31 May “Born to Run”: How to launch a new product from a Vendor account on Amazon

• This program, initially created to curb the lack of stock at certain times when demand is skyrocketing, helps Vendor users launch new products on Amazon.
• It has numerous advantages, but also certain limitations that must be taken into account in order not to incur losses.

One of the main problems you may face when you have a Vendor Central account is the difficulty of starting to sell new products. This is because the algorithm is based on the historical relevance of the product to recommend it.

To deal with this situation, we can join the Born to Run service, with which we can obtain purchase orders from the beginning and thus start rolling the product within Amazon.

Here’s how it can help you and how you can be part of this program.

What is the Born to Run?

In its beginnings, it was a program designed to counteract those specific times in which Amazon ran out of stock of certain items by stockpiling others in advance that the seller believed could work.

To this day, while it also continues to serve this function, this service helps vendors launch and promote their new products faster to gain visibility and sales. In this way, Amazon can collect metrics and make relevant purchase requests to you.

How to belong to Born to Run?

In principle, it must be Amazon itself that invites you to be part of this program through the initial terms that are agreed upon when you get a Vendor account. If this is not the case, there is the possibility of asking your Vendor Manager to allow you access. Once this is done, you must make a request indicating the units you want Amazon to buy from you and, if they agree, you can start selling your new product.

Limitations of Born to Run

The main limitation is the selling time, as it is 10 weeks only. For this reason, the sales estimate you send to Amazon must be well done, since before accepting the order you will have to choose what action you will carry out with the surplus stock that you may have left over. There are only two options:

• Allow Amazon to return to you what has not been sold, with the consequent refund of the money on your part.
• That Amazon keeps the merchandise but with an extra 25% discount on the initial price you agreed.

On the other hand, there are different types of amount limitations for the Born to Run program, such as a preset limit for the purchase requisition. These limitations can be consulted with the Vendor Manager.

Regarding trademarks on Amazon, there is another requirement that must be met to be part of this program:

• If the trademark is registered and you are not the owner of the trademark, you cannot perform a Born to Run.
• If the trademark is not registered, you can do so, regardless of whether you are not the owner, as long as you have a Vendor account.

The sale price is also another feature that Amazon focuses on when we want to launch a product through a Born to Run, because if it considers that the item is above its real value, it will not accept the order directly.

In addition, in order to be successful, it is essential that you manage to give visibility to the products you launch through advertising campaigns. This way you will be able to “kill two birds with one stone”: on the one hand, you will be able to sell most of the stock without Amazon penalizing you; and on the other hand, you will increase and improve the metrics on sales, orders, reviews and returns.

Finally, Born to Run is compatible with other types of promotions within Amazon, such as coupons, with which you can get a visual badge that will make you gain visibility.