As one of the world’s largest marketplaces, Amazon has an estimated 310 million customers. Having access to millions of buyers all in one place is an efficient way for businesses of all sizes to launch and grow a business in record time.
If you have an e-commerce store you’re interested in expanding into international markets, you can get an instant sales lift. Amazon North American Remote Fulfillment (NARF for short) is one of the easiest ways to sell your products internationally without having to ship inventory across the world.
Wondering if Amazon NARF is right for you? There are several pros to this program, but also some things you should be aware of. Keep reading to learn more.
What Is Amazon NARF?
Amazon NARF, or North American Remote Fulfillment, is a program available to Amazon FBA sellers that allows them to sell their products to customers in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico from a single warehouse.
With traditional FBA, a seller would have to stock inventory across each international warehouse they’d like to ship to. Alternatively, for seller-fulfilled products, the seller would have to be prepared to ship to any country someone on the retail platform orders from, making it difficult to anticipate fees and deal with returns and customer service.
Because of the convenience that Amazon NARF orders, many sellers are flocking to the program, and it definitely has a lot to offer.
Requirements for Using Amazon NARF
It’s not necessarily difficult to qualify for listing your products under NARF, but there are some specific requirements as follows:
- Have a professional Amazon seller account
- Upgrade to a North American Unified Account
- Use Amazon FBA (Fulfilled by Amazon) for the products you want to sell under NARF
- Meet country-specific regulations (find the latest regulations here)
Pros of Amazon NARF
Many sellers find that there are compelling benefits to using Amazon NARF. In addition to getting access to international customers, it’s more convenient than shipping your items all over the world.
Sellers point to the following benefits of Amazon NARF:
- Launch quickly in international markets. Instead of setting up a new listing and sending inventory to three different warehouses, Amazon NARF allows you to have a single SKU in one location, and it will be shipped to customers in Mexico, the U.S., and Canada without any additional effort.
If you’re not sure if a SKU that is selling in the U.S. will do well in Canada or Mexico, you can test the waters through NARF without having to send any inventory. Further, international customers can feel comfortable buying from you because Amazon Prime membership benefits include free shipping. It will just take a little bit longer because the order is being fulfilled from a different country.
- Save on some fees. Keeping your inventory in a centralized location can help you save on storage fees, customs duties, import fees, and taxes. In terms of customs duties and import fees, those are passed on to the customer.
- Centralize inventory. Instead of having to plan for demand across a bunch of countries, you can keep all of your inventory in one place. This can be massively advantageous because you won’t run the risk of running out of stock in a high-demand area while having stockpiles in slow-moving countries.
- Simplify your taxes. If you sell in multiple countries, you have to be aware of all the various tax laws across the global marketplace. This can quickly get very complicated. When you sell using Amazon NARF, you only have to worry about the tax policies in your home country.
- Automate listings and translations. Your NARF products listings will be automatically placed in each country and translated into the local language. No translation services required!
- Streamline administrative processes. Like traditional FBA, Amazon NARF handles picking and packing, shipping, and customer service. This frees you up to handle the more strategic elements of your business.
- Boost sales with advertising. You can get immediate exposure in international markets by advertising on Amazon. It’s worth considering Amazon PPC management services to jumpstart your ad campaigns.
What To Know About NARF Before Signing Up
There aren’t necessarily cons to Amazon NARF; however, it’s important to be aware of how certain policies work. For some sellers, Amazon NARF can be extremely profitable, but it can also backfire for other sellers.
Before diving into Amazon NARF, here’s what you need to know:
- Fees get shifted to customers. If you are already selling products successfully in other countries in North America, you may want to list those products under Amazon NARF. The reason is that because fees get shifted to customers, the prices of your products could go up significantly in those markets.
- Be prepared for variable exchange rates. Customers see your prices in their local currency, so if there are currency fluctuations, it could either erode your profit margins or price your items out of the marketplace. Be sure to set prices accordingly. You do still have the flexibility to set custom prices for each country, so you can exercise a great degree of control in this area.
- Shipping times will be longer. Because your inventory is centralized in a single warehouse, it will take longer for items to traverse the continent. For Amazon Prime Members used to same-day or two-day shipping, Amazon NARF shipping times could range from five to twelve days, depending on the country.
- Seller fees may be higher. The convenience of Amazon NARF could come at a cost. Note that there are surcharges for U.S-based accounts that are fulfilling orders to Mexico and Canada, and those fees increase during the “peak times” of October 15th to January 14th.
Take Over the Online Shopping World With Click Fluency
As more customers flock to Amazon, it continues to get increasingly competitive. No matter how many products you have across the world and how favorably they’re priced, you need a strong Amazon internal marketing strategy to maximize clicks and sales.
For help determining if Amazon NARF is right for you and help optimizing your Amazon sales, contact Click Fluency to schedule a free strategy session.