Streamlined Shipment Creation and Inventory Management Tools

Over the last several months, we have made some important additions to Seller Central based on feedback from FBA sellers like you. These changes streamline two key sets of tasks: shipment creation and inventory management.

Now that we are able to offer these improved tools, important new Seller Central enhancements will only be made available to sellers using the new shipment creation and inventory tools, and we will be phasing out older tools. Here is a look at what is changing and why you should switch to the new tools today.

Streamlined shipment creation

The new Shipment Creation Workflow will replace the original shipment workflow in Seller Central on May 1, 2014. But do not delay your switch—access to many new Seller Central enhancements and services that we launch in the coming months will only be available to sellers using the new Shipment Creation Workflow.

Benefits and features of the new Shipment Creation Workflow

The new Shipment Creation Workflow features a redesign to improve ease of use, reduce steps, and better align with Amazon requirements for shipments to our fulfilment centres. Sellers using the new Shipment Creation Workflow access many benefits, including:

Shipment tracking and research tools: The popular Shipment Reconciliation Tool—exclusively available in the new Shipment Creation Workflow—helps you quickly spot shipment problems and get answers faster when you think there are discrepancies.
Fewer shipments encountering issues: Sellers using the new Shipment Creation Workflow have seen fewer shipments delayed due to unplanned product prep and packaging, which in turn can reduce costs and receiving times.
Access to on-demand product prep services: Save time in preparing your products for shipment to customers. Sellers using the new workflow have chosen prep services for tens of millions of units.

The new Shipment Creation Workflow also includes these requested features:

Downloadable Pack List: This feature enables you to download a list of ASINs and quantities for each shipment you create, making it easier than ever to confirm the accuracy of your shipments.
Review and Modify: This handy button under Prepare Shipments makes updating your quantities quick and easy. Did you miscount your units? Click Review and Modify Units and update your quantities on the spot.
Combine labelled and Stickerless, Commingled Inventory: The new workflow enables you to combine labelled inventory with Stickerless, Commingled Inventory into a single shipment when going to the same fulfilment centre.
View carrier tracking information: Your shipment shows your carrier's status right in the shipment Summary. You can see tracking numbers for each box right in the workflow.

How to get started

We urge you to opt into the workflow today and take advantage of the benefits. Just follow these simple steps:

If you have not already done so, sign into your Seller Central account.
From the Inventory link, select Manage FBA Shipments.
At the top of the page, click Try it now.

You will still be able to do everything that you have been accustomed to doing in the existing shipment tools. Any shipments you have created in the old workflow will automatically be available in the new workflow, so you will not lose any data in this transition. The next time you create a shipment, you will automatically be directed to the new Shipment Creation Workflow. If you need any assistance when creating a shipment, look for the Learn More links on each step of the workflow. To view the step-by-step Help instructions now, go to Shipment Creation Workflow or view the video on this page.

Uploading templates in the new Shipment Creation Workflow

The new Shipment Creation Workflow features new Shipping Plan Request templates for uploading details of larger shipments. If you currently use the Inbound Shipment Request template to create your shipments with the old workflow and you are switching to the new Shipment Creation Workflow, you will need to switch to the new Shipping Plan Request Templates. These new templates work very similarly to the templates you are used to.

Note: The previous Inbound Shipment Request templates are not compatible with the new Shipment Creation Workflow. Download the new template.

If you have never used a flat file template to create a shipment, learn how to use our Shipping Plan Request Template with the new Shipment Creation Workflow.

Streamlined inventory management

Key inventory management features have been consolidated in a single view on the Manage Inventory page. This means you no longer have to go to the Manage FBA Inventory page for your FBA listings and separately to the Manage Inventory page for your self-fulfilled Amazon listings, and you can preview estimated Selling on Amazon and Fulfilment by Amazon fees for all your listings in one place. We will continue to add new functionality to the Manage Inventory toolset. The Manage FBA Inventory page will be retired later this year.

Download the step-by-step instructions for the new Shipment Creation Workflow.

Manage Inventory versus Manage FBA Inventory

Here are the features you may be used to seeing on the Manage FBA Inventory page:

The Manage Inventory Page has nearly the same features. We will be adding more functions to this page soon, including Archive Items and the ability to select listings across multiple pages:

The Manage Inventory page has additional features not available on the Manage FBA Inventory page:

Learn more about the Manage Inventory page

To learn how to use the individual features on the Manage Inventory page, review the following help content:

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