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How can online sellers benefit from Brand Registry for Amazon?

According to Channel Advisor, a great deal of retailers who sell their own products on Amazon are concerned about losing control over the product details for their items. This concern is also valid in the case of private label brands and specialised products with no EANs (International Article Number) and UPCs (Universal Product Code).

To help sellers with their own brands manage those brands, Amazon has introduced the Amazon Brand Registry program. The program is suitable for traditional manufacturers, private label brand owners, producers of branded, custom and hand-made products and sole/exclusive distributors of a product on Amazon.

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The Amazon Brand Registry can help you increase your sales figures immensely. If approved, you will receive unique ASINs and no other sellers will be able to merge your listings. Additionally, as there is no competition, you will always have the buybox for your ASINs.

According to Amazon’s Seller Central, the benefits of the program include:

  • More control over your listing content, items’ titles, images and details.
  • Reducing the likelihood of matching errors that can happen during listing.
  • Amazon issued item-IDs (a Global Catalog Identifier assigned by enrollment) can be utilised instead of standard product identifiers such as UPCs and EANs. Still, it is recommended that standard IDs, if available, are included as well.

How to apply for the Brand Registry Program?

Fill out the application in your Seller Central Account. If you’re based in the UK, check Amazon Brand Registry Approval Request.

When you list your products in the Brand Registry, remember to capitalise your product’s brand name. Additionally, you need to include your identifying attribute: its type may have to do with the category of your product, e.g. MPN (Manufacturer’s Part Number). There are also products, for instance grocery items, that are uniquely identified by a Catalog Number.

If you list in categories such as Jewellery, Shoes, Handbags & Eyewear, Camera & Photo or Musical Instruments, you can use a Model Number field to identify your items. For more information on enrollment and identifying attribute, check Amazon Brand Registry.

Your Unique Global Catalog Identifier (GCID)

When your product is in the Brand Registry, a unique product ID called the Global Catalog Identifier (GCID) is assigned. The GCID can replace the standard product IDs, which is helpful if the seller doesn’t have one.

If you have a standard product ID, Amazon recommends that you include it in your listings, which will help both Amazon and customers locate your product.

The GCID is 16 characters long, alphanumeric, and does not have spaces or hyphens, for example 5C5D36E689E591FF. Contrary to ASINs that can be deprecated or merged with other ASINs, the GCID is directly tied to a product, not a product listing.

The GCID is of special importance if you sell internationally since it carries over to international marketplaces. Not only will you have the buybox on your domestic marketplace, but in all the countries where you’re listing your products.

ASIN merged notifications: the real value of the Brand Registry for Amazon

Amazon is a huge marketplace with over 630,000 sellers. Hence, Amazon has decided to merge like items offered by multiple sellers and make the requirements for selling on Amazon stricter.

This has both advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, item merging means that all reviews for that item will be conveniently placed on the page. Buyers will not feel lost or confused as if in a big shopping mall with millions of products.

Still, listing merging may have some drawbacks from the seller’s perspective. Imagine a situation in which one seller didn’t use the correct description or image for the item you sell as well. Then, let’s say that Amazon used this incorrect description/image. What does it mean for you? The incorrect element refers to your product too: after all it has been merged with other similar items, including your listing.

Situations as above may be a source of very negative experiences and feedback that will affect you as a seller. You may end up with very unhappy customers complaining that they haven’t received what they ordered. And you know the importance of feedback in terms of good product visibility…

… so now you have to fix an unfortunate merge.

In order to do that, you can contact Amazon via Seller Support and ask them to unmerge your item with the other seller. This solution, however, is far from simple. For instance, you will need to supply the ASIN of the article in question and an item image containing the UPC or a link to the manufacturer’s website. After the verification stage, Amazon will either unmerge the listings or use your image and descriptions. Unfortunately, this solution creates a risk of Amazon using the information you provided to liaise with your manufacturer and start selling there directly.

Another solution is to prevent a bad merge before it happens. This is where the Brand Registry for Amazon comes to the rescue. If your application is successful, Amazon will not merge your listings with any other sellers: your listings will have unique ASINs. What will you gain? Correct descriptions / images and your own ASIN that will not belong to anyone else.

In a nutshell

The Brand Registry for Amazon is a very useful addition that will definitely improve your experience as a seller and will give you more control over your listings. There are a number of benefits of the Program, for example the GCID will increase your competitive advantage when you sell on international marketplaces.

It will also reduce the risk of getting negative customer feedback as well as will help you increase your revenue. Hence, if you’re one of those sellers who has concerns such as those highlighted in this article, think about saving yourself some trouble. Much as you can survive without the Brand Registry for Amazon, a successful application can double your success and reduce the overall hassle.

Further Reading

The future of international sales on Amazon: interview with M. Wejtko
Win the Buy Box on Amazon
Should I use FBA on Amazon?
Maximise your sales on Amazon

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