The Amazon Supply Chain Services (ASCS) 3PL and part of its fulfillment arm, Amazon Multichannel Fulfillment (MCF), provide ecommerce companies access to a world-class fulfillment network. In this blog, we talk about standard fulfillment terms and rules and how they apply to working with MCF.
For MCF, inbound is the term for products that are incoming to an Amazon fulfillment center. Storage is the amount of Amazon fulfillment center capacity you can use. And inventory refers to your products currently stored in an Amazon fulfillment center.
Inbound and storage limits
Inbound limits
Amazon inbound uses storage-type-level restock limits for products you send to a fulfillment center. The limits are based on your past and forecasted sales, and you can allocate the limits across your Amazon Standard Identification Numbers (ASINs) as you see fit.
To see the maximum amount of each storage type you can ship, simply log in to Seller Central and go to the “Restock Limits monitor”. From there, you can check your “Maximum shipment quantity by storage type.”
Learn more about storage-type-level restock limits in Seller Central.
Storage limits
Storage limits are determined by your Inventory Performance Index (IPI) score. The IPI score measures how well you manage your inventory, such as keeping popular products in stock, sustaining healthy inventory levels, and addressing listing issues.
If your IPI score is high enough, you are eligible for unlimited storage. Use the “Inventory performance dashboard” in Seller Central to check your IPI score and see recommendations for how to improve it.
Read more about the IPI score and how it relates to your inventory health.
Competitive storage pricing
Your storage fees are based on the daily average volume for the space your inventory occupies in fulfillment centers. The fees start at $0.75 per cubic foot
Review the full rate card for storage pricing.
When products have been stored in an Amazon fulfillment center for more than 365 days, long-term storage fees are applied—in addition to monthly storage fees.
Learn more about long-term storage fees in Seller Central.
Inventory
You can view your inventory levels by using the “Manage FBA Inventory” drop-down in Seller Central. The inventory categories include:
- Available: Products are in stock at the fulfillment center and ready to ship.
- Inbound: Products are en route to a fulfillment center but are available for fulfillment. However, shipping will be delayed until the inventory is received.
- Reserved: Products are tied to a customer order in the process of being shipped between fulfillment centers or set aside at a fulfillment center for additional processing.
- Unfulfillable: Products are not available for fulfillment, because they are damaged, defective, or otherwise.
- Researching: Products are misplaced or damaged and are actively being confirmed at the fulfillment center.
Another category for inventory is Stranded. Stranded inventory is a product in a fulfillment center that does not have an active offer on Amazon. You can view the “Stranded Inventory” report in Seller Central to get details on how to fix the stranded inventory. If you use a product only for MCF and don’t want to sell it on Amazon, you can set the “Sell by” date in the future. Then, there will be no active offer for that product. Although this product will be marked as stranded inventory, it will not negatively impact your IPI score if you use the product for MCF.
Inventory health
Your IPI score shows how efficiently you are managing inventory to minimize your storage fees and improve your business operations. Your MCF volume can help you achieve or maintain an IPI score that qualifies for unlimited storage.
Use these four tips to improve your IPI score:
- Reduce excess inventory: It’s recommended to store enough inventory to cover 30-60 days of your sales. Removing your overstock inventory will improve your IPI score and reduce your storage fees.
- Improve your 90-day rolling sell-through: By consistently keeping the right balance of sold and on-hand inventory over 90 days, you can boost your IPI score.
- Fix listing problems: Ensure that your inventory is sellable by fixing listings that are stranded.
- Monitor in-stock inventory: Increase your sales and customer satisfaction by meeting demand and keeping your most popular items in stock.
Learn more about your IPI score in Seller Central.
