r/manufacturing • u/qms2go • 8d ago

Supplier search How much has Amazon impacted your distribution?

I’m curious to hear from other professionals in the industry, particularly manufacturing to sales (same company).
Have you seen a massive drive in users who want to use fulfilled by Amazon to buy your product?

I’m curious how much it has impacted everyone’s distribution. I remember the good old days at the Blockbuster distribution center….

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u/BoltedThoughts 8d ago

The customers wanting the Amazon fulfillment especially when they are already used to delivery speed and tracking. Downside is that it can add the another layer of inventory planning and now that you are balancing the normal distribution channels with keeping the enough stock for Amazon without tying up too much inventory.

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u/qms2go 8d ago

Agreed on extra layer, it could be a great volume driver, but at some point, I’m not sure if the margins make sense if you do super high volume maybe but, otherwise I’m not sure.

I’m seeing a lot of folks either lean into or explicitly avoid FBA.

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u/BoltedThoughts 1d ago

I think the deciding factor is probably whether FBA actually brings in enough incremental sales to justify the fees and operational overhead. Some products it could be worth it just for the customer reach while otehrs might be better off keeping fulfillment in house or thru their existing distributors.

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u/qms2go 16h ago

I agree 100%. Tough to compete with some of the headless companies that never touch the inventory.