Tag Archive for: Amazon SP-API

How CIEL Book Distribution Automated 26M+ Amazon Records Using EDI2XML API Integration

About CIEL Book Distribution

CIEL Book Distribution is one of the leading book distributors in the Middle East, with operations based in Dubai (UAE) and Beirut (Lebanon). The company supplies books to bookstores, educational institutions, and online retailers, offering a vast catalog of titles across multiple languages and genres.

To meet the demands of a growing digital marketplace, CIEL relies heavily on Amazon Seller Central to reach global customers. With over 26 million bibliographic records in its master database, the company needed a scalable, automated solution to manage product listings, inventory updates, and pricing — without relying on manual uploads.

The Challenge: Manual Inventory Updates on Amazon Seller Central

Before automation, CIEL’s team manually uploaded inventory and product data to Amazon Seller Central up to six times per day. This process involved:

Handling daily delta files of 500,000 to 1 million records

Navigating Amazon’s Selling Partner API (SP-API) limitations — only 10,000 items per feed, with a two-minute interval between submissions

Spending over 48 hours to complete full synchronizations

While the process technically worked, it was time-consuming, error-prone, and unsustainable as the catalog continued to grow.

Manual uploads were slowing down operations and increasing the risk of data inconsistencies.

The Solution: EDI2XML Amazon API Integration Services

CIEL partnered with EDI2XML, to design and implement a fully automated integration with Amazon Seller Central.

With over 25 years of experience in system integration and EDI automation, EDI2XML specializes in connecting business systems, eCommerce platforms, and cloud applications using APIs and EDI technologies.

“It was the first API integration project in our company — a real challenge,” said Tony Akiki, Software Development & Consultancy at CIEL Book Distribution. “With EDI2XML’s support, we succeeded. Everything is now fully automated — no more manual uploads.”

How EDI2XML Solved the Problem

1. Automated Delta Feeds

CIEL’s system now prepares daily delta files and transmits them to Amazon via API. Each file contains 500K–1M updated records.

Amazon API Integration

2. SP-API Integration

EDI2XML built a robust integration layer that communicates directly with Amazon’s SP-API. The system respects all throughput limits, sending batches of 10,000 records every two minutes to maintain compliance and performance.

Amazon Managed Inventory

3. Proof of Concept and Testing

EDI2XML provided Swagger-based API access for testing. CIEL validated the integration using one seller account before moving to full subscription.

4. Scalable Architecture

The current setup supports one Amazon seller account, but it’s designed to scale across nine accounts. It can also be extended to Amazon Vendor Central, providing a foundation for future expansion.

5. Continuous Support and Collaboration

Throughout the project, EDI2XML provided hands-on technical support, close collaboration, and troubleshooting. This helped CIEL’s internal team build confidence in API workflows and integration best practices.

Results Achieved

After implementing the EDI2XML Amazon Integration, CIEL saw immediate improvements:

  • Manual uploads eliminated — saving hours of daily work
  • Faster, error-free inventory updates
  • Real-time product availability on Amazon
  • Scalable infrastructure ready for future growth
  • Technical foundation for full digital transformation

“We are very thankful to Pierre and the EDI2XML team,” Tony said. “This project made a big difference for our company.”

What’s Next for CIEL?

According to Tony Akiki, the current setup represents just a small part of the full vision. Upcoming phases include:

  • Scaling integration to all nine Amazon seller accounts
  • Expanding automation to Amazon Vendor Central
  • Improving throughput and synchronization speed
  • Adding validation with publisher lists to ensure only eligible titles are published

What Is Amazon Seller Central API Integration? (Explained)

Amazon Seller Central Integration allows businesses to connect their internal systems directly with Amazon using APIs. Instead of manually uploading spreadsheets, the integration automatically sends and receives data such as:

Inventory quantities

Product prices and metadata

Orders and fulfillment status

This kind of automation reduces manual effort, minimizes human error, and helps businesses operate efficiently — even with large volumes of data.

Key Takeaways from CIEL’s Automation Journey

  • Automation replaces repetitive manual work CIEL now updates Amazon automatically, freeing staff to focus on strategic tasks.
  • APIs can handle massive data — when configured correctly With careful batching and scheduling, even 26 million records can be synchronized reliably.
  • Start small, scale smart Testing one seller account first ensured a smooth rollout and reduced risk.
  • Partnership matters The close collaboration between CIEL’s IT team and EDI2XML specialists ensured project success.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a delta file in this context?

A delta file contains only the changes (new, modified, or deleted items) since the last synchronization. This approach keeps updates fast and efficient.

Why does Amazon limit batch sizes to 10,000 records?

To maintain system performance and reliability, Amazon enforces rate limits. Integrations like EDI2XML manage these limits intelligently to ensure data is delivered on time.

Can this solution work for other eCommerce platforms?

Yes. EDI2XML’s API framework can integrate with various marketplaces and ERP systems, not only Amazon but also Shopify, WooCommerce, and others.

How long does it take to implement such an integration?

Implementation timelines vary based on complexity, but CIEL’s proof of concept was completed within weeks.

Is this solution secure?

Yes. EDI2XML follows best practices for API security, including authentication, encryption, and data validation.

About EDI2XML

EDI2XML, a sister company of Namtek Consulting Services, provides fully managed EDI and API integration services. With over 25 years of experience in system integration, the team helps businesses automate data exchange between internal systems, trading partners, and cloud applications.

Whether it’s Amazon SP-API, Shopify API, or EDI X12 transactions, EDI2XML ensures seamless, secure, and scalable integration – so your business stays connected and efficient.

Ready to Automate Your Amazon Operations?

Whether you manage one seller account or multiple, EDI2XML can help you:

  • Automate data updates
  • Improve accuracy
  • Scale confidently

Contact us today to learn how our Amazon API Integration Services can streamline your business operations and accelerate your digital transformation.

Free IT Consultation

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Why You Should Migrate Amazon MWS to Amazon Selling API (SP-API)

Amazon sellers have noticed more than anyone else that data integration provides a high level of sales automation and helps to quickly grow an e-commerce business.

Thus, for the automation data flow and best management inventory and sales operations, Amazon Sellers use a technology called “API” (Application Programming Interface).

An API is a software that establishes a connection between computer programs and allows them to interact with each other. API connects different systems and automatically coordinates data flow and process.

In this article, we will look at the new Amazon Selling Partner API (SP-API) as well as Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS). We’ll take a look at why Amazon sellers should switch from Amazon MWS to SP-API and the best way to do it.

What is Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS)?

The Amazon Marketplace Web Service (Amazon MWS) is an API service built for Amazon sellers of all sizes. MWS APIs has served Amazon merchants for over 10 years by offering programmatic access to important Amazon features.

By integrating their Amazon store data using Amazon MWS, merchants can significantly reduce order processing time and improve sales efficiency.

It helps programmatically exchange the following information:

  • product lists updates;
  • inventory updates;
  • order data;
  • payment information;
  • fulfilment;
  • reports and much more.

 

What is Selling Partner API (SP-API)

The Selling Partner API (SP-API) is an enhanced version of Amazon MWS. It includes all the features that existed in Amazon MWS, however, all future developments will be SP-API-only.

Thus, SP-API is Amazon’s next-generation REST-based API created on Amazon Marketplace Web Service (MWS) APIs.

REST-based Selling Partner API Key Features

As mentioned above, the SP-API is an improved version of the Amazon MWS and it has many improvements. Below are some of the new SP-API features:

  • modernized REST-based APIs that accept an input and output in JSON format
  • New service endpoints that are now supported in all regions.
  • A sandbox feature for testing with dummy data, using different sandbox endpoints. Thus, it is now possible to test applications by making calls to the sandbox environment.
  • The ability to create an SDK that will help you with LWA token exchange and authentication.
  • Dynamic usage plan that automatically adjusts bid limits for each selling partner based on various metrics.
  • SP-API has a brand new feature: API for Amazon Vendors – which is accessed through the same API control plane using the same authorization mechanisms.
  • RDTs (Restricted Data Tokens) support for a secure way to access a customer’s PII (Personally Identifiable Information)
  • Based on a variety of factors, a dynamic usage plan automatically adjusts rate limits for each selling partner.
  • Support for SP- API is now available in all regions.

Amazon MWS replaced by new Amazon Selling API (SP-API)

Amazon SP-API

According to Amazon, in the future, all new API functionality will be built into the Amazon Selling API, and MWS updates will only be performed to support some business-critical changes.

Thereby, the question that worries many Amazon sellers who are now using MWS: What will happen to the Amazon MWS?

The legacy MWS APIs is going away, so it will be deprecated.

On April 6, 2021, the first stage of Amazon MWS deprecation has already begun for the following section:

  • Orders
  • Reports
  • MFN (Merchant Fulfillment Network)

This applies to all public apps authorized by selling partners in the Marketplace appStore. To prevent interruptions, you must migrate before July 31, 2022.

NOTE: All API calls from public applications using the sections listed above of Amazon MWS will not be successful after July 31, 2022.

The specified sections will continue to be available to private applications after July 31, 2022. They are not required to migrate at this time.

By September 30, 2022, all public applications authorized by Selling Partners that use the MWS Product API must migrate to the SP-API.

By December 31, 2022, all public applications authorized by Selling Partners that use all other sections of the MWS API must be fully migrated to SP-API. This comprises applications using the following MWS API sections:

  • Feeds API
  • Finances API
  • Fulfillment Inbound Shipment API
  • Fulfillment Inventory API
  • Fulfillment Outbound Shipment API
  • Recommendations API
  • Sellers API
  • Subscriptions API
  • Push Notifications Schemas
  •  

NOTE: As long as your application is used only by your business and is not authorized by other Amazon Selling Partners, you are not obliged to migrate to SP-API this year.

So, even though it is currently not a requirement to migrate from Amazon MWS to SP-API, however, Amazon highly recommends planning the migration process as soon as possible.

So either way, at some point you will need to migrate to Amazon Selling API in order to continue using the service. Therefore, it is better to do it now, while you still have enough time, than to migrate at the last moment.

Conclusion: How to migrate Amazon MWS to new Amazon Selling Partner API (SP-API)

Companies running their Amazon Seller account, on different marketplaces, can take advantage of the EDI2XML integration service.

For many years, our company has been successfully helping businesses of all sizes to solve various integration issues on Amazon. Our e-commerce integration experts can handle anything from migration Amazon MWS to SP-API to complex data integration projects with internal accounting, or business systems such as ERP or CRM.

If you need help with Amazon integration, please contact us for your first free consultation. Our integration specialists will be happy to assist you.

 

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