Well, there is no doubt that amazon has been working recently on the new Selling Partner API launched on October 6th, in the year 2020. The new sp api is going to improve , in some instances , even replace the legacy MWS API (Amazon Marketplace Web Service API). The fresh API precisely and prominently affects Amazon developers, but it even offers opportunities for overall sellers.
Before you get to know about the new changes and opportunities, it would be nice to understand what an API is, why was the old MWS API of amazon created, and what it really provides. Then, you can get an understanding of how the new SP-API simply compares with the overall MWS API, what it really offers, and why Amazon has actually shifted to this.
What to know about an API?
On a huge level, an API (application programming interface) is simply a term that developers make use of to describe the protocol that computing systems simply use to interact and even exchange data. In other words, an API is a simple channel via which applications, software, and even other types of systems communicate. A simple type of example that anyone and everyone can understand is how applications make use of the API of Facebook to permit the users an easy login: well, Facebook offers an API for developers, and one of the proper use cases developers make use of the API for is to simply permit users to log in with their overall Facebook account.
Once a user simply enters a new app and signs I in with Facebook, the app simply sends a request to Facebook’s API to get the user’s name, email address, even profile photo, and more.
What do you know about Amazon MWS API?
Well, this Amazon MWS, aka Amazon Marketplace Web Service API, got into existence to permit the developers to build tools for sellers. Similar to the overall example about Facebook’s API and even how developers make use of it, Amazon developers have been making use of the MWS API to allow the sellers to connect their overall Amazon account and import their overall data into tools, that aid them sell better.
Typically, software asks sellers for simply permission to access their data once they connect. Once sellers grant proper permission to their Amazon account, the software makes use of the MWS API to access all of the sellers’ data, encompassing sales, returns, revenue, overall commissions, customers’ information, reviews, and more.
When other companies simply restrict their apis so that developers can simply access necessary data, Amazon MWS provided developers with overall unrestricted access. Remember that just like Facebook, Amazon also needs developers to go through a review procedure to use the MWS API, but the API itself is somewhat not restricted and provides access to all of the seller’s data. When Amazon realized that it is sharing sensitive type of information with 3rd party developers unnecessarily, it decided to simply take a couple of measures.
The foremost measure was to simply limit access from the MWS API to the personal data of the customer. Nevertheless, software that demands personal data should go through an additional strict review procedure to get access. The second measure was to simply allow developers to get only the data they require for their tools, and for that reason, they formed up the fresh Selling Partner API.
The impacts of Amazon’s new Selling Partner API on Sellers
There are certain things and a few of them are as under:
Enhanced privacy and control
Well, the new type of SP-API permits the sellers to select what information they share with applications, thus enhancing the overall privacy, adding transparency, and even shifting more control into the hands of the sellers. So, instead of granting a single permission to access all of their overall data once connecting to a new tool, sellers can now simply grant permissions particularly to the information they need to get value out of the overall application.
Fresh features
Amazon has never made it really easy to ask customers for overall reviews, and numerous sellers have had their listing suspended after making use of different ways that violate Amazon’s TOS to simply get reviews. The fresh feature that Amazon released now finally permits sellers to simply actively ask customers to leave a product review and even seller feedback in the absence of breaking any sort of rules.
The procedure is not really easy, though. You can simply send review requests only for orders finished five to thirty days ago. To do such a thing, you require to enter your Seller Central account, even find relevant orders, enter each and every single of them separately, and manually click the Request Review button. Then, Amazon will simply send an email to the overall customer.
The great thing is that sellers that were got blocked by Amazon from sending emails to customers can simply again send review requests making use of this feature. Moreover, the tools have fresh feature that automatically sends overall review requests on behalf of sellers so that they don’t really have to enter each order distinctly.
Removing negative feedback from storefront of the seller
Well, till present, sellers could not really contact customers who left simply negative feedback on their Amazon storefront. But with the emergence of this new feature, it is possible, but only through the API and not in overall Seller Central.
Sellers will have to use a software like third party, to send a request to simply Amazon through the SP-API. After receiving the request, Amazon will simply send the customer an email, asking to eradicate the feedback from the storefront of the seller. It is critical to mention that you can send such request just after fixing the issue that brought about the overall negative feedback.
Conclusion
To sum up, since you know significantly about how SP-API has been impacting the sellers, you should consider it for better experiences. If you find yourself stuck in any phase of it, you an always contact the experts and take their guidance for the best experiences.
