To comply with Amazon’s labelling policy, you must affix one of the following to each carton (package) in your shipment:
- SSCC (Serial Shipping Container Code) labels (most preferred) – Amazon EDI vendors using document 856 can use the SSCC labels. The SSCC is an 18-digit number with 2 zero prefix used to identify logistics units that is used in LP Receive. The LP Receive is a receive process where items are received by scanning a barcode (SSCC / AMZNCC) on the outside of the package, thus eliminating the need to scan each item.
- AMZNCC (Amazon container code) barcode label (also preferred) – Amazon Manual Vendors can use this label instead as it contains all the relevant information Amazon is looking for on their labels, including all the relevant barcodes. The AMZNCC is a 14 digit number prefixed with ‘AMZNCC’ text that gets generated within Vendor Central to facilitate the auto-receive process.
- 2D barcode shipping labels – The BPS or Barcode Packing Slip is the 2D barcode shipping label indicating the contents of the carton. If you’re already using the GS1 specifications to generate a 2D barcode, you may continue to do so. Amazon will accept all 2D Barcode shipping labels that meet the GS1-128 standards. If you have not invested in the GS1-128 standards and want to provide Amazon with the required information via a 2D barcode, you can also use one of the following formats (in order of preference):
- PDF417 – Besides being an industry standard and one of the speediest formats to read, there is no character limit on this format.
- Data matrix
- QR Code
- Maxi – this has a 93 character limit.
- As Amazon has an inventory management system that deducts orders once a SKU barcode is scanned, it is useful to have an inventory management feature that allows for item SKUs to be displayed as barcodes on packing slips.