Unraveling the Mystery of Amazon FBA Reserved Inventory

As a vendor on Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon), you might have come across the term “reserved inventory.” This seemingly cryptic term often leaves sellers wondering, what does reserved mean on Amazon FBA?

This guide explains reserved inventory on Amazon FBA, including its types and how it affects your business and seller central account.

Decoding the Concept: What is Amazon FBA Reserved Inventory?

Reserved inventory on Amazon FBA refers to the items in a seller’s stock that are temporarily held back from fulfillment for various reasons. These reasons could range from a recent customer order to a pending investigation. While these items may still be up for grabs, their delivery might face delays.

Think of reserved inventory as products that Amazon has temporarily set aside, making them unavailable for shipping to customers.

Cracking the Code: Amazon FC Processing and FC Transfer

The term “FC” stands for “Fulfillment Center.” In the context of Amazon FBA reserved inventory, FC processing and FC transfer depict the status of your reserved stock.

When your FBA stock reaches an Amazon warehouse for FC processing, it’s sorted and then distributed to other warehouses. This efficient transfer of goods between warehouses, known as FC processing and FC transferring, helps Amazon fulfill orders swiftly and cost-effectively.

Behind the Scenes: Reasons for Amazon Inventory Reservation

If you’re asking, “why is my Amazon inventory reserved?” you’re not alone. Amazon usually reserves inventory for three main reasons: customer orders, FC transfer, and FC processing.

Customer Orders

In this case, a customer has placed an order for your product. Consequently, the ordered item is moved to your reserved Amazon inventory. As these units have already been sold, they can’t be sold again. If your stock for that item is exhausted, the item will display an “out of stock” message until you replenish your inventory.

FC Transfer

Here, the items are in transit from one fulfillment center to another. Amazon does this to position your Amazon seller reserved inventory closer to customers. Although these items are still available for purchase, they can’t be shipped immediately. As a result, the item might be listed as back-ordered, and the shipment date might get postponed.

FC Processing

Items in this category are either undergoing verification or are under investigation at the fulfillment center. They are not available for purchase at the time, but once they clear the process, they will be ready for sale.

Keeping an Eye on Your Inventory: How to Check Your Reserved Stock

As a vendor, it’s crucial to monitor your Amazon Seller Central reserved inventory. To do this, log into Seller Central, navigate to the “Inventory” drop-down menu, and click on “manage FBA inventory.” You can view your FBA inventory, which consists of items you purchased, shipped to Amazon, and currently stored on their shelves.

On the right side of the screen, you’ll see a “Reserved” column, indicating the number of reserved items. Click on this number to view a detailed breakdown of the reserved items.

Empowering Your Business with Better Data Access

Accessing data related to reserved inventory and other crucial business metrics can be a challenge for many Amazon sellers. However, there are tools available that can make this process easier, providing you with valuable insights to fine-tune your business strategy.

The Power of Amazon Reserved Inventory Reports

Amazon provides sellers with a plethora of inventory reports, one of which is the Reserved Inventory report. The report provides detailed information about your reserved inventory. It includes the ASIN, number of units reserved, reservation date, and reason for reservation.

Insights from Amazon Reserved Inventory Reports

The information provided by Amazon Reserved Inventory reports can be used in various ways to manage your inventory and optimize your sales strategy. For instance, you can:

• Keep track of the number of units set aside and ensure they are used effectively.
• Spot any unused units and consider reintroducing them into the general inventory.
• Analyze the reasons for inventory reservation and identify any trends or patterns for future planning.
• Understand the impact of reserved inventory on lost sales.
• Assess the effectiveness of different sales and marketing campaigns by comparing the number of units reserved before and after the campaign.

Reserved Inventory on Amazon FBA: What Does It Mean?

Amazon states that inventory in the reserved status can be linked to a customer order. It can also be in transit between fulfillment centers or set aside for additional processing at a fulfillment center.

When inventory is reserved, it’s still available for purchase but cannot be removed from the fulfillment center.

Why Is My Amazon Inventory Reserved?

Your inventory could be reserved for a few reasons:

• Customer order: These units will be used to fulfill customer orders.
• Fulfillment center transfer: These units are being relocated from one fulfillment center to another to position the inventory closer to customers.
• Fulfillment center processing: These units have been set aside at the fulfillment center for additional processing.

Deciphering Amazon “FC”

The acronym Fulfillment Center (FC) indicates a specific condition of your existing inventory. It refers to items located in the “processing” status at an Amazon warehouse. When inventory is being processed for transfer to another Amazon fulfillment center, those units might show up under FC transfer and FC processing for a short time.

The Relationship Between Amazon Inventory Reserved and Overall Inventory Levels

The total number of units you have for an SKU in a shipment sent to a fulfillment center equals:

Available quantity + Unsellable quantity + Reserved quantity* + Inbound quantity.

*Reserved quantity is not included in Available or Unsellable quantities.

Reports for Amazon FBA Sellers

The reserved inventory report is part of a broader inventory performance and management datasets collection. This report shows a breakdown of reserved units in your inventory. Here is a snapshot of the data you can get in this report:

• sku: Unique blocks of letters or numbers that identify your products. SKUs are assigned by you as the seller.
• fnsku: A unique identifier assigned by Amazon to items stored in and fulfilled from a fulfillment center.
• asin: Unique blocks of 10 letters or numbers that identify items. Amazon assigns ASINs.
• product-name: The title of your product.
• reserved_qty: The total number of units in the reserved status.
• reserved_customerorders: The number of units reserved for customer orders.
• reserved_fc-transfers: The number of units transferred from one fulfillment center to another.
• reserved_fc-processing: The number of units that have been sidelined at the fulfillment center for additional processing.

Making Life Easier with Automation

The Amazon FBA reserved inventory report can be downloaded manually as a CSV report. But why go through the hassle when you can automate the flow of reserved amazon inventory information to leading data lake or cloud warehouses?

With automation, you can have a unified, analytics-ready single source of truth for BI tools, accelerating performance and the speed at which you can gain valuable insights.

A Broad Spectrum of Amazon Inventory Management Data

Amazon FBA inventory reports cover a wide range of data points. There are reports for Amazon fulfilled, stranded inventory, active listing, all listings, and many others. These reports contain data about Amazon sales, stock level, restock limits, storage fees, storage type, and many others for inventory planning or analysis.

Final Thoughts

Understanding what reserved inventory means on Amazon FBA is a crucial part of navigating the Amazon marketplace effectively. By monitoring your reserved inventory levels, utilizing the reports available, and employing automation where possible, you can ensure a smoother, more efficient inventory management process.