Amazon launches new feature to help sellers reduce shipping costs?

Since the warehouse configuration fee and low inventory fee came into effect, many Amazon sellers have clearly felt the cost increase. Recently, Amazon has launched some new features, claiming to help sellers complete orders quickly and reduce transportation costs. However, the actual experience of sellers using such features does not seem to be smooth.

Amazon launches new features on Veeqo

Amazon recently announced that it has launched some new features on its free multi-channel fulfillment software Veeqo to help sellers complete orders faster and reduce costs.

The new feature allows sellers to:

Identify and combine orders from the same customer : The software automatically identifies orders from the same customer and suggests that sellers combine them into one shipment, saving time and potential shipping costs.

Sort orders by SKU, customer, or location : Sellers can now streamline operations by sorting orders and printing documents in sequence.

Efficient order scheduling : Amazon selects the warehouse closest to the delivery address, helping sellers deliver products faster and reduce potential shipping costs. This feature ensures that there is inventory in the warehouse or distribution center before the inventory is allocated to the customer.

Amazon’s update of the Veeqo function may bring certain conveniences to some sellers.

However, some sellers have questioned the update. Regarding identifying and merging orders from the same customer, sellers do not know that it automatically identifies orders from the same customer and merges them into one batch of goods. Is this allowed? Is there a risk of losing AZ protection?

In response, Amazon said that Veeqo integration allows sellers to merge orders from all channels that share the same shipping address. It should be noted that AZ buyer protection does not apply to merged orders because the shipping dates of individual orders may be different. When merging Amazon orders, a UI pop-up window will appear to remind sellers of this.

As the new feature was launched, a seller complained that the app was not easy to use. The seller said that the program connected to my account would clear my best-selling items to zero every hour and add out-of-stock items to inventory, preventing me from completing sales. I had to check all third-party applications one by one and troubleshoot them. After hours and hours of work, I finally found the culprit - Veeqo! This application has cost me thousands of dollars, but I can't get a response from Amazon.

The seller also warned his peers to stay away from Veeqo at all costs .

It is understood that in September 2022 , Amazon announced the launch of Veeqo, a multi-channel delivery software, which focuses on helping sellers reduce transportation costs while increasing the speed of fulfilling customer orders.

Veeqo was founded by online seller Matt Warren, who created the software with the needs of all multi-channel sellers in mind. Because shipping orders and managing inventory across channels is time-consuming and error-prone, and transportation management software is complex and lacks the right features, after Veeqo was founded, Matt Warren said that sellers can track, price, sell and complete orders on various channels with just a few clicks.

Sellers using Veeqo can connect their sales channels, including Amazon, eBay, Etsy, and Shopify, and get discounts from UPS, the United States Postal Service, DHL, and FedEx. Veeqo’s rate shopping feature imports sellers’ orders and automatically finds the lowest available shipping rates based on size and weight.

Veeqo is frequently criticized

It is reported that after Veeqo was acquired by Amazon, it was made available to all sellers and can be used on sites other than the US site.

Amazon's purpose in acquiring the software should be good, as the platform wants to improve delivery efficiency. How is the actual use effect of sellers? Previously, a seller gave real feedback on Veeqo. The advantages mentioned are as follows :

1. Veeqo has a 5% discount in the initial stage of its launch , which is obviously very good and instant. Sellers can see the discount on each batch of goods directly on the dashboard ;

2. The setup process is very simple and only takes 5 minutes. The app requires full access to the Seller Central account, so this is a bit unsettling, but you can understand why it is needed ;

3. The user interface is concise and quite simple ;

There is a live chat available for assistance, and sellers are able to reach someone in about 5 minutes .

5. All Amazon orders are automatically synchronized, so sellers can ship in bulk very quickly .

While this software has advantages, it also has many disadvantages that sellers cannot avoid, such as:

1. Veeqo syncs all Amazon orders, which is useful, but it has a major disadvantage compared to other services. Veeqo uses Amazon's shipping service features, so if the seller wants to send the package through other channels , but Amazon's system does not allow these services for that specific order, then there is no way to cover it.

2. Due to the above issues, sellers have to ship half of their orders through other channels , so if they ship on another platform and confirm the shipment in Seller Center, Veeqo will not recognize it as shipped and the order will still be displayed as "unshipped" on the dashboard. Sellers must manually select all orders and click "Mark as Shipped". This is not user-friendly and is a big potential problem for repeated shipment orders.

3. Slightly higher shipping costs . Shipping costs may be slightly higher than Pirate Ship or your own carrier account (UPS, FedEX, etc.). This seller has found that items weighing less than 1 pound are comparable to Pirate Ship, but heavier/larger items are expensive , and even with a 5% discount, the prices are still high.

4. The interface is simple, but a bit clunky. You need to click a lot and do some digging to display the functions , and you can't copy and paste the customer's full address information at once. In Veeqo, it only allows you to copy and paste the address, and then you have to fill in the first name, last name, phone number, and email address.

Some peers also said that they would not use the software because they found that Amazon hid the customer's address from the seller when using the software, which is ridiculous. Sellers need to determine the possible methods to use based on the address, and they will know some situations every day when shipping. Amazon has no reason to hide the buyer's address from sellers. If an explanation is needed for a lost package, Amazon will require the address to verify the seller's information.

Other sellers also said that the reason for not using the software is the pre-charge, because they use the Amazon Buy Shipping API to ship, which will charge the seller in advance. In other words, the platform will not deduct this fee from the Amazon payment that the seller will receive .

It is worth noting that sellers have previously pointed out that they hope the platform can choose not to merge orders! Because it delivers single items, but when the platform merges orders, sellers are forced to merge items that should not be merged and give customers a 75% discount.

Now that Amazon has launched some new features on Veeqo, it seems that they have not solved the issues of charging and hiding customer addresses that some sellers are concerned about. Instead, they have updated operations such as merging orders, which may increase the burden on some sellers.

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