Retail Analytics (formerly ARA)
Retail Analytics is the reporting section of Amazon Vendor Central where a first-party vendor sees its own business with Amazon (what was ordered and shipped, what inventory exists, what it cost, what margin came out, and what the forecast says), and it was formerly branded Amazon Retail Analytics (ARA).
Retail Analytics is the reporting section of Amazon Vendor Central where a first-party vendor sees its own business with Amazon (what was ordered and shipped, what inventory exists, what it cost, what margin came out, and what the forecast says), and it was formerly branded Amazon Retail Analytics (ARA).
What it is
Retail Analytics covers the products Amazon buys from you and resells. Its reports answer questions about ordered and shipped sales, inventory, cost, margin, and forecast demand, and you can filter them down to individual ASINs.
Most of the guides that rank for this term still call it ARA and split it into a free ARA Basic tier and a paid ARA Premium tier, but the console no longer uses any of those names. The menu item just reads Retail Analytics, so when an older guide tells you to open ARA, this is the section it means.
Where it lives in Vendor Central
From anywhere in Vendor Central, open Reports in the top navigation and choose Retail Analytics from the menu. The report picker, date range, distributor view, and ASIN filters all sit on that page, and each report downloads from there.
Amazon also sells a premium tier of Retail Analytics (the data older guides describe as ARA Premium), and you reach it either through a paid vendor services package or by opening a support case in Vendor Central.
Why it matters to a vendor
This is where the first-party numbers for your products come from: ordered and shipped sales, the inventory Amazon holds, cost, margin, and forecast. So when you put a figure about your business with Amazon in front of your vendor manager, it should come from these reports.
The common mistake is mixing it up with Brand Analytics, a separate tool in the same console that older ARA write-ups often describe alongside it. The two carry different access requirements and different refresh cadences, and they answer different questions, so a number from one won’t reconcile against a number from the other. Pull each figure from the tool that answers your question, and say which tool it came from whenever the number leaves Vendor Central.
Related terms
- How to use Vendor Central Retail Analytics: the console walkthrough, covering the report picker, date range, distributor view, ASIN filters, and downloads.
- Amazon Vendor Central report definitions: what each Retail Analytics report contains, and how Retail Analytics differs from Brand Analytics.
- Net PPM (Net Pure Product Margin): the margin measure Retail Analytics reports.
- Purchase Order (PO): Amazon’s orders to you, the first-party relationship these reports describe.
- Glossary index: the rest of the Vendor Central terms and InsightLeap metrics.
