Whether you want to expand your Amazon selling portfolio or create a new reselling account, you should always be ready for some challenges.
These challenges include getting ungated and stiff competition. For instance, most new Amazon sellers choose popular and lucrative categories such as Games and Sports, Home and Kitchen, and Toys. Only a few go for less popular categories like Grocery.
While the decision can lead to more profits and a huge customer base, such sellers face stiff competition due to demand-supply imbalance.
That, however, does not mean that selling in the Grocery Amazon category is as free and easy as other platforms.
Like any other class, Amazon restricts sellers from selling any grocery on this global retail platform without meeting certain regulations. These rules seek to legitimize all sellers and buyers and ensure all groceries meet the FDA requirements.
These restrictions may seem hard to new sellers, but meeting all rules allows them to enjoy an increased profit margin and consumer base.
Therefore, the question is, why must you apply to get ungated in grocery Amazon?
This article takes an in-depth look at why Amazon restricts the Grocery category and a few regulations that sellers must meet.
Why Is the Grocery Category Gated on Amazon?
As the term itself might suggest, “gating” refers to the imposing of restrictions on activity. Therefore, being “gated” on Amazon simply means that a seller is not allowed to continue with their sales until certain conditions are met.
These conditions are put in place to ensure the following:
1. User Safety
Products sold on Amazon must be safe for use and/or consumption by customers. Therefore, certain products must be sufficiently proven to be safe before sellers are allowed to sell them on Amazon.2. High-Quality Standards
b) While Amazon is not the producer of all the products sold on its e-commerce platform, it is in Amazon’s best interest to ensure the commodities it sells are of high quality.
Therefore, gating sellers is a measure that helps to ensure products are of good quality before their sale is authorized.
3. Pricing
Sellers on e-commerce platforms like Amazon need to sell their products at reasonable prices that are fair to consumers. As such, gating provides a means of ensuring that authorized sellers offer customers fair prices for their products.
4. Legal Liability
Like all other businesses, Amazon must abide by statutory regulations issued by the government.
In contravention of such regulations, Amazon would be liable for legal consequences. Therefore, gating helps Amazon effectively ensure that sellers do not put the platform at risk of being sued for any liabilities.
Additionally, gating also protects sellers and consumers from legal liabilities.
How To Get Ungated in the Grocery Category?
To learn more about grocery brand approval and to read our detailed guide to ungating grocery on Amazon, click here!All the conditions outlined above form the basis for “gating” on the Amazon platform.
So, what is the significance of being ungated in grocery Amazon?
When you are ungated as a seller, it means that the Amazon team has vetted your product and checked for the above qualities.
If your product is found to be safe for consumption/use, of high quality, and fairly priced, its sale is authorized and you can start earning money from sales.
Therefore, for you to be authorized to sell your food and/or beverage products on Amazon, you must apply to get ungated in Grocery Amazon in the following steps:
- Choose the “Add Product” option from the Inventory list.
- Search for the grocery item you want to sell.
- Check the search results on the right side that says “Apply to sale”.
- Click “Apply to sale” and provide the needed documents to finalize the ungating application process.
OR … just hit the orange button below and we can help you!
US Government Regulations that Amazon and Sellers Must Abide By
To ensure that consumers are safe and protected from any potential harm, there is a set of regulations stipulated by the government that Amazon and sellers on the platform must follow.
These regulations can be issued and enforced by various governmental institutions.
Under this specific category of Grocery and Gourmet Food, one such institution is the Food and Drug Administration.
According to its official website, one of the FDA’s primary roles is to ensure “the safety of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation.” Therefore, the FDA is essentially a regulatory institution to whose stipulations Amazon and sellers of groceries and other food products are obligated.
The following are some of the FDA restrictions that Amazon and sellers must abide by:
- All sellers dealing in food products, including on Amazon, must be officially registered with the FDA.
- For any Amazon grocery seller seeking to import food products into the USA for sale on Amazon, they must have a US agent who is available around the clock.
- Amazon and sellers must not label products as FDA-approved if those products have not been duly approved by the FDA.
- Sellers on Amazon are restricted from shipping and selling food products in the USA through Amazon if they do not issue prior notice to the FDA.
- No structure-function statements should be made to the effect that a food product listed on Amazon has medicinal or curative properties unless the FDA expressly states so.
- In case claims of structure-function are made on a product’s labeling or specifications without the FDA’s approval, the sellers must alert the FDA and also clearly state that the product has not been analyzed and approved by the FDA yet.
- Sellers should not at any point use FDA symbols like its logo, for instance, to create the impression that their products have been reviewed and approved by the FDA. Such powers are strictly the preserve of the FDA.
Consumer Safety
Amazon has policies that clearly demand that sellers’ products must be safe for consumers to use.
This is to not only avoid legal repercussions of selling unsafe products but to also protect the health of users and maximize user experience to guarantee customer retention.
Therefore, it is the responsibility of all involved parties from Amazon itself to sellers/manufacturers and consumers to ensure maximum safety in the production, sale, and use of food among other products.
Conclusion
Getting ungated in Grocery Amazon can expand your market and allow you to sell more food items that gated sellers cannot access.
This also reduces competition while increasing profits. However, the entire process may take some hours, days, or weeks based on the documents provided and the vetting team.
That means the team needs time to check and authenticate every document before approving your sales.
If you don’t meet the requirements, your application will be declined, though you can contact and ask them to tell you the errors found and if you can apply again.
OR … simply contact us by using the orange button or chat box.
