Buy with Prime
The world of e-commerce keeps getting bigger and bigger, but many consumers still prefer to stick to the brands they know and trust. More often than not, the brand that’s synonymous with e-commerce in these consumers’ minds is Amazon.
Many retailers have chosen to join Amazon rather than fight it by selling through Amazon Marketplace, but with the expansion of Amazon’s “Buy with Prime” program, merchants have a new way to align themselves with the e-commerce giant. What is Amazon’s Buy with Prime, and what benefits does it offer to merchants?
When consumers are deciding where to shop online, two of the most important things to them are convenience and security.
They want a hassle-free purchasing experience with fast and affordable shipping, they want to know their data is being protected from fraudsters and other bad actors, and they want an easy return process when something goes wrong. For all of these reasons, trusted platforms like Amazon claim a huge share of the e-commerce market.
With hard work, excellent products, and attentive customer service, independent merchants can build a loyal customer base too—but there’s nothing wrong with riding a wave of corporate synergy to get there a little faster. Amazon has already been helping smaller e-commerce merchants grow by letting them sell through Amazon Marketplace. Now, Amazon’s Buy with Prime will allow them to take advantage of Amazon’s branding on their own websites.
What is Amazon’s Buy with Prime?
Amazon’s Buy with Prime is a service that allows Amazon Prime members to use their Prime account to make purchases with participating third-party merchants. Customers can make seamless payments with Amazon Pay and receive free 1-2 day shipping.
The big idea behind Buy with Prime is that customers don’t have to shop directly from Amazon’s site in order to enjoy their Prime benefits.
Buy with Prime extends secure Amazon Pay payments and Amazon-provided fulfilment to all enrolled merchants, giving customers a familiar checkout experience they can trust.
Buy with Prime was initially launched in April 2022, but it was an invitation-only program. Now, all U.S. merchants will be able to sign up for Buy with Prime.
How Does Buy with Prime Work?
Signing up for Buy with Prime is a fairly simple process. Once you’ve linked your account and products to Buy with Prime, customers will be able to complete eligible purchases by using a Buy with Prime button on your checkout page.
To get started with Buy with Prime, merchants just need to follow these four steps:
- Sign up and create an account using your business name and contact information.
- Link your Seller Central or Amazon Supply Chain account to your Buy with Prime account. Once that’s done, you’ll be able link Amazon Pay.
- Choose which of your products will be eligible for Buy with Prime and import them to your account. You’ll need to confirm SKUs and pricing.
- Install a customized Buy with Prime button on your checkout page.
Buy with Prime is compatible with most e-commerce platforms. One platform, BigCommerce, has already integrated with Buy with Prime, making it even easier for their clients to opt in.
Once you’re all set up, customers can check out using Buy with Prime, make payments through Amazon Pay, and take advantage of fast and free shipping from an Amazon fulfilment center.
What are the Benefits of Using Buy with Prime?
Buy with Prime lets merchants tap into the trusted brand reputation that Amazon has spent years cultivating. According to Amazon, offering a Buy with Prime option on your site can increase conversion rates by an average of 25%.
There are also benefits in terms of marketing, fulfilment, and fraud protection:
- Marketing: As a participating merchant, you can access a special marketing toolkit and use Amazon’s Buy with Prime badge in your campaigns and promotions. You’re also able to integrate Reviews from Amazon on your site at no additional cost, highlighting positive reviews of your product that customers have submitted to Amazon’s site.
- Fulfilment: Amazon provides transparent delivery estimates during the checkout process. They also handle product storage, delivery, order tracking, and returns.
- Fraud Protection: Buy with Prime payments are processed by Amazon Pay, which verifies the customer’s Amazon account and allows them to use the payment credentials they’ve stored there without having to send any sensitive payment data directly to the merchant. The defenses built into Amazon Pay will provide you with additional protection against fraud and chargebacks.
In terms of selling options and customer data management, there aren’t any significant tradeoffs with Buy with Prime. You can still sell through Amazon Marketplace if you want, and you don’t have to make all of your products eligible for Buy with Prime. Purchases that go through Amazon will still generate all of the customer data you need for sales analytics and building customer relationships.
Are there Any Drawbacks to Using Buy with Prime?
For all the benefits Buy with Prime can confer, it’s not guaranteed to be a great fit for every merchant. It can end up costing quite a bit, and in some cases may actually introduce checkout friction for your customers.
The fee structure for Buy with Prime depends on many factors, but merchants can expect to pay a 3% Prime service fee, a 2.4% payment processing fee, and a 30¢ transaction fee on every order, along with a per-unit fulfillment fee and monthly storage fees. These costs can quickly add up, especially for high-volume sellers.
It’s uncertain at this point how well Buy with Prime will scale, and some merchants may choose to make only a limited selection of products eligible for the service.
The problem with this is that customers who are drawn to your site by the promise of free Prime shipping may be disappointed if they see that the item they wanted to buy is ineligible, and that they won’t be able to pay seamlessly through Amazon at checkout.
Conclusion
Amazon’s Buy with Prime has good potential to help newer, smaller merchants attract customers and grow their business. But for larger, more established merchants, it may not make as much sense to hitch their wagon to Amazon.
The insulation Amazon Pay offers from fraud and chargebacks is a significant benefit, but independent merchants can obtain similar protections by carefully choosing high quality anti-fraud software solutions and developing a comprehensive dispute management strategy.
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