EDI for Amazon

AdvanceFirst Amazon Integration Solution (AAIS) is a subscription based service which automates the exchange of business related information and messages between an Amazon Merchant’s IT systems and the Amazon Marketplace.

Any Amazon merchant who lists and sells products through the Amazon Marketplace, including Sellers who fulfil orders directly to customers and Vendors who supply goods to Amazon. The service is particularly useful for Merchants who are now experiencing a higher volume of orders and transactions as a result of changing market conditions and circumstances.

Amazon provide web-based communications platforms to both Sellers (Seller Central) and Vendors (Vendor Central), although these require manual interaction with no direct links to the subscriber’s internal business application. AAIS provides full automation and integration of Merchants’ data, directly to and from their internal business applications to the Amazon Marketplace, with AAIS providing the necessary routing and data format translations to the standard formats required by Amazon. The benefits to be gained through automating data flows include a significant reduction in manual overheads, time and costs, the ability to respond more quickly to higher volumes of orders and reducing potential errors associated with manual processing as AAIS can, where needed, validate data for consistency, content and accuracy.  

Typical data flows might include inbound customer orders, and the messages Merchants are required to return in response, product data uploads and management, FBM/FBA related messages, tracking information and event notifications, reports or indeed any data feeds provided through Amazon’s Marketplace Web-Services (MWS). All messaging interfaces and data feeds are supported within AAIS with new ones added as they are released from time to time.

Yes, AAIS will deliver Amazon orders in a data format Subscribers can import directly into their business systems without the need to rekey. Data can be forwarded in a format of the Subscribers choice or other standard EDI or XML formats. The same applies to the messages Subscribers need to send back to Amazon in response such as Order Acknowledgements, ASN’s and Invoices. These can submitted to the AAIS messaging engine in a format the Subscribers business systems can export and AAIS will take care of the reformatting and routing of messages to and from Amazon. The only dependency is that the Subscriber provides the minimum (mandatory) data required by Amazon’s message specifications. Amazon publish documentation on the content and structure of the data they require for all messages – otherwise known as “MIGs” (Message Implementation Guidelines) and are available to download directly from Vendor/Seller Central.

Equally other forms of data can be automated through AAIS directly to/from your internal business applications or web-servers including product related catalogue data, FBA messages and Alerts and Notifications Amazon make available to you from time to time.

AAIS is offered through simple, low cost monthly subscriptions based on the number of MWS Data Feeds required. A more accurate view on costs can be provided once we understand your specific needs and requirements.

No. AAIS actually compliments them by automating certain functions within Seller or Vendor Central such as removing manual tasks associated with exchanging order related business transactions, uploading or maintaining catalogues for example. Even with AAIS in place, subscribers always have the option to revert to Seller and/or Vendor Central at any time should the need arise.

Your AAIS subscription will be available within a few days from the point of signing the AAIS service agreement. The time it takes to implement will obviously depend on the number and complexity of MWS Data feeds required by each AAIS subscriber.  For the exchange of Order related messages for example, Amazon has highly structured processes which need to be observed to avoid penalties or non-compliance fines. It is therefore extremely important to test each message type thoroughly before obtaining the authority from Amazon to go live. As a rule of thumb, an average implementation should take no longer than a couple of weeks to complete. Once you’re up and running, the whole process should work with minimal manual intervention with the assurance that AdvanceFirst’s AAIS support team are there to help you should any issues arise.

No, other than people who know your internal business systems and how to import and export data. AAIS and the support teams at AdvanceFirst will take care of the rest.

We recognise issues can arise from time to time which is why our support teams are here to help. AAIS provides inclusive support during normal business hours or, if needed, extended 24×7 support subject to additional cost and contractual terms.

Contact the AdvanceFirst AAIS implementation team by phoning: 01932 230024 or Emailing: enquiries@advancefirst.com with your contact details and a brief summary of your immediate areas of interest. We will then arrange a free, no obligation consultation with one of our business automation specialists to identify where AAIS can make a real difference to your business operations.