What is Amazon FBA? And more importantly, what are the alternatives?
Selling on Amazon is a powerful way to reach customers, but with hundreds of thousands of sellers competing in the UK alone, finding the right fulfilment model is key to standing out. Whether you’re a startup brand or a growing e-commerce player in the drinks industry, how you store, handle, and ship your products can make or break your business.
Amazon offers multiple fulfilment options, and each comes with different rules, responsibilities and opportunities. In this article, we’ll break down the most common models used by sellers on Amazon, and more importantly, show how BevLink by Kammac can help you manage stock, stay compliant, and deliver your drinks fast and reliably to your customers.
What is FBA?
Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) means you send your stock to Amazon’s fulfilment centres, and they handle everything from storage to delivery and even customer service. You pay storage and fulfilment fees, and in return, your products become eligible for Prime delivery and Amazon handles most of the operational burden.
Here’s how it works:
- You decide which SKUs to sell via FBA and mark them as such in Amazon Seller Central.
- You prepare your stock according to Amazon’s detailed packaging and labelling requirements.
- You ship your products to Amazon’s fulfilment centres.
- Amazon picks, packs, and ships your orders to customers.
- Amazon handles returns and customer service.
For drinks businesses, especially those managing seasonal demand or shelf-life concerns, managing stock levels within Amazon’s system can be challenging. That’s where BevLink steps in. We can store your wider inventory, prepare stock to Amazon’s exact standards, and send in regular replenishments to keep your listings active without overcommitting on fees or risking expiry.
BevLink by Kammac uses our extensive experience working with beverage companies of all shapes and sizes to ensure you have a partner that really understands and can support your products.
What Kind of Products Work Best for FBA?
- Fast-moving items
- Products with predictable or growing demand
- Items with high sales volumes during peak seasons
- Products you sell to customers in the UK or across Europe
If your drinks range fits these categories, FBA might make sense. But for many beverage brands, especially those with limited runs, subscription models or a broader DTC strategy, alternatives like FBM or SFP offer better control and flexibility.
FBM: Fulfilled by Merchant
With Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM), you list your products on Amazon, but you (or your chosen fulfilment partner) handle the storage, shipping, and customer service. This gives you greater control over branding and packaging, and you can tailor the delivery experience to your audience.
Here’s how FBM works:
- Create your product listings and opt to fulfil them yourself.
- Store stock at your warehouse or with a fulfilment partner like BevLink.
- When orders come in, you pick, pack and ship them directly to customers.
- You manage customer queries, returns and refunds.
BevLink specialises in beverage fulfilment, offering flexible storage solutions and a pick-pack process tailored for drinks packaging, handling, and compliance. From multipacks to branded inserts, our service gives you full control of how your product arrives in the hands of customers.
FBM Carrier Plans
- Individual Sellers receive Amazon shipping credits, however will not cover the whole cost of shipping, which must be factored into pricing carefully.
- Amazon Partnered Carriers must be used, meaning limited options for delivery and shipping to fulfilment centres.
Whether you’re shipping to retailers, subscribers or individual Amazon shoppers, BevLink ensures your logistics match your customer promise.
SFP: Seller Fulfilled Prime
Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) combines the benefits of FBM with Prime eligibility. You store and ship orders yourself, but your listings carry the Prime badge, giving you greater visibility and customer trust.
To qualify, you must:
- Maintain fast, reliable delivery with approved carriers
- Offer same-day despatch six days a week
- Keep your cancellation rate under 0.5%
- Use Amazon’s approved Seller Fulfilled Prime shipping services
- Let Amazon manage customer service
For drinks brands already shipping high volumes from their own warehouse or through a fulfilment partner like BevLink, SFP is a great way to stay in control while still offering a Prime experience.
Why Choose BevLink?
BevLink by Kammac is built specifically to support growing beverage brands. Whether you’re distributing soft drinks, mixers, craft beers or health drinks, we provide a flexible fulfilment model that scales with your business. We offer:
- BRCGS-certified storage facilities with temperature-controlled options
- Full Amazon prep and compliance support
- Integration with Amazon Seller Central and other e-commerce platforms
- Experience handling product launches, subscription orders and multipacks
- Dedicated account management and real-time stock visibility
Whether you choose FBA, FBM or SFP, BevLink gives you the infrastructure and support you need to stay competitive on Amazon without getting bogged down in logistics. With extensive experience of both beverage brands and supporting selling via Amazon, we can give you the security of knowing you have experts in your corner, ensuring you can keep focusing on your core business, and leave the logistics to us.
Ready to optimise your fulfilment?
If you’re selling drinks online and want a reliable, scalable alternative to FBA, BevLink is here to help. Get in touch with our team to find out how we can streamline your Amazon operations and take the hassle out of fulfilment.