As of 1 September 2020, all Amazon Vendor Central sellers are required to provide carton level information to enable efficient receive of products, either directly via their Vendor Central account or through the Global Data Synchronisation Network (GDSN).
While Amazon are requesting a total of 60 additional product attributes, they have prioritised the following five attributes, all of which carry a £0.05 chargeback per unit if not provided.
If you have GTIN 13 or 14 digit barcodes on your cartons as standard, you can share GTINs (and other optional attributes) with Amazon via GDSN to efficiently receive products.
Every carton must be labelled with an external container ID - either a Serial Shipping Container Code (SSCC) if generated via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), or a Amazon Carton Content (AMZCC) code if generated via Vendor Central. The external container ID should be referenced in the Advanced Shipping Notice (ASN) and provided in both text and barcode form on all cartons.
What are the benefits of sharing the required attributes via GDSN?
Here at GS1 UK we're on hand to help you get started with GDSN, to ensure all your required attributes are shared with Amazon and no chargeback fees are incurred. You can of course share the required attributes via the License Plate Receive option (as outlined above), but here are some of the benefits of sharing your attributes via GDSN:
Prevent chargeback fees by providing Amazon with all the required product attributes
No need for bespoke carton labels, which can be expensive and time consuming
Access to our dedicated UK support team, who can get you up and running within 48 hours
Get control of your master product data by storing it in one central, cloud-based location that you can access anywhere in the world
Share your product data directly with Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose & Partners and Ocado, via the same platform you are using to share with Amazon
What our members have to say about using GDSN
For me and my business, using GDSN was about simplifying the way our Amazon business is managed and ensuring the flow of data is centralised. The cost saving was also important, due to the pending chargebacks Amazon were going to place on accounts for not complying. The efficiency for us using GDSN meant we had a partner to help us through the transition and also assist us in completing all the forms needed in a timely manner. The GS1 UK team have been incredibly helpful and I can safely say we are not receiving any charges due to lack of carton compliance!"
Jonathan Collin
Head of UK sales at Burgess Pet Care
We went down the GDSN route more out of necessity to support our fastest growing e-commerce account. However, GS1 UK has provided a solution that enabled us to not only fulfil Amazon’s requirements, but also other major retailers. This solution will help ensure that our customers are receiving the rich, accurate information that they would expect to see when making an informed consumer purchase, as well as improving our supply chain processes into major retailers. The level of service that Claire at GS1 UK has provided has been exceptional, especially when at times this has not been the most straight forward process."
Paul Sweetman
Ecommerce manager at Ceuta Group
Having managed Supreme’s Amazon account for several years, I am only too familiar with the variety of chargebacks to which we could be subjected. With Carton Compliance we looked at our options of labelling or using GDSN - for us there was no question which option would be favourable. The labelling process would have been expensive, time consuming and labour intensive, and would have required additional software to implement. GDSN has allowed us to avoid all this by collating our Amazon catalogue in one centralised and easy to maintain online platform at a lower cost. We are pleased to report we have achieved the desired effect – no more chargebacks!"
Danielle Southgate
Sales executive at Supreme Petfoods