Every Amazon selling model comes with pros and cons, but before you get too comfortable in a single model, you should know 4 benefits of partnering with a 3P accelerator.
To make sure we’re on the same page, partnering with a 3P accelerator means you sell your product to a 3rd party, like Pattern, who helps you sell your products on marketplaces like Amazon. This is different from a 1P relationship where you sell your product directly to Amazon to sell themselves, or selling 3P where you manage your Amazon business yourself.
As an ecommerce accelerator, Pattern understands what it takes to grow profitably on Amazon and has the resources, expertise, and technology to get you ahead. Check out the 4 benefits of working with a 3P accelerator like Pattern.
4 Benefits of a 3P Accelerator on Amazon
1. You Reduce Distribution Complexities
In a 1P relationship, you fulfill POs made by Amazon, so you’re forced to work around their erratic forecasts, limited communication, and changing priorities. But in a 3P partnership, you dictate inventory management, allowing you to stay in-stock, maintain control of forecasting, and plan for promotions or holidays.
Forecasting isn’t the only complexity to watch out for. In a 1P relationship you are responsible for getting a substantial amount of your product to hundreds of Amazon’s warehouses across the country. Then, if product needs to move from one warehouse to another, you are responsible to cover the shipping fees.
As a 3P seller, you either ship Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) and deal with the same logistics headaches as a 1P relationship, or you ship Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) and skip Amazon’s warehouses altogether, but are in charge of getting your products to customers—wherever they are—in a timely manner after they purchase.
With Pattern as your 3P accelerator, you only need to fulfill POs to one distributor, simplifying forecasting and getting inventory to the right place. You ship inventory to one of our warehouses, and we handle the rest—distribution across Amazon’s warehouse network for FBA, repackaging products into bundles, and delivering your orders on time.
We help you achieve Prime eligibility without the hassle, and we focus on keeping you in-stock to keep up sales momentum.
2. You Maintain Price Control
By narrowing your ecommerce distribution, you not only reduce logistical complexity, you limit the opportunity for leaky distribution and lessen the unauthorized sellers who damage your price control.
Unfortunately, even without unauthorized sellers, a 1P relationship with Amazon can cause price erosion because you don’t get to dictate or control price, they do. Amazon wants to provide the lowest price to its users, so in a 1P relationship the marketplace may choose to lower your initial price to drive sales and compete against other sales channels.
As a 3P seller, or in a 3P accelerator relationship, you have more control to set and stick to MAP price, because you handle the strategy yourself. The only downside is that, as an individual 3P seller, you’re on your own to handle any unauthorized sellers who pop up.
At Pattern, we understand how important price control is to every aspect of your business, so we adhere to your pricing policies while helping you identify and take down sellers who don’t. Using our proprietary technology, trusted eControl law firm, and experienced brand managers, Pattern helps you maintain price control.
3. You Receive Expert Help at Scale
Amazon is no one-trick pony. To successfully run an Amazon business, you need competencies across SEO, advertising, customer service, graphic design, inventory management, shipping & fulfillment, product photography, conversion-first copy, strong review generation, driving off-platform traffic, and the list goes on and on.
Being a 3P seller on Amazon requires you to figure all of these competencies out alone—or hire a myriad of agencies to handle individual parts of the overall machine. This quickly becomes time-consuming, expensive, and complicated.
In a 1P relationship, you have to trust Amazon to handle it all, with limited input from your brand. Giving full creative control to Amazon can be scary, especially when its goal is focused more on sales than your brand equity.
In speaking of her experience in the difference between 1P and 3P strategies, Nancy Eichler, VP of Ecommerce and International at MegaFood, said the 1P environment was far more resource-demanding—”I spent more time proving to Amazon that we had shipped something than I did actually working on selling the product and my marketing”—and brand control was continually an issue.
Instead of relying on Amazon, or struggling to find the bandwidth for so many specialized skills, a 3P accelerator like Pattern can provide all the expertise you need, all in one place, and scale with you as your brand grows. Because we help so many brands across global marketplaces, we have dedicated teams specializing in advertising, product videos, inventory forecasting, packaging design, and so much more. On top of world-class teams, Pattern experts have access to our proprietary technology, giving them real-time data and actionable insights on things like keyword opportunities, inventory demand, and MAP compliance.
At Pattern, we become an extension of your ecommerce team, offering our time and expertise to grow your Amazon business profitably.
4. You Can Retain Your 3P Accelerator Model on New Marketplaces
While selling directly to a marketplace and having them handle everything else can seem convenient, a 1P selling model isn’t available on all marketplaces. As your brand expands to new marketplaces and new markets, you’ll be forced to adopt a new selling model and readjust your strategy.
In contrast, selling 3P or with a 3P accelerator is generally an available selling option across marketplaces, both domestically and internationally. And when you sell with the right 3P accelerator, you can scale your same partnership to launch in new markets and marketplaces, making the transition smoother.
Pattern works as a 3P accelerator across a variety of domestic and international marketplaces, providing you the same level of brand control, strategic input, and revenue growth around the world. Because we support so many brands globally, we have the scale to provide international strategy expertise, global warehousing, and efficient logistics at a fraction of the cost of bringing these proficiencies in-house.
The Benefits of Pattern as Your 3P Accelerator
As your 3P accelerator, Pattern can help you maintain brand control and grow profitably on Amazon and marketplaces around the world.
Reduce distribution complexity, maintain price control, receive expert help at scale, and maintain your selling model as you grow to new markets and marketplaces, with Pattern.
Ready to talk about an Amazon partnership? Set up a meeting today.
