmed) rumours began circulating that the chain was looking to open a site in Walthamstow village, more than 600 have signed a petition opposing the plans.

The petition says the village "faces a threat to its uniqueness" should Gail's move into the area (see yesterday's 11.54am post for more).

Gail's has been contacted for comment.

British retailers saw a rise in sales last month after a boost from Euro 2024 and summer discounting, according to official figures.

High street retailers said sales of football shirts, electronics such as TVs, and alcoholic drinks were all stronger amid the Three Lions' journey to the final.

Total retail sales volumes rose by 0.5% in July, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. It was, however, slightly below predictions, with economists forecasting a 0.7% increase.

It followed a 0.9% slump in volumes in June as retail firms blamed uncertainty ahead of the general election and poor weather.

ONS director of economic statistics, Liz McKeown, said: "Retail sales grew in July led by increases in department stores and sports equipment shops, with both the Euros and discounting across many stores boosting sales.

"These increases were offset by a poor month for clothing and furniture shops, and falling fuel sales, despite prices at the pump falling."

The data showed that non-food stores saw a 1.4% rise, driven by a strong performance from department stores, where sales grew by 4% for the month as summer sales helped to stoke demand.

However, clothing and footwear shops saw a 0.6% dip, whilst homeware retailers also saw volumes fall 0.6%. Food stores, meanwhile, saw sales remain flat for the month.

There are fears that the £2-cap on single bus fares could be scrapped after the government declined to say whether the policy would continue past December.

Bus companies said it was vital the cost of using their services is kept low for young people to "enhance their access to education and jobs".

Alison Edwards, director of policy and external relations at industry body the Confederation of Passenger Transport, said: "Bus operators are working closely with the government so that together we can find a way to avoid a cliff edge return to commercial fares.

"Analysis has shown that supporting fares, which can be done in a range of different ways, is great value for money and can support many other government objectives.

"For example, keeping fares low for young people would enhance their access to education and jobs, while also encouraging them to develop sustainable travel habits to last a lifetime."

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said in a recent interview with the PA news agency that her officials were "looking at various options" in relation to the cap, including whether they could "target it better".

It's been a busy week on the economic front.

There was no major shift in the overall outlook - since Monday we've had it confirmed that the UK economy has lower inflation and more growth than the last two years, while wages have grown faster than the overall pace of price rises.

On the back of all that news the pound is at the highest rate since early this month against the dollar, worth $1.2882, and the highest since July when it comes to buying euro with one pound equal to €1.1733. 

Signs of a recovery from the global market sell-off of Monday last week can be seen in the share prices of companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Share prices have grown among the most valuable companies on the stock exchange, those that comprise the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100 list of most valuable companies.

Today though, this benchmark UK index fell 0.19% but finishes the week higher than the start.

Also finishing the week higher than the start are the more UK-based companies of the FTSE 250 (the 101st to the 250th most valuable firms on the London Stock Exchange).

On Friday morning that index was up 0.08%. 

With tensions in the Middle East and Eastern Europe high as Iran mulled a retaliatory strike on Israel and Ukraine made incursions into Russian territory, there had been concern about energy price spikes.

But the benchmark oil price has remained steady at $80.13 dollars for a barrel of Brent crude oil.

Gas prices have remained below the Monday high of 100 pence a therm (the measurement for heat) and now are 94.50 pence a therm. 

A Cabinet Office minister has said it is "unfair" to suggest other public sector workers will be queuing up for a pay rise after the government's offer of a 15% increase for train drivers and junior doctors.

"I think that's an unfair characterisation as well," paymaster general Nick Thomas-Symonds told Times Radio.

"I think what is absolutely crucial here is we are a Government again that is sticking to the promises we made in opposition.

"We promised we would sit down and find solutions, and people expressed scepticism about that, but actually that is precisely what we have done in Government."

Last month, the government and the British Medical Association struck an improved pay deal for junior doctors in England worth 22% on average over two years.

Meanwhile, train drivers will vote on a new pay deal following talks between representatives of drivers' union ASLEF and the Department for Transport.

The new offer is for a 5% backdated pay rise for 2022/23, a 4.75% rise for 23/24, and 4.5% increase for 24/25.

The Dartford Crossing is the highest-earning toll road in the UK, new data shows. 

The Kent to Essex route raked in £215.9m in the last year - 2,159 times more than the Whitney toll bridge in Hereford. 

The crossing, which was supposed to stop charging customers in 2003, costs between £2 and £6 to use (depending on the vehicle you're driving) between 10am and 6pm every day. 

Car finance company Moneybarn found it earned just over £209m in 2022. 

It topped the chart of 13 toll roads in the country, making over £100m more than the second highest-earning road in 2023 - the M6 Toll in the West Midlands. 

In third place was the Mersey Gateway Bridge between Halton and Cheshire, which made £48.9m. 

You can see how the other toll roads fared below... 

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