ASIN stands for Amazon Standard Identification Number. It’s a 10-charcter alphanumeric unique identifier that’s assigned by Amazon.com and its partners. It’s used for product-identification within Amazon.com organization.
ASINs are only guaranteed unique within a marketplace. So, different national Amazon sites may use different ASINs for the same product.
Why Amazon ASIN are Important to Amazon and its Sellers
An Amazon ASIN is important to both Amazon and its marketplace sellers. For Amazon, an ASIN is used to reference catalog data, track inventory for products, and index catalog pages for search and browse.
Think about the customer experience on Amazon.
Amazon gives customers advanced search options. This allows shoppers to easily select and drill down through multiple categories of products to find the item
they’re looking for. Or, they can just type the product description into the search box. Either way, customers can find the exact item they’re looking for.
Using a product’s ASIN, Amazon delivers accurate and relevant product searches for customers.
It’s vital then that sellers identify and use the correct ASIN identifier for their products. Otherwise, Amazon won’t be able to search your products to show them to customers.
To list any products on Amazon, you’ll first need to find your Amazon ASIN number.
How to Find Your Amazon ASIN Number
You can locate an Amazon ASIN number in a few different places: product web address, product details, or a software tool for ASIN lookups.
The fastest way is to look in your browser’s address bar for the product you’re looking to sell. The Amazon ASIN will be after the product’s name and “dp”, as highlighted below.
The second place you can find the ASIN is in the product details on Amazon.com, near the bottom of the product’s page.
Adding Unique Amazon ASINs: Using GTINs,UPCs, ISBNS, and EANs
In some cases, you might need to add a unique ASIN to Amazon’s product catalog. This
happens when you sell a new item not yet sold on Amazon. This is usually the case
when you manufacture your own items.
To do this, Amazon provides an “Add a Product” tool that allows you to create new
product detail pages on Amazon.com. Once your product page is up, you can sell your
items. (Be aware that other sellers can also use this ASIN number to sell the same
items.)
When creating a new ASIN, you’ll need to know your product’s GTINs, or Global Trade
Item Numbers. The most common GTINs used are UPCs, ISBNs, and EANs. These
types of codes are generally found near the bar code on the product package of your
product.
- ISBN (International Standard Book Number): 10 digits or 13 digits
- UPC (Universal Product Code): 12 digits
- EAN (European Article Number): 13 digits
- GTIN-14 (Global Trade Item Number): 14 digits
If you don’t already know your GTIN, you can request it from the manufacturer of your
product. But, if you manufactured the item yourself, you’ll need to register your product
through the GS1 US for UPCs and US ISBN Agency for ISBNs (for US sellers).
Amazon uses these universal product identifiers to create and match their own unique
ASIN codes.
Need of New Amazon ASIN is an Indication of Competition
Amazon continues to grow its base of marketplace sellers, and the number of product it
offers. But, the results for sellers is that Amazon becomes more competitive to sell on. If
you need to create a new Amazon ASIN for a product you want to sell, this can be a
good indication that there’s low selling competition for that item.
When you have to do this, it indicates that you’re the only seller offering this product.
You don’t have to compete with other sellers for customers. This strategy can also help
you win the buy box!
As you’re looking to list new products on Amazon, keep in mind how competitive it is to
sell that item. Looking to whether or not you need to create a new ASIN can help you
determine that.
