How Vendors can use Selling Partner APIs to increase their performance

by Krithi C., Solutions Architect, Selling Partner Developer Services | October 25, 2022

This blog explains how vendors can optimize their performance by using the read APIs supported on the Amazon Selling Partner API.

Overview

First, let’s discuss the advantages of automation. Given that there is data parity across API reports and Amazon Retail Analytics (ARA) dashboards in Vendor Central, APIs eliminate the challenge of manual downloads from Vendor Central and prevent human error. With automation, vendors can have centralized and programmatic access to data at scale across regions and vendor groups. This makes data available at all times to downstream systems like data visualization tools or a data warehouse. SP-APIs enable vendors to free up resources to identify key patterns to boost performance rather than spending time on manual downloads.

The following diagram gives you an idea of how you can benefit from SP-APIs and build intelligence using the data retrieved.

Architecture Diagram

Example workflow

We recommend the following focus areas to start building on Content and Analytics.

Content

Vendors can visualize their content and strategize on improving it by using the Catalog Items API v2022-04-01. This API retrieves detailed item information in the Amazon catalog, and vendors may retrieve additional vendor-specific details. The CatalogItems API helps vendors get item metadata such as UPC, ISBN, brand, model number, part number, etc. Particularly, the SearchCatalogItems operation lets you access item metadata efficiently by supporting up to 20 ASINs in the query parameter. You can reference the Catalog Items Use Case Guide which contains a tutorial on how to use the API. This API is available via the Product Listing SP-API Role.

Before we jump to Analytics, let’s talk about the Reports API. The Reports API v2021-06-30 is an asynchronous API that lets you get reports for a variety of use-cases. Report Type values are enumerations you specify to request a specific report type. You can follow the Tutorial: Request and retrieve a report to set up the report generation workflow. The retail analytics and brand analytics data that provide insights into a vendor business are available via the Reports API under the Brand analytics SP-API Role.

Analytics

Since the Retail Analytics and Brand Analytics reports are keyed by ASIN, vendors can use the identifiers retrieved in Content to annotate reports within systems. These reports enable API integrators to specify and request data from different time ranges (for example, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly, and trailing 4 weeks). Select report types enable vendors to self-service data backfills for historic data.

Retail Analytics - The Vendor Retail Analytics reports are a collection of reports that share time series data for a vendor’s business, including historical sales, traffic, inventory, and forecast metrics across all their vendor groups.
Brand Analytics - The Brand Analytics reports provide a holistic view of a vendor’s business. These reports aim to deliver competitive insights for brand owners to make informed, strategic decisions about a vendor’s product portfolio across all their vendor groups.

Retail and Brand Analytics Report Type Values

The following tables summarize the different report types available for vendors under Brand and Retail Analytics. You can also see the various report options provided to enhance flexibility in your reporting model.

Brand Analytics reports

	Market Basket Report	Repeat Purchase Report	Amazon Search Terms Report
reportType	`GET_BRAND_ANALYTICS_MARKET_BASKET_REPORT`	`GET_BRAND_ANALYTICS_REPEAT_PURCHASE_REPORT`	`GET_BRAND_ANALYTICS_SEARCH_TERMS_REPORT`
Availability	Sellers and vendors who have the Brand Analytics Selling Partner API role and are registered in the Brand Registry.	Sellers and vendors who have the Brand Analytics Selling Partner API role and are registered in the Brand Registry.	Sellers and vendors who have the Brand Analytics Selling Partner API role and are registered in the Brand Registry.
Description	JSON report containing data on the items that are most commonly purchased in combination with the items in the customer's basket (cart) at checkout.	JSON report containing data on the quantity of repeated purchases of the selling partner's items.	JSON report containing data on the top clicked ASINs by search keyword and department for a marketplace.
reportOptions	`reportPeriod`	`reportPeriod`	`reportPeriod`
reportPeriod	`DAY`, `WEEK`, `MONTH`, `QUARTER` Example: `"reportOptions":{"reportPeriod": "WEEK"}`	`WEEK`, `MONTH`, `QUARTER` Example: `"reportOptions":{"reportPeriod": "WEEK"}`	`DAY`, `WEEK`, `MONTH`, `QUARTER` Example: `"reportOptions":{"reportPeriod": "WEEK"}`
Lookback and Reporting Periods	NA	NA	NA
distributorView	NA	NA	NA
sellingProgram	NA	NA	NA

Vendor Retail Analytics reports

	Sales Report	Net PPM Report	Traffic Report	Forecasting Report	Inventory Report
reportType	`GET_VENDOR_SALES_REPORT`	`GET_VENDOR_NET_PURE_PRODUCT_MARGIN_REPORT`	`GET_VENDOR_TRAFFIC_REPORT`	`GET_VENDOR_FORECASTING_REPORT`	`GET_VENDOR_INVENTORY_REPORT`
Availability	Vendors who have the Brand Analytics Selling Partner API role.	Vendors who have the Brand Analytics Selling Partner API role.	Vendors who have the Brand Analytics Selling Partner API role.	Vendors who have the Brand Analytics Selling Partner API role.	Vendors who have the Brand Analytics Selling Partner API role.
Description	JSON report with key retail sales metrics such as ordered/shipped revenue and units. Data is reported at the aggregate level across a vendor's catalog of items and at the ASIN level.	JSON report containing data on Amazon's net pure product margins for selling a vendor's items. Data is reported at the aggregate level across a vendor's catalog of items and at the ASIN level.	JSON report with key retail traffic metrics such as detail page views. Data is reported at the aggregate level across a vendor's catalog of items and at the ASIN level.	JSON report with forward looking mean, P70, P80, and P90 weekly customer demand forecasts. Data is reported at the ASIN level for the most recent weekly forecast generation date.	JSON report with inventory and operational health metrics such as sellable on hand units and vendor confirmation rate. Data is reported at the aggregate level across a vendor's catalog of items and at the ASIN level.
reportOptions	`reportPeriod`, `distributorView`, `sellingProgram`	`reportPeriod`	`reportPeriod`	`sellingProgram`	`reportPeriod`, `distributorView`, `sellingProgram`
reportPeriod	`DAY`, `WEEK`, `MONTH`, `QUARTER` `Example: "reportOptions":{"reportPeriod": "WEEK"}`	`DAY`, `WEEK`, `MONTH`, `QUARTER` `Example: "reportOptions":{"reportPeriod": "WEEK"}`	`DAY`, `WEEK`, `MONTH`, `QUARTER` `Example: "reportOptions":{"reportPeriod": "WEEK"}`	Only the most recent forecast data is available. Historical forecast data cannot be requested.	`WEEK`, `MONTH`, `QUARTER` `Example: "reportOptions":{"reportPeriod": "WEEK"}`
Lookback and Reporting Periods	Max Lookback Period: `DAY`: 1,460 days `WEEK`: 8 weeks `MONTH`: 36 months `QUARTER`: 8 quarters `YEAR`: 3 years Max Reporting Period: `DAY`: 15 days `WEEK`: 7 weeks `MONTH`: 15 months `QUARTER`: 4 quarters `YEAR`: 2 years	Max Lookback Period: `DAY`: 1,460 days `WEEK`: 8 weeks `MONTH`: 36 months `QUARTER`: 8 quarters `YEAR`: 3 years Max Reporting Period: `DAY`: 15 days `WEEK`: 7 weeks `MONTH`: 15 months `QUARTER`: 4 quarters `YEAR`: 2 years	Max Lookback Period: `DAY`: 1,460 days `WEEK`: 8 weeks `MONTH`: 36 months `QUARTER`: 8 quarters `YEAR`: 3 years Max Reporting Period: `DAY`: 15 days `WEEK`: 7 weeks `MONTH`: 15 months `QUARTER`: 4 quarters `YEAR`: 2 years	NA	Max Lookback Period: `WEEK`: 8 weeks `MONTH`: 36 months `QUARTER`: 8 quarters `YEAR`: 3 years Max Reporting Period: `WEEK` 7 weeks `MONTH`: 15 months `QUARTER`: 4 quarters `YEAR`: 2 years
distributorView	MANUFACTURING SOURCING `Example: "reportOptions":{"distributorView": "SOURCING"}`	NA	NA	NA	MANUFACTURING SOURCING `Example: "reportOptions":{"distributorView": "SOURCING"}`
sellingProgram	RETAIL `Example: "reportOptions":{"sellingProgram": "RETAIL"}`	NA	NA	RETAIL `Example: "reportOptions":{"sellingProgram": "RETAIL"}`	RETAIL `Example: "reportOptions":{"sellingProgram": "RETAIL"}`

Conclusion

This blog provided guidance to vendors who are looking to adopt Selling Partner APIs and improve their performance. With the above described workflow, vendors can efficiently get access to their content and analytics data. To start unlocking the benefits of these APIs, check out our Getting started with Selling Partner API for Vendors blog and Registering as a Developer. For any issues with integration, contact us at Developer Support.

Related resources

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