- Amazon designed its Born to Run Program in order to expedite the traditionally slow process of product launches on the platform.
- Through the program, vendors will be eligible to choose their initial ten-week inventory positions for new product launches.
- What has originally been a slow process centered around gathering positive reviews and sales numbers has now been simplified.
- Newer vendors, especially, stand to gain a tremendous amount of leverage if the program works as it is expected to.
- There are various reasons that may lead vendors to take interest in the program, such as:
- Familiarity with their own product line: Born to Run offers vendors the opportunity to take advantage of this personal knowledge: if vendors are confident in their product and their market, they can translate that into larger initial buy quantities;
- Benefits of a fully-in-stock launch: This makes it easier for individual ASINs to reach sales maturity quickly; and
- AMS support: AMS offers vendors effective tools to help them stand out amongst competition and push traffic to branded pages; vendors can even introduce their products right next to competing items just before customers reach the point of conversion.
- Vendors who take part in Born to Run will have the freedom to select their beginning ten-week inventory position for new launches in exchange for two things:
- Full return rights applied to any unsold products from the ten-week inventory position (otherwise known within the program as the Launch Buy Quantity); and
- Investment in Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) support worth 10% of the Launch Buy Quantity’s total cost on the launch ASIN.
- For example, imagine a vendor was on the cusp of releasing a brand new line of colouring pens and wanted to take part in the Born to Run program.
- If the vendor knew the pens would sell for $2 per unit, they could have Amazon buy 1,000 units through Born to Run.
- This would translate to a $2,000 total Launch Buy Quantity cost.
- Because Amazon would then take on both financial and inventory risks regarding the pens, the vendor would need to offer up something in return.
- Therefore, the vendor would be required to invest $200 (or 10% of the Launch Buy Quantity’s cost) and sign off on return rights for inventory that went unsold after ten weeks.
- A vendor’s ten-week “return timer” will begin on the same day that the ASIN they’ve signed up for the program is in-stock and buyable on Amazon’s platform.
- After exactly ten weeks have passed from this date, Amazon will have the right to return unsold inventory to the vendor.
- In the event that the ASIN sees quality sales traction during the course of its ten-week run, Amazon systems will often opt to buy into that ASIN normally.
- Currently, the Born to Run program only requires three things of vendors:
- The total product cost of the launch buy quantity (LBQ) cannot exceed $50,000;
- The ASIN must not:
- Have a product cost of less than $5/unit;
- Already have been in-stock at an Amazon fulfillment center for over thirty days; or
- Be heavy or bulky; and
3. Vendors must utilize AMS for at least ninety days prior to signup.
- Participating in the program is apparently a breeze once requirements are met.
- Amazon even touts that participation should take no more than twenty minutes of a vendor’s time.
- In order to utilize the program, vendors only need to follow four key steps:
- Source:
- Fully set up the ASIN on Amazon;
- Reach out to your VM for a Born to Run Intake Form;
- Fill out the Intake Form; and
- Return the form to your VM for approval.
2. Deal with policies
- After VM approval for the LBQ, you’ll receive a Born to Run policies contract via email; this contract will outline return rights and details concerning the 10% AMS investment; and
- Sign and return the form to your VM for approval.
3. Buy
- A purchase order will be created with whatever amount of products was agreed upon as the LBQ.
4. Sellthrough
- Once the product achieves in-stock status on Amazon, you’ll have ten weeks for the LBQ to sell through;
- If any inventory remains unsold following the ten-week time frame, it will be subject to a return to you at full cost.