Key Takeaways
- Boost Conversion Rates: Buy with Prime helps eCommerce stores convert more shoppers by offering Amazon’s fast and trusted checkout experience.
- Increase Customer Trust: Leverage Amazon’s Prime trust, giving customers confidence in delivery speed and service.
- Streamlined Checkout: Simplifies checkout processes, reducing friction and cart abandonment.
- Easy Integration: Buy with Prime is easy to integrate with existing eCommerce platforms, making it accessible for businesses of all sizes.
Ever since its humble beginnings as a used-book seller, Amazon has revolutionized eCommerce over the last few decades. One of its more recent implementations, Buy with Prime, allows suppliers to offer Prime members the option to buy directly from their own online stores. This service attracts Prime members who spend more and shop more frequently, potentially boosting conversion rates by 25% on average.
Over the years, Amazon has pioneered innovations in payment processing, the shopping cart, and the checkout experience, working closely with credit card providers to streamline the buying process. This evolution has made Amazon one of the largest eCommerce platforms in the world, enabling small businesses to sell to customers they may never have accessed before.
However, the Buy with Prime service has drawbacks. Amazon levies fees on its Prime service and imposes certain restrictions, particularly in terms of fulfillment, that can make it untenable for some eCommerce businesses.
Below, we distill the key considerations for any business exploring augmenting your shop with Buy with Prime, helping you decide if it’s right for you. We also include recommendations to help ensure that your transition is successful.
Understanding the Buy with Prime Customer Experience
The customer experience with Buy with Prime is very simple and easy. With Prime Membership, customers can enjoy an easy checkout process, free shipping and a simplified returns process. The benefits to customers are obvious. But what does this actually look like?
It’s really easy to see suppliers who are enabled with Buy with Prime. You can identify the Buy with Prime option by looking for the “Buy with Prime” button. The checkout process is not only quick but also easy:
- First, you click the “Buy with Prime” button on the product page.
- If it’s your first time, you need to verify your Amazon account information.
- Then, Amazon will populate your checkout page automatically. You pick your preferred delivery address and default payment method from their Amazon account (this can also be something like Amazon Pay).
- Finally, you can adjust your address or payment method using your saved options. It’s really easy to add new addresses or payment methods.
By removing the need to create a new account or manually enter information, Buy with Prime reduces friction that could otherwise lead to an abandoned cart. This is how they improve conversion rates while ensuring repeat purchasing.
Fast and Free Shipping
You probably remember when 5 – 10 working days for shipping was standard. Times have changed, and now your customers will balk at the idea of waiting that long for their order. One of the best benefits of Buy with Prime is the promise of fast, free delivery. Amazon can do this thanks to its extensive fulfillment network. Through trusting the Prime brand, customers have faith that their delivery will arrive quickly. This makes them more likely to return and spend more.
We’ve all bought something we don’t like and wanted to return it, only to see a raft of hidden fees. A client once told us about a $70 cost to return a $30 item to China.
Buy with Prime has massively simplified the returns process, making it more convenient than ever for customers. But what does this actually look like?
- Your customers who Buy with Prime can return items in person. They simply need to find a physical Amazon store, Whole Foods Market, or UPS Store—the list continues to grow.
- They don’t have to worry about labels or packaging. They simply return the item. It’s easy and quick.
- To return the item, your customer would simply bring it to their chosen drop-off location, scan a QR code, and leave it there.
This hassle-free return experience reduces the risk for customers, builds trust, and helps encourage future purchases.
Technical Requirements for Buy with Prime Integration
Website Compatibility
A big concern for more eCommerce platforms revolves around compatibility. The good news is that Buy with Prime has been designed to work with most eCommerce providers.
The process of adding the Buy with Prime button often depends on how the site is built and your chosen theme. This is important because changing or updating the theme can change things and erase features – this could impact the Buy with Prime button and impact sales.
Buy with Prime has changing levels of compatibility with eCommerce platforms, so you must check before you make a decision:
- BigCommerce: Integrating Buy with Prime on BigCommerce is seamless and straightforward. Merchants can easily manage orders, returns, product listings, promotions, and performance analytics directly through the BigCommerce admin without the need for extensive coding or theme changes. This integration helps merchants attract and convert shoppers with the Prime delivery promise, provide a seamless checkout experience, and offer fast, free shipping.
- WooCommerce: The Buy with Prime integration with WooCommerce is easy and flexible. Merchants can add the Buy with Prime button either through a custom snippet or by editing the theme template. This allows them to manage orders, returns, product listings, and performance analytics directly through the WooCommerce admin. The integration supports simple and variable products, enhancing customer trust with Amazon product ratings and reviews, ultimately providing a seamless checkout experience and fast, free shipping.
- Shopify: Known for its user-friendly interface, Shopify offers a hassle-free integration with Buy with Prime. No coding or theme modifications are required. Merchants can manage Buy with Prime orders, returns, product listings, promotions, and performance analytics directly through the Shopify admin. This makes it easy to analyze data and enhance performance efficiently.
Other providers: If you’re using a specialist provider or an eCommerce platform that is off the beaten track, a widget works with most eCommerce service providers, allowing for quick setup and launch on websites.
Amazon Account Setup
As a merchant or supplier, you must meet several requirements to offer Buy with Prime benefits to your customers.
- You must be a US-based entity authorized to do business
- Your site needs to be an eCommerce site
- You’ll need a Professional Seller Central account to import existing Amazon product catalog information.
- You need to set up an Amazon Pay account to offer shoppers a fast, familiar checkout experience.
- You’ll need to align with Amazon’s fulfillment services, including Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF)
- You need to set up a Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) account for Amazon to handle order fulfillment.
Inventory Management
Something that we’ve seen impact customers transitioning to Buy with Prime is inventory management. The uptick in orders and the speed of the delivery can create problems if your inventory management isn’t up to scratch. Here are key points to consider:
- Inventory pooling: If you’re an existing Amazon.com seller who uses FBA, you can use your FBA inventory for Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) sales channels and Buy with Prime orders. This approach helps you reduce out-of-stock risks and allows you to keep less safety stock.
- Increased capacity: Amazon grants additional capacity limits if you offer Buy with Prime, which helps you to unblock orders when restricted by capacity.
- Fulfillment process: Buy with Prime uses the same physical inventory and fulfillment process as FBA, providing the added benefit of reducing costs and offering more capacity.
Analyzing the Pros and Cons of Buy with Prime
Advantages for eCommerce businesses
As an online retailer, you will have several benefits with Buy with Prime that you wouldn’t have had before. It allows you to leverage Amazon’s trustworthy brand reputation.
Our customers report increased conversion rates (an average of 25%!). You will also have access to a marketing toolkit and the ability to use the Buy with Prime badge in campaigns. Additionally, you can integrate customer reviews from Amazon on your sites at no extra cost. This positive feedback can massively increase trust in your brand and first-time business.
Your fulfillment process will become much more streamlined, with Amazon handling things like product storage, delivery, order tracking, and returns. They do this by using Amazon’s Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) system, which offers those incredibly fast Prime delivery speeds. If you are an existing Amazon seller using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), you can utilize your inventory for MCF sales channels, including your own websites.
Potential drawbacks
There are always two sides to every coin, and if you want to transition, Buy with Prime has some limitations you must be aware of.
The fee structure can be costly, including a 3% Prime service fee, a 2.4% payment processing fee, a 30¢ transaction fee per order, and fulfillment and storage fees. The feedback we’ve had before is that these expenses can accumulate quickly, especially if you are a high-volume seller.
The service can actually introduce checkout friction for customers in certain cases. If you only include select products available through Buy with Prime, customers attracted by the promise of free Prime shipping can be disappointed if they can’t buy what they want with the Prime benefits. This could lead to increased cart abandonment, which might impact your revenue.
Future of Buy with Prime and eCommerce Trends
Expansion plans
Of course, Amazon is looking to expand its service. By the end of this decade, Amazon aims to deliver 500 million packages by drone to tens of millions of customers annually (you can find out more here by searching for the “Prime Air” initiative). This expansion has the potential to revolutionize order fulfillment and delivery speeds, setting new standards for the industry in ways that have never been explored before.
Technological advancements
Buy with Prime is closely tied to Amazon’s innovation in technology. You may have already seen that Amazon invests in robotic systems like Sparrow, which can detect, select, and move individual products in warehouses. This almost sci-fi advancement enables employees to focus on more complex tasks, improving overall efficiency.
Another development you may have seen is the development of custom electric delivery vehicles. As the safety and navigation of these vehicles improve, we will start to see them make a real impact on the eCommerce space.
Impact on the eCommerce landscape
Buy with Prime also impacts the broader eCommerce ecosystem. It allows merchants like you to leverage Amazon’s trusted brand and fulfillment network, increasing conversion rates and streamlining operations.
The service is in line with emerging trends such as mobile optimization, personalized shopping experiences, and the integration of augmented reality. This means your customers can try things on virtually or see how your products will look and feel in their homes.
Amazon is a key player, and Buy with Prime will continue shaping your customers’ expectations and merchant capabilities. It’s important to stay current so you don’t fall behind your competitors or, worse, your customers’ expectations.
Here at Fahrenheit Marketing, we can help you stay informed about these changes as they occur. We will manage and update your site for you, so you can focus on delivering quality products to your customers and growing your business.
FAQs
1. What is the function of Buy with Prime?
Buy with Prime allows shoppers to use a fast and secure checkout process directly on your website for eligible products. Using their saved Amazon payment and shipping details, customers enjoy quick, free delivery with clear timelines and straightforward returns on Buy with Prime orders.
2. How does Amazon Prime benefit sellers?
Amazon’s Seller-Fulfilled Prime program enables sellers to offer one-day and two-day Prime shipping directly from their own warehouses or through third-party fulfillment centers while still catering to Amazon customers.
3. What are the shopping advantages of having an Amazon Prime membership?
Amazon Prime membership offers several shopping benefits, such as exclusive shopping events, early access to Lightning Deals, discounted prescriptions with RxPass, additional discounts on prescriptions, the Amazon Prime Secured Card, the Prime Try Before You Buy program, special deals at Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market, and the option to use Buy With Prime.