Fulfillment Network Stock Keeping Units (FNSKUs) are Amazon’s specific barcodes that allow them to identify each product and connect them to a particular seller. FNSKUs help Amazon label your items in their warehouses and are responsible for giving you credit when your product is shipped to a customer.
FNSKUs are an amazing tool for Amazon sellers, but they can be confusing to both new and established sellers. We’ll explain exactly what an FNSKU is and why you should take advantage of this labeling system.
What does an FNSKU do?
The products you’re selling probably already have a barcode from the manufacturer, so why is having an FNSKU label important for Amazon sellers? Well, the odds are that there’s another person or business somewhere selling the same item as you. If you rely solely on the manufacturer’s barcode, Amazon has no way to distinguish your products from theirs.
Using FNSKU labels helps you avoid “commingled inventory,” ensuring that your merchandise doesn’t get mixed up with other sellers’. That means that only your products get shipped to your customers, making sure they receive quality, undamaged goods.
FNSKUs vs. SKUs vs. ASINs vs. UPCs
Every Amazon seller knows how essential product labeling is to the process, but all the acronyms and different types of codes can be confusing at first. Let’s take a look at the four main ones to see what they actually do:
- FNSKU: An FNSKU is an Amazon-specific barcode that identifies a product and connects it with a specific seller. This code is always unique to the seller and their products. Because FNSKUs only concern products in an Amazon storage facility, they are only necessary for FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) sellers.
- SKU: Stock keeping units (SKUs) allow you to track specific attributes of your products. Components of an SKU include things like your break-even price, when the item was purchased, or any other aspects that you want to track. SKUs are solely for the seller’s benefit, and they make it easier for you to manage your inventory.
- ASIN: Amazon Standard Identification Numbers (ASINs) are Amazon’s way of identifying every product in its catalog. ASINs are automatically generated by Amazon, and the code will be the same for every duplicate product, even if they’re sold by different people. An ASIN search will always bring up the same exact product.
- UPC: Universal product codes (UPCs) are the manufacturer’s label, and they’re printed on almost every retail product. UPCs consist of a barcode and a unique identifying string of 12 digits. These numbers identify features like color, size, and brand name of each item.
FNSKU benefits for Amazon sellers
The primary benefit of using FNSKUs for your products is the ability to get away from commingled inventory, which gives you more control over the quality of your products and your customers’ buying experience. FNSKUs and SKUs also help you track and manage your inventory more efficiently.
Avoid commingled inventory
FNSKUs eliminate the problem of commingled inventory; if multiple people are selling products with the same ASIN and don’t use FNSKUs, Amazon doesn’t distinguish what seller the products are from once they arrive at the warehouse.
Commingled inventory comes with a few inherent risks:
- Your customer might receive a fake or off-brand product from another seller.
- The product’s packaging may be damaged due to carelessness from a different seller.
- The item’s quality can be inconsistent if it’s being pulled from multiple sources.
Using FNSKUs is one of the best ways to maintain the quality of your merchandise and avoid the mishaps and bad reviews that can stem from commingled inventory.
Track inventory better
Utilizing FNSKUs and SKUs for your Amazon inventory lets you track different groupings of products that all have the same ASIN. This means you can better manage your inventory rather than having all your merchandise categorized into one shared quantity.
It might not seem that significant at first glance, but by using Amazon’s labeling system, you can organize your inventory by categories like production batches, when you purchased the products, where they originated from, etc.
Not only do FNSKUs allow you to monitor the quality of your items, but it also supplies you with more granular inventory tracking and management.
How to get your Amazon FNSKU
For FBA sellers, getting an Amazon FNSKU for each of your products is a necessity; luckily, it’s a very straightforward process. Once you launch your product to sell as FBA, Amazon will automatically generate and assign an FNSKU. To get your code:
- Click “Manage FBA Inventory.”
- Find the product and click its drop-down menu.
- Choose “Print Item Labels” and then “Print Labels.”
After these three simple steps, your product’s new FNSKU is ready to use!
Before sending your items to the Amazon warehouse for storage, it’s important to make sure that the FNSKU label is covering any existing UPCs or barcodes on the product’s packaging. If any other code is scanned when arriving at the warehouse, your products will end up in commingled inventory rather than being stored by your FNSKU.
Make FNSKU labeling easy with AccelerList
Implementing FNSKUs on your Amazon products improves your customers’ experience and gives you more control over your inventory. But what if all of your products are already labeled with manufacturer UPCs?
Fortunately, relabeling your packages doesn’t have to be a hassle.
AccelerList streamlines your product listing, repricing, and label printing, on top of giving you access to premium product research and accounting tools. For an Amazon FBA seller, there’s no better way to get a grip on your inventory, labeling, and business as a whole. Start your free trial of AccelerList today and take control of the Amazon marketplace.
