The FBA distribution model may bring some risks, such as unsalable inventory. Sellers need to prepare the goods in advance and send them to the FBA warehouse of the destination site. Once a large amount of unsalable inventory is generated, it will have a serious impact on the seller’s funds and goods turnover. Therefore, FBA inventory planning and scientific stocking are very important. Only by scientific stocking in the early stage of delivery can these risks be minimized. So how should FBA inventory planning be done? How should sellers achieve scientific stocking?
In 2018, Kankan.com and the American product selection tool Jungle Scout cooperated on a “million-dollar product creation plan” to truly simulate the process of creating a product from 0 to 1. Next, I will take out the real stocking plan for product A in the “million-dollar product creation plan” at that time and talk about how to prepare scientifically. First of all, you need to know the lead time.
The lead time refers to the time period from when the seller places an order to when the goods can be sold on the Amazon platform. For FBA sellers, it is the period from when the order is placed to when the product enters the FBA warehouse. The calculation formula for the corresponding delivery cycle is:
Delivery cycle = production cycle + logistics cycle of sea or air transport
Assuming that the production cycle of product A is 30 days and the logistics cycle of the first leg of FBA sea transport is 35 days, according to the calculation formula, it can be concluded that the delivery cycle of product A is 65 days.
The 65 days here is just an ideal situation. The actual situation is much more complicated than the ideal state. Therefore, we also need to consider other uncertain factors that may cause delays in the delivery cycle.
①The possibility of delayed delivery. For example, due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, many factories cannot resume work, so the delivery period is delayed indefinitely.
②Preparation time for packaging and first-leg logistics. Labeling is very important. Many sellers ask the factory to help with labeling, and there is a possibility of labeling errors, which will cause time delays.
③Final logistics. For example, if Amazon encounters a warehouse explosion, the goods need to queue up to wait for warehousing.
④Customs clearance time for goods. For example, if there is a surprise customs inspection, the customs clearance time may be delayed by more than one month.