.png?width=50&height=50&name=feedbackfive-menu-icon(orange).png "feedbackfive-menu-icon(orange)"){kind=icon}
Originally published on February 23, 2021, updated December 15, 2023
Menu
Join Our Email List
- Receive our monthly newsletter.
- Stay up to date on Amazon policies.
- Get tips to grow your business.
/%5BeComEngine%5DLogo-2019-linear.svg "eComEngine Logo")
eCommerce is a rapidly growing global business, and no one makes it easier to sell internationally than Amazon. You may already be wondering how to sell on Amazon Germany in particular after all the publicity about its success.
If you are a US-based seller who is considering expansion beyond North America into Amazon.de and more, you will certainly have questions about how to do this.
eCommerce Nurse is a full-service agency of Amazon consultants. Furthermore, because we are based in the UK and around the world, we often help businesses launch in other locales. We are well-suited to help you understand your fulfillment options and deal with complex issues, such as compliance, translations, advertising, and VAT.
The Amazon EU marketplace consists of many countries, including the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and most recently, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Poland. But the fulfillment network stretches to cover 28 countries. While you might think it a good idea to expand to all of the countries where Amazon has a presence, you likely will not have the resources to do this and need to narrow down where to launch first.
We recommend starting in the UK and Germany. According to Amazon’s global selling page, many sellers have found success with these entry points.
Naturally, our eCommerce Nurse team gets a lot of questions about how to sell on Amazon Germany and the UK. The UK and Germany are the two largest Amazon economies in Europe and also represent a large share of local eCommerce.
Germany offers a centralized location and is a major hub for accessing Amazon’s European Fulfillment Network.
In 2019, Amazon.de generated sales of around $11 billion.
Post-Brexit, the UK is more isolated from mainland Europe, but the English-speaking country has a high demand for fast delivery and may be more familiar to some sellers when it comes to localizing products and keeping everything compliant.
The UK is Amazon’s largest market in Europe, and in 2019 did $17.5 billion worth of sales.
But before you expand your Amazon business to these markets, or any others for that matter, here are a few top things to consider.
Post-Brexit, you will need to think carefully about how you store inventory in Europe when choosing Amazon FBA. Placing inventory in the UK and Germany to start is ideal, as you can reach a lot of customers with the fewest cross-border fees and the fewest VAT registrations.
Amazon will use its European Fulfillment Network (EFN) to ship inventory to customers, but since a large share of these customers are located in the UK and Germany, this simplifies things to start. If you are set up in Amazon Germany, you will be central to neighboring countries in mainland Europe and can still reach Prime customers quickly.
Editor’s note: Fulfillment between the UK and the EU, which was previously stopped due to Brexit, will reopen via the EFN starting in March 2022.
When you are ready to grow more, Amazon has the Pan-European fulfillment network, which is where businesses send inventory to Amazon for them to redistribute across their FC network as needed. This requires additional VAT registrations, so it is best to start smaller.
To begin, set up an account on Amazon Seller Central in the UK. This is separate from the US Seller Central but will allow you to access all EU marketplaces. Seller Central has a wealth of information for expansion, though it is sometimes difficult to find information specific to your business situation.
When deciding what products to sell, it’s best to cast a wide net, but not go too deep. Start with more products, but without a lot of stock, to see what performs best and where.
Before deciding to jump into the European market, you will need to think carefully about your products and what is suited to Europe. Much of this will depend on your product category. If you are in grocery or consumables, you may need to overhaul labels, packaging, certifications, and much more that could be cost-prohibitive. If you are in consumer electronics, keep in mind that European customers have different plugs, voltages, and more. Other categories, like home and garden items or sporting goods, might be much easier to set up and sell in a timely manner.
You will have to register for VAT, or value-added tax, in any country you sell in. What is VAT? When you import goods into the EU or UK, you’ll need to comply with local customs laws as well as laws and regulations that are applicable to the country of import. If you store or sell goods in a country, you will need to register for VAT in that country.
Starting with the UK and Germany is a good way to reach a lot of customers with minimal VAT registration. While each Amazon seller is responsible for their own VAT compliance, Amazon can provide resources and tools for your VAT registrations and filings in EU countries.
The time it takes to become VAT registered can vary. To avoid delays, you should start the process as soon as you register your seller account. In the UK, start with the government website on VAT registration. For Germany, it can be very helpful to use a company such as Avalara to ensure you are properly VAT registered.
Check guidelines for the UK and Germany, invest in any legal help you need, and thoroughly check the legislation and regulations of both countries and whether they will work for your product category and other specifics.
When it comes to international selling, you will need to translate and localize your products. You can use Amazon’s Build International Listings (BIL) tool to recreate your US listings for the European marketplaces and set pricing rules. But we strongly recommend you get professional, certified translations rather than using Amazon tools or free tools like Google Translate.
eCommerce Nurse offers this service for all European markets. Machine-based translations are not going to perform well because they will not be localized or have keyword research for Amazon SEO done in the native language. Do not make the mistake of investing in international expansion and skip this crucial step for success. Key product info could, quite literally, get lost in translation.
Once you’ve covered these basics and begin selling and fulfilling orders, you’ll also want to support your seller reputation. eComEngine supports EU marketplaces to help manage FBA inventory and Amazon reviews via RestockPro and FeedbackFive. Requesting reviews in the native language, responding to negative reviews, and monitoring feedback and reviews all on one platform can help streamline your business tasks.
There are so many other things to consider when you are expanding to another marketplace on Amazon. While Germany and the UK make great starting points, there are many moving pieces that will require attention and, very likely, extra assistance. You can see more examples of this on Amazon’s Selling in Europe page. If you need help from professionals who have done it all before, eCommerce Nurse is fueled by a team of ex-Amazonians and offers full account management, consulting, advertising, and more services.
Comments (2)