Amazon is one of the top marketplaces for online sellers. But “Is Selling on Amazon Worth It?“. Let’s look at expert opinions!
What is Amazon Brand Registry?
Amazon Brand Registry is a program developed and first introduced in 2015. In general, Brand Registry helps online merchants protect their intellectual properties and completely control their listings. This program makes Amazon stand out from its Amazon competitors. By enrolling in this program, merchants can easily search and report any violation, trademark, copyright, as well as patent infringement issues.
On top of that, Amazon Brand Registry is a great way to start building a brand for new sellers. Once participating, you can access advanced tools offered by the house. Wanna know the details? Keep scrolling and discover:
- A rundown on Amazon Brand Registry requirements, enrollment time, and cost
- 6 solid benefits of Brand Registry for sellers
- 4 steps to participate in the Registry program
A Rundown on Amazon Brand Registry
Is your Amazon brand qualified for this program? How long does it take to enroll yourself in the Brand Registry? Or how much does it cost? These questions will be answered below in our detailed breakdown.
Amazon Brand Registry requirements
To be eligible for the Amazon Brand Registry program, you must meet several requirements by the house. The requirements are now listed and explained as follows.
- Trademark
- Active Amazon Professional Seller account
- Brand presence
- Product listings
#1. Trademark
In Amazon’s pre-enrollment stage, you must have an active govern-registered trademark. Particularly, this trademark has to appear on your products or packaging. Moreover, Brand Registry by Amazon can do with a pending trademark registration, which belongs to a subset of trademark offices. Yet, there are country-specific requirements written in Amazon’s regulations for trademarks.
To be more specific, the marketplace only accepts trademarks from the following countries:
- The United States
- Brazil
- Canada
- Mexico
- Australia
- India
- Japan
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Turkey
- Singapore
- Spain
- Benelux
- Saudi Arabia
- Sweden
- Poland
- Egypt
- The United Kingdom
- The European Union
- The United Arab Emirates.
Also, remember that the Amazon Brand Registry program is not affiliated with any of those offices. Therefore, whenever you have a concern regarding the Registry program, you shouldn’t reach out to a national trademark office. Instead, we advise you to contact the Amazon support team for in-depth consultancy.
Taking the matter further, when applied for Brand Registry, your brand name must match your Amazon trademark text, and the inhouse team will verify your ownership during their evaluation process. If your trademark is image-based, you must upload an exact copy of your trademark record.
Last but not least, can you be qualified for Amazon Brand Registry without trademark? The answer is no. You may sell on Amazon freely without a trademark license, but the case isn’t vice versa for the official enrollment.
#2. Active Amazon Seller account
The second requirement for participating in Amazon Brand Registry is having a Professional Amazon Seller account in good standing. In detail, you must be selling more than 40 units per month.
Discussing the details, the Professional plan costs you $39.99 for a monthly subscription compared to the free Individual one. Apart from a monthly subscription, there may be additional Amazon seller fees arising. Yet, as an Amazon merchant, you will be granted access to various selling tools that help promote your products, engage customers, and track business performance.
#3. Brand presence
Providing brand presence indicates you have a legitimate and active business. Brand presence relates to every marketing material you use, such as a website, social media profile, or any advertising you use.
Regarding brand presence, feel free to tailor your material to deliver brand voice, message, and value. Those can come from your logo, other visual identities, shared stories, and selling proposition.
Without a doubt, it is crucial to enhance your brand presence online in the digital era. Especially when you go live on Amazon – one of the best-selling platforms, putting effort into brand building has become a must.
#4. Product listings
Next on Amazon Brand Registry requirements, you need registered product listings on this marketplace. More specifically, your product listings must be genuine and align with Amazon’s policies and guidelines. Keep in mind that any listing recognized as counterfeit or infringing is off-limit. In other words, such listings will make you disqualified from enrolling in the Brand Registry program. There will be some gated categories that entail specific criteria that sellers must meet, necessitating prior approval from Amazon before they can sell products in those categories. If you want to remove this limit, here is how to get ungated on Amazon.
Speaking of listings, LitCommerce’s team has recently updated the ultimate guide on Amazon listing optimization. Come and check it out now!
Notes: When it comes to Amazon Brand Registry requirements for merchants, you may have to check if you need any additional documentation relating to intellectual property rights (e.g. copyrights) or brand ownership. Depending on Amazon’s assessment process, their in-house team will send you announcements.
Amazon Brand Registry enrollment time and cost
Continuing our rundown on Amazon Brand Registry, this section is devoted to informing you of the enrollment time and charges. Let’s now take a closer look at them!
#1. Brand Registry enrollment
The Amazon Registry enrollment process takes place when you have satisfied all requirements and are ready to submit any compulsory documentation. Typically, enrollment steps should take no more than a few minutes, which is detailedly guided in the upcoming sections.
However, the assessment time of Amazon may take up to 24 hours. This waiting period can be lengthened if your case needs further evaluation. Under the circumstance that you have waited for too long, you can use the help of the Amazon support team.
#2. Amazon Brand Registry cost
Unlike other services, including the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), Amazon Brand Registry will not charge you any fee. This protection program is entirely free for all Amazon brands participating.
Undoubtedly, a free-of-charge brand registry has been encouraging to all Amazon sellers. And indeed, it is one of the ongoing efforts from this top online marketplace to facilitate its sellers and buyers.
Amazon Brand Registry 1.0 v.s. Amazon Brand Registry 2.0
As mentioned, the program was first introduced in 2015 and named Amazon Brand Registry 1.0. Moving forward to 2017, this marketplace released Amazon Brand Registry 2.0 as an updated version with more advanced tools and protection features for e-sellers.
Comparing the two versions, Amazon Brand Registry 1.0 could only achieve basic protection functions, such as violation reports and limited search. Also, it was muchly limited in search tools, violation reports, and geography availability (primarily in the United States).
Meanwhile, the version 2.0 has a lot more to offer, including robust brand-building and monitoring features, superior safeguards, and global availability beyond the United States. In addition, Amazon Brand Registry 2.0 facilitates online merchants with advertising features to promote their products and gain opportunities for greater sales volume.
Considering all the superb features of the Amazon Brand Registry, it is worth noting that the program will not enable you to whitelist or blacklist other sellers from selling your products. On top of that, Amazon Registry will not accept violation reports from anyone rather than you, the brand owner.
Benefits of Amazon Brand Registry
Given the fierce competition and intellectual property infringement going on, the Amazon Brand Registry program may benefit you in numerous ways. In fact, we believe this Brand Registry will be a powerful tool throughout your selling experience on Amazon.
There are 6 advantages when you enroll in Amazon Registry, including:
- Brand protection
- Amazon A+ Content
- Amazon Stores
- Sponsored Amazon ads
- Amazon Live Creator
- Amazon Brand Analytics
Each function of Amazon Brand Registry will now come with detailed explanations.
#1. Brand protection
The most remarkable benefit you gain from enrolling in the Brand Registry by Amazon is solid brand protection. Along with that, you will be joining other protection projects: Amazon IP Accelerator and Project Zero. Now, let us walk you through one by one.
- Automated protection: As Amazon has approved your proposal for joining Brand Registry, the protection takes effect from day one, and all bad listings will be immediately prevented. Besides, Amazon will use advanced machine learning to build up safeguards for your brand based on shared data about intellectual property and products.
- Violation report: By participating in the Amazon Brand Registry, you can easily use search tools to detect copyright, intellectual property, or trademark violations. Should you find any infringement issue, it will take less than a minute for Amazon to use facilitated tools and report your findings. Furthermore, such reports will strengthen Amazon’s automated protection for your brand.
- Brand Registry support: Registering the Amazon protection program means getting help from real people whenever an issue arises. As a rule, Amazon will be responsible for resolving all problems related to technical or listing, market policy violations, and many more.
- Neutral patent assessment: Amazon guarantees 100% transparency and neutral assessment by using third-party evaluators to determine whether a utility patent is infringed. After this assessment stage, Amazon will reinforce the final decision.
- Impact dashboard: The impact dashboard provided by Amazon Brand Registry helps you monitor how Amazon has been using shared data to protect your brand. Additionally, it will help you see if Amazon may remove any potentially bad listings.
- Help: If you just started to sell on Amazon and need educational resources, Amazon Brand services are more than happy to provide you with various case studies for in-depth comprehension.
Amazon IP Accelerator
Evidently, the Amazon IP Accelerator has been among the continuing efforts to protect Amazon brands and create a trusted marketplace for buyers.
To begin with, it was released to protect your intellectual property and accelerate the process of obtaining trademarks. Moreover, the Amazon IP Accelerator is now available globally, and law firms in this Amazon project are based in 21 countries. They will assist in fulfilling the process of obtaining trademarks and consult any further concern.
Following that, Amazon once mentioned that you could use the IP Accelerator for purposes other than access to Amazon Brand Registry. However, the fees arising will vary, which highly depends on the agreement better you and the chosen law firm.
Project Zero
Another attempt to protect merchants from Amazon is Project Zero, which makes an excellent supporter in your fight against counterfeits. Apart from its contributions to strengthening automated protection, Project Zero will help you remove any counterfeit immediately without contacting Amazon.
Also, your accurate submissions can help Amazon continuously recognize and block violations before they actually impact customers. Speaking more of Project Zero’s functionality, you will now secure your brand better, given unique codes for your products. Explained in detail, these unique codes provided by Amazon Project Zero ensure your orders are authentically verified on any fulfillment method.
#2. Amazon A+ Content
Amazon A+ Content is a premium feature in Amazon Seller Central that allows you to create visually compelling product listings.
Formerly known as Enhanced Brand Content, this selling feature is accessible once you have enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry. Notably, it helps add up product details, USPs (unique selling points), brand stories, in-action shots, and high-quality images.
Compared to a usual listing, in which you can only insert 2000 characters in product descriptions and no graphics or images, listings created by Amazon A+ Content has much greater customization levels.
Doubtlessly, detail-oriented listings are likely to enhance conversion rate and potential sales revenue eventually. Nonetheless, don’t forget to comply with Amazon A+ Content Guidelines when you use this tool.
#3. Amazon Stores
When participating in Amazon Brand Registry, you can take your online business to the next level using Amazon Stores. This premium selling feature by Amazon lets you design and create a multiple-page store to showcase your brand, products, and value proposition to all potential customers.
Needless to say, Amazon Stores is an effective way to spread your brand identity and leverage a brand-centric shopping experience for all shoppers on one of the biggest selling channels. Beyond that, you may find Amazon Stores more essential for success when scaling up your business. In addition, this Amazon selling feature enables you to stand out from the crowd by allowing you to insert rich media and content materials.
#4. Sponsored Amazon ads
Advertising is a practical way to boost sales, spread brand awareness, and reach new customers. Do you know that there are up to 4 types of Amazon PPC ads serving different purposes? However, you can only get full access when you have joined Amazon Brand Registry. Here are the details about sponsored Amazon ads.
- Sponsored products: The first ad type helps you increase sales and attract traffic to product pages. Specifically, it will appear on Amazon in search results and relevant product pages. Once a buyer clicks on your ads, they are redirected to the corresponding product page. Sponsored product ad type is available to all professional sellers.
- Sponsored brands: Unlike sponsored products, sponsored brands will only be available to you, given that you are in Amazon Registry. The main purposes of sponsored brands are to spread your brand awareness and increase sales across your entire catalog. By using sponsored brands, you can create an ad including multiple products with a brand logo and a custom headline.
- Sponsored display: The sponsored display facilitated by Amazon Brand Registry lets you create display ads seamlessly to reach new audiences on and off Amazon. According to Amazon ad guidelines, sponsored display ads is most effective when used to engage customers who show interest in specific products or categories but have yet to purchase.
- Sponsored stores: The final ad type is sponsored stores, which lets you maximize engagement levels and build customer loyalty through tailor-made brand materials. When using sponsored store ads, you can showcase your best sellers, seasonal collections, brand story-telling videos, and many more. Also, you can build up customer experience by using custom widgets.
A friendly reminder: Regardless of your ad type, don’t forget to check out Amazon advertising mistakes!
#5. Amazon Live Creator
The Amazon Live Creator is an impressive feature when you enroll in the Amazon Brand Registry. Shortly, it allows you to create captivating live video content on the Amazon platform and interact with potential customers in a dynamic way.
Discussing the Amazon Live function further, you can engage directly with customers in real-time, showcase your products, provide demonstrations, and answer questions using this feature. Undoubtedly, it’s an excellent opportunity for you to build brand awareness, establish a personal connection with new audiences, and drive sales volume. What’s more, by integrating your product listings seamlessly into the live stream, you can make it convenient for customers to purchase while watching the stream.
If you need valuable business analytics and insights, the Amazon Live Creator will much likely meet those requirements. In particular, it will let you evaluate performance and refine your future broadcasts.
Based on those grounds, we believe that Amazon Live Creator is a powerful resource to enhance your selling experience and help connect with your customers proactively and convertibly.
#6. Amazon Brand Analytics
This marketplace indicates that you can only use the Amazon Brand Analytics tool when eligible for Amazon Brand Registry. Speaking more about this premium selling feature, it is an add-on located in the upper right corner of your Amazon Seller Central interface and includes 6 following detailed reports:
- Amazon search term report: In general, a search term report informs you of the most popular queries entered by shoppers when they look for products. Based on this report, you can make data-driven decisions about which Amazon keywords to include or prioritize in your listings.
- Demographics report: The second report type lets you know everything about your existing customer base, involving age range, gender, location, household income, and marital status. Such information will be helpful for depicting a comprehensive buyer’s persona or allocating your ad budget settings on Amazon.
- Item comparison report: Briefly, the item comparison report enables you to detect what products a shopper views after visiting your product pages. By using an item comparison report, you can gain insights into market pricing, competition rate, and partial shoppers’ buying intent.
- Alternate purchase report: Here is a useful tool to inspect what products a shopper purchases after viewing yours. An alternate purchase report reveals much about one e-shopper’s buying tendencies and preferences, such as pricing or product variants.
- Market basket report: The next valuable report you get when participating in Amazon Brand Registry is the market basket one. Specifically, you can determine which bundles to build, based on items a shopper buys together frequently, and all thanks to the Amazon market basket report.
- Repeat purchase behavior report: Finally, Amazon Brand Analytics provides you with a report telling which products are purchased repeatedly. Surely, from the provided details, you can choose which item to focus on or promote throughout this marketplace.
How to Enroll for Amazon Brand Registry?
Our last section will be devoted to guiding you through the enrollment procedure. There are 4 steps to apply for Amazon Brand Registry, listed as follows:
- Step 1: Check if you are eligible for Amazon Brand Registry
- Step 2: Collect the required documents
- Step 3: Create or log into your Amazon Registry account
- Step 4: Enter your brand information
Shall we explore the details now?
Step 1: Check if you are qualified for Amazon Brand Registry
As aforementioned, you must meet several criteria before applying for the Amazon Brand Registry program. To be specific, your brand needs to satisfy the below requirements:
- Your brand has an active govern-registered trademark from a national office
- A unique logo is available
- You have a brand name that is neither generic nor descriptive
- You must achieve authorized Amazon ownership to apply for Brand Registry
In case you have a pending trademark registration, you must submit the following information:
- Your application number for the pending trademark
- Details of goods or services to which your trademark applies
- Trademark application date
- The country or region where your trademark is registered
- Your brand’s logo
Keep in mind that you will qualify for Amazon Brand Registry, should you not meet one of the requirements.
Step 2: Collect the required documents
Before you start applying for Amazon Brand Registry, you should collect all the necessary documents, including:
- Your trademark (govern-registered)
- An image of your registered trademark digits
The required information is found on your govern-issued certificate. However, if you have not achieved one, you can submit your pending trademark application details as guided above.
Step 3: Create or log into your Amazon Registry account
Now, you have to access the Amazon Brand Registry page and log into your account. If you haven’t got one on the Registry page, you can create one by entering all the essential information.
Then, Amazon will ask you to enroll your brand manually or through an IP accelerator. From there, you just have to fill in the documents prepared.
Step 4: Enter your information
Here we are, reaching the final step in applying for Amazon Brand Registry. In this step, you have to fill in the required information about your brand, trademark digits, and product images. Once you have completed the fourth step, Amazon will evaluate and decide if your brand is eligible for Amazon Brand Registry.
Amazon Brand Registry – FAQs
Amazon Brand Registry is a program developed and introduced by Amazon in 2015 with an aim to protect its sellers from hijackings, infringement issues, and counterfeit products. Apart from that, Amazon Brand Registry lets sellers access a variety of premium selling features to build their brands and generate greater sales potential, including Amazon A+ Content, Amazon Stores, and Amazon Brand Analytics. Amazon Brand Registry will first require you to submit several pieces of information, including brand details (name, logos), trademark registration, product or product packing images, and other intellectual property-related documents. As soon as you are eligible for Amazon Brand Registry, the protection immediately takes effort. Also, you will then get access to numerous brand-building and business-leveraging tools. You can start selling on Amazon without an LLC or govern-registered trademark. However, to get approved for Amazon Brand Registry, you must have an active registered trademark issued by one of the national offices. These offices are clearly indicated in the Amazon requirements for the Registry program. To check if a brand is registered on Amazon, go to the Amazon Brand Registry page and search for the brand name. You will then see details about its name, owner, and contact information. To change your country on Amazon, follow these steps:
The Bottom Line
To conclude, Amazon Brand Registry will be one of your primary assistants in the fight against counterfeits, infringement issues, and hijackers. Adding to that, what we researched and informed you have strengthened our belief that enrolling in this program is now becoming more urgent than ever.
Therefore, no matter if you have some selling experience in the field or just starting out, it is high time that you take the Amazon Registry into serious consideration. For us, it would always be a solid Yes when it comes to the question of whether to join or not.
In your journey of spreading brand awareness and leveraging sales volume, participating Amazon Brand Registry is a great way, but it may not be enough. Have you ever considered going multichannel selling?
Should it sound compelling to you, don’t hesitate to check out LitCommerce Amazon integration. We are now supporting 5 eCommerce platforms, 15 online marketplaces. Needing further consultancy? Reach us anytime through our 24/7 live chat and get help from real people!
Last but not least, the LitCommerce team is building a Retailers Blog just for online merchants like you. Simply click to join, and stay tuned to our latest updates on eCommerce!