This guide is designed to give sellers a practical understanding of the topic before they make marketplace or business decisions. Requirements and platform policies can change, so current official marketplace information should always be checked for time-sensitive details.
SKU master
Maintain one source of truth for SKU, product identity, cost, supplier, dimensions, available stock and marketplace identifiers.
Stock states
Separate physical, reserved, inbound, damaged and sellable quantities.
Reorder planning
Use sales velocity, supplier lead time, safety stock and seasonality rather than intuition alone.
Fulfillment economics
Compare total costs and operating requirements of merchant fulfillment and available Amazon fulfillment programs.
Inbound controls
Verify quantities and condition before inventory is considered available.
Order exceptions
Create queues for shortages, address problems, damaged units, late dispatches and carrier issues.
Returns disposition
Inspect returned products and classify them before they re-enter inventory.
Aging inventory
Review slow-moving stock and cash tied up in it.
Profit by SKU
Include product cost, marketplace charges, fulfillment/shipping, returns and advertising where applicable.
Monthly review
Review stock accuracy, stockouts, aging inventory, return reasons, fulfillment exceptions and contribution margin.
Related resources
Continue with the Amazon seller hub or review marketplace compliance.