Amazon is going to teach its merchants how to sell more stuff

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jeff bezos

REUTERS/Abhishek N. Chinnappa

Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive officer of Amazon, poses as he stands atop a supply truck during a photo opportunity at the premises of a shopping mall in the southern Indian city of Bangalore September 28, 2014.

Amazon has introduced a new app that helps merchants market and sell their products in larger quantities, according to Fortune.

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Around 46% of all items sold on Amazon come from third-party merchants, according to the company, which is up by 5% since January 2015.

Selling Coach is part of the Amazon Seller app which is given to merchants by the company. Amazon is also ramping up its fulfillment programme for third-parties which gives them access to the company's extension logistics network, payment processing, and item packaging (for a fee.)

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According to Mark Mitchke, the vice president of fulfillment at Amazon, the company is adding more merchant-focused features, including a control panel that displays sales data which can highlight items that aren't selling well.

Walmart recently let third-party vendors sell through its website, creating competition for Amazon.

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Amazon's new app and other initiatives are an effort to increase the stickiness of Amazon's services for merchants who won't then sell on Walmart's website or through their own websites.

"Amazon is really focused on what I call the fundamentals: selection, assortment, value, convenience and trust," said Scot Wingo, the executive chairman of ChannelAdvisor, to Fortune. "To provide those fundamentals to buyers, since 46% of the volume is from third-party sellers, Amazon is always improving the seller tools to encourage sellers to put up more product."

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