What is Amazon Seller Central? 5 Expert Tips to Master the Platform

Amazon Marketing Posted On: Mar 4, 2020

amazon seller central

Even if you’re new to the world of Amazon marketing, you might have come across the words “Seller Central” at least once.

While there are more than 5 MILLION Amazon marketplace sellers churning out revenues totaling 118.57 BILLION, this wouldn’t have been possible in the first place without Seller Central.

Understanding how Seller Central works not only gives you total control but also leverages your selling capabilities and advertising on Amazon.

With that being said, many have a notion that Seller Central is just some control panel to make things easier for sellers.

While that’s true there is much more to it, as we’re going to find out.

But first, the basics.

What is Amazon Seller Central?

What-is-Amazon-Seller-Central

Amazon Seller Central is a web platform by Amazon which brands and businesses use to market products straight to customers shopping on Amazon.

Think of it as a portal that basically lets anyone become a retailer on Amazon. Thus, a Seller Central account makes you a certified marketplace seller. It gives you a whole set of controls to manage your sales right from one place.

Once you become an Amazon Seller, you have the choice of either fulfilling your orders yourself or letting Amazon do it for you.

When you opt for Amazon to do all the legwork for you, everything from shipping to returns for orders and customer service is taken care of by Amazon though the FBA or Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) Program.

Tips on How to Use Amazon SellerCentral

Great! Now that you know about Amazon Seller Central, it’s time to make the most of it to make some sales. Remember, the Seller Central dashboard is huge and can easily overwhelm beginners.

Use these tips to make your Amazon account management a breeze:

Use Selling Coach to Manage Your Inventory

Using a spreadsheet or document to track your inventory can become tedious for new sellers and can also end in errors.

Retailers on Amazon thus use automated inventory management software to increase their inventory efficiency by as much as 40 percent.

Selling Coach is an excellent inbuilt inventory management software that easily lets you automate your inventory management priorities.

Tips-on-How-to-Use-Amazon-Seller-Central

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Use the free tool to report your inventory data and track status. Go to your Seller Account homepage and click Selling Coach.

Here you can track your inventory trends and see the ratio of each item you are selling on Amazon, whether it’s daily or monthly.

Based on the trends, you can predict the needed inventory levels for your products.

Understand the Important Features of Your Sales Dashboard

Important-Features-of-Your-Sales-Dashboard

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The Sales Dashboard is a section in Seller Central that lets you manage and compare your sales according to various categories.

Once opened, there are three main sections you have to look for.

  • Business Reports Section:

    On the left-hand side under the menu bar, you’ll find several options to track your business reports. You can segregate it ‘By Date’, ’By ASIN’, or by the ‘Other’ category.

    Keep an eye on it to check all your sales stats.

  • Sales Report Section:

    To get a review of how much sales you received for the day, head over to the Sales Snapshot section. It will show you the number of ordered items along with sales for the ordered product and numbers for average units and sales on ordered items.

  • Compare Sales Graph:

    Similar to a comparison tool, the Compare Sales Graph lets you compare present-day sales with sales generated from past days.

    Use this to get an idea of how well your earnings performed over the course of different days.

Learn to Read Metrics and KPIs

This is a must if you want to master the Seller Central dashboard and spike your sales.

Luckily Seller Central, in its ‘Reports‘ section, gives you ready-made KPIs to track your results. Try to learn and memorize what certain metrics stand for and what they signify?

You can do this by identifying certain patterns from campaign and sales data and become a master at analyzing metrics.

Make sure you check for:

  1. The total number of items sold.
  2. Conversion rate.
  3. Sales reports.
  4. Amazon ad reports.
  5. Customer reviews.
  6. The Total number of viewed items by customers.

Pay Attention to Account Health

Pay-Attention-to-Account-Health

Amazon lets you monitor your Seller Central account’s health so that it complies with certain targets and policies that are mandatorily followed on Amazon.

This can be done by going to the ‘Account Health’ section under the ‘Performance’ tab of Seller Central.

Keeping an eye on metrics in Account Health is crucial as Amazon regularly monitors them. Not to mention, low health can get your account penalized by Amazon.

To ensure your account is in good shape, do a health checkup of your Amazon Seller Central account.

Here’s are some key metrics to look for:

Order Defect Rate: This metric shows your customer service standards. It’s calculated based on the total number of negative stats occurred divided by overall total orders received.

Cancelation Rate: This metric states the percentage of certain orders out of overall orders canceled by the seller or the system within the last 30 days.

Valid Tracking Rate: This metric represents how often sellers use a valid tracking number on their orders. This shows how well you are delivering products to customers and meeting their expectations in terms of shipment delivery.

Make Sure Everything’s in Place

Before launching a campaign or executing any major task from your Seller Central dashboard, you should definitely do a quick rundown of things.

These could be:

Optimizing Your Listing Page: Making sure every image, title, description, and image on your listing is in place and is of the highest quality.

Having an Ideal Pricing Strategy: Pricing can either make or break your business so make sure you use a competitive pricing strategy for your products in the market.

Keeping Track of Reports: Keep a daily track of your statements, transactions, and invoices in Seller Central. Also, keep an eye on tax documents and real-time data.

Give an Excellent Customer Service: Amazon gives you tools that help you enhance your customer experience. Always aim to get five-stars ratings from customers to get promoted as a top Amazon seller.

Final Thoughts

Getting a hang of Seller Central, especially for a novice, isn’t easy.

However, with the right tips and tricks, you can easily make yourself familiar with the platform and master it to perfection.

Make sure you keep in mind the aforementioned tips to streamline your Amazon marketing journey as a new seller.

If you’re facing difficulty handling your Seller Central account, you can always hand it over to professionals like us and speed up your selling process.

We are a certified Amazon Marketing Agency that has helped plenty of retail businesses manage their Seller Central account and generate over $15,000+ in sales in just three months. The best part? We’d love to do it for you too.

Get in touch with us and we’ll make selling on Amazon a breeze.

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