Correct Amazon MWS Flow for an Item with an Existing ASIN

Correct Amazon MWS Flow for an Item with an Existing ASIN

As a data scientist or software engineer dealing with Amazon’s Marketplace Web Service (MWS), understanding the correct flow for an item with an existing Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) is crucial. This post will guide you through the process in a step-by-step manner.

What Is Amazon MWS?

First, let’s set the stage for newcomers. Amazon MWS is a suite of APIs offered by Amazon. It allows Amazon’s sellers and other third-party developers to interact with Amazon’s extensive marketplace programmatically. This includes interactions such as listing items, pulling orders, scheduling reports, and much more.

What Is ASIN?

ASIN is Amazon’s unique block of 10 letters and/or numbers for identifying items. Once an item is added to the Amazon catalog, an ASIN is automatically assigned to it.

Correct MWS Flow for an Item with an Existing ASIN

When dealing with an item that already has an ASIN, you don’t need to create a new product listing. Instead, the key focus is on price, quantity, and condition data.

Here’s the typical flow:

1. Check If the ASIN Is Already on Your Seller Account

Before anything else, ensure that the ASIN is already on your seller account. You can do this by using the ListMatchingProducts operation. This operation returns a list of products and their attributes, based on a search query.

MWS.products.search({
  'SellerId': 'YOUR_SELLER_ID',
  'MarketplaceId': 'YOUR_MARKET_PLACE_ID',
  'Query': 'YOUR_ASIN'
})

2. Update the Price, Quantity, and Condition Data

After confirming the existence of the ASIN, you can now update the product data. Amazon MWS provides the SubmitFeed operation for this purpose.

This operation submits a data feed to Amazon MWS to update your listings. The data feed is an XML file containing the information Amazon MWS needs to process updates to your listings.

Here’s a sample XML feed:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<AmazonEnvelope xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="amzn-envelope.xsd">
  <Header>
    <DocumentVersion>1.01</DocumentVersion>
    <MerchantIdentifier>M_YOUR_SELLER_ID</MerchantIdentifier>
  </Header>
  <MessageType>Inventory</MessageType>
  <Message>
    <MessageID>1</MessageID>
    <OperationType>Update</OperationType>
    <Inventory>
      <SKU>YOUR_SKU</SKU>
      <Quantity>YOUR_QUANTITY</Quantity>
      <FulfillmentLatency>1</FulfillmentLatency>
    </Inventory>
  </Message>
  <Message>
    <MessageID>2</MessageID>
    <OperationType>Update</OperationType>
    <Inventory>
      <SKU>YOUR_SKU</SKU>
      <Price>
        <StandardPrice currency="USD">YOUR_PRICE</StandardPrice>
      </Price>
    </Inventory>
  </Message>
</AmazonEnvelope>

3. Confirm the Update

After submitting the feed, you’ll want to ensure the update was successful. The GetFeedSubmissionResult operation comes in handy for this, providing the processing report for the submitted feed.

MWS.feeds.search({
  'SellerId': 'YOUR_SELLER_ID',
  'FeedSubmissionId': 'YOUR_FEED_SUBMISSION_ID'
})

Conclusion

Understanding the correct Amazon MWS flow for an item with an existing ASIN is vital for managing your Amazon listings efficiently. This step-by-step guide should help you navigate the process with ease. Remember to always check the ASIN’s existence on your seller account, update the necessary data, and confirm the success of your updates. Happy selling!

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