When buyers search for parts on Amazon, they look them up by part number, part type, year, make, model, and other vehicle attributes. Therefore, fitment data that is clear, accurate, and complete is the key to success in the automotive marketplace.
If your fitment data is not accurate, you risk selling the wrong parts to customers and receiving complaints as a result. If your fitment data is incomplete and doesn’t include every compatible vehicle, you could lose sales to competitors that should have been yours.
Format standards are used to communicate product information effectively and reduce the risk of duplicating efforts. Amazon uses ACES (Aftermarket Catalog Exchange Standard), the industry standard for automotive catalog applications data in North America, as the means to present your data in their Part Finder. It’s comprised of two components: the date and the XML delivery specification.
Here’s how to provide and add fitment data to Amazon:
Before you can send data to Amazon successfully, you need to first receive a Brand Code from the Auto Care Association (ACA), formerly known as the Automotive Aftermarket Industries Association (AAIA). This involves creating a Brand Owner and Brand Owner Label. Make sure the brand name you enter matches the brand name you’ve set up at Amazon precisely; this includes punctuation and capitalization.
To submit ACES data to Amazon, you need a separate Seller Central account. For data transmission, you have two options: direct and indirect.
Direct Method
The first phase of sending fitment data to Amazon starts with sending an email to Amazon detailing your request. Attach ACES data samples. If your samples are approved, you will receive an email containing your ACES data provider credentials.
You can submit fitment data directly to the Amazon Merchant Transport Utility (AMTU). This involves installing and configuring the AMTU on your system. The AMTU comes with system requirements that include a processor speed of at least 166 MHz, minimum memory of 64MB, and at least 70 MB of available hard drive space.
The downside of the AMTU is that it only receives fitment data but doesn’t allow you to make edits should you need to later. The only option would be to delete the fitment record and enter it again. This method also involves monitoring processing reports and sending ACES data to Amazon regularly.
Indirect Method
The other option for sending fitment data to Amazon is indirectly using a third-party fitment data provider that will submit ACES data on your behalf. Amazon is currently integrated with myFitment. The myFitment interface lets you work comfortably in Excel and upload hundreds or thousands of records at once and add thousands of vehicles of fitment at a time.
When myFitment sends your data to Amazon, Amazon typically responds within 2 minutes with a Processing Report. As a complete system for auto parts and accessories sellers, myFitment helps ensure your fitment data is accurate, complete, and in the right format for Amazon. A key feature of myFitment is that it automatically reads Amazon’s processing reports and assigns the Document IDs and any relevant information to each individual fitment in your account.
The myFitment team has been sending fitment data to Amazon for more than a decade, handling fitment at scale by providing over 1.5 billion lines of fitment data for over 25 million listings. Want to learn more? Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up-to-date with compatibility innovations from myFitment!
