Amazon selling tools previously found in two directories were consolidated into a rebranded resource called Amazon Seller Central Partner Network, which, being Amazon, has an acronym: ASCPN.
Marketplace Appstore and Service Provider Network are now unified for sellers to discover over 5,000 third-party software and service partners, Amazon explained.
Sellers can find apps and services to help manage and grow their business. ASCPN has new features such as popular and trending, “which guides you to make informed purchasing decisions from a selection of carefully vetted third-party partners.”
Amazon said using a third-party software or service partner helps manage tasks like product research, filling out tax forms, or building customized reports.
Some sellers they’d rather see Amazon invest in their Support team, and some indicated they believed Amazon was profiting from the services being offered by third-parties listed.
An Amazon moderator jumped in to clarify: “The ASCPN application and service solutions cover a range of functionalities across the selling lifecycle. Amazon doesn’t receive compensation, and if you use of the apps or services, you may leave reviews and share your experience with others.”
One seller said they had been doing business for many years with a couple of the companies listed in ASCPN and wrote, “they are essential to our Amazon (and offsite) business, and have been very happy with them.”
Visiting the ASCPN site on Amazon Seller Central on Friday showed several “trending apps,” which included the name, 1-sentence description, star ratings, and the cost, such as the following example:
StoreAutomator: Manage your multichannel eCommerce business on a single dashboard and grow your business (5 stars by 1 reviewer) and “Starting at $599.00 / month.”
Another trending app was a feedback management tool that started at $55.00 / month.
A video explaining the service said there were “thousands” of Amazon-approved, third-party software and services in categories including listing, imaging, automated pricing, shipping, and analytics.
A search bar at the top right of the page lets sellers search for tools, and directly to the left is a pulldown menu of categories to explore. You can find the announcement and seller comments on the discussion boards on Amazon Seller Central.
