How To Become an Amazon Featured Merchant

Looking for a new way for your e-commerce business to become more visible and profitable? Consider becoming an Amazon Featured Merchant. Here’s a look at how to achieve Featured Merchant status and the benefits of this level of selling on Amazon.

• First, become a Pro Merchant. As long as you are planning to sell at least 40 items per month, you’re eligible for Pro Merchant status, where a monthly fee of around $40 (plus a commission and closing fee you’ll pay per sale) provides handy proprietary tools to help you manage sales, analyze buying patterns and easily upload inventory.
• Sign on to be a Featured Merchant. Once you’ve reached Pro level, there’s no extra fee for Featured status as long as you’re able to meet Amazon’s sales and ratings requirements. Your first 30 days as a Featured Merchant will require you to maintain your high customer satisfaction record; going forward, maintaining Featured Merchant status will offer certain Amazon benefits, such as Buy Box (see below).
• Be eligible for the benefits of Buy Box. Only one Featured Merchant per product will be selected by Amazon to add the Buy Box feature, which appears prominently to the right of a product listing; other merchants’ products may be listed in the “More Buying Choices” section. In order to be considered, you will need to make sure your item is priced right, including shipping, and that your overall account – including customer ratings and sales – maintains the positive momentum you achieved in order to qualify for Pro and Featured Merchant.

The Bottom Line
As long as you’re using the e-commerce business best practices of consistent sales numbers and outstanding customer service, you should be eligible to request Pro Merchant, then Featured Merchant, status. As a Featured Merchant, you’ll enjoy perks designed to keep your products visible, which in turn should help you keep up those profit margins.