Change is constant in e-commerce, but the 2025 updates to key FBA policies surprised Amazon sellers. The Everything Store imposed stricter product title requirements, revised storage limits, raised monthly storage fees for select types of merchandise, and shifted the basis of loss or damaged inventory reimbursement from the retail value to the manufacturing cost. This sent retailers and wholesalers scrambling to rethink their fulfillment strategy moving forward.

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3PL has everything to gain from the revamped FBA model. While Amazon still has competitive advantages over smaller logistics players, everybody else’s slice of the pie would grow. The opportunity for merchants on the platform is greater than ever, as the monthly traffic-per-seller ratio has skyrocketed in recent years. 

Use these five insights to build a flexible fulfillment strategy to minimize operational costs while leveraging Amazon’s rising traffic.

• Green IPI Score Is Nonnegotiable

FBA is crucial for scaling ventures, so third-party sellers should maintain high IPI scores to keep this fulfillment option viable. The performance bar should be either dark or light green. Allowing the indicator to reach yellow or red can result in decreased visibility, storage restrictions, stockouts, higher fees, blocked shipments and lost sales.

The formula for calculating IPI scores is a secret. However, most agree that the stranded inventory percentage, sell-through rate, excess inventory and in-stock rate are important factors.

Amazon punishes e-tailers who waste warehouse space, so they should focus on staying lean. Resolving listing issues, moving stale products by sweetening the deal using promotional offers, and investing in ads to drive more traffic to underperforming items are tried-and-true practices for boosting IPI scores. Removing aged merchandise, ensuring an item has less than 90 days of supply based on forecasted demand and minimizing stockouts also work wonders.

• Effective Sales Velocity Analytics Is Vital

Sales velocity issues arising from Buy Box loss, listing changes, bad reviews and ratings, and other adverse events are consequential. They can happen out of the blue and drive down IPI scores immediately. Merchants should get to the bottom of suspicious drops in sales and identify downward trends as soon as possible to mitigate their impact.

Monitoring sales figures regularly and knowing how to read them should go without saying. Product page views, unique visitors, total units sold, total revenue generated for each SKU, conversion rate, average deal value and Best Sellers Rank are the key metrics merchants must track on Seller Central.

Historical data doesn’t lie. Comparing current and past sales figures is paramount to note when dips occur and when trends begin. Sellers should know event timelines and identify merchant-initiated or market-driven changes to contextualize sales velocity issues. Understanding what happened when informs decision-making to regain momentum and remain competitive in the marketplace.

For instance, learning about a recent stockout merits more reliable demand forecasting and reasonable safety stock levels to meet unforeseen sales spikes or offset sudden supply-chain disruptions.

• Multiplatform Listings Maximize FBA

Listing items on multiple marketplaces while letting Amazon handle fulfillment helps move product more quickly and ease the pressure of maintaining a high IPI score. The e-commerce giant’s MCF service exposes merchandise to more potential buyers, giving third-party sellers a greater chance of improving their sell-through rates and curbing excess inventory levels.

Accepting orders on Etsy, Walmart Marketplace, Instagram, TikTok, or dedicated Shopify or WooCommerce digital storefronts can complicate returns. Items listed outside Amazon don’t bear the Prime badge or come with Prime shipping guarantees.

This strategy has downsides, but if executed correctly, its advantages outweigh its disadvantages. Non-Amazon e-commerce platforms are usually niche marketplaces. Merchants should intensively research to know who shops on which sites or apps to avoid mislisting items, hit target sales and keep the IPI score from dipping below the threshold. For instance, Pokémon enthusiasts would visit eBay first before going to Mercari to look for rare or limited cards.

• Diligent 3PL Selection Mitigates Counterparty Risks

Reserving FBA for bestsellers and entrusting slow-moving items to 3PL providers is a sound, flexible fulfillment strategy. This hybrid model helps merchants keep healthy IPI scores above 400, access process customizations that align with their operations, take control over customer service and incorporate custom branding into packaging.

Most 3PL partnerships are positive for shippers and asset-based and nonasset-based logistics players, but mutually beneficial business relationships don’t blossom in a vacuum. They’re the product of fitness for each other and effective communication. Bad selection dooms partnerships from the start, so choose partners wisely.

No single 3PL provider is right for every Amazon seller. Merchants should compare options based on industry knowledge, financial health, technological capability and sustainability. Evaluation begins in the first touch point. Responsiveness, idea articulation, professionalism, transparency, adaptability and willingness to collaborate are excellent considerations when judging how well a prospective logistics partner communicates.

Moreover, sellers should prepare a detailed RFP. This document details a shipper’s business requirements, like storage and warehousing needs, shipping and transportation services, technology integration, reporting and customer support. It can filter out unfit 3PL companies at the onset and keep engaging with more qualified parties.

Setting up an SLA matters to ensure everyone is on the same page. Review this contract to ensure its contents reflect prevailing market conditions and consumer expectations. In NTT DATA’s 2025 Third-Party Logistics study, nearly half of shippers said consumers expect less-than-two-day delivery terms, transparency and environmental commitments. A regularly updated SLA helps a 3PL provider consistently deliver on its promises.

• Close Supplier Collaboration Cuts Lead Times

Suppliers are integral to the overall fulfillment process. Sellers should be selective about where and how they source products, as reliable vendors can lead to higher customer satisfaction and bolster efforts to stay on Amazon’s good side.

Transparent and regular communication, continuous feedback, market intelligence sharing and technology maximization are recipes for effective collaboration. Automation prevents unnecessary interactions, simplifies requests and notifications, programs transaction documentation and reduces human error.

As with 3PL partnerships, mindful selection sets the foundation for stronger relationships and determines the ease of collaboration with supply-chain vendors. Geography, cultural differences, language barriers and technological progress can complicate engagement. Still, third-party Amazon sellers can find and work with reliable suppliers, distributors and dealers anywhere by viewing and treating them as strategic partners from the beginning.

Bilateral contracts cultivate collaborative vendor relationships. Specify lead-time expectations within the contract and incentivize early deliveries. Monetary rewards motivate suppliers to keep their end of the bargain and prioritize the needs of preferred merchants. The more both parties believe in mutual success, the more willing they are to optimize processes. Strategic business partners collaborate to identify and address bottlenecks and streamline workflows.

Lessen Amazon Dependence With a Flexible Fulfillment Strategy

Building more fulfillment flexibility in 2025 and beyond has become a matter of survival for Amazon sellers. It may be inconvenient, but it’s a blessing in disguise. Overdependence on a single entity raises business risk — a fact that many merchants have learned the hard way. 

Although adapting to the new e-commerce landscape involves relearning how things work, selling on multiple channels and partnering with reliable 3PL providers allow merchants to build resilience that will set them up for long-term success.