Amazon recently announced that they have decided to validate UPCs for 300 brands in hardlines, softlines and consumables.
Why the Change?
Amazon’s catalog is a true resource and helps customers (and sellers) find just what they’re looking for.
A well-organized catalog is essential to Amazon’s success. When customers can’t find what they want to buy, Amazon misses out on sales. However, since all pro-merchants (those who pay Amazon a monthly fee to list) have the ability to add or modify product pages, sometimes duplicate listings can occur. Probably more often than Amazon would like to admit, in fact.
The “Earth’s most customer-centric company” is always looking to improve their customers’ buying experiences. Amazon also wants to make sure that sellers accurately classify their prodcuts. The decision to validate UPCs comes as an effort to reduce duplicate listings in order to make shoppers less confused while buying an item. Amazon has this to say,
“Our research shows that duplicate listings caused by missing or invalid UPCs make it more difficult for customers to find, evaluate, and purchase products. To improve the customer experience, we decided to validate UPCs for new and existing listings for 300 Brands in Hardlines, Softlines, and Consumables. This extends a similar initiative in Softlines, which requires UPCs on nearly 2,500 brands in order to create new ASINs in the catalog. A complete list of the Softlines brands that require UPCs can be found in Seller Central.”
What this Means for You
Beginning October, 23rd 2013, sellers who list products from one of the 300 brands will face the following restrictions:
- New submissions will require a UPC in order to create an ASIN regardless of whether the seller has a UPC exemption.
- New submissions from sellers with invalid UPCs will be rejected.
- Existing ASINs will continue to be active and buyable, but invalid UPCs will be removed from the respective ASINs, causing the ASINs to be suppressed from search and browse.
You can review the list of brands in Seller Central or download them here.
It is important that when creating a new item page that you have all the data you need. If you do not fill all the necessary details including the UPC the page will be rejected by Amazon.
This is a Win-Win Situation
This is a necessary measure to improve the quality of the Amazon catalog. It is a win-win situation if Amazon succeeds in removing duplicate listings and in insuring that new listings are accurate. It will be less confusing sellers and for your customers.
SellerEngine Services can Help!
By: Stefana Mihai