In this episode of the Ecommerce Braintrust, Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplaces Services at Acadia, is joined by Julien Pereira, Account Manager at Acadia and a former Amazon vendor and program manager with extensive experience in direct fulfillment operations. In this episode, they discuss the nuances of direct fulfillment and its fit for brands selling as first-party vendors on Amazon.

Make sure you tune in to find out more!

In this episode, Julie and Julien discuss:

• Understanding Direct Fulfillment (DF): Julien breaks down the concept of DF, contrasts it with traditional PO fulfillment methods on Amazon and explains the benefits of having more control over inventory and order management.

• Assessing DF for Your Brand: Criteria for identifying whether DF suits a brand's business model, including logistical capabilities, product categories, and customer-centric operational readiness.

• Hybrid Fulfillment Model: Discussion of the potential to run DF alongside traditional PO-based fulfillment to ensure inventory coverage and mitigate stockout risks.

• Setup Process for DF: Insight into setting up DF in Amazon Vendor Central, including warehouse setup, EDI and API implementations, and configuring lead times and capacity.

• Evaluating DF Performance: Key performance indicators (KPIs) crucial for assessing the health and effectiveness of a DF operation, such as cancellation rate, expected ship date adherence, and delivery estimate accuracy.

• Operational Challenges and Efficacy: An exploration of potential drawbacks and efficacy in adopting direct fulfillment, including Amazon's perspective on product categories and its impacts on DF recommendations.

• Daily and Weekly DF Management: Julien outlines the daily and weekly responsibilities of managing DF, emphasizing the importance of updating inventory, processing orders, and reviewing performance metrics.

• Amazon's Approach: How Amazon assesses and makes suggestions on product suitability for DF based on a variety of factors including category, average selling price, and speed sensitivity.