Amazon Global Logistics
The Amazon Global Logistics (AGL) or Global Shipping Service (GSS) program is advertised as a single portal for shipment creation, freight booking, cargo tracking and payment.
Amazon advertises this solution with much lower costs, accurate and easy tracking of your shipments and shipping directly to FBA warehouses. The key advantages that Amazon mentions are:
- Modes: Ocean FCL , Ocean LCL & Air Freight
- Fast, stable and reliable
- Additional value-added services
- Seller Central debited from account upon FC Receipt
- End-to-end milestone tracking
The advantages speak for themselves, but we all know: Everything has its price. And we’re not talking about money here. As great as that sounds, it has its drawbacks or risks, as we like to call them.
Should I use Amazon Global Logistics?
If you’re asking yourself this question, you’re probably looking for arguments that may be against the decision to use the Amazon Global Logistics program. Since business is usually a constant balancing of risk and opportunity, the following points are intended to shed some light on the risks we see in the Amazon Global Logistics program.
1. Trust
By using Amazon Global Logistics, Amazon gets even more information about your business and your products than they already do. It becomes easier to figure out your suppliers and copy your products. That’s not to say you shouldn’t do it, or this will happen for sure, but it’s important to be aware of it.
2. Support
In addition to the trust question you might ask yourself, some sellers reported longer shipping times and long waiting times when problems arise. We all have our experiences with the Amazon seller support and know about the struggles of dealing with it. It’s a big company with probably an unimaginable number of support tickets that all need to be handled. Your support request is also just a number in the system. Again: That’s not to say you shouldn’t do it, it’s just important to be aware of it.
3. Dependencies
It sounds very tempting, of course: Everything in one place. Everything from one provider. One big order, into one warehouse and sell from there. But unfortunately, it’s not that simple. Most of us know the issues that dependence on Amazon can bring. The last year has shown once again that restrictions in delivery quantities can throw a functioning system completely out of kilter. This makes it all the more essential for us to have a pre-FBA solution that fills the available storage capacities of the Amazon warehouses in a fully automated manner. Many of the SPACEGOATS customers deliver their goods to a logistics partner and through the linked systems, the Amazon warehouses are automatically replenished. As a seller, you get the advantages of both worlds: One less dependency on Amazon and still automated processes with less work. Not to mention the other benefits of better support accessibility and greater flexibility and support in working with logistics partners.
An alternative to Amazon Global Logistics
Regardless of the risks of the Amazon Global Logistics program, we love the idea of optimizing or even automating our supply chain. So the real question we should be asking is: How do we get the same result with fewer of the aforementioned risks?
SPACEGOATS offers a way to automate not only your logistics but also your distribution to all marketplaces in Europe including the UK.
The pre-FBA solution aims to be more independent of Amazon and optimize IPI. By working with logistics partners and linking inventory planning software, your Amazon stock will be replenished automatically. As long as your goods do not run out at our logistics partner, your goods will never run out at the Amazon warehouse. We react automatically to Amazon’s stock limitations. No additional effort for you.
The distribution automation solution allows you to sell easily and quickly on all European marketplaces. You no longer need to worry about tax advisors and tax numbers abroad.
Find the perfect plan for you here.