Amazon continues to be one of the biggest online marketplaces thanks to its wide range and variety of products and Amazon Custom is here to make your products stand out among your competition. 

Amazon Custom can make your products unique. It allows shoppers to personalize, customize, or configure their products before purchasing them from you.

So, basically you’d be selling your same product, but with the possibility of having customers mix and match fonts, text and images.

Amazon Custom Overview

Image: Amazon Custom

Amazon Custom works as a separate store within Amazon, but customizable products will be cross-listed on Amazon, so more people can find them. 

Buyers can make their products even more distinctive by adding their name, pictures, image or even their business logo on products like phone cases, t-shirts, pillows, cups, diaries, etc. Sellers can also provide a list of customizing options.

Is your product customizable? Then, this is an option to consider if you want to expand your pool of clients. Listings from the Amazon Custom Program enable a Customize Now button. This is how shoppers are able to choose text and font, among other things.

What customization options can sellers offer?

With Amazon Custom, you can offer your customers:

• Text, 
• Image, and 
• Product configuration (depending on the product you’re selling)

For example, laptops and technology products, overall, are not part of Amazon Custom just yet, but basically all other departments can join the program. 

Categories

These are Amazon Custom categories as of June 2021:

• Kitchen
• Office Products
• Furniture
• Pets
• Apparel
• Jewelry
• Sports
• Home
• Toys

Editor’s picks

• Wedding
• Home décor

It is especially helpful if you’re selling on Amazon Handmade, since you can join the program even if you’re an individual seller.

Other sellers do need to have a Professional Seller account in order to join the program, so if you’re an individual seller, you’ll have to upgrade and pay only $39.99 a month. 

You also need to be authorized to sell the products you want to customize.

If you’re eligible to sell sports items, then you won’t be able to offer customization for a cup, for example, but you can for socks.

We’ll explain the three types of customization below:

1. Text customization

Here, you are the one that sets the parameters, but customers are the ones who can decide on the text they want to add and choose from the options of fonts and colors, which you can specify from your Seller Central. 

The text can be engraved, printed, painted, embroidered, etc. to customize different types of materials like clothes, ceramics and even jewelry.

Your images must be a size of 400×400 to leave enough blank space for the text to fit.

2. Image customization

Shoppers can use any image they want, uploaded and add it to your product. Customizing images also allows the option of adding text too. The images should have a specific format that you can control from Seller Central, including the necessary resolution and type of file to guarantee that your product looks nice when it’s already customized. 

3. Product configuration

Product configuration is also known as “list of options.” 

This means that within Seller Central you can create a drop-down menu for your customers with the options you decide to include you to create a series of drop-down options through Seller Central that customers can use to build their own product. 

This feature also enables you to charge an additional fee for selecting customization options, for example a material with a better quality or a more expensive finishing.

With Amazon Custom you can:

• Use the three customization types at the same time in a single product listing. Amazon currently allows you to offer up to 5 surfaces with 10 customizations each and 100+ options.

• You can choose from the more than 100 preloaded fonts or you can upload up to 20 custom fonts.
• Each text field can be assigned a different color. 
• Decide on the types of characters your customers can enter. This includes letters, numbers, capital letters and even emojis. 
• Select the number of text lines a buyer can use in a customization field. You can allow customers to wrap or stack text within a field, too. 
• Customers can choose to upload one or more images to the location of your product where you offer customization. 
• You can preview your listings before actually posting to ensure you’re offering the experience you want.

Source: Tamebay

How It Works

We’ve mentioned that Amazon Custom is a different store-front, but it’s worth mentioning that at the time, you can register for free.

Amazon mentions on their site that as features are added, it may imply charges in the future.

Step 1- Register to Amazon Custom

All you have to do is sign up, and you’ll be able to see the Customizing option for your products on your seller account.

Remember that you must be a Professional Seller or part of Amazon Handmade to be able to join the program.

Step 2- Create your listings

Once your account is registered for Amazon Custom, you’ll be given access to enable your product listings for customization.

All you have to do is the following: 

• Access your Amazon Seller Central.
• Click on the button “Inventory” located in the main menu.
• Open the menu and choose “Add Product” and click on “I’m adding a product not sold on Amazon.”
• Choose the right sales category.

Then, you’ll be asked to specify info, keywords, images and descriptions like any other listing. 

Step 3 – Set up your experience

Now you can start configuring your customization choices by using the listing tool in Seller Central.

After you’ve created a listing, you can add the customization information with the “Manage Inventory,” where you’ll find the category “Add/Edit Customization Information.” Here, you can select the customizable surfaces on your product, the lines of text, image specifications, etc.

Now, you’re all set to start selling!

Source: WebFx

Things You Should Know

– While it’s a free program, you need to be approved before joining Amazon Custom. You’ll be notified via email, usually within an hour after joining with all the necessary links. You’ll be notified at the moment of the application if you’re not accepted.

– Fulfilment by Amazon is currently not available for Amazon Custom. Since you’ll be selling unique products, you’ll have to fulfill all orders yourself. 

– Image customization and product configuration are manual, which means customers will have to upload one by one. Bulk uploads only work for text customization in a single surface and up to five lines.

– Remember to click and see how your customized surfaces look. The options you offer need to match the product you offer. This includes things like removing fonts and colors you might not be able to use.

– You can always advertise Amazon Custom products on Amazon using Sponsored Products.

– Product customization of any kind must still comply with the policies of Restricted Products or Offensive Products.

Source: Seller Central

Final Thoughts

Amazon Custom is a way to add value to the products you already know your customers are buying and it gives you the possibility to reach a broader audience. 

Customers being able to choose images and text to get the exact product they want is a feature that, if done correctly, can help you raise your sales. 

As with any listing, make sure you’re creating the experience you want customers to have and that what you’re offering can actually be done and look well on the products you sell. Customization options can be exciting, just make sure your products are still of the best quality.

At the end of the day, Amazon Custom is a way for your clients to engage more with your brand by owning the item they’re purchasing from you. 

This is a feature most clients are willing to pay a little extra and to get the product, not only for themselves but as a gift to family members or for employees within a company. It’s all about using the program to your favor.