How to Integrate Amazon Seller Central with Microsoft Business Central

One of the accounts I’m currently managing got approved for access to SP-API for Direct-to-Consumer Shipping.

What does it mean?

This account is transitioning from Vendor (1P) to Seller (3P) for various reasons but mainly to have more control of the brand and the pricing. This account only does Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) and to be able to automate order processing, we need an app that would integrate Amazon Seller Central with Microsoft Business Central (a 3rd party ERP). We found an app that has reasonable subscription price and can provide everything we need. However, Amazon recently changed its policies, not exactly sure when, where 3rd party ERPs no longer have access to direct-to-consumer shipping details for security reasons.

So you see, this new policy is problematic. How will we be able to automate order processing if MS Business Central can’t capture customer shipping information? Yes, we can get all these details from Seller Central but that would be time consuming and come Q4, we might need an additional manpower, ergo, additional overhead expense.

What’s the solution?

We registered for a developer profile on Seller Central (from the Menu > Apps and Services > Develop Apps) and requested access to SP-API for Direct-to-Consumer Shipping. Fortunately, the app company guided us on how to answer the questions about data management, compliance, security, etc. so we can get approval. It took us 3 resubmissions before we got approved. After every rejection, Amazon provided information on which questions were rejected so we knew what changes to make before we resubmitted. And as soon as we got the approval, the app company proceeded with setting up the integration.

If you are in the same situation, you can refer to this Guide To Fill: Developer Registration and Assessment Form (DRAF). Don’t copy and paste, make sure to rephrase or make necessary adjustments based on how you or your company manages customer data. Also, all questions must be answered using 500 characters or less.

Note: only the primary user account can register a developer profile. So even if you have admin permissions, you won’t be able to register a developer profile.

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